Mike brings more than 30 years of investment management experience and insight to business owners, individuals and families seeking a proactive and unbiased approach to wealth management. In 1990, Mike was among a small number of financial advisors who embraced comprehensive financial planning as a more effective and strategic means of helping clients pursue their financial goals. For more than two decades, Mike has focused his attention and expertise on helping clients grow and protect their wealth through the development of customized wealth management strategies that place his clients’ interests first.
In 2000, Mike and his wife Joanie co-founded Retirement Solutions, Inc. (RSI) in Naperville, Illinois. Through their affiliation with LPL Financial, the nation’s largest independent broker/dealer*, they are able to offer state of the art wealth and investment management services to the firm’s clients. Mike is also a Certified Divorce Financial Analyst®, working with divorced and divorcing clients. He specializes in investment management and retirement planning, and keeps pace with industry changes through continuing education. For multiple years Mike has been awarded Chairman’s membership by LPL Financial based on his ranking as a top-producing advisor.
Professional Background & Education
After graduating from The University of Toledo in 1980 with a business degree in finance, Mike was hired by The Sylvania Savings Bank Co. in Sylvania, Ohio, quickly working his way to Assistant Vice President in charge of the investment department. He managed $80,000,000 of taxable and tax-free bonds, as well as the Trust department’s discretionary stock and bond accounts. Mike directed the bank’s Asset/Liability efforts to reduce interest rate risk. He was subsequently hired in 1984 as a bond trader with Van Kampen, Merritt in Naperville, Illinois, trading government, agency and mortgage backed bonds.
In 1986, Mike moved to The American National Bank in Chicago to trade government bonds. When the stock market crashed in 1987, he made a conscious decision to move out of trading and into a field where he could use his vast investment experience to make a direct impact on the lives of individuals. He enrolled in the CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ program in 1988 while still at American National Bank, and upon completion, moved to The Acacia Group in April 1990 to begin a financial planning practice. Mike spent 10 years at Acacia, growing his practice and bringing his investment skills honed in a corporate environment to individuals and couples seeking financial planning and comprehensive wealth management services. Mike also co-hosted a personal finance radio show from 1994 – 1996.
Mike is active in his church and community, most notably as a member of the CASA Kane County Board, a nonprofit volunteer organization that advocates for abused and neglected children within the Juvenile Court system. In 2010, the organization was successful in placing 530 children in stable homes. As Vice-chairman of the CASA Grow a Healthy Child campaign, Mike is spearheading efforts to establish an endowment to ensure ongoing operating capital for the nonprofit. He has volunteered at Hesed House homeless shelter in Aurora, IL and is an officer of the Walnut Hill townhome association in Galena, IL.
Mike is married to Joanie who is also his Managing Partner at Retirement Solutions, Inc. They have two children, Lisa and Ryan. After living in Naperville for 22 years, they built a home in Batavia in 2006. He is an avid bowler and golfer, having recorded three perfect 300 games and a hole in one.
*As reported by Financial Planning magazine, June 1996-2017, based on total revenue.
