At Generosity Wealth Management, our commitment to straightforward and respectful interactions ensures you feel heard, valued, and confident about your financial future.
Effective communication is the foundation of a strong financial partnership. We believe in proactive, transparent conversations—so you’re never left in the dark. Watch this short video from Annie Everhart as she shares how our commitment to clear and respectful communication sets us apart.
Transcript
Annie Everhart with Generosity Wealth Management
Today I wanted to talk to you about one of our core values as a firm, which is clear, proactive communication. We are committed to providing straightforward, respectful, and frictionless interactions with our clients, making sure that we know and you know that details matter and all of our clients can leave each interaction with a sense of hope and confidence. A lot of clients have come to us after having left a previous advisor, and in many cases the reason they said they left is because they never heard from their advisor and that this is something that they know they can get from us, so people aren’t necessarily seeking us out for the highest returns or some promise to beat the market. It’s really about the relationship, and communication is such a big part of that. So we cut through the jargon. We like to make our communication with you really clear and straightforward, easy to understand. We also believe in being really proactive rather than reactive and making sure we’re reaching out just to check in on you, reminding you that we’re here for you, checking in on your goals, are we on track, do we need to make some tweaks, and also making sure that we communicate with complete transparency. So, whether that’s no hidden fees or leaving questions unanswered for you, if something comes up in conversation, we don’t know the answer right on the spot. We are committed to getting that answer for you so our clients know we are here from them. We always return their calls and emails, and we like to be proactive to beat them to the punch. So again, we are here for you, and we plan to continue to be, and if there’s anything you need, please reach out, but hopefully we’ll anticipate that need and reach out first. Thanks for listening, and I hope you have a great day!
Financial markets are unpredictable, but your strategy doesn’t have to be. In this post, Mike Brady discusses the importance of long-term fundamentals, managing emotions, and staying disciplined in your financial journey. Plus, we’re excited to share how Generosity Wealth Management is evolving with a refreshed mission, vision, and values—discover what it means for you!
Transcript
Hi there. I’m Mike Brady with Generosity Wealth Management, a comprehensive full-service financial services firm headquartered in Boulder but with an office in Fort Collins as well.
Today, I want to talk about a couple of things. The first one is about the fundamentals. You know, I repeat some of the same things over and over again. And I’m reminded of that Buddhist saying, “Before enlightenment, chop wood, carry water. After enlightenment, it’s chop wood, carry water.” The same things. Your perspective might change, but the fundamentals remain the same.
I bring that up because I’m recording this on a Sunday when there are some tariff discussions between the United States, Mexico, and Canada, and I have no idea how it will play out. That’s why it’s important for us to go back to what we believe, which is the importance of having a long-term time horizon, being disciplined with our emotions, being confident in our plan, and having a long-term time horizon.
You know, the one thing I’m going to guarantee going forward is that the market will go up and it will go down. But of course, we have investments because we believe that it will be two steps forward, maybe one step back. But we’re not going to have the two steps forward if we’re so worried about the one step back. That’s just the way it works. And as a matter of fact, we try to go four steps forward and one step back. Okay, so we’re really making great progress, given time with the ups and the downs.
Another guarantee is around volatility. Sometimes, there’s lots of volatility in the markets. That’s just a given. It has always happened and always will be going forward. And sometimes there’s very little. I remember in 2017, there was such a consensus amongst all the pundits that we will have lots of volatility. And frankly, 2017 was one of the least volatile years in the unmanaged stock market indexes. I will tell you, in the last couple of weeks, we haven’t had much volatility, frankly, you know, not like, 4 or 5% or so in the unmanaged stock market indexes. So let’s have a sense of humility as well.
It is normal for a year to see declines. And if that’s going to happen sometime this year, and odds are that it will, I don’t know if it’s going to happen next week. I don’t know if it will happen next month, six months, eight months from now. There usually are those steps backward. It’s going to happen. That’s why we don’t have invested in the markets, money that we need for our use or need to convert into cash for our uses. The duration, the time horizon, when you’re going to need the money is very, very important. So let’s keep that in mind. Let’s keep the fundamentals. Okay?
Before the election, before the inauguration, we chopped wood and carried water and we’re going to chop wood and carry water once again.
Second thing I’d like to talk about is I’m going to have a kind of a series over the next, I don’t know, number of videos over the next year or two. I’m just going to drop them in here and there, sharing with you the mission, vision, and values of the work that I’ve done with my firm.
My firm, of course, is your firm. You are vested in my success and the way that I deliver and interact with you. And one of my taglines is:
Where wealth aligns with purpose and possibility.
What that means is that wealth aligns with purpose. That’s the present with what we want it to do. We want to live our lives now, whether that’s give money away, whether that’s take a trip to Europe, put your kids through school, or make your monthly mortgage payments. Purpose is the purpose of your money, but also your retirement.
Or the possibility. What is possible in the future? A great retirement. What are your dreams? Your retirement, put your kids through school, perhaps pay for your children’s weddings in the future, the down payment on their house, pass on to the next generation. You get to make the dreams and the possibilities.
What I do is say this is where we are, this is where we want to go, and what’s the gap between the two? We’ve got the purpose; we got the possibility. Let’s get that wealth to align. And that’s what I wanted to talk about today.
In the newsletter, I will link this video to the full mission, vision, and values that my team and I worked on. My colleagues, my partner, and the rest of my team on the mission, vision, and values for Generosity Wealth Management. I’m very proud of it, and I want to share it with you in the coming months.
In the meantime, if you have any questions or concerns, give me a call or an email. Of course, keep your emotions in check. But if you can’t do that, give me a call because that’s what I’m here for: 303-747-6455. Thanks.
“When I let go of what I am, I become what I might be.” — Lao Tzu
At Generosity Wealth Management, reinvention and growth have always been core to our approach, from our founding in Boulder to becoming one of Colorado’s leading wealth management firms. After over 30 years of helping clients achieve financial peace, Mike Brady is excited to take the next step in expanding Generosity Wealth’s future by welcoming a new partner, Annie Everhart. With a shared commitment to personal service and long-term planning, Mike and Annie are set to build on Generosity Wealth’s legacy of excellence, now with an added Fort Collins presence to better serve clients throughout Colorado.
Transcript
Mike Brady, Generosity Wealth Management, a comprehensive, full service financial services firm headquartered in Boulder, Colorado.
So, today, I want to talk about reinventing yourself. I mean, as I look back on the 55 years of my life, I realize that every once in a while, I think to myself, “how can I be better? How can I continue to improve? Because I don’t want to plateau.”
And I think the same thing with my businesses.
Now, a lot of you might not know, but I just want to give an example that a lot of people call me Brady. A lot of my close friends call me Brady and have for years, even though in my professional life, most people call me Mike. I’ll be honest with you, I don’t really care if you call me Mike, Mike Brady, Brady, whatever. But that’s just one example of you get to choose your life. You get to choose how you interact with other people and how you reinvent yourself and make yourself even better going forward.
For the next 15 years, I really want to think about how I can improve Generosity Wealth Management. Of course, the new Generosity Estate Planning–I’m excited to talk to you about it more in the coming months. And Generosity Business Exit Planning–which I’ll talk about more in 2025.
In order to move Generosity Wealth Management forward over the next 15 years, I probably can’t do it alone. Not probably–I know that I can’t do it alone. And because of that, I found a great partner. And fortunately, she’s sitting here right next to me. And, you know, for many years, she went by Ann, but she actually prefers Annie. So that’s just another example of–you get to choose how you reinvent yourself.
So, as we reinvent Generosity Wealth Management and take it to the next level, Annie is going to be a part of it.
So, Annie, I was wondering if you could talk for, you know, for a few seconds, for a minute or so about why you decided to join generosity wealth management.
Annie: Yeah, well, there’s a lot of reasons, but to distill it down, I really want my clients to go on the same client journey that you’ve taken yours on. You run a practice that I’m really inspired by. Your philanthropic impact that you have and the lifestyle that you have around your business and the way you operate with your clients is something that I’m really inspired by, and that’s why I’m joining your team.
Mike: Well, I’m really excited to work together going forward. I know that your clients are going to remain your clients. My clients are going to remain my clients. Maybe we will have joint clients together. We’ll work for their betterment. But your clients are yours, mine are mine, and we’ve now got a Fort Collins office, which is where you’re based. I’m in Boulder. And so together we can do really good things.
So I’m glad that you’ve agreed to come on board and looking forward to what we can do together. Can’t wait. Thank you.
Mike and Annie: Bye, guys. All right. Bye, everyone. Bye.
Generosity Wealth Management is excited to share that our founder, Michael (Mike) Brady, recently joined a distinguished panel at The Lenz Foundation’s live event, Overcoming Election Anxiety. This free virtual event focused on how to navigate anxiety surrounding the upcoming election season with greater peace, resilience, and mindfulness.
About the Event
Hosted by The Lenz Foundation, Overcoming Election Anxiety provided accessible strategies and insights from experts across various fields. Recognizing that elections can bring heightened stress, the panel emphasized practices for maintaining mental wellness in times of uncertainty. Topics included practical mindfulness techniques, the benefits of staying grounded, and the importance of compassionate engagement with current events.
Mike Brady’s Insight
With a background in wealth management and mindful financial planning, Mike Brady brought his unique perspective to the discussion, exploring the link between financial security and emotional well-being during turbulent times. In his segment, Mike emphasized how long-term financial planning can bring peace of mind, especially during stressful situations like election cycles. By focusing on enduring strategies and values, Mike underscored the role financial stability plays in personal resilience.
Empowering Clients Through Turbulent Times
At Generosity Wealth Management, we believe in the power of a well-prepared financial strategy to support emotional and mental wellness. Mike’s insights are a testament to our commitment to holistic wealth management—helping our clients not only build and sustain wealth but also navigate life’s unpredictable challenges with clarity and confidence.
Learn More
For more information on Overcoming Election Anxiety and other mindfulness events from The Lenz Foundation, visit their New and Recent Events page. We encourage our clients and community to explore resources that foster mindfulness as part of a balanced approach to financial well-being.
“The world as we have created it is a process of our thinking. It cannot be changed without changing our thinking.” Albert Einstein
Generosity Wealth Management is proud to introduce a new dimension to our services: AI-enhanced tax analysis. This tool is designed to complement your comprehensive financial plan by thoroughly examining your tax returns. Leveraging advanced AI technology, this service scans your returns to identify potential strategies for further harnessing the tax code effectively. It’s not just about reducing taxes; it’s about enhancing your overall wealth strategy. Watch as Generosity Wealth Management founder, Mike Brady, explains how this tool integrates with holistic financial planning to increase your net worth, regardless of potential tax implications.
Transcript
Mike Brady with Generosity Wealth Management, a comprehensive, full-service financial services firm headquartered here in Boulder, Colorado.
Today, I want to talk about an added service that I’m providing for my clients and prospective clients, and to the degree that you think that I could help out one of your friends, neighbors, or family, I would love to do that. The reason why I’m doing it is I believe that there are things that you can control and things that you can’t control. As human beings, though, we’re not very good at discerning between them. We seem to spend an awful lot of time worrying about the things that we can’t control, and a lot of times, we just neglect that which we do have control over.
Taxes are one of the biggest expenses that Americans have, and they are something that we can control with certain planning. Yes, we’ve got to take this box and put it on that line, but when it comes to deductions and tax strategies, we have a very complicated tax code that, if we educate ourselves about that tax code, is in our best interest so that we pay that which we owe legally, but using the rules so that we’re not paying more than what we are legally obligated to pay and that is to your benefit.
This tax analysis is really cool. You upload a tax return to me (Secure Upload HERE), and what I do is I use something called an optical character reader, which automatically converts it into a computer line for me. Using AI and my software, it gives me maybe 20 different suggestions. After looking at your modified gross income, your taxable income, this deduction, and that deduction, and your entire tax return, it says here are 10 or 20 things that you might want to consider for this specific client. I go through that, and I say, “I really think that numbers 2, number 7, number 11, 12, and 13 are relevant for this client.” I click it, and it goes to a little report.
Click Here to Download a Sample Planning Report
I print that report out with a tax snapshot that we can then go over. The tax snapshot is your ordinary income, your long-term capital gains, and your effective tax rate. It’s very graphical; we can go through that together so that you are in “relationship” with your tax return. What I mean by that is you understand how your situation’s end result came about. This variable, this second variable, this third variable. Which are the ones that we have control over? Which are the ones that are having the most impact on you and your tax return?
As part of this video and this newsletter, I’ve included an example that comes with my software. These are not real clients, but you can see what it looks like. You can see there’s a tax pyramid so you can see which tax bracket you’re in. You can see whether you’re eligible for various phase-ins and phase-outs and that’s what we call in our industry and the tax industry all the different types of opportunities you have for various income levels. For some of them, it might be $100,000; for some, it might be $50,000. It phases out so that if you’re under, let’s say, $100,000, you’re eligible. Then it slowly goes away by the time you’re at $150,000 as an example. So, that would be a phase-out, so if you make $151,000, that’s no longer eligible for you. We can see which phase-ins and phase-outs are good for you that we should focus on, and other tax opportunities that, frankly, I might have forgotten to ask you and you might have forgotten to tell me, but it’s right there in the report that we received from your tax return.
Why would I do something like this?
It makes me a better financial planner for you. If I see the big picture that’s down on this piece of paper, it will help me do a better job for you.
I want you to share it with your CPA. I want to get to know your CPA so that he or she knows me and says, “Wow, this guy is complementing the work that I’m doing on behalf of my client, our mutual client,” which are you.
I’d love for that CPA to be impressed so that he or she says “Wow, Mike Brady is somebody that I should refer other clients to because I want to continue to grow my business.” If you’ve got friends and family and neighbors that you think would benefit, send them my way and we can talk about it. Maybe I can add value.
I’m in the wealth maximization business for clients, not the tax minimization. There are two different strategies. Wealth maximization means increasing your wealth, even if that means sometimes paying more taxes. I mean, tax minimization is you want it down to zero, which means the best way to do that is to lose money or to lose your job or to put all your investments in the mattress, not making any interest. I’d rather maximize the gain for you in your investments and your income, et cetera so that your taxes go up. But of course, your wealth goes up even faster than your taxes do. I’m in the wealth maximization business, and there might be strategies like a Roth conversion or a backdoor Roth or something else that we’ve missed that we haven’t talked about that will help you out as part of the total services that I am providing for you, the client. If you’re not a client, then prospective client.
What I am hoping that you take away from this video is that I want you to:
Send me your most recent tax return using the secure drop link that will be part of this newsletter. Secure Upload HERE
Talk with me about that. Once I do it, I’ll reach out to you, and I’ll either send it to you, and we can have a quick conversation about it, or I’ll explain what your tax return means and where you might be able to modify it to your advantage.
If you like it, pass it on to your CPA or other advisors like your estate planning attorney so that my centers of influence – my professional network — continue to grow because that helps me out as well.
When I help you out, and you say nice things about me, that helps me out, which then allows me to help more and more people out. One of the things that I like to say is that everyone who comes to me is helped, even if not everyone needs to be a client. That means that when you say nice things about me, I always take the time to help others out to increase your social capital so that you look like a hero, so it helps you out, it helps them out, it helps me out. It helps out our community. That’s really what being generous is all about and that’s why I created Generosity Wealth Management.
Mike Brady, Generosity Wealth Management. 303-747-6455. Have a wonderful day. Thanks.
One of the main tenants of Generosity Wealth Management is to make an impact in the community, to live and give generously. We are proud of the difference our Generosity Wealth Community members are making each and every day. In total last year, GWM gave nearly $30,000 to over ten charities, with the largest financial donations to the following charities:
Besides financial contributions, we also shared stories from various GWM Community members in our newsletters last year that detailed their involvement with organizations that mean the most to them. It was heartwarming to learn about all the ways they get involved in our community.
Generosity Wealth founder, Mike Brady, also got involved as much as I could last year, including:
spending a week in Poland with children from Ukrainian orphanages (and cheers to GWM community member Margaret Seltzer for doing the same!)
spending 2 weekends being a guardian for Rocky Mountain Honor Flights (cheers again to the 2 community members I did this with)
acting as Treasurer of Frontier Horizons, Prison Mindfulness Institute, Boulder Rotary Club Foundation
serving as Board member-at-large for Lambda Chi Alpha International Fraternity
accomplishing innumerable committee responsibilities at Boulder Rotary Club (membership vice-chair, produce weekly promo video, fundraising chair, legacy fund chair, MC the annual fundraising dinner)
dedicating innumerable hours mentoring young college-age men
We look forward to 2023 and all the ways our community will live and give generously. If you need assistance figuring out how to maximize generosity in your financial plan, give us a shout at mike@generositywealth.com.
