Sometimes the path forward looks more like a winding trail than a straight line.

In this episode, Jude Boudreaux, CFP®, and Caleb Arringdale, EA, sit down with Michael Branham, CFP®, Shareholder and Senior Financial Planner at The Planning Center’s Alaska office, to talk about career pivots, family priorities, and why retirement isn’t really an ending, it’s a transition into a more intentional way of living.

Mike shares how his journey, from the Midwest to Alaska and from chasing success to defining balance, has shaped his perspective on money, legacy, and fulfillment. Together, they explore what it means to build a financial life that’s resilient, values-driven, and grounded in real life.

Listeners can expect insights on:

• Navigating major life transitions with clarity and adaptability
• Redefining retirement as a phase of purpose and reinvention, not withdrawal
• Understanding your “why” before focusing on “how much”
• Finding a balance between professional ambition and a meaningful personal life
• And more!

Connect with Jude Boudreaux CFP®:

• The Planning Center
• LinkedIn: Jude Boudreaux
• jude@theplanningcenter.com
• Phone: (504) 717-4862

Connect with Caleb Arringdale:

• LinkedIn: Caleb Arringdale
• caleb@theplanningcenter.com
• Phone: (309) 797-4030

Connect with Mike Branham CFP®:

• LinkedIn: Michael Branham, CFP®
• mike@theplanningcenter.com
• Phone: (763) 494-0095

About our Guest:

Mike embraces his fiduciary duty to clients and believes that the best path to help you reach your life’s goals is through an integrated planning approach that coordinates each facet of your financial life. We start each engagement with an in-depth conversation about your goals and aspirations. Next, we collaborate to customize a plan that incorporates your resources, current and future, into achieving your life’s dreams. From there, we continue our work together to maintain and adjust your plan as “life happens”, and to help you navigate each of your key personal and career transitions along the way.

When it comes to financial planning, it’s often the behind-the-scenes teamwork that makes everything work seamlessly.

In this episode of Living Beyond the Numbers, Jude Boudreaux and Caleb Arringdale sit down with two of The Planning Center’s client service specialists, Marisa Hardwick (Chicago) and Blake Murphy-Skelley (Moline), to spotlight the people who make sure every account, transfer, and detail is handled with care.

Together, they pull back the curtain on what it really means to serve clients well, solving problems quietly, building trust, and creating a sense of calm even during life’s most stressful moments. From handling RMD season to comforting clients after loss, Marisa and Blake share how empathy, precision, and teamwork bring The Planning Center’s mission to life every day.

What to expect:

• The role client service specialists play in delivering peace of mind
• How small details and follow-ups create big client trust
• What happens behind the scenes during transfers and RMD season
• The emotional heart of financial service and why it matters

Discover the care, coordination, and human connection that keep your financial life running smoothly.

Connect with Jude Boudreaux CFP®

• The Planning Center
• LinkedIn: Jude Boudreaux
• jude@theplanningcenter.com
• Phone: (504) 717-4862

Connect with Caleb Arringdale:

• LinkedIn: Caleb Arringdale
• caleb@theplanningcenter.com
• Phone: (309) 797-4030

Connect with Marisa Hardwick:

• LinkedIn: Marisa Hardwick
• marisah@theplanningcenter.com
• Phone: (312) 664-4090

Connect with Blake Murphy-Skelley:

• blake@theplanningcenter.com
• Phone: (309) 794-4030

About our Guests:

As a Client Services Specialist, Marisa Hardwick’s responsibilities include providing administrative support to our financial planners and excellent customer service to our clients. With a background in healthcare services and working in residential life as a Resident Advisor while in college, it has always been a passion of hers to help those in need. Marisa strives to foster a supportive environment for our team, assuring they can depend on her to deliver top-notch service to our clients.

Blake Murphy-Skelley’s responsibility as a Client Services Specialist is to assist all clients of The Planning Center and members of our team. He has been working in customer service since he was 14 years old and is glad to be bringing that knowledge and experience to The Planning Center. Blake wants to provide a safe space for clients to feel comfortable as soon as they walk through the front door.

College decisions reveal more than numbers; they reveal what we value most.

Discover how to align your financial choices with the legacy you want to build for your family.

Money meets meaning in this candid conversation between Jude Boudreaux, Caleb Arringdale, and Ron Lieber, New York Times columnist and author of The Price You Pay for College and The Opposite of Spoiled. Together, they unpack the emotions and realities behind one of life’s biggest financial crossroads: sending your child to college. From fear and guilt to social pressure and “rejective” schools, Ron reveals how hidden feelings often drive family choices more than finances do. He shares practical insights for making smarter, values-based decisions, asking for more aid without “negotiating,” and teaching kids responsibility through money.

What to expect:

• Why college is a values decision wrapped in a financial one
• The emotional traps families fall into when paying for school
• How to approach merit aid and appeal letters the right way
• The conversation every parent should have before senior year
• And more!

It’s time to move beyond numbers and make decisions that reflect what truly matters to your family.

Resources:

• The Price You Pay for College by Ron Lieber
• The Opposite of Spoiled by Ron Lieber

Connect with Jude Boudreaux CFP®

• The Planning Center
• LinkedIn: Jude Boudreaux
• jude@theplanningcenter.com
• Phone: (504) 717-4862

Connect with Caleb Arringdale:

• LinkedIn: Caleb Arringdale
• caleb@theplanningcenter.com
• Phone: (309) 797-4030

Connect with Ron Lieber:

• Website: Ron Lieber
• LinkedIn: Ron Lieber

About our Guest:

Ron Lieber is the author of The Opposite of Spoiled: Raising Kids Who Are Grounded, Generous, and Smart About Money, which was an instant New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestseller when it was released in 2015. “The Price You Pay for College: An Entirely New Roadmap for the Biggest Financial Decision Your Family Will Ever Make,” was published by HarperCollins in January, 2021.

Ron has been the “Your Money” columnist for The New York Times since 2008. Before coming to The Times, he wrote the “Green Thumb” personal finance column for The Wall Street Journal and was part of the startup team at the paper’s Personal Journal section.

Ron’s first book, Taking Time Off: Inspiring Stories of Students Who Enjoyed Successful Breaks from College and How You Can Plan Your Own, co-authored with Colin Hall, was a New York Times bestseller in 1996. He also wrote Upstart Start­-Ups, a book for young entrepreneurs, and was the co-author of a guidebook to the best entry­-level jobs in the United States.

Ron spent 14 years at the Francis W. Parker School in Chicago and graduated from Amherst College. He lives in Brooklyn with his wife and two daughters.