Hi, I’m Mike. I work with individuals and families navigating major financial events where taxes can have an outsized impact—from selling a business or appreciated real estate to taking a significant retirement distribution.
I specialize in event-driven tax mitigation, identifying opportunities to reduce unnecessary taxes before, during, and after these financial transitions. With more than 30 years of experience, I replace emotion with data and make complex strategies easier to understand.The goal is simple: help you make informed decisions, keep more of what you’ve built, and have a tax and investment strategy you understand and trust.
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Lehi, UT
"My job is to take something that feels complex and overwhelming and make it clear and manageable. When you understand your financial plan — and why we’re doing what we’re doing — you can move forward with confidence."
Our Team
Pillar Capital is an independent, fee-only wealth management practice for high-net-worth individuals, business owners, and families navigating major financial transitions — a business sale, a property exit, or a concentrated, highly appreciated position. We specialize in improving after-tax outcomes, drawing on a broad range of advanced tax, estate, and investment strategies grounded in empirical research. Our philosophy is simple: decisions should be driven by data, not emotion, and every strategy should be clear enough to explain in plain language.
How can I help?
Retirement Planning
Investment Management
Alternatives Investing
We actively research alternative investment opportunities and monitor your portfolio investment holdings, bringing together actionable insights and forward-thinking risk assessments.
Legacy & Charitable Planning
Monthly recaps on financial markets. Stay in the loop with Mike.
Get to know Mike
Mike Johnson has over 30 years of experience as a fee-only investment advisor. He’s passionate about helping clients make great financial decisions rooted in data rather than emotion.
Mike is known for simplifying complex topics and removing the confusing jargon that often comes with financial planning. He believes that if you can’t explain something clearly, you don’t truly understand it, so he works hard to make every recommendation easy to follow and feel confident about.
He’s married and has four daughters (his oldest just started college). Outside of work, Mike loves spending time with his family skiing, mountain biking, and wake-surfing.
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Soon after I started my first job, I had a close friend who was a financial advisor and genuinely loved what he did. Meanwhile, my first career job at a Fortune 50 company felt like drudgery. Seeing the difference made me rethink what I wanted, and I realized I wanted a career where I could help people directly, solve meaningful problems, and actually enjoy the work.
I love working with people who want to make thoughtful decisions, value clarity, and appreciate a plan that’s built around their real goals, not just generic financial advice.
My core expertise includes:
- Tax planning
- Charitable giving strategies
- Asset allocation and portfolio design
- Helping clients make decisions using data instead of emotion
A lot of my work centers around:
- Tax-smart investment planning
- Asset location (where investments should live for tax efficiency)
- Retirement income planning
- Portfolio allocation and long-term investment strategy
- Charitable giving approaches that align values with tax strategy
I subscribe to the Buffett mantra: if you can’t explain a difficult concept to a child, then you don’t really understand it. Financial planning doesn’t need to feel confusing or intimidating. I work hard to remove the jargon, simplify the decision-making process, and help clients feel confident about what they’re doing and why.My approach is built on integration, intention, and real connection. I don’t just manage investments, I coordinate every piece of a client’s financial life so their tax, estate, and investment strategies work together seamlessly.
I love getting to know families and becoming part of the process of helping them achieve what’s important to them. It’s incredibly rewarding to be trusted with big life decisions, and to help people feel calmer, clearer, and more in control of their financial future.
What I like most about working with Savvy is the people. The team is smart, supportive, and aligned around doing what’s best for clients. It’s a great environment for delivering high-quality advice while keeping the client experience simple, modern, and approachable.
Book a 30-min introductory call with Joshua.
Meet and greet. Get to know each other and learn about the benefits of wealth management through Savvy.
Neither Savvy Wealth, nor Savvy Advisors compensates directly for testimonials or endorsements provided herein, by advisers. However advisors may have an indirect financial incentive to provide testimonials. Savvy Advisors is an investment advisor registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”).
