What does it actually mean to manage money well?
In a world filled with constant market noise, data, and opinions, it’s easy to lose sight of what wealth is really meant to do. In this video update, Michael Brady shares the core philosophy behind Generosity Wealth Management—one that centers not just on numbers, but on aligning wealth with purpose and possibility.
From balancing “today money” and “tomorrow money” to focusing on what we can actually control, this perspective offers a more grounded, intentional way to think about financial planning.
Watch as Michael breaks down how thoughtful planning, disciplined decision-making, and clear goals can create a more meaningful financial life.
At its core, effective wealth management isn’t about chasing returns—it’s about clarity.
Michael outlines a philosophy rooted in:
- Defining what truly matters (your needs, wants, and long-term vision)
- Creating a balance between living well today and planning for tomorrow
- Building diversified, disciplined investment strategies that support—not dictate—your goals
- Preparing for life’s “speed bumps” before they happen
- Focusing energy on what you can control, rather than reacting to what you can’t
Because ultimately, wealth is not the end goal—it’s a tool to support the life you want to live.
TRANSCRIPT
Hi there. Mike Brady with Generosity Wealth Management, a comprehensive full-service financial services firm headquartered here in Boulder, Colorado. Today, I wanted to address a frequently asked question: what my philosophy on money and money management is.
At Generosity Wealth Management, we align wealth with purpose and possibility. Purpose is today money. That’s our needs. We need to make our current monthly bills. We need to put our kids through school. We might need to ensure that we’re not a burden upon others. Those are some of our needs, and that’s today money. Tomorrow money might be our wants. What are the possibilities that we want money to do for us? Maybe even those things that we haven’t even thought of yet. So let’s have that conversation about what is possible.
Money management is really understanding that there is today money and there’s tomorrow money. Every dollar we spend today is a dollar that we don’t have in the future. And so there’s some place along that spectrum, today money and tomorrow money, that each client has to figure out for themselves. We want to plan for tomorrow, but we also want to meet our needs today, because we only get one go-round in this life. We want to have a good life, but we also want to ensure we’re thinking about tomorrow, because it’s going to be here before we know it.
From a money management point of view, 80% of reaching your goals is clearly defining them. That’s my opinion. A smaller, but important, variable is investments, and so the investments support where you want to go. So the first thing we need to do together, what I do with a client or a prospective client, is say, where do we want to go? What are our needs? What are our wants? What’s our purpose and possibility that we’re going to use the wealth for?
One of the parts of a plan is to proactively discuss what are the speed bumps along the way that might derail us from that plan: loss of the ability to work, loss of our spouse, simply not saving enough money. These might not be investment-related, but they’re absolutely essential.
My philosophy on money management is that if you have investments that are diversified, that are not trying to be crazy and be too cute, just make sure that they support the philosophy, the goal, that you’re going towards. That’s the most important thing. Avoid stupid stuff, okay? If it’s too good to be true, it might be too good to be true. And so that’s one of the things that I talk about with clients: what are the pros and cons of any kind of investment that we might go in or that I might recommend?
So my philosophy on money management is to align wealth with purpose and possibility. What’s your purpose? What’s the possibility? And then once we know what that plan is, where we’re going towards, have the investments at the right risk level in order to support what that is with diversified investments, which I think is appropriate for pretty much everyone. But of course, it’s an individualized choice.
We have a plan. We want to follow that plan with emotional control and discipline, because there are things we can control and things we can’t. So let’s focus on the things that we can control, which is how much we save, when we retire, what we retire on. There are certain things that we try to control that we have the least amount of control on, and one of them is geopolitical events, certain financial events, etc. We understand that we don’t have complete control over those things, so let’s focus on what we can control. And that right there is my philosophy on money management. Michael Brady, Generosity Wealth Management 303-747-6455.
You have a great day. Thank you. Bye-bye.
