Preparing for Your Legacy and Building Wealth

Michael heads Waldron’s Wealth Advisory Team, focusing on the personnel and client offering that has helped Waldron earn national recognition and accolades, including ranking #42 on Forbes list of “Top Wealth Advisors” in 2018 and the PAM Award for “Best Private Wealth Manager–Client Service–Under $5 billion” in 2016. He has been a driving force for the firm’s growth while maintaining focus on his goal of 100% client retention.

Michael has spoken at wealth management conferences and on university campuses, and is a frequent contributor to industry publications, including The Wall Street Journal, Worth Magazine, The Journal of Financial Planning® and Wealth Manager Magazine. With a background in public accounting at Ernst and Young, Michael is a licensed Continuing Education Provider for Certified Public Accountants.

Jim Bagian is a professor in the College and Engineering and the Medical School at the University of Michigan. Previously, he was the founding director of the Veterans Administration’s National Center for Patient Safety and also served for 15 years as a NASA Astronaut where he flew on two Space Shuttle missions.

Mike is board member for the National Christian foundation Michigan. He is also the Great Lakes Region President for Highstreet Insurance. He began his career in Public Accounting and then went into insurance at a West Michigan independent insurance agency.

Mike is passionate about helping others achieve their full potential and seeing business leaders leverage their positions to further the gospel from their local community and to the world. Mike has served on numerous boards both for profit and non profit.

Michael serves as a charitable gift and estate-planning attorney with the National Christian Foundation (NCF).He works closely with generous families sharing concepts and strategies that allow them to leverage the impact of their giving by minimizing their income and estate tax liabilities.

In his role with NCF, Michael’s primary focus and expertise is facilitating charitable gifts of complex assets including closely held businesses, real estate, intellectual property, oil and gas interests, collectibles, precious metals, etc. He also helps families to plan their estates in a manner that dramatically increases their charitable giving, and in most cases avoids estate tax completely—regardless of the size of their estates. 

Prior to joining NCF in 2006, Michael spent over ten years with an international tax and accounting firm, and a wealth management firm/multi-family office.  In these roles, he counseled affluent families on a broad range of wealth management issues including both financial and non-financial aspects of wealth.

Michael received his undergraduate degree in finance from Penn State University, and his law degree from the U.C.L.A. School of Law. Michael and his wife, Tammy, were high school sweethearts and have been abundantly blessed with five children.