The Person Behind the Advisor
A rink in the front yard. A fiduciary duty to the players who need one.
Joshua St. Laurent — CFP®, CFT™, APFC®, ACC, MS Financial Life Planning. Enrolled Agent in progress.
A Minute With Josh
Video coming soon
60 seconds on why I built Top Shelf Private Wealth.
The Origin
Litchfield, New Hampshire. A rink in the front yard.
I grew up in Litchfield, New Hampshire with a hockey rink in my front yard. Not a metaphor. My dad built it. Every winter, it was the center of everything. That rink taught me what hockey culture actually is — not the version you see on TV, but the version where you lace up at 5 AM because you love it.
Today I play beer league hockey in Lake Tahoe, Nevada. I'm not a former pro. I'm a hockey lifer who happens to be a financial planner. That distinction matters because I didn't come to this work from the outside looking in. I came from the culture.
Why I Left
I watched advisors take off their fiduciary hat and put on their sales hat in the same conversation.
At my last firm, I was stuck in a system built to serve the firm, not the client. Too many clients, impossible to go deep with any of them. Constant pressure to sell products clients didn't need, from managers who had never sat across from a client.
The clearest signal that the system was broken? Advisors legally switching from fiduciary to broker mid-conversation — putting on their “BD hat.” It's legal. Nobody talks about it. That's the problem.
Frankly, this is why I launched Top Shelf — to actually work for the people on the other side of the table.
The Education
I watched a financial coach ask someone one question and completely change how they saw their relationship with money.
My master's degree in Financial Life Planning at Golden Gate University changed everything. I wasn't aware financial therapy existed. Aligning money with values — not the other way around — was a concept that immediately felt obviously correct.
Watching Saundra Davis coach someone for the first time was genuinely mind-blowing. Better questions, deeper listening, real presence. The tools existed. Most advisors just weren't seeking them out. I decided that was going to be my edge.
The Gap
Why hockey players specifically
Hockey players face a financial reality unlike almost anyone else. You have 10 to 15 years to earn what most people earn over 40. The jock tax alone is something most players overpay on without realizing it — and most accountants don't know it exists. Cross-border complexity between the US and Canada creates situations most financial advisors have never seen.
And the advisors who do work with athletes? Most of them charge AUM fees — a percentage of your net worth every year regardless of whether the work justifies it. Your agent has a role. Your trainer has a role. Your advisor should have one too — not a piece of everything you own.
A fiduciary built exclusively for hockey players didn't exist. That felt like a problem worth solving.
Credentials
The qualifications behind the conviction.
CFP®
Certified Financial Planner
The fiduciary standard for financial planning in the US.
CFT™
Certified Financial Therapist
Understanding the psychology behind financial decisions.
APFC®
Accredited Personal Financial Coach
Advanced financial coaching and behavioral change strategy.
ACC
Associate Certified Coach
ICF-credentialed coaching for life and career transitions.
MS
MS Financial Life Planning
Golden Gate University. Where the human side of money lives.
EA
Enrolled Agent (In Progress)
IRS-authorized tax expertise. The final piece of the puzzle.
Beyond the Practice
The person behind the advisor.
I live in Lake Tahoe, Nevada with my wife Amanda and our son Cole, who just turned one. Our daughter is due in September 2026. The family is the why behind everything I build.
Top Shelf Private Wealth is my second advisory firm. The first, Wealth In Yourself, is a flat-fee fiduciary for entrepreneurs and real estate investors. Same philosophy, different audience. Both built on the belief that financial planning should start with your life, not your money.
I'm living the life I help clients design. That's not a marketing line — it's proof of concept.
Top shelf standards on the ice. Apply them to your money.
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