Less than 1% of businesses ever reach 100 employees. We built The Breaking 100 Podcast to discuss what it takes to actually accomplish that massive feat.

My (Evan) first company was a valet business: a golf course, a restaurant, then a hospital system, which grew to over 100 employees and every problem that comes with them. The partnership didn't survive it, and the ending wasn't amicable.

That failure taught me more than the growth did. In 2010 a business partner and I started Michigan 401k Advisors with zero clients... Today it's over 120 401k plans.

Charlie came here from England with a suitcase and a scholarship, went independent, and crossed $100 million in assets. He manages $150 million for 180 families now.

In this episode of The Breaking 100 Podcast, we covered:

→ How a valet company grew past 100 employees and why it fell apart

→ What separates a good 401k plan from a great one

→ Why the Rockefellers stayed wealthy and the Vanderbilts didn't

→ The one guarantee Charlie makes to every single client

→ The emotional math behind retiring, or deciding not to

Every owner who's crossed 100 has a story about what it almost cost them. Those stories are the reason this show exists.

Chapters

0:00 Why we started Breaking 100

4:25 Evan's story, from parking cars to 120 retirement plans

11:57 What makes a 401k plan actually great

16:17 Charlie's road from England to Bloomfield Hills

23:53 Investment manager or wealth manager

29:38 The one guarantee: you will lose money

34:58 Why nobody's met their 401k advisor

51:04 What a 401k says about your company

1:00:44 The two questions every owner should ask

1:05:35 Emotional math and what wealth really means

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This podcast is sponsored by Michigan Retirement Advisors.

https://miretire.com/