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We share the exact frameworks, strategies, and systems we use with our private clients to help them cut their taxes, boost their income, and build lasting wealth.
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Turn Your Savings Into Retirement Income, Without Letting Taxes and the Market Derail Your Plan
Learn how to turn your savings into reliable, tax-efficient retirement income without relying on market timing or guesswork.
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Why Many Financial Plans Don’t Actually Work
Many financial plans fail due to lack of alignment, not strategy. Learn what actually makes a financial plan work in real life.
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Can I Retire? The Real Way to Know If You’re Ready
Wondering if you can retire? Learn how to turn your savings into reliable income and evaluate true retirement readiness beyond just your net worth.
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The Shape of Your Financial Life
Most people focus on investments, but real financial success starts with income, protection, and alignment. Learn how money truly moves through life.
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The World Got Louder: How to Stay Financially Aligned in an Age of Constant Noise
Learn how to reduce financial stress, filter information, and build a resilient financial plan in a world filled with constant noise and uncertainty.
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What Actually Determines Financial Success?
Financial success isn’t about net worth. Learn the five tests that reveal whether your finances truly support the life you want.
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The Invisible Guest Influencing Your Money Decisions
Many financial decisions are influenced by beliefs we never question. Learn how the “invisible guest” shapes your money choices.
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Why More Money Never Feels Like Enough
Why does earning more money rarely feel like enough? Discover the wealth paradox and how aligning money with life design changes everything.
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The Quiet Script Running Your Life
Most people are living out scripts they never chose. Discover how hidden phrases shape your identity, money, and future and how to rewrite them.
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Stop Forcing Your Portfolio to Fund a Down Market
Worried about withdrawing income during a market downturn? Learn how a true liquidity strategy protects retirement income and reduces sequence risk.
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Will You Really Be in a Lower Tax Bracket in Retirement?
Most people assume they will be in a lower tax bracket in retirement. Learn why that may not be true and how tax diversification changes everything
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Zooming Out When Markets Gets Loud
When the market gets loud, clarity gets harder. Learn why predictions fail, why diversification matters, and how long-term planning helps you stay confident through volatility. This stays under recommended length, speaks to pain points, an
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The Retirement Tax Myth That Quietly Shapes Your Future
Most retirees assume they’ll pay less in taxes. Learn why tax diversification—not tax brackets—determines flexibility, income, and confidence in retirement. tax diversification taxes in retirement retirement income planning Roth vs tradi
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The Hard Truth I Didn’t Want to Admit About Change
What I Learned When Trying to Fix Everything at OnceFor the last five years, I’ve been working on being better.Not in a vague, motivational sense — but in the ways that actually matter. I wanted to build more wealth. I wanted to be...
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When Life Happens, Optimization Stops Mattering
Life doesn’t care about optimized spreadsheets. Learn why flexibility, liquidity, and cash flow matter more than maximum net worth when real life happens.
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Ten Lessons I Learned on Health, Money, and Designing a Meaningful Life
A reflective look at ten lessons on health, time, money, and growth—and how intentional design shapes a meaningful life.
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This Isn’t a Rebrand. It’s a Reveal.
Why we changed the name from Beer & Money to Built For Life, Not Just Wealth—and what it means for intentional financial planning focused on life, not just numbers.
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Over-Concentrated Stock Positions: When One Stock Controls Your Financial Future
When company stock dominates your net worth, risk quietly grows. Learn how tech executives can manage over-concentrated stock positions intentionally.
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Illusion of Progress
Your net worth is growing, but money still feels stressful. Learn why high earners experience the illusion of progress—and how clarity creates real confidence.
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Why Financial Planning Feels Like a Moving Target — And How to Finally Take Control
Financial planning feels unpredictable for many high-earning families. Learn why the target moves and how a flexible, vision-driven plan brings clarity and confidence.
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What the Holidays Expose: How Slowing Down Reveals What Really Matters
The holidays have a way of exposing what really matters — family, time, values, and the life you want to design. Here’s how to turn that clarity into intentional financial decisions for the new year.
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How To Organize and Prioritize Your Financial Plan
Gain financial clarity with a simple 5-step framework to organize priorities, automate decisions, and design a plan that supports your life today and tomorrow.
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Are You Planning Backwards? (Most People Are.)
On this week’s episode of Beer and Money Alex and I cracked open a couple beers and got into a topic we see all the time: people planning their financial lives completely backwards. And look, it’s not their fault. It’s what we’ve all...
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The Art of Choosing the Right Financial Advisor (And Why the Relationship Matters More Than the Tact
Learn how to choose a financial advisor you can trust. Discover the key traits, questions, and philosophies that matter most when evaluating advisory relationships.
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Do You Have To...Or Do You Get To?
Discover how a simple mindset shift from “have to” to “get to” can transform your relationship with money, time, and family. Learn how intentional financial planning creates freedom today—not just someday.
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Funding College the Flexible Way: Lessons from Madison’s Journey
Learn how to fund college without draining investments. Ryan Burklo shares a flexible, cash-flow approach that keeps your future compounding strong
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Rules Around Inherited IRA's (and How to Avoid Tax Surprises)
Learn the rules for inherited IRAs and how to avoid costly tax mistakes. Find out what steps to take and how to plan smarter after inheriting an IRA.
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3 Takeaways from the book "The Art of Spending Money"
Discover three powerful lessons from Morgan Housel’s The Art of Spending Money that can help you align your spending with your values and purpose.
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Retirement Planning Realities
Discover the real risks of retirement income and how a three-bucket strategy can help you retire confidently without running out of money.
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Safeguard Your Wealth- How to Make Sure It Ends Up Where You Want It
Learn how to protect your estate, avoid probate, and ensure your wealth reaches the right hands with smart estate planning strategies.
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Private Equity in Your 401k? Read This First
Private equity and alternatives are entering 401(k)s. Learn the risks, benefits, and whether they belong in your retirement plan. Should you invest in private equity through your 401(k)? Discover the risks, returns, and what to know before
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Tax Loss Harvesting: What Is It and When It Makes Sense
Confused about tax loss harvesting? Learn how selling losing investments can offset taxes, diversify concentrated stock, and maximize savings for family goals.
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The Fed Cut Rates and How It Impacts You
The Fed just cut interest rates — what does that mean for your savings, debt, and cash flow? Learn how to navigate rate changes without chasing tiny returns.
Read MoreTax Brackets Demystified: Why Your Bonus Isn’t Actually Getting “Eaten Alive”
Hey there! Tax season’s here, and let’s be real—most of us feel like we’re deciphering hieroglyphics when we hear terms like marginal tax rates or effective tax brackets. But fear not! In the latest Beer and Money newsletter, I’m...
Read MoreRetirement’s Hidden Playbook: 5 Game-Changers Your Advisor may not be Telling You
Hey there! Let’s talk about something more thrilling than finding out your WiFi’s been fixed: retirement planning beyond “just save more.” Spoiler: It’s not about how big your nest egg is—it’s about how you crack it. Today I’m going...
Read MoreThe “Set-It-and-Forget-It” Money Hack That’ll Make Your Future Self High-Five You
Hey there! Let’s talk about something more exciting than finding an extra chicken nugget in your takeout box: automating your savings so you don’t have to think about it. Because let’s be real—adulting is hard enough without stressing...
Read MoreRetirement Tax Hacks: How to Keep More of Your Money (Without Moving to Bermuda)
Hey there! Let’s talk about something juicier than a perfectly grilled steak: outsmarting taxes in retirement. You’ve saved for decades—now it’s time to turn that nest egg into income. But if you’re pulling cash from the wrong buckets...
Read MoreRetirement Tax Traps: Why Your 401(k) Could Be a Time Bomb (And How to Defuse It)
Hey there! Let’s talk about something scarier than realizing you’ve run out of coffee on a Monday morning: retirement taxes. You’ve been told to “max out your 401(k)!” since day one of your career—but what if that stellar advice could...
Read MoreTariffs Unpacked: The Good, The Bad, and The “Wait, What’s a Tariff?”
Hey there! Let’s talk about something that is getting a lot of chatter: tariffs. You’ve heard the buzz—politicians love ’em, economists hate ’em, and your favorite Mexican restaurant? They’re sweating. In the latest episode, I want to...
Read MoreEstate Planning 101: Why You Can’t Afford to Overlook It (Even If You Think You’re “Fine”)
Estate Planning 101: Why You Can’t Afford to Overlook It (Even If You Think You’re “Fine”) Hey there! Let’s talk about something most of us avoid like expired milk in the fridge: estate planning. You might think it’s only for the...
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5 Financial Concerns for Families in Tech (With Solutions)
Life in the tech world can be exhilarating and challenging in equal measure. High salaries and dynamic work environment brings its own unique financial concerns I work with families that are in tech and they struggle with figuring out...
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Are you "There" with your family - The biggest thing you can do financially to be "There"
How much time do you spend with your family? And, when you are with your family, are you actually “there?” There are many stresses in our life that can cause us to not truly be present when we are with family. A very common stress is...
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A Brief History of Estate Taxes
Federal estate taxes have been a source of funding for the federal government almost since the U.S. was founded. In 1797, Congress instituted a system of federal stamps that were required on all wills offered for probate when property...
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5 Levels of Independence
Money’s best value to all of us is the ability to be able to control our own time. We all want to be able to do what we want, when we want and for as long as we want. To be able to do that, you must be financially independent....
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Transparency in Compensatino
Full Transparency in how you are compensated. That's what your clients want. Here is how I'm compensated: I charge 1% of gross income (minimum of $1500) plus a $1000 initial set up fee. Example: If you make $150k per year, the fee...
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How Do Your Expectations Play A Role In Your Happiness And What Can You Do About It?
Ever notice how celebrities tend to not truly be happy? This has always been interesting to me. They get to do whatever they want, yet they are not happy. I think a lot of us believe that having a lot of money sounds great because we...
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5 Rules to Understand in the Game of Money
I was on a plane flying to a conference and I was listening to a podcast about money. I know shocker! 😊 The episode was discussing money and how it is a game. It really hit home and I began to jot down what I thought are the 5 most...
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Have You Ever Thought of Investing in Real Estate?
Here are 5 benefits: 1. Asset Appreciation The median return on investing in US property market is 8.6% according to the S&P 500 Index. Rental property investment techniques affect the average return on investment however. This can be...
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5 Lessons from the Psychology of Money
One of my favorite personal finance books is The Psychology of Money. It really examines how our knowledge, experience and mindset around money affects our financial decision making. Here are 5 lessons from the book that were my...
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