The estate planning “fire drill”

By Mike Switzer

Published March 17, 2026 at 6:30 AM EDT

Jon Robertson, certified financial planner with Abacus Planning Group in Columbia

Estate planning is probably not anyone’s favorite thing to do, but for most people, it is a good idea. Our next guest says that his favorite way to approach this is what he calls an estate planning “fire drill.” Mike Switzer interviews Jon Robertson, a certified financial planner with Abacus Planning Group in Columbia.

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Mike Switzer

After almost 20 years, Mike Switzer retired from Wells Fargo Securities in 2001 as Senior Vice President/Investment Officer and Certified Portfolio Manager. In 1999, he and his wife, Maggie, purchased and operated for eight years the Baskin Robbins ice cream store on Forest Drive in Columbia. They grew the store from a bottom-tier operation in the Baskin Robbins franchise system to one in the top 5% nationwide within three years, tripling sales along the way. While operating the ice cream store, Mike and Maggie received patents for a portable ice cream sink and fold-down sneezeguard they invented and in 2002 started Magnolia Carts, an ice cream cart manufacturing company, which they sold in 2013.

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