At KB Financial Advisors, we’re lucky to have a team that blends deep technical knowledge with genuine life experience. Few people embody that better than Jim Brightman, our resident tax sage and all-around legend, who recently celebrated his 80th birthday.
Jim is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) with a master’s in taxation from Golden Gate University. Before joining KB, he ran his own CPA practice specializing in equity compensation strategies, long before most of us knew what an ISO or RSU even was. These days, he still keeps us on our toes, offering a helpful second opinion for our tax manager, Chelsea.
To mark this milestone, Jim decided to reflect on eight decades of life, history and perspective from the postwar years to the tech boom and beyond. We’re honored to share his story, unedited, as he shared it. It’s a reminder that experience is made up of the people and moments that shape how we see the world.
Enjoy Jim’s memoir below.
As I reach my 80th birthday, I look back on the world events during my (and your) lifetime. I was born on July 25, 1945. World war II officially ended on Sept. 2,1945 when Japan signed the surrender documents. The unconditional surrender of Nazi Germany occurred on May 8, 1945. I believe that our parents’ generation suffered through significantly more dangerous times than our generation. Post WWII brought prosperity as the U.S economy experienced strong growth in the 1950’s and 1960’s. The 1970’s brought slow growth and high inflation. But significant economic expansion occurred in the mid 1980’s through 2000.
I remember growing up in Los Angeles listening to Vin Scully broadcast Dodger games while we enjoyed warm summers at the beach. The smog was horrible in the late 1950’s and 1960’s in LA. I remember many days of tearing in the eyes and coughing after spending the day outside in the smog. Over the years, State and local policies were adopted that improved the air quality.
The polio epidemic was our biggest concern in the early 1950’s. We were prohibited from using public swimming pools to prevent the spread of this disease. It was a crippling disease. We all celebrated when Jonas Salk invented the polio vaccine in 1955. We were able to get our shots very quickly and polio was eradicated in most of the world.
In 1960, the first televised Presidential debate took place between Kennedy and Nixon. JFK was a popular winner of the election. If you were alive in 1962, you should remember the Cuban Missile Crisis in October 1962. JFK issued an ultimatum to Khrushchev to remove its nuclear missiles from Cuba. We felt like we were on the brink of a nuclear war. But the Soviet Union stood down and the U.S agreed not to invade Cuba.
JFK was assassinated on 11-22-1963. The nation mourned and most people to this day can remember where they were when they got the news. The FBI and the subsequent Warren Commission found that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone in this assassination. I remember watching on live TV when Jack Ruby shot and killed Oswald. Conspiracy theories ran amuck. To this day many people (including myself) do not believe we got the whole truth. The Vietnam war was raging in the late 1960’s. My buddies were all worried about being drafted into the military. I remember all of us gathered in my home to watch the Draft lottery. Only one of my friends was drafted and served in Vietnam. Fortunately, he made it back without injury but he never spoke about his experience.
On July 21, 1969, Neil Armstrong became the first man to walk on the moon. He uttered the words “One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.” You can watch the moon landing on YouTube to relive the moment.
The 1970s brought Richard Nixon, microwave ovens, and VCR’s. The news was filled with Watergate. Nixon resigned in 1974. Two young reporters at the Washington Post, Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, exposed the cover-up. Bob Woodward went on to write many books over the years, revealing intimate details inside the Administrations of multiple presidents. Disco music became popular together with bell-bottom pants, which I am no fan of. The highest-grossing film of the decade was Star Wars. But “The Godfather” and “Godfather II” both won Academy Awards. Muhammad Ali was the king of boxing. The 3 Ali Frazier fights were classic. The “Thrilla in Manila” took place on October 1, 1975. Ali beat Frazier after the 14th round when Frazier’s corner asked the referee to stop the fight. Frazier was too exhausted to get off his stool.
The Cold War continued into the 1980s. Ronald Reagan became the 40th president. He had a great sense of humor and optimism. Reagan frequently used the “shining city upon a hill” metaphor to describe the USA. The Reagan–Gorbachev summits played a crucial role in history. Four summits in all. Most historians believe this contributed to the fall of the Soviet Union. I recommend the biography written by William Taubman “Gorbachev – His Life and Times” A great read. It appears that American citizens had a more favorable opinion of Gorbachev than the Russian population. Let’s jump ahead to 1991 when the Soviet Union collapsed under its own weight. An amazing end to the Cold War. I remember traveling in Prague years later and discussing the Velvet Revolution with our guide. He drove us by the homes of former communist leaders who still lived there. The fall of communism in so many Eastern European countries without a drop of blood.
The 1980’s also brought significant hairstyle trends like the “Perm”. Yes, yours truly had my hair curled. Madonna and Whitney Houston were regarded as groundbreaking female artists. E.T the Extra-Terrestrial” was the highest grossing film. Do you remember “ET phone home” Michael Jordan burst onto the scene in the NBA. And finally, after watching the Lakers – Celtics in the NBA finals for so many years with the Lakers always losing, Magic Johnson led the Lakers to a world championship in 1985 beating the Celtics and Larry Bird. I was watching in my apartment in Newport Beach. After the victory I got dressed and went out to celebrate. The debut of the Seinfeld sitcom occurred in 1989. There were 172 episodes, and I have watched them all. I continue to watch reruns to this day.
I was living in San Francisco when the 1990’s began. Jackie and I were living it up in the Bay Area. We had perks from North Beach Leather, the best of which were 45-yard line seats to watch the Niners. The days of Montana (followed by Steve Young), Jerry Rice, and Ronnie Lott at the “Stick”. It was a dump, but it was our dump. Parking in dirt lots was tough especially in the rain. But 5 world championships made it worthwhile. Jackie and I saw the last of the Niner Super Bowl wins in person in Miami in 1995. Bill Clinton was elected President in 1992. I believe he was the best president in my lifetime. Please indulge me while I make my case. During his presidency, the U.S economy experienced its longest period of peacetime economic expansion. Personal incomes doubled from the recession in 1990. He was the last President to leave office with a budget surplus. All of this was accomplished with only 2.6% inflation. Only one U.S soldier died in combat during his eight years in office.
The World Wide Web was invented with the first browser going online in 1993. We were all consumed with the OJ Simpson murder trial in late 1994. The trial was televised live. I remember being at work at North Beach Leather when we all assembled in the conference room to watch the verdict. In 1999, people feared Y2K but the year 2000 came in without an issue.
The year 2000 featured the opening of Pac Bell Park, the new baseball stadium for the SF Giants. I put together a consortium of 10 guys and we bought season tickets. Yes, we shelled out a $3000 license fee per seat. That seems cheap nowadays. I often told Jackie that this was the best thing to happen since I lived in SF. Thanks, in part to Willie Brown, a great mayor and ambassador of SF. We have run into him many times. After he left office, we attended a Fund Raiser at the Palace hotel and connected with Willie during the cocktail hour. He was writing a weekly article for the Chronicle at that time. During our conversation we asked if he would consider running for public office again. Before he could answer, we said you may not be electable given the content of your weekly articles of late. He laughed.
GW Bush was elected in 2000. A contested election with Al Gore was decided when the Supreme Court ordered a halt to the recount in Florida. In Bush’s first year in office, 9/11/2001 occurred. More Americans died than in any other attack in history. Iraq and Afgan wars ensued for many years. Wireless internet became prominent. Email became the standard form of communication. The first iPhone was unveiled in 2007 and became available in all markets by 2009. Facebook launched in 2004 and the Social Media culture began.
Obama was elected in November 2008. We watched the election returns at a neighbor’s apartment, and all rejoiced at the results. The 2008 banking collapse created the Great Recession with the stock market losing 40% of its value. This was the scariest time of my life. People stopped spending money. Restaurants and retailers were empty. Our peers were all rethinking their retirement plans. The Obama administration passed a stimulus bill and pumped money into the economy. Interest rates dropped with the Fed rate going almost to zero. Fortunately, the economy started to grow quickly and by the fourth quarter of 2009, the economy showed an increase of 5.7% GDP. A long bull market ensued.
Bay area sports teams thrived with the Giants winning the World Series in 2010, 2012, and 2014. I attended many of the playoffs and world series games. The Warriors championships followed in 2015, 2017, 2018 and 2022. Steph Curry became the best 3-point shooter in history.
The COVID-19 pandemic hit in 2020 with a lockdown going into effect on March 15, 2020 in San Francisco. We were confined to our homes. I learned to cook during this period and now spend many evenings preparing dinner while Jackie works.
Trump ushered in an era of divisive politics. His election in 2016 and 2024 left us all wondering what happened. The January 6 insurrection in 2021 was witnessed by all of us on live TV. An unforgivable event instigated by Trump.
So, here we are in mid-2025. Most of our friends are retired and enjoying life. We have traveled abroad over the years and met great people in many countries. Best wishes to all of you.
Stay happy and healthy and enjoy life.
