Michael loves helping people to reach their financial goals. He joined Spinnaker as an Associate Planner in April of 2011. His role in the firm is to assist Joe in meeting clients’ needs as they relate to asset protection, investment planning, retirement, tax planning, debt management, education planning, risk management, and estate planning.

Michael has been in the financial services industry for the last five years. For about two and a half of those years he was studying full-time for a Master of Science degree in personal financial planning from the College for Financial Planning (Denver area). After completing the degree in August 2010, Michael sat for and passed the rigorous CFP® Certification Examination. He will be eligible for CFP® certification in 2012 when he will have fulfilled the CFP® Board’s 3-year experience requirement.

Michael received a Bachelor of Science degree in management from Brigham Young University (Provo) in 2006. He had a very well-rounded college experience, which included working part-time, completing a minor in family science, studying Spanish (which he speaks fluently), and serving for about a year as President of the BYU Rotaract Club, a subsidiary of Rotary International.

Before going back to school Michael worked for a short time as a life insurance agent and for a year and a half as a Paraplanner for Idaho Medical Association Financial Services, a fee-only investment management firm based in Salt Lake City.

Michael, his lovely wife, Sarah, and their two children reside in Idaho Falls. They enjoy the outdoors, movies, reading, cooking, art, music, spending time together as a family, and building the community through church and community service. Michael is an Eagle Scout and is actively involved in the Scouting program of the Grand Teton Council. He is also engaged in his profession through his membership in the National Association of Personal Financial Advisors (NAPFA) and the Financial Planning Association (FPA).