Robert J. Cullen

A compelling curiousity to learn about life in its largest dimensions led Bob into journalism early in his working career where he was paid to travel and research and report his findings to varying audiences. His travels included two and one-half years sojourn in Oslo, Norway, where he surprised many English-speaking Norwegians by becoming fluent in their native language.

His years of living and working in Norway were followed by three and one-half years writing, photographing and editing in central Europe for The Stars and Stripes daily newspaper and Overseas Life, an English-language travel and entertainment magazine.

Though living in Europe proved thrilling, Bob knew he would return to the United States to establish roots. This included moving to California and eventually marrying Elizabeth, a native of Pasadena.

Marrying a woman from Pasadena fulfilled a vow Bob made during his teen years. Bob grew up on a dairy farm in Minnesota which featured brutally cold winters with lots of snow. As a teenager Bob watched annual TV broadcasts of the Pasadena Rose Parade which featured many attractive young women wearing short-sleeved dresses and waving sweetly from flower-covered floats. "I told myself that I was going to move out there and marry one of those pretty girls," he says, "and that's what I did."

During his time with Stars and Stripes, Bob discovered his talent for photography and won honorable mention in the Armed Forces worldwide annual photography competition. His entry "Howling with the Horns" shows a hunting dog with his nose pointed heavenward howling in unison with German hunting horms signaling the beginning of the hunt.

Bob earned his professional designation, Certified Financial Planner(tm), during the late 1980s while writing for national financial and computer publications. During the early 1990s Bob learned about the financial, legal and emotional challenges facing individuals as they near the last years of their lives. To educate families and other professional advisors about these challenges, Bob in 2004 wrote Saving Mom & Dad...and You, a unique book that covers the confusing spectrum of long-term care in America today.

With the assistance of his four-person staff, Bob assists literally hundreds of families each year with heart-wrenching end-of-life financial and legal decisions. Commensurate with his life-long practice of simplifying complex issues for families, Bob developed Put it in a Box(tm), an interactive question-and-answer template that allows individuals to self-gauge their potential eligibility for long-term care financial assistance.