There is $19 trillion sitting in American retirement accounts and approximately 1 in 5 of those accounts isn't invested in anything. The money is in cash, and those people may not know.

In this episode, Mikey Taylor and Michael Michalov break down what some don’t realize they do with their 401(k)s and IRAs. From the 100% matching  employees may be leaving on the table, to the Roth conversion strategy Mikey used the year he started his company, this is the retirement conversation you may not have had before.

In this episode:

• The $19 trillion problem

• The Vanguard study: most people sitting in cash don't know they are

• Max the match: the closest thing to “free money” people ever get?

• Roth vs. traditional — where do you want to be taxed?

• The Roth conversion move (income limits don't apply to conversions)

• IRA diversification beyond the stock market — real estate and private markets

This podcast is for education only and is not financial, tax, or legal advice. Talk to your own advisor before making any moves.

Here's the part you may not know: if you never write down what happens when you die, the government already wrote it down for you.

In this episode, Mikey and Michael break down estate planning without the legal jargon, what a trust actually does, why a will is only part of it, and the one mistake that can make the whole thing worthless. If you have kids, this is not about money. It's about who raises them, who speaks for you, and who gets to make the hardest decisions of your life if you can't.

This isn't just a wealthy-person conversation. In a typical year, more than 99% of Americans will never owe a dollar of federal estate tax. That's not the point. The point is control — over your kids, your health, and your family's peace.

In this episode:

•  The 4 questions your estate plan answers (and what can happen when you don't answer them)

•  Why some people set up a trust and never actually fund it

•  Who raises your kids if you're gone — and why the court's answer may not be yours

•  The difference between a trust, a will, a power of attorney, and a health care directive

•  The conversation with your spouse that nobody wants to have

•  How often to revisit your plan (and the client who hadn't touched theirs in 20 years)

There's an invisible economy cooking. Almost half of Americans earned side hustle money this past year, and most of them are still trading time for dollars.

In this episode, Mikey Taylor and Michael Michalov break down the ladder from side hustle to business and the three levels of making money, and why people never get past level one. You'll learn when the IRS technically considers you a business (it's a lower number than you may think), how to set up your entity without overcomplicating it, when to consider your first hire, and how to potentially build a company that pays you even when you step away.

They also get into the AI question everyone's asking: do you even need employees anymore  and what's the single best money opportunity on the table right now?

What we cover:

• The real numbers behind the side hustle boom (27%–47% of Americans)

• Hustle vs. Business vs. Asset — and how to graduate between them

• The $400 threshold that makes you a business in the eyes of the IRS

• Sole prop vs. LLC vs. S-Corp — and what it actually costs per year

• The 70% rule for your first hire and the 60% rule for building systems

• Why an AI integrator might be the best business to start today

Foreclosures just spiked 21% and everyone is asking the same question: is this 2008 all over again?

We pull the curtain back on the scariest housing number of the year. You'll learn why 230,000 foreclosure filings is still 87% below the last crisis, why today's problem is carrying costs not bad credit and which loans are actually first in line to go underwater. Plus: the debate that had to be settled live with data (let us know in the comments who won).

In this episode:

- Delinquency vs. foreclosure vs. short sale. What each one really means

- Why 2008 was a credit crisis and 2026 is a cost squeeze

- The COVID forbearance backlog finally hitting the numbers

- The 4 states getting hit hardest right now

- How investors buy pre-foreclosures at 70–80 cents on the dollar

Cities across the country are voting no on data centers and people may not know what they're actually voting on.

In this episode, Mikey Taylor and Michael Michalov break down an asset class that has recently drawn controversy. It’s not necessarily the buildings. But the power. You'll learn why a data center lease can end up looking similar to a Walgreens lease, why the same building can carry completely different risk depending on who's inside it, and why nearly $700 billion is chasing this asset. Then the conversation turns: is America's AI race the path out of our debt problem or the biggest bet we've made?

What we get into:

• Why the real estate is the lesser important part of a data center

• The three tiers of data centers and which are fought about

• Why operators are building their own power plants

• Whether AI is America's only way out of the debt burden

One of the biggest housing laws in 30 years just passed and both parties agreed on it.

In this episode, Mikey Taylor breaks down the "21st Century Road to Housing Act": including who the legislation applies to, what changed during the legislative process, and what economists and housing experts continue to debate about institutional investment and housing affordability.

Rather than focusing on headlines, we explore what the bill says, how it could affect different parts of the housing market, and where uncertainty remains.

Inside the episode:

• What the new 350-home threshold means

• What researchers say about institutional investors and home prices 

• How federal housing incentives compare with California's approach 

• Why digital currency language appears in the legislation

The Fed isn't the reason your mortgage costs what it costs and  buyers may be watching the wrong numbers.

In this episode, Mikey Taylor and Michael Michalov break down why the housing market stalled, what's really driving rates in 2026, and the honest options left for a first-time buyer who feels priced out. No hype, no doom, just how the money actually moves, from the oil pump to the closing table.

They get into why gas prices jump even when the U.S. doesn't buy oil from the conflict zone, 

how $6 trillion in printed money still echoes through your grocery bill, and why it feels like nobody with a 2.5% mortgage wants to sell.

In this episode:

• Why your mortgage follows the 10-year Treasury, not the Fed

• How a global oil market hits your local gas station

• The real reason 600,000 more sellers didn't crash prices

• The 3 doors priced-out buyers have

• Is AI about to create more business owners than it replaces?

• Class B & C apartments: the quiet “winner” of 2026

The biggest threat to your portfolio may not be the market. It could be the story your brain is telling you.

In this episode of Life With Mikey, we explore five common behavioral biases that can influence investment decision-making. Using historical examples including investor behavior during periods of heightened interest in cryptocurrencies and real estate markets between 2020 and 2022, we examine how cognitive biases can affect financial decisions. You'll learn practical self-assessment frameworks used in behavioral finance to help evaluate your own decision-making process, including a reflective question that can help you reassess whether certain holdings continue to align with your investment objectives, risk tolerance, and overall strategy.

In this episode:

• The story trap that moved money into crypto

• Why the people fall for confirmation bias

• The coffee mug experiment

• The client who couldn't sell his Facebook stock

• The three assumptions that broke real estate deals

• Cows, sharks, and why headlines may influence your risk radar

Chapters

0:50 - The Story Trap That Moves Money

3:22 - "Real Estate Always Goes Up" — Remember?

6:15 - Is Your Brain Defending Its Own Lies?

9:33 - The Algorithm May Impact Your Research

12:35 - The Coffee Mug That Explains Your Portfolio

14:47 - The Client Who Wouldn't Sell Facebook

17:55 - The Bias That Broke Deals

22:18 - Write the Failure While you Evaluate Your Investment

23:37 - Cows, Sharks, and Your Risk Radar

For two years, everyone's been watching interest rates. But there's a quieter number shaping home deals right now and many people aren't talking about it.

In this episode, Mikey breaks down how home insurance went from a simple line item to a major factor in what can impact what you can actually afford. You'll learn why California got so expensive (it's not just the fires), how a 1988 law helped set this in motion, and the moves to consider that may help protect you before you remove a contingency.

What we cover:

• Why insurance can be as high as ~9% of a typical housing payment — a record high

• The 1988 law that may have reshaped the market

• Why your roof's age matters

• What happened when 7 of 12 big insurers pulled back

• The 3 moves to consider before you fall in love with a house

If you're buying in California or anywhere premiums are climbing, this one's worth your time.

A viral clip says a family of six can "easily" live on $100,000 a year in California. So we pulled out the calculator and tested it line by line.

Mikey Taylor and Michael Michalov break down the budget behind the clip. They look into mortgage, groceries, gas, health insurance, all of it and find out where it holds up and where it completely falls apart. The truth? The number you bought your house matters more than the number on your paycheck. By the end, we land on what it costs to live here today, and the difficult choice that a growing number of California families are facing.

In this episode:

• Why a $2,000 mortgage is out of reach for many buyers today 

• The grocery, gas, and health insurance numbers nobody budgets for

• The income you may need to live in California with kids

• Stay and sacrifice, earn more, or leave the state entirely

• Why it feels like people are living in two different economies

If you've ever felt like you're drowning while making "good money," this one's for you.