Why I built BrightTree.

Aloha, and welcome.

I started in this business in 1996, and over the years I have sat across the table from a lot of hard-working people who did everything they were told: they saved, they invested conservatively, they waited. Too many of them still reached their sixties unsure whether they could afford to stop working. Some were spending their best years in jobs they no longer wanted, simply because no one had shown them another way.

That is the problem I set out to solve. In 2005 I founded Fresh Start Financial to help families plan for college and their financial futures. In 2019, after serving clients as an Investment Adviser Representative, I founded BrightTree Wealth Management as an independent, SEC-registered investment adviser, so that I could build the kind of firm I believed clients deserved: one that acts as a fiduciary, puts their interests first, and is not afraid to think differently.

A plan only works if every part of it pulls in the same direction.

Out of that work came the Rapid Retire® system. It is built on three disciplines: managing cash flow, building cash reserves that are there when you need them, and generating income. We cover life’s essentials first with dependable income sources, the flooring technique, and then position growth assets in buckets according to when they will be needed. The goal is to put you in position to potentially retire years sooner than you thought you could, on your terms.

I often compare our work to rowing. A crew wins not because one rower is strong, but because everyone is in sync, the pace is set for the full distance, and someone is watching the water ahead. That is how we manage your wealth: one coordinated plan, actively managed, with steady communication along the way. It is also why BrightTree is a team. Hadrick Green, who earned his engineering degree at MIT and a PhD in physics, is an Investment Adviser Representative with the firm and brings a scientist’s discipline to how we analyze risk.

We are not a fit for everyone. Our approach is active, it carries more risk than a conservative-by-default portfolio, and our fees reflect the work involved. For clients who want to grow their wealth with purpose and enjoy it while they can, I believe it is a better way to row.

Beyond client work, I host Stop Doing What You Hate, a podcast about building the financial freedom to spend your time on what matters most to you. The title says a lot about why I do this work.

Today BrightTree serves more than 300 client families from our office in Las Vegas. Every relationship still gets my personal attention, and that will not change as we grow.

If you are ready to take a hard look at your plan, I would welcome the conversation.