95 Books in 2015

Interior_view_of_Stockholm_Public_Library Time for my annual book review, and in 2015 I ended up reading 95 books, less than the 118 in 2014 but I also had a pretty busy year (lost 40+ lbs, started martial arts, expert in over 40 different publications, etc.).

54% were fiction 46% non-fiction. 70 of the books I rated 4 or 5 stars, so I chose well. I read 11 personal development books, 15 business, and 18 general non-fiction.

My favorite fiction was probably Genesis Extinction Point #4, which doesn’t help you if you haven’t read books 1-3. It’s a dystopian view of a plague brought by an invading alien race. Totally didn’t know where it was going, and very creative.

My favorite personal development book was Extreme Productivity, which taught me the OHIO principal Only Handle It Once. My favorite business book was How Winning Works by Robyn Benincasa, an extreme sports professional I saw speak in August. My favorite general non-fiction was American Icon, a book about Ford Motor Company in the 2000s. Fascinating.

My least favorite book by far was Tony Robbins’ Money Master the Game. Horrible writing, horrible analysis and conclusions.

Anyway, here’s the full list of all my books in Excel format and in PDF format.

Mike Brady in the Wall Street Journal

WSJ460

There are few things as sweet as your first mention in the Wall Street Journal. March 10th was the day Mike Brady arrived in print!

Since I was written up in the TheSuit Magazine, I’ve had a number of requests for interviews, expert quotes, and general articles about how I interact with clients.

I provide distinction from others in my field in the relationships I build and how I focus on the “why”, vision, and goals. Activating your creative “right brain” is just as important as the logical “left brain”. I’ve been interviewed on this recently for a technical journal, and will share it with you once available.

Anyway, if you want to see your advisor/friend in the Wall Street Journal, I’m just a click away!

Link to The Wall Street Journal

Avoid Penalties on Your Required Minimum Distributions

I was recently asked by a news journalist my opinion on how to avoid penalties on your required minimum distributions. taxreturncalendar

Of course, my first answer was to make sure you actually take them and problem solved! I think she was looking for more…..so I did in fact answer more seriously.

Personally, I always watch over all my clients that are at least 70 years old (or have a beneficiary IRA) to calculate the requirement and ensure it’s taken care of. If you don’t adhere to the rules, the tax penalty is 50% of what you should have taken out, in addition to Federal and State taxes you’ll have on the actual withdrawal.

The link below references my response to the journalist on what to do if you make a mistake.

Avoid Penalties on Your Required Minimum Distributions

Time Horizon

I’m a big believer that knowing your time horizon for investments is very important. Unfortunately, many investors, and definitely the media, live in the short term when in fact your needs are middle to long term.

outlook-06-580x443 I read this interesting blog (link below) that really sums things up. The only important thing is the probability of reaching your goals over the time frame specific to you.

A time frame super long (over 100 years) like some stock market charts is really irrelevant, as is a super short time frame, except to the degree it forces us off our personalized investment plan.

Anyway, interested article about time lengths and investing.

Get out of Here with your 100 Year Stock Charts

 

USB Mix Tape

usb mix tape

I’m 46 years old, which means I grew up in the 1980s. One thing popular at that time was to make a “mix tape” with a dual cassette player/recorder. You could then give that tape to a friend. We thought we were so COOL! Today, we have iTunes, Spotify, satellite radio, etc. and no one makes mixed tapes anymore. Boo hoo! Well, I’ve got you covered. Now you can buy a USB drive that looks like a cassette so you can make that mix tape for your friend or loved one (or for yourself).

Party on, and long live the ’80s!

USB MixTape, A USB Flash Drive That Looks Like a Vintage Cassette Mixtape

Great Article on Generosity Wealth Management

Generosity article

TheSuit Magazine did a nice article about me, my company, and some of my beliefs in their most recent edition.

I don’t often get interviewed, so it was a fun experience.  He got a few things wrong (I was not actually in Africa for 2 years straight but rather kept going back periodically over that 2 year time frame), but overall got it right.

I love my clients, company, and am having a lot of fun while trying to make a difference.  Hopefully it shows.

FULL ARTICLE – PDF

Link to TheSuit Magazine