In celebration of “Giving Tuesday” approaches, charities ramp up their efforts to secure funding. So do bad actors wanting to capitalize on both the hectic nature and the genuine altruism of the holiday season. Before you donate to a charity, please consider the following five tips: If a charity pushes you to donate quickly, it’s probably a scam. Take your time and do your research. We recommend Charity Navigator to evaluate an unfamiliar charity. Do not donate to charities that ask you to donate via cash, gift cards, cryptocurrency or wire transfers. If you intend to direct your Required Minimum Distribution to a charity for tax purposes, make sure it is a 501(c)(3) public charity. Don’t trust your caller ID if a charity contacts you by phone. If you’re interested in donating, do not do so over the phone. Ask for contact information or a web address so you can follow up. Be wary of crowdfunding and social media platforms. While these can highlight legitimate needs, they are not well-monitored and can be easy vehicles for people with bad intentions. Ideally, you can take time to plan your annual charitable donations during a less hectic period, so you can research each charity thoroughly and understand the impact of your donation. If you have any questions about charitable donations, please contact us. We’d be glad to help.
General
Speed kills on the information superhighway too
Speed kills. We learn this before we even put a key into the ignition for the very first time. Speed limit signs show up everywhere on streets and highways. They encourage us to slow down, consider our surroundings and proceed with caution. Speed also kills on the information superhighway. It is the single most obvious indicator of maleficence. If you are contacted by someone either via email, text, messenger or phone call and told you must do something quickly to avoid a disaster, resist the urge to comply. With even just a little time, you can calm down, assess the situation, contact the authorities to confirm a problem even exists and then proceed. A common scam involves a government entity, the IRS for example, contacting a victim, demanding money for a phantom infraction and telling them it must be paid promptly through a gift card or wire transfer. These bad actors threaten their victims with arrest, deportation or suspension of a business or driver’s license. In many cases, the caller becomes hostile and insulting. They ask for immediate responses to their questions, which are designed to elicit important account and personal information. The caller, texter or messenger becomes increasingly demanding and insists that you provide the information they request immediately or else. If you remember the two words you learned in your first driver’s ed class – speed kills – you will know it’s time to hit the brakes on this conversation. Hang up. Log out. Do not reply. Block and report the person who contacted you. You are allowed to give yourself a little time to think. Then, contact your bank, your tax preparer, the IRS or whatever entity that was cited in the conversation you just had. Contact them directly and ask about your account status. Report the alarming conversation you just had to the police. Sometimes, your best defense against a sophisticated scammer is just a deep… | Read More »
Life lessons from a lemonade stand
We could all learn a lot from the evolution of the lowly lemonade stand. Still manned by cute kids on hot summer afternoons, many lemonade stands have gone high tech. If you look closely at those hand-lettered signs, you might see a QR code directing you to a secure payment site so you won’t have to let your lack of cash limit your order. Social media marketing also helps drive traffic to the stands. Some lemonade stands even offer online ordering and, of course, curbside pickup. As a result, those cute kids are raking in the dough. More than 55,000 of them are also taking advantage of an app run by the non-profit Lemonade Day, which guides them through social media influencing, investing, marketing, advertising, online orders and even philanthropic efforts to promote their brand. Today is National Lemonade Day and one way we can celebrate it is to support a neighborhood stand. Another is to look at areas in our life where we could apply a lemons-to-lemonade philosophy. And, rather than shake our head at the ways modern technology is changing the world, we can look at opportunities to embrace those changes and use them to augment our own lives. The wise use of technology has made budgeting, tacking investments, planning retirement, scheduling appointments, keeping in touch with family members and a whole host of daily activities much more manageable. That’s the lemonade part of the lemons we face when technology challenges us. If we put the work into understanding how new technology works, why it’s necessary and what dangers lurk in its wake, we can enjoy benefits we might not even have imagined. Happy National Lemonade Day! Whether you get your lemonade from a stand down the street, order it from an app, or make it yourself, we hope you have a very refreshing day. And, if you’d like information about how technology can make retirement planning easier… | Read More »
Five ways to make next year’s “Cheer Up the Lonely Day” obsolete
We live in a world of almost constant communication, yet we face an epidemic of loneliness. This dichotomy of an ever-increasing means of connection and decreasing feeling of community has led to multi-generational isolation. Last year, the American Medical Association identified loneliness as a public health issue. In a 2023 Gallup poll, 24 percent of young adults report feeling lonely and in a similar poll by the Michigan Institute for Healthcare Policy one in three adults aged 50–80 (34%) reported feeling isolated from others. Eleanor Rigby, the titular character in Paul McCartney and John Lenon’s classic 1966 tune, would have plenty of company today. She’d also have plenty of concerns. A study released this week from the Harvard School of Public Health noted that adults older than 50 years who report experiencing persistently high levels of loneliness have a 56% increased risk for stroke. Previous studies have linked loneliness to other health risks including high blood pressure, heart disease, obesity, anxiety, depression and memory issues. Fortunately, we have plenty of ways to combat loneliness. Some of them are as simple as a phone call, text or letter. July 11 is National Cheer Up the Lonely Day and we can think of several ways to celebrate it. Organize a simple neighborhood potluck. Reach out to an old friend. Pop a couple of “I’m thinking of You” cards into the mail. Plan an outing for one of your regular group chats. Invite someone you know to volunteer with you at a local charity. One small step out of your comfort zone can lead to giant leaps away from loneliness. Invite someone to take a class with you, see a show, watch a ballgame or take a walk. Most people have really interesting stories to tell if you treat yourself to a conversation with them. Let’s work hard on this year’s “Cheer up the Lonely Day” so we can render next year’s obsolete.
The best advice our fathers gave us
We’re big advocates for (and providers of) formal financial education. Classes, books, blogs, and podcasts all offer great opportunities to learn about how to make, save, grow and spend your money. We don’t think anyone should ever stop learning. We also know that we learn some of the most important lessons before we even leave our childhood homes. In honor of Father’s Day, here are some of the lessons our staff has learned from their dads: Kris Kersten To put money aside every month in a different account for Christmas, a car or a vacation, so you have it available when you are ready to use it and not go in debt! Tanya Winch Pay your bills on time; under almost all circumstances, do not purchase property with an ARM loan; be curious and aware of Uncle Sam’s tax rules; find work you love and/or learn to like the work you are given and, most importantly, be a conscientious & good steward of all you are blessed with. Sam Winch Spend less than you make. Christian Peterson When I was just out of college my father said to me, “Start now saving 10% of your salary and you will retire a millionaire.” (and a million dollars back then was a lot more money than it is now!) Sandy Shultz My dad always had another job in addition to his full-time job teaching…he saved that money he made from his part-time gigs to pay extra money on the mortgage and would use it for fun things (vacation, boat, etc). He still calls it his “left pocket money!” Beth Gorr Always have a safety net of a few months of bills – you never know when you are going to need it. No one can take away what you put upstairs. And don’t put off what you can do today to tomorrow. Matt Weyers No one can take away what you put… | Read More »