About Josh

Southern New Hampshire

I grew up in southern New Hampshire — about an hour north of Boston. Three brothers and a sister. We built a rink in the front yard every winter and stayed out there until our fingers stopped working. Hockey wasn't a hobby. It was our life.

My first job was at the YMCA. I was 15. I took it for the free gym membership — I wanted to get stronger, faster, better. That instinct — find the edge, close the gap, outwork the room — has never left me.

I put myself through school from the beginning. Community college first, then undergrad, both working the whole time. Every designation I've earned since — CFP, CFT, APFC, ACC, and an EA in progress — self-funded. I am still in school. I will probably always be in school. That's not a humility line. It's how I'm built.

Fidelity

I spent a decade at Fidelity. One of the biggest financial institutions in the world. And I watched, from the inside, how the system actually works.

Too many clients. Impossible to go deep with any of them. Constant pressure to sell products people didn't need, from a manager who had never sat across from a client in his life.

And then the hat trick — advisors legally switching from fiduciary to broker mid-conversation. Putting on their “BD hat” to recommend something that paid them more. It's legal. Nobody talks about it. That's the problem.

I left to build something that actually worked.

Golden Gate University

The master's degree in Financial Life Planning at GGU changed everything. I didn't know financial therapy existed. The idea that you start with the life — not the money — felt so obviously right that I couldn't believe it wasn't the default.

Watching Saundra Davis coach someone for the first time was genuinely mind-blowing. One question. The whole room shifted. That's not something you learn in the CFP curriculum. I went and got it anyway.

Building

First came Wealth In Yourself — a flat-fee fiduciary firm for entrepreneurs and real estate investors. No AUM. No conflicts. Just the work.

Then Top Shelf Private Wealth — built exclusively for professional hockey players. A fiduciary built for the compressed earning window didn't exist. Now it does.

Then the portfolio grew. Motorcycle rentals. Luxury short-term rentals. Because I don't just advise entrepreneurs. I am one.

The Why

Amanda and I are raising our son Cole in Lake Tahoe, Nevada. Our daughter arrives in September 2026.

They're the reason this work matters. Not in an abstract “providing for my family” way. In a “I'm building the life I'm helping you design” way.

Walk the walk is not optional.

What Now

I write about money, time, and how we actually live. I build firms and businesses that hold themselves to a fiduciary standard. I help people design lives they don't need a vacation from.

I teach financial planning at Golden Gate University — the same program I graduated from. I've donated time to 3rd Decade, providing pro-bono financial planning to young adults. I've served as a Guardian ad Litem, representing youth in the court system. I've supported Junior Achievement's financial literacy work in schools. Financial planning done right is a public good. I try to live that.

If that resonates — follow the work. The newsletter is the best place to start.