Brave isn't more private than Firefox but depending on the platform that Firefox is on, Firefox might be less secure than Brave.

Using a password manager was a game changer for me and I recommend it to everyone. I use both Bitwarden and 1Password. I find Bitwarden to run better on Android and 1Password better on iOS. But both are the best password managers in my opinion.

Still haven't found the perfect email service provider but Mailfence has worked for me. It's easy to set it up with a mail client or use PWA, and I feel its calendar function is overall more robust than the competitors. Service and troubleshooting has also been timely and good for me. Not the most user friendly but best balance of everything in my opinion.