Bob Chitrathorn
CFO / VP of Wealth PlanningWealth Planning By Bob Chitrathorn of Simplified Wealth Management
Member Since December 2023
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About
Suthipong Robert Chitrathorn (or Bob for short) came from humble beginnings. Born to parents Puttachart and Sakul Chitrathorn, Bob was raised in a mobile home park in Colton, CA. His parents migrated to Michigan from Bangkok, Thailand in 1974, before settling in Southern California. As a child, Bob didn’t realize how good others had it until he ventured out of the ghetto and went over to friends’ birthday parties. There he’d witness the luxuries of living the American dream and of the possibilities that lay ahead. To the Chitrathorns, life in America was a gift and they were proud owners of property in America. They worked hard to put food on the table and to put Bob and his younger sister, Crystal, through school. Bob ate sandwiches with nothing but cheese on them, but he was blessed nonetheless. He learned that perspective made all the difference in life. In his mother’s words, “education is money in the bank.” She teaches nurses still to this day, but she and Sakul, a factory worker, sacrificed to make a better life for Bob and Crystal. They paid for both kids to go through private high school and then helped pay for college. Their dedication and sacrifice didn’t go to waste. Bob received a full ride scholarship for his first year at La Sierra University, before transferring to California State University, San Bernardino (CSUSB). He received his B.S. in Finance, as well as a B.S. in Real Estate, while minoring in business administration. Despite the rigorous course load, Bob graduated magna cum laude and was named part of the Golden Key Honor Society. In 2004, Bob became a financial advisor, which was an opportunity to make a good living, while helping others make the most informed decisions for their own financial lives. He had a short stint at H&R Block and also considered real estate, but he found his passion in personal finance. While Bob was attending CSUSB, his parents were working with an agent at New York Life. Bob always sat in on their meetings. He found that by listening to his parents’ goals and conveying the pros and cons of their decisions, that they would listen to him more often than their own advisor. When Bob became an advisor, it was a no brainer that Puttachart and Sakul would work with their son, who always listened to their needs. With over 19 years of industry experience, he now has many clients beyond his parents to guide and influence. In 2016, Bob contributed a chapter to best selling author and esteemed motivational speaker, Brian Tracy’s book. The book, “Success Manifesto: The World’s Leading Entrepreneurs & Professionals Reveal Their Secrets to Mastering Health, Wealth & Lifestyle,” was an opportunity for Bob to share his love for planning and for his clients. He holds the Series 6, Series 7, Series 63 registrations with LPL Financial, and Series 65 registration with Mariner Independent Advisor Network. Additionally he has life, health and long-term care insurance licenses. Bob has been married to the love of his life, Brittany, for ten years. They live in their Riverside, CA home with their rescue dog, Mazy, a pool, putting green, and a Pittsburgh Steelers themed bar that’s perfect for Sunday Night Football. If you’re looking for Bob at 6:30 or 7 pm on a weeknight, more often than not, he’s prepping for a case or making phone calls still. His parents’ work habits weren’t lost on him and he’s usually the one at the end of the night setting the alarm and turning off the lights. Bob Chitrathorn is a registered representative with, and Securities and Retirement Plan Consulting Program advisory services are offered through LPL Financial, a registered investment advisor, member FINRA/SIPC. Other advisory services offered through Mariner Independent Advisor Network (MIAN). MIAN, and Wealth Planning by Bob Chitrathorn are separate entities from LPL Financial.
Bob Chitrathorn
Published content
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Such a sensitive subject requires a careful approach. Talking to your aging parents about their finances can be extremely difficult, but it can be important to ensuring they are supported and cared for in their later years. As parents grow older, they may find it harder to do the things they’ve always done, such as manage their day-to-day finances or make major decisions about money. They may also have certain wishes regarding their long-term care or what they’d like done with their assets once they pass on. Having these conversations with your parents early on can help ensure you’re on the same page and help them make the best decisions for their needs. However, approaching parents about this subject can be challenging, and parents may not always be receptive to getting advice from their children — even if they are grown adults themselves. To help make these matters easier for both parties, the financial experts of Kiplinger Advisor Collective each share one tip they’d give for how to approach this type of conversation with aging parents, and why implementing this tip can ensure everyone is happy.
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Saving money can be as simple as a quick phone call. Lots of people are interested in saving more, but they don’t always want to change their lifestyle in order to do it. Especially when you have a large amount to save or haven’t started saving at all, it can be difficult to find the motivation to cut back on the things that bring you joy. However, saving, even if it’s just a little bit each month, is an important part of your wealth-building journey. It not only ensures you have cash to fall back on when emergencies eventually arise, but it also allows you to make larger purchases and afford the kind of lifestyle you aspire to have in the future. So does that mean you have to cut way back on your lifestyle now in order to save for the future? According to the money experts of Kiplinger Advisor Collective, that doesn’t have to be the case. Here, they discuss little (but effective) ways anyone can easily save money each month without compromising their overall lifestyle or sacrificing joy.
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Don’t leave your legacy up to someone else. While the main focus of your wealth-building journey may naturally be building up your wealth, it’s equally important to determine what to do with it once you have it. Whether you’re planning to give it away upon your death or would like to give some away while you’re still alive, planning for either situation can help you ensure your hard-earned wealth is distributed how you’d like, to whom you’d like and when. A common solution for wealth distribution is a will. A will offers you the opportunity to describe how you would like your assets distributed upon your passing; however, another popular solution is a trust, which allows you to direct the distribution of your wealth while you're still alive. While both are great solutions depending on your goals, a trust can have other benefits you may want to consider. Below, the financial experts of Kiplinger Advisor Collective outline six additional benefits of trusts and why putting your assets into a trust may be the best solution for you.
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To improve your financial situation, focus on empowering yourself first. Whether it’s limiting cultural expectations, wage disparities or planning for longer-term care, there are some financial challenges women face that their male counterparts may never experience. And while these can be major roadblocks to financial success on their own, these obstacles can be even more difficult to overcome if you don’t have much experience handling finances or knowledge about the best ways to tackle financial issues. However, according to the financial experts of Kiplinger Advisor Collective, the best way to improve your financial situation is to empower yourself through the following six steps. By making each one of these steps a priority, women can take charge of their financial well-being, strengthen their financial literacy and equip themselves with the skills they need to succeed with money now and well into the future.
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Small mistakes can have a big impact over time. Opportunities abound when it comes to making money. But while there are numerous paths for building wealth, there are just as many paths for making a mistake. And not all mistakes are so obvious. If you’re making or saving more and more money year after year, you’re succeeding in building wealth—right? While this thinking is technically correct, you could be making the process more complicated than it needs to be or are missing out on vital opportunities to build wealth smarter and faster. Here, nine financial experts of Kiplinger Advisor Collective dive deeper on some of the most common wealth-building mistakes that people make and what they would advise people do differently to maximize their wealth-building potential.
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The secret to your retirement income could live in your home’s equity. While saving for retirement is a major financial goal for many, not everyone saves or is able to save enough money to live on by the time they hit retirement age, leaving them wondering how they will manage to pay for living expenses and any unexpected costs that might crop up. A reverse mortgage is one solution to this problem. Instead of making mortgage payments to their lender, homeowners can relinquish their home’s equity back to the lender in exchange for payments they can use to cover their expenses. This can be a tempting solution if you’re worried about how you’ll cover costs during retirement, but it’s not the only solution for supplementing your income, and it may not be right for everyone. So how can you know if it’s right for you? Here, six financial experts from Kiplinger Advisor Collective shed light on the pros and cons of a reverse mortgage and offer up critical questions you should ask yourself first before deciding whether or not to take on this type of solution.
