Mike Mulcahy Video Interview with Toolbox
Mike was recently interviewed by Tom Douthit of Toolbox Lunches. They discussed how to have a wise perspective in the midst of hardship - such as the economic and physical hardships surrounding COVID-19.
Toolbox Lunches are events designed to draw in men from the marketplace to be significantly exposed to the joy and adventure of radically following Christ. Toolbox's goal is to introduce men to the new heart only Christ makes possible, allure them to the new life only Christ empowers, and equip them for the new legacy only Christ makes possible.
Tom: Hello and welcome to Toolbox weekly updates!
Our aim is to help men navigate the real stuff of life and how faith in Jesus Christ can affect every area and our normal way is to meet together in person and lunch events in smaller groups around town at different times. But these times have obviously changed our pattern for that so we wanted to come to you in some way to keep giving input to all of us through this unique season.
One of the things we're told in the Bible in Proverbs 27:17, “As iron sharpens iron so one man sharpens another.”Part of what we're trying to do is to have you hear from different men about how they are navigating this season themselves and, in particular, how faith is informing their response to this season. And with me this morning is Mike Mulcahy. Mike, good to have you with us!
Mike: Morning!
Tom: Mike is the founder and president of Kings Path Partners in Sugar Land, Texas, a financial and investment consulting firm that has 550 million dollars in investments under advisement.Mike we're really fired up to have you here with us today. Thanks a lot.
Mike: Glad to be here and sorry we can't meet in person but glad we can do it virtually!
Tom: So, Mike, you’re well conversed with the financial world and you’re a follower of Christ. Tell us a little bit about how you can offer assurances to a person who's kind of navigating the turbulence of this season.
Mike: Yeah, we obviously get that question a lot. There are financial aspects and there are spiritual aspects, but in a sense, people are getting queasy. The story of that is that when you go deep-sea fishing, if you focus on every swell - every up and down - it's not long before you're getting sick over the side of a boat. But if you keep your eyes on the right horizon, and you keep your eyes on the goal - maybe the big tuna or the Marlin that you're going - after you can get through those swells.The first thing we try to get people to do is get focused on the longer term - the right term or what the right horizon might be. With our older clients, like you and me, having been through a lot of crises, they tend to look at these as, “Oh it's just another one.” And maybe it's an opportunity – “How do I advance myself during this time?” Younger people - I'm actually very excited about how they've kind of responded to it which is more of: “Hey, this market is down. Is this the time to be getting into it?” It’s really in the middle range where we're seeing the most consternation and concern. Some of that is related to jobs, of course. Some of that is related to expenses that are coming up – “I've got kids going to college,” “I had a wedding that we had planned,” and “I'm getting older - I may not have enough time to catch up.” So those are where you really have to sit down and start helping people think about if they planned correctly and how long might this last.
Tom: I love that picture of rather than focusing on the immediate waves that are knocking you around at the moment, to have your eyes out on the horizon and on the prize. What a great picture of a spiritual path and know that, in fact, a lot of times with something like the financial worries or concerns that really can point us in a spiritual direction or take us to new places that we need to go.
Mike: I have joked with people that financial statements are the worst foundation to build your life upon. I mean we look at them but they're not the right foundation. We need to build upon a firm foundation. In many ways, we're kind of blessed. In some ways, you want to get your eyes off of financial statements and look at the bigger picture.
We did a blog on pointillism. It's a fascinating painting and artwork where you do dots. The artist puts down millions and millions of dots and if you stare at the painting - at just the dots - you miss the bigger picture. This is a time where spiritually we can get focused on these dots. We need to really, really step back, and look at what God is trying to do in a bigger picture. Then you might see something beautiful actually happening through this time. You start to see that in that the churches that are broadcasting their messages are seeing more and more people coming online to listen. The opportunities that we as believers have to be in front of people and share our hope, giving people peace that you have that's beyond these financial markets.
Tom: Yeah I think I've thought a lot in these days of what he writes in the beginning of the book of first Peter he says, “We've been born again to a Living Hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.” So our hope really, as followers of Christ, is as solid as the resurrection of Jesus himself. We've got that kind of strength that's a part of our lives as followers of Christ in this season but sometimes, if we focus on the dots of our current experience, we think that our hope is as fragile as a financial market or our physical health or whatever it might be. Don't get absorbed in the moment right here but look more broadly at the big picture - not just of what's going on globally or financially, but what God is up to in this season as well.
Mike: Most of us have an investment horizon that's longer than two years. So once you get that in perspective, it helps people think, “Okay we're going to get through this.” There are definitely exceptions. Some people or businesses are tremendously at risk. You may have had this nice investment plan and investment strategy, but here's a time where it's, “Okay it's all hands on deck. We need to really make sure that the business survives.” We're seeing that their business are affected - obviously restaurants and the things that we see in the news all the time - but there are a lot of people being affected by this.
Tom: You know beyond being a financial advisor, you are a follower of Christ. What would you say to a guy sitting out there going, “Okay I appreciate all this, but I really actually feel a long way from God”?
Mike: I had this stage in my life where it was all about pursuing power and profit. It was really during the financial crisis of 2000, the Internet collapsed. In a matter of about 90 days, I went from thinking I'd be worth millions of dollars on an IPO to being pretty much broke with four kids and debt. It really took that breaking for God to tell me that it is not about the money.I went to work for a company founded by a believer. That time was the most influential time in my life. It was committed to making a difference. We gave away 50 percent of our profits. We had a 7:1 salary cap - nobody could make more than 7 times as much as the lowest paid person. You know what kind of idiot from Harvard Business School would sign up for something like that? I learned to live with less. I learned to give more. I learned to focus on family and learned to have a better and a more long-term, eternal view of things.
How I use that now in my business is really with preparation and planning. Protecting and thinking about that downside scenario and how to make sure you don't put yourself in a situation like I did where it's not diversified. I didn't have an emergency fund. I feel a moral duty to help people now to not get in that same situation.
Tom: Let's be honest there are people out there in that spot and going to be in that spot. You know what a beautiful confidence I have trying to hear what you're saying and knowing the way that God has worked in my life as he would regularly bring me to places that I thought were going to be death to me. And even through that death moment, did they become life.
It makes me think of the book of first Peter again. He said, “God is opposed to the proud but he gives grace to the humble.” When we're in that broken place, He's really eager to enter in to begin to give us direction, to give us strength, to offer peace, even in the middle of a storm. Even though the circumstances may still be problematic, He's alongside us in those things. He's going to work in the middle of that.
Mike: It has enabled me to do what I do now. I have a verse that I've used. It’s 2 Corinthians 4:16-18. “Therefore do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away” (maybe your financial statements are wasting away) “inwardly we are renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles” (and these are going to be light and momentary troubles! We will get through this) “are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen but what is unseen since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.”
Tom: I love that passage! Thank God that He is at work in the midst of them in all of our lives. He's provided for us to know him through his son the Lord Jesus Christ, who surrendered his life on the cross as a payment for our sins so that we could be forgiven. He rose from the dead to be a source of new life to all of us who look to him, believing. My encouragement to all of you today is, whether for the first time or as a part of an ongoing journey with Him, keep looking to Him just the way Mike has encouraged us today. Do not lose heart but hold on to the hope that we have in Christ. Mike, thanks again for being with us.
We hope this time has been a benefit to all of you and we'll see you again down the road. God bless!
