by Ralph Bender, MBA, CFP® | Featured – Blog, Financial Plan, Self Employed, Taxes
Sam Darnold, like each of his Seahawk teammates, earned $178,000 by winning Super Bowl LX in Santa Clara, California, following the 2025 NFL season. The eight days he worked in California will cost him about $249,000 in California Income Tax. Ouch! You’re probably not...
by Ralph Bender, MBA, CFP® | Client Stories, Enduring Principles, Featured – Blog, Financial Plan, Retirement
“Knock three times on the ceiling if you want me; twice on the pipe if the answer is no.” I haven’t heard that song in years. Why is it rattling around my brain for the past 24 hours? Oh, wait! Maybe it did play on the 70’s channel I tuned in while driving last week....
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...
