Hover for the one with the better view
Meet Brett
Beyond the suit
I am a born-and-raised Buffalonian. I spend most of my working life helping people make better decisions with money, and most of the rest of it on a hiking trail, at a rink, or in a stadium in January watching the Bills in weather that horrifies visitors.
I have been doing this since 2013. In 2019 I left the big brokerage world and started Eudaimonia Wealth, because I wanted to give advice without a product quota sitting behind it. As a fee-only fiduciary I am paid by my clients and by nobody else.
The families I work with have usually done the hard part already. They saved diligently for thirty years. Now they need help shifting from saving to spending, a transition they never got to practice. Most of them worry less about running out of money than about making an irreversible decision in the wrong order and finding out a decade later.
When those conversations go well, you take more trips, spend more time with your grandchildren, and give more to the causes you care about. That is the part of the job worth having.
The professional part
I hold the CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ designation, which required a full course of study, a comprehensive exam, three years of experience, and an ongoing ethical commitment. It is a floor rather than a ceiling, and it is a floor worth insisting on when someone is handling your life savings.
I am a member of:
The Buffalo part
I attended Canisius University and live in Kenmore with my wife, Erin. Our roommate Samson, a gray tabby, has never contributed to the household financially.
I serve on the board of the Financial Planning Association of Western New York and on the Professional Advisor Council for the Community Foundation for Greater Buffalo. Working locally is a deliberate choice. I would rather know the school district you are talking about and the employer whose pension we are analyzing than serve a list of names in ten states.
If you have looked at my photos and concluded I own an unreasonable number of Bills shirts, I would direct you to the evidence below, which supports your conclusion.
A few facts
Things you will not find on my Form ADV
Roommate
Samson, a gray tabby with strong opinions
Where you can usually find me
Reliving my glory days on a nearby hockey rink
Happy hour order
Big Ditch Dayburner
Coolest thing I have done
Visited an elephant sanctuary in Thailand
Top hiking spot
Niagara Gorge
Tradition I look forward to most
The annual Bills away-game road trip
Go-to local slice
Sports City Pizza Pub
Favorite neighborhood
Elmwood Village, for life
The rest of it
Where I have been spending the weekends
You are going to be talking to me about your money for what I hope is a long time. It seems fair that you know what you are getting.
Where your money sits
I never hold your money
Client accounts are held at Charles Schwab & Co., in your name. Schwab holds the assets, produces your statements, and reports to the IRS. I have authority to manage the accounts and to bill the agreed fee, and nothing more. You can log in and see every position and transaction whenever you want.
That separation is what stops the frauds you read about, the ones where a single person held the money and printed the statements. Here the adviser and the custodian are different companies, and the custodian answers to you.
Want to talk?
Thirty minutes on the phone. If I am not the right fit, I will say so and point you somewhere better.