by Ralph Bender, MBA, CFP® | Client Stories, Financial Plan, Inspiration, Lifestyle, Retirement
Dinner in my house is often from the kitchen’s massive island, savoring the western view of the Santa Ana Mountains. In the winter, at least. In the summer, the sun hasn’t yet set so the shades are usually closed. But when the daylight shortens, and the sun is setting...
by Ralph Bender, MBA, CFP® | Enduring Principles, Inspiration, Lifestyle, Motivation
At Thanksgiving, I used my nephew’s bathroom and encountered soap with a tobacco scent and gritty texture. That seemed odd to me, so I asked him about it. He got excited explaining it was exfoliating hand soap. The grittiness wasn’t a flaw; it was the...
by Ralph Bender, MBA, CFP® | Retirement
At 75 years old, Ben and Yolanda don’t need the money that they’re forced to take out of Ben’s IRA to satisfy his Required Minimum Distribution (RMD). And they worry that the constantly increasing distributions will push them into higher brackets and trigger Medicare...
by Ralph Bender, MBA, CFP® | Financial Plan
Thanksgiving weekend is my time for stringing Christmas lights and that requires using a ladder. I’m in pretty good shape for my age, and with my years of experience, I’ve got a pretty good understanding of how to be safe on a ladder. Frankly, I’m a lot more cautious...
by Ralph Bender, MBA, CFP® | Featured – Blog
While grinding up 3,700 feet of California hills clipped into my road bike during this year’s Bike MS 150 Bay to Bay ride, e-bikes effortlessly buzzed past me while I consistently surged past my teammates on rental bikes using flat pedals. Like many of you...
