Childhood Christmas traditions

Christmas is my favorite holiday.  It was a big deal and a special time in my childhood home on our farm in Iowa.  Our family Christmas traditions were sacred.

  • My family always had a real Christmas tree.  Sometimes we bought one and sometimes my Dad trudged out in the deep snow and cold to find a suitable cedar tree for the honor of being propped up in a metal stand in our living room.  It was prominently placed typically in front of the south-facing picture window so everyone driving on the gravel road past our home could see it.
  • All seven of us kids decorated the Christmas tree.  We loved it when our Mom brought out the old Christmas ornaments and we fought over who would carefully place the most special glass ones on the tree.  We also had several hand-made ornaments.
  • I think all of my sisters and my brother have stories about trying to find hidden Christmas presents.  I know I always tried to peek when my Mom wasn’t around.  If she found us peeking we were punished by having to stand in a corner.  Sometimes all four corners of the living room had a kid in it facing punishment.

    Christmas traditions
    slc
  • My Mom baked year ’round but Christmas was an extra special time for baking.  Decorating Christmas cookies cut out with the old silver cookie cutters was a delightful time.  She also always made the most delectable pies.  The crust was so flaky which was possibly due to using the bacon drippings she saved in a can next to the stove.
  • For weeks, my siblings and I practiced for the Christmas Eve program at church.  This was an annual tradition and the center stage of our celebration.
  • Just hours before this church program I fondly remember receiving one gift from our Mother.  The gift was new clothes which we would wear to the church program.  As the fourth-born child whom nearly always wore hand-me-downs, a beautiful new dress was a dream come true.

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Christmas cards and letters–a thing of the past?

Christmas cards
slc

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas!  Last week I wrote and mailed my annual Christmas cards and letters.  I have sent cards and letters almost every year since the early 80’s.  Back then I probably sent out 40-50 cards and received about 20-25 from family and friends.  Now, I send about 20-25 and receive about 5-10.

Facebook is probably one reason most people don’t send out cards or letters.  It seems most people find it easier and cheaper (no cost for cards and stamps) to send out invitations, birthday and holiday greetings through social media.  Also, we know more about everyone’s lives because of Twitter and Facebook so there isn’t the need for the annual update.  However, I still enjoy receiving and sending cards and letters.  I guess that makes me “old school” or old-fashioned.

When I stopped by Walgreens to pick up the photos I ordered to send with my annual letter, the clerk said, “Oh, you are old school,” when I told her the photos were for my annual Christmas letters.  I proudly replied, “Yes, I guess I am.”

How about you?  Do you still send or receive Christmas cards?  Are you “old school?”

Shingles gave me one of the worst Christmases ever!

shingles
webmd.com

Last year, on or about December 22nd, I was diagnosed with shingles, also called herpes zoster, within 48 hours of noticing a red, itchy rash and small fluid-filled blisters on my inner thigh.  I did not experience a lot of pain but my doctor prescribed acyclovir and triamcinolone acetonide cream for the blisters.  If that wasn’t bad enough, the doctor told me I could not attend Christmas services at my church because I may be seated near someone who was pregnant or was on a cancer drug.  Nor could I be around my grandchildren for about 10 days as the two youngest had not yet received their chicken pox vaccinations.  I was devastated and basically quarantined which caused me to have one of the worst Christmases ever.

I took down the Christmas tree and the most of the decorations which I had joyfully put up before the shingles.  It made me even more depressed to look at them. One of my neighbors graciously invited me to join her at her daughter’s house for Christmas, but I just wasn’t up to it.  It would be over two weeks before I celebrated Christmas at my home with my family.  They were fearful of contracting or passing on the zoster virus.

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Inflation protection

inflation protection
fidelity.com

Is inflation a risk to your retirement?

It is important to understand the risk that inflation may pose to your retirement income.

Fidelity Viewpoints, December 14, 2016

“For much of the last decade, inflation has been low by historical standards. But, recently, wage growth and higher prices have sent signs that inflation may be making a comeback, serving as a reminder of the risks that come when the buying power of a dollar falls. Such risks always exist, even when they don’t seem so obvious.

If you are a retiree or are planning your retirement, the effects of inflation can be pernicious. Inflation can eat away at spending power. That isn’t necessarily a problem. Some retirees actually see their spending decline as they get older. Still, retirees should at least be aware of the risks posed by inflation. When you are a retiree, you can no longer seek out higher wages to offset higher prices. You have to rely on the inflation protection of your pensions, Social Security, annuities, investments, or other income sources. Consider strategies to maximize these inflation-protection features; otherwise your ability to maintain your lifestyle may decline over time.

Some research suggests that people don’t understand the inflation protection provided by common retirement income sources. A survey from the Financial Literacy Center found that more than 40% of people did not understand how Social Security payments react to inflation—never mind pensions, annuities, or investments.”

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Interest rate hikes affect bonds and other markets

What the Fed’s move may mean

The Fed raised rates, and expects the pace of hikes to pick up in 2017. What could it mean for bonds?

Fidelity Viewpoints, December 14, 2016

“For the second time in roughly a decade and the first time in a year, the Federal Reserve has voted to raise interest rates. Treasury bonds, which had already seen sharp losses since the election in November, saw yields climb in trading after the announcement.

While the rate change at the December meeting was widely anticipated by the market, the future path of rates, and what it may mean for bonds and other markets is less certain. Viewpoints caught up with Fidelity Government Income Fund Manager Bill Irving, to get his take on the December meeting, the path forward for the Fed, and what it may mean for investors.”  Read more

I think it is premature to call the end of the three-decade bull market for bonds.

interest rate
fidelity.com

Enjoy life to the fullest

“After C.S. Lewis became a Christian, he wrote about his experience in a book fittingly entitled Surprised by Joy.  He once said, ‘Joy is the serious business of heaven.’  The Bible reminds us that Jesus ‘for the joy that was set before him endured the cross’ (Hebrews 12:2).

For the fullest possible happiness, give yourself completely to this Master of Joy.  Trust your whole life to Him.  Read His words, follow His ways, talk to Him, and He will irradiate your personality with “joy unspeakable and full of glory” (1 Peter 1:8).

enjoy life
liveaflourishinglife.com

To enjoy life to the fullest:

  1.  Live for a great purpose.
  2.  Read the passages of joy in the Bible.
  3.  Practice victorious tranquility.
  4.  Avoid the things that destroy happiness.
  5.  Bring happiness to others; it will rub off on you.
  6.  Accept God’s gift of joy and demonstrate it in your life.
  7.  Try the seven-day mental diet, refusing to say anything negative  for one week.
  8.  Walk with the Lord of joy and live in His Spirit.”

Peale, Norman Vincent and Donald T. Kauffman.  Bible Power for Successful Living: Helping You Solve Everyday Problems, Peale Center for Christian Living, 1993.

Retirement tax planning

retirement tax planning
money.usnews.com

Retirees’ Tax Puzzle:  Pay Now or Later?

by Kim Blanton

Squared Away Blog, Center for Retirement Research at Boston College

December 1, 2016

“The majority of retirees pay no federal taxes. But taxes should be a concern for retirees who have retirement savings. That’s because the money they take out of their retirement accounts for living expenses will be treated as federal taxable income. It’s difficult enough to figure out how much money to withdraw – and when. Taxes are a separate but related issue.  

In this blog, we interviewed Michael Kitces, a well-known financial adviser and partner with a Maryland financial firm, who writes the ‘Nerd’s Eye View blog. He discusses the basics of navigating the tax code. The challenge facing retirees is to make tax decisions today that will minimize taxes now and in the future.

Question: Do you find that new retirees are surprised by their retirement tax situation?  

Kitces: It’s usually not even on their radar screen. Pre-tax and post-tax income, different tax buckets – I don’t think most people even think about it once they’re in retirement. That’s why we’re still seeing people who are ‘surprised’ when they turn 70½ and the required minimum distributions (RMDs) begin, and their tax bill gets a whole lot higher. They say, ‘Why didn’t we plan for this?’ We say, ‘We’ve been recommending you plan for this for years!’

The reality is that while we’re working, we don’t think about taxes a lot – the first time you get your paycheck, you notice the difference between what your boss said you were going to get paid and what you take home. You get over that and then work for 40 years, and you just get used to your after-tax cash flow and lifestyle. But when you get into retirement, you have to think about whether accounts are pretax (traditional 401(k)s and IRAs) or after tax (regular bank accounts) or tax free (Roths), and how to draw them down. There’s nothing natural about it.”

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