Financial Advisor
.Higher Education Planning
Tax Efficient Planning
Young Families
Healthcare Professionals
Retirement Planning
Business Owners
You can be doing well financially and still wonder whether the pieces are working together—or whether you’re missing something.
I’m Michael Jawabreh, a Financial Advisor with Thrivent. I work with business owners, professionals and families who want more than a collection of accounts. I help connect the bigger picture—investments, protection, retirement, taxes and the financial decisions that come with life and business changes.
My goal is to be the person you want in the room when the financial decision isn’t obvious: someone who can help you see the tradeoffs, ask better questions and make a thoughtful decision about what comes next.
You don’t need to have everything figured out before we talk. Sometimes the best place to start is simply with the decision that’s on your mind.
You have a 401(k) somewhere. A policy you signed up for years ago and haven't looked at since. Savings in one place, investments in another. Maybe a business. And a running mental list of things you keep meaning to get to.
None of it is wrong.
It just was never designed to work together.
Most people don't need more financial products. They need to see the whole board — how the pieces interact, where they work against each other, and what they're actually adding up to.
Clarity before strategy. Strategy before product.
I help individuals, families and business owners work through complicated financial decisions with a clear view of the whole picture — without jargon, without pressure, and without starting at a product.
We start with where you are and what you're trying to accomplish. Everything else comes after that, in that order.
Before financial services, I spent over a decade in business and technology strategy — healthcare, artificial intelligence, financial services, travel — across North America, Europe, the Middle East and Asia. I earned my MBA at Duke University's Fuqua School of Business.
Most of that career was the same job over and over, in different industries: walk into something tangled, figure out what actually matters, and turn it into a decision someone can make.
That's the same work I do now. The subject changed. The method didn't.
"I think I'm on track. I'm not certain."
"I've changed jobs a few times. I'm honestly not sure where everything is."
"My income went up. I don't think my thinking has kept up with it."
"I own a business. My personal and business finances are tangled together."
"People depend on me. I don't know where the gaps are."
"I've gotten advice before. It felt like a product looking for a problem."
You don't need the answer before we talk.
Sometimes the useful part is just naming the right question.
If You Own the Business, You Own Both Problems
Content Section
For business owners there's no clean line between personal and business finances. Cash flow, what you offer employees, what you're building toward, what happens when you eventually step back — it all runs through the same person.
I spent my career on the business side before this one. I'd rather understand how your business actually works before discussing anything else.
I've lived and worked on several continents. These days the things that matter most are a lot closer to home — my family, my community, and being genuinely useful to the people around me.
I'm curious by default. Technology, markets, how things work, why people decide what they decide. But the part I've always liked most is sitting across from someone, hearing the actual story, and making a complicated thing feel manageable.
That's what brought me here.
You don't need anything organized before you reach out. Bring a question, a decision you're sitting on, or the thing you've been avoiding thinking about.
We'll start there.
- Bachelors, JORDAN UNIVERSITY, the School of Information Technology
- Masters, Duke University, The Fuqua School of Business
- Masters in Business Administration
- Series 7 - General Securities Representative
- Series 66 - Investment Adviser Representative
- Securities Industry Essentials
- Languages spoken: English, Arabic
- Colorado
- Maryland
- North Carolina
Insights
Major financial decisions often don’t stay in one lane.
A business sale can affect investments, taxes, estate documents, protection planning and retirement income.
A job change can affect compensation, benefits, cash flow and old retirement accounts.
A concentrated position can affect both opportunity and risk.
Your investment, tax, legal, protection and retirement decisions may each involve different professionals, and sometimes the challenge is simply making sure the pieces are being considered together.
That is where I believe a coordinated approach to financial decisions matters.
Not pretending to replace the CPA, attorney or other professionals.
Not forcing every decision into an investment conversation.
But helping define the decision, identify the tradeoffs, ask the questions that may otherwise get missed and keep the moving pieces connected.
Because a decision can make sense by itself and still create a problem somewhere else.
The goal isn’t more complexity.
It’s clearer decisions.
See thrivent.com/social for important disclosures.
The Financial Work After a Job Change
A new role can be the right career move and still leave financial loose ends.
Compensation changes. Benefits change. Insurance coverage changes.
Depending on plan rules, options for an old employer retirement account may include leaving it in place, moving it to a new employer’s plan if accepted, rolling it into an IRA or taking a cash distribution. Each option can involve different investments, fees, services, tax treatment and withdrawal rules. A cash distribution may trigger income taxes and an additional early-distribution tax.
Then there may be equity compensation, an HSA, withholding elections or benefits from the prior employer that still need attention.
None of those decisions should overshadow the new opportunity.
But they should not be left on autopilot either.
If you’ve recently changed roles, it’s worth taking a little focused time to review the financial side.
Not because everything needs to change.
Because several independent decisions may have changed at once.
Sources: IRS; U.S. Department of Labor.
See thrivent.com/social for important disclosures.
A Business Sale Is More Than a Wire Transfer
Planning for a business sale shouldn't start after the wire hits.
A sale can change more than your bank balance.
It may affect your income, taxes, estate strategy, charitable plans, insurance needs, investment risk and the role the business used to play in your identity.
And those decisions often interact.
A structure that looks attractive from one angle may create an unintended consequence somewhere else. That is why the important conversations commonly involve coordinated input from financial, tax and legal professionals before the transaction is finalized.
The real planning question isn't only: "What is my business worth?"
It's: "What does the value need to make possible after the business is no longer producing my paycheck?"
A liquidity event is not the finish line.
It is the point where business capital becomes personal capital—and suddenly has several new jobs to do.
Sources: SBA; IRS.
See thrivent.com/social for important disclosures.
Office location
Raleigh Location
3120 Highwoods Boulevard, ste 212
Raleigh, NC 27604
Phone984-276-4238HoursRaleigh, NC 27604
M – F: 9 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Licensing is available through your State Insurance Department’s website, which can be located through the National Association of Insurance Commissioners website.
Thrivent and its financial advisors and professionals do not provide legal, accounting or tax advice. Consult your attorney or tax professional.
Thrivent financial advisors and professionals have general knowledge of the Social Security tenets. For complete details on your situation, contact the Social Security Administration.
Thrivent provides advice and guidance through its Financial Planning Framework that generally includes a review and analysis of a client’s financial situation. A client may choose to further their planning engagement with Thrivent through its Dedicated Planning Services (an investment advisory service) that results in written recommendations for a fee.
Designations
For additional information on professional designations and the requirements to earn them, visit https://www.thrivent.com/designations
Thrivent and its financial advisors and professionals do not provide legal, accounting or tax advice. Consult your attorney or tax professional.
Thrivent financial advisors and professionals have general knowledge of the Social Security tenets. For complete details on your situation, contact the Social Security Administration.
Thrivent provides advice and guidance through its Financial Planning Framework that generally includes a review and analysis of a client’s financial situation. A client may choose to further their planning engagement with Thrivent through its Dedicated Planning Services (an investment advisory service) that results in written recommendations for a fee.
Designations
For additional information on professional designations and the requirements to earn them, visit https://www.thrivent.com/designations