Brian Waddell Advisor

Brian Waddell Advisor I help business owners and successful families make smarter financial decisions so their wealth actually lasts.

I hold degrees in business management and finance, have been
appointed with the Retirement Income Certified Professional
(RICP®) designation from the American College, and I serve as an
Accredited Investment Fiduciary (AIF®). Outside of my professional capacity I am passionate about
restoring trust and personal development, in 2022 I founded Dads
in Business™, a community organization aimed at bui

lding better
foundations for family and business. In 2023 I launched The DREAM
Team™ in partnership with Make-A-Wish foundation to help deliver
real experiences and memories to families with children battling
critical illness. I am blessed with an intelligent and caring daughter
Aleksandra who grows too fast, and am a longtime resident of West
Hartford. I enjoy golf, guitar and mountains are my happy place

There is no present more valuable than your presence.I forgot that for a while and I'm not afraid to admit it.I was walk...
09/02/2026

There is no present more valuable than your presence.
I forgot that for a while and I'm not afraid to admit it.

I was walking my dog at the reservoir in West Hartford this afternoon.

Beautiful day.

Perfectly blue sky.

I walked past a bench where a mother was sitting with her son.

Both on their phones.

Both with AirPods in.

Opposite ends of the bench.

Together and completely alone.

I'm not here to judge.

Because I've been that person.

I used to be pretty disciplined about keeping my phone away when I was with my daughter.

That discipline slipped and I didn't even notice until I saw it from the outside looking in.

That's the thing about habits.

They don't disappear loudly.

One of my first Strategic Coach workshops a coach told a story about almost dying in a car accident.

In that moment of crisis all she could think about was the day before at a mall on her phone while her son walked beside her.

She thought if that was her last day that's what he would remember.

We don't get the days back.

Every day we have is our legacy.

We never know what the last thing someone is going to remember us for is.

Put the phone down.

They won't always be this little.

All the money in the world won't get you bungee jumping at 90.Most people are saving for a version of life they won't be...
08/27/2026

All the money in the world won't get you bungee jumping at 90.

Most people are saving for a version of life they won't be able to live.

Here's a question I ask clients that changes everything.

Imagine $1 million on the table right in front of you.

You can only spend it on personal enjoyment, adventure and experiences with your family.

What do you do with it?

You probably think of a few things fast.

Trips, experiences, memories that last generations.

Now fast forward 30 years.

Same $1 million, grew to $2 million.

Same deal, only spend it on enjoyment and adventure.

What are you actually going to be able to do at 90 that you can do right now?

I posed this to a client recently and watched his whole face change.

That's the life present value of a dollar.

Even though it's worth less today financially, it goes a hell of a lot further toward actually living.

We are not always advocates for maximum deferral.

There has to be a system in place that shows you exactly how much you can enjoy today without sacrificing tomorrow.

Because even your kids, if you ask them, would probably rather have a little bit of you and your resources right now than everything you saved when you're gone.

None of us are taking it with us.

The question is how much of it you're willing to enjoy while you still can.

If you've never had someone show you that number, that's where we start.

08/14/2026

The biggest growth lesson: you don’t have to row the boat alone.

As Joel Russell of Eimagine puts it, partnerships can open doors, build credibility, and help small companies compete in a much bigger pond.

There’s plenty of work to go around. Think abundance, not competition.

The right partners don’t make your piece of the pie smaller. They make the pie bigger. 🤝

08/10/2026

We spend so much time trying to be available to everyone that we end up being fully present for no one.

Having a kid is the best thing that will ever happen to you.I know that's provocative.I know not everyone has that oppor...
08/07/2026

Having a kid is the best thing that will ever happen to you.

I know that's provocative.

I know not everyone has that opportunity and not everyone has that desire.

But I'm sitting here thinking about my daughter, seven years old, eight years ago she didn't exist.

Now I have a kid doing front flips in gymnastics, solving fractions and reminding me to put my seatbelt on.

I've always said there were two days I started in this business, the day I got licensed and the day I had my daughter.

Nothing mattered until she arrived.

There was no purpose, everything floated, and then this person entered my life for the first time and the question marks disappeared.

Everything became clear.

Clear brought the best out of me.

I'm not saying you need kids to find your purpose.

I'm saying if you have the opportunity, think twice before you walk away from it.

We don't get the days back.

If you don't have enough friends, maybe you're not playing enough golf.I heard that from one of my industry leaders last...
08/05/2026

If you don't have enough friends, maybe you're not playing enough golf.

I heard that from one of my industry leaders last year and took it one step further.

Golf is universal.

I travel to a number of cities across the country and it's never hard making new friends on a course.

Four hours together, playing for strokes, competing, just enjoying the round, and the conversation flows naturally the whole way through.

I've met surgeons, developers, business owners and local politicians out there.

None of it ever felt like networking.

Because it wasn't.

It was just two people who love the game figuring out they have a lot more in common than a handicap.

There was a time in my career where I would've done anything to be in those rooms.

Now I just show up with my clubs and let the game do the rest.

Some of the best relationships in my life started on a first tee somewhere.

One of my industry leaders said if you're not writing big enough cases, maybe you're not playing enough golf.

I'll take it one step further.

If you don't have enough of the right people in your life, same answer.

Who's the most unexpected person you've ever met on a golf course?

08/03/2026

Another great clip from my podcast conversation with Tom Henske.

I shared this idea with a client yesterday who has a daughter entering her sophomore year of college. They loved it and told me they're going to start using it this upcoming school year.

One of the biggest challenges parents face is teaching their kids how to manage money before they're on their own.

Tom's advice was simple: gradually increase their financial responsibility throughout college.

Freshman year, give them spending money each week.
Sophomore year, move to once a month.
Junior year, give them money for the semester.
Senior year, provide the budget for the entire school year.

The key is resisting the urge to bail them out if they spend it too quickly. Those small mistakes become valuable lessons while the stakes are still low.

Learning how to budget isn't something that happens overnight. It comes from experience, and college is the perfect time to build that skill.

What's one financial lesson you wish you had learned earlier in life?

The best reminder of what it means to be American came from my own team this week.I grew up in a bicultural household wi...
07/31/2026

The best reminder of what it means to be American came from my own team this week.

I grew up in a bicultural household with an immigrant mother.

Never thought of myself as anything other than American.

To me being American means being values driven.

Equal opportunity.

Raising the tide by raising others.

Doing well by doing good.

Leaving the world better than you found it.

During our quarterly one on ones I was reminded of all of that by our client services manager, Erinda Gjika.

She came to this country seven years ago looking for a better opportunity for her daughters.

They've spent most of this summer visiting schools.

I can't think of a more pride filled moment than watching someone realize exactly what they came here for.

She's leading her family by example, putting them before herself every single day.
That's not just the American dream.

That's leadership.

Thank you Erinda for reminding all of us what that looks like.

I write about topics like this every week. If you'd like to follow along, the link to join the newsletter is in the comments.

Who in your life is leading by example right now?

I'll tell you exactly what would make me walk away from this business.Not a bad market, not AI disruption, not regulatio...
07/22/2026

I'll tell you exactly what would make me walk away from this business.

Not a bad market, not AI disruption, not regulation.

Those are just obstacles and I've never been afraid of obstacles.

What would make me walk away is finding a better way to create the outcomes.

I'm actually after, better lives, better leadership and better legacies for the fathers and business owners and families I work with.

If I could create more impact coaching than advising, I'd coach.

If I could change more lives talking about how people live and lead than talking about their portfolios, I'd do that.

I'm not here because I love asset management.

I'm here because this is the best tool I have right now to change the lives of the people I care about changing.

That's a very different reason to show up than most people in this industry have.

And I think the people I work with feel that difference every single time we're in the same room.

The work matters because the people matter, everything else is just the vehicle.

If you want someone who shows up for the right reasons, you know where to find me.

Someone asked me recently what I'd call my work if I couldn't use the word wealth.I didn't have to think about it long.L...
07/21/2026

Someone asked me recently what I'd call my work if I couldn't use the word wealth.

I didn't have to think about it long.

Lifestyle, leadership and legacy advising.

Because that's actually what this is, it always has been.

The money is just the tool we use to get there.

The thing that either creates freedom or limits it.

The thing that either brings families together or tears them apart.

The thing that either lets you live the life you actually want or keeps you waiting for a someday that never arrives.

I've sat with people who had more money than they could spend in three lifetimes and still couldn't give themselves permission to enjoy it.

I've sat with people who had a fraction of that and lived with more peace of mind than anyone I know.

The number was never the point.

How you live, how you lead and what you leave behind, that's the point.

If you want someone who's focused on all three, let's connect.

Address

65 LaSalle Road Suite 200
West Hartford, CT
06107

Opening Hours

Monday 9am - 5pm
Tuesday 9am - 5pm
Wednesday 9am - 5pm
Thursday 9am - 5pm
Friday 9am - 5pm

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Brian Waddell Advisor posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Shortcuts

Share

Category