Personal
Mike Lankford grew up in the suburbs of Chicago, and returned to the Chicagoland area after his undergrad. He met his wife while in college; and married Alisha in 2010. Mike and Alisha have three children: Mackenzie, Abigail, and Levi. They live in Hawthorn Woods and enjoy being close to family, friends, and their church. They enjoy spending time as a family, going to Cubs games, and at their golf club, Ivanhoe.
Professional
Mike Lankford began his career with Northwestern Mutual's nationally honored, Top 10 Internship1 as a Financial Representative Intern in 2007. He spent three years learning how to build financial plans; while also doing his due diligence to interview at other industry leading companies. Ultimately, the time and attention that Northwestern Mutual focused on the client relationship and client experience is what led Mike to join the firm. Lankford once stated, "I wanted to represent a company who has values that align with mine. My team and I focus on our clients first. It gives great confidence to know that Northwestern Mutual does the same."
Mike Lankford has been recognized as a Top 10 Financial Advisor in his agency for 8 consecutive years (2012-2019). In 2012, 2014, 2018, and 2019 he was the #1 Advisor within the agency of over 100 Financial Advisors. For 5 consecutive years (2015-2019), Mike earned membership into the elite "Forum Group" of Northwestern Mutual. This Group represents the top 5% of advisors out of Northwestern Mutual's 8,000+ advisors. In 2018 and 2019, Mike was recognized at a Top 5 Advisor in the Central Region of Northwestern Mutual of over 2,500 advisors.
1Vault Guide to Internships, 2015 EditionYears of Experience
Representing Northwestern Mutual since 2007.
Education
Illinois - Wesleyan University (Bachelor of Arts)
Awards and Recognition
- National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors Quality Award 2012-2014
- Award recognizing commitment to excellence in service to clients and industry
Lending a hand in my community.
As part of Northwestern Mutual, I'm proud to help accelerate the search for better childhood cancer treatments while supporting families undergoing treatment, and survivors from late effects. Here are some of the organizations we partner with:
Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation for Childhood Cancer (ALSF)
ALSF funds cancer research, raises awareness, and supports the families of children with cancer. Since 2012, Northwestern Mutual, its employees, and financial professionals like me have donated more than $20 million to support ALSF and fund over 400,000 research hours.
Beads of Courage
Beads of Courage is an art-in-medicine program that helps kids with cancer tell their unique treatment story through colorful beads that are symbols of their courage.
Here are my areas of expertise
Financial Planning
Insurance Protection Strategies
Life Insurance Strategies
Retirement Planning & Income Strategies
Education Planning & Funding
Disability Planning
Multigenerational Planning
Estate Planning
How Northwestern Mutual helps you live the life you want.
When people feel better about their money, good things happen—they become more confident and feel more secure. For more than 160 years, Northwestern Mutual has helped people achieve the financial flexibility they need to live more and worry less.
Being a mutual company means Northwestern Mutual reports to its clients, not Wall Street. They don't believe in chasing fads or taking undue risk for short-term gains. Instead, they take a long-term approach—both in the way we help people plan to reach their goals, and in the way they do business. This has served their clients (and mine) well through all kinds of economic ups and downs, including wars, recessions, even the recent pandemic.
It's why I'm happy to be part of a company that's in it for the long-haul and prioritizes clients over profit.
