Serving Proudly As The Voice Of Valley County Since 1913
Serving Proudly As The Voice Of Valley County Since 1913
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For the second week in a row, I was asked what I'd be writing about in my next column. And for the second week in a row my answer was, "I don't know." This speaks to my mastery of the art of procrastination. I should start jotting daily notes: "What did I do today? Is it something that might remotely relate to gardening?" But I probably won't do that, either. I'll stick with my bad habits. I'll suddenly realize it's Sunday afternoon/evening, and the column still hasn't been written, and I'll...
You may spend decades contributing to various retirement accounts. But for some accounts, such as a traditional IRA and 401(k), you must start withdrawing funds at a certain point. What should you know about this requirement? To begin with, the rules governing these withdrawals — technically called required minimum distributions, or RMDs — have changed recently. For many years, individuals had to begin taking their RMDs (which are based on the account balance and the IRS’ life expectancy factor) when they turned 70½. The original SECURE Act of...
I’m enjoying the indoor greenery, but I’m not talking about bringing a tree into the house. I know many people are putting up their Christmas trees at this time, or have already done so. I’m not one of those. Since we’ve been spending the holiday season with our daughter and family in Florida, my artificial tree hasn’t been out of storage for years. My shooting star Hoya has been trying to bloom for the past six weeks, but kept dropping the buds before they opened. I decided the cause was lack of proper drainage. I purchased clay beads (re...
It’s definitely not gardening weather. I don’t even want to mess with my houseplants, really. Oh, I’ll water them, but there’s no repotting going to happen anytime soon. I just don’t want to deal with the mess potting soil and water makes. The indoor greenery is really loved, though, and I am able to harvest fresh basil, parsley, and rosemary. The catmint and two small dill weeds I’d added to the window box with the other herbs elected not to live. When I brush up against the surviving herbs, the scent they release is heavenly. And that makes...
We all make mistakes in many areas of life. These mistakes are usually fairly harmless — we took a wrong turn while driving, used the wrong ingredients in a recipe and so on. But sometimes, our mistakes can be costly — especially those connected to investing. Here are some of the most common investment mistakes: • Too much buying and selling – Some people find it exciting to constantly buy and sell investments in the pursuit of big gains. Yet, frequent trading can work against you in a couple of ways. First, it can be expensive — if you’re al...
If you’ve invested in an IRA for many decades, it may well turn into a key source of income for your retirement. Still, you might not deplete your IRA in your lifetime, especially if you also have a pension or a 401(k) and other investment income. So, if your IRA still has sizable assets after your passing, it would likely end up in your estate plan. If you leave your IRA to grown children or other family members, could they be hit with a big tax bill? Here’s a little background: Up until the Secure Act of 2019, those who inherited tra...
Lately my column has only been printed every other week. I could get used to only writing (blathering?) twice a month. Is that considered bi-weekly or bi-monthly? I didn't know, so I looked it up. It seems either term would work. Both mean "every other" or "twice each" month or week. That can be very confusing. The English language is messed up. Either way, I only get a check once a month (and that goes into the bank for the grands). So there's my nugget of good information for you this week....
It’s not as well-known as Halloween, but National Retirement Security week happens every October – the third week, to be precise — and while it doesn’t involve ghosts and goblins, it does deal with something even more frightening: the risk of not being able to enjoy a comfortable retirement. Through various events, this occasion highlights ideas about building retirement security. What steps can you take? Here are some suggestions: • Don’t underestimate your longevity. Consider this: 65-year-old men can expect to live another 20 years, whil...
Editor's Note: This column was submitted on Oct. 22. We took a trip out to Crescent Bar, which is just past Quincy, Wash., on the far side of Spokane. Dennis's baby sister lives there. Although we didn't do much beyond visit and golf, we enjoyed the vacation. Next trip there, I'll insist they take us to at least one of the many local wineries. One of the golf courses is watered by a center pivot irrigation system. There were semi-paved grooves where the wheels of the pivot roll through. At the...
Well IRMAA is NOT a beautiful woman! IRMAA (Income Related Monthly Adjustment Amount) is a surcharge added to the Medicare Part B and Medicare Part D standard premiums for persons who have incomes above the income thresholds set annually by the Social Security Administration. These thresholds are calculated using a person’s MAGI (modified adjusted gross income) from the two years prior as reported on your federal income tax returns. The MAGI combines your adjusted gross income (AGI) and any non-taxable interest earned during the year. In 2024 t...
Editor's Note: This column was submitted on Oct. 18. The hard freeze last week has finished off my gardening for this year. I’m sure it finished off everyone’s gardening as well. We saw it drop to 19°, which was a good 7° colder than predicted. I’d spent Wednesday pulling squash, pumpkins, a few late cucumbers, a lot of green peppers, and what I knew would be the last harvest of husk cherries, as well as moving the remaining houseplants back inside for the winter. The tomatoes got covered...
If you’re a long-term investor, your portfolio may stay fairly stable over time. However, that doesn’t mean you will never sell any investments. But when should you sell — and why? Here are some scenarios to consider: • If an investment has consistently underperformed – For one reason or another, some investments may not live up to your expectations. Rather than holding these investments in the hope that they will eventually show consistently positive returns, you might be better off selling them and using the proceeds to buy other investments...
Managing your finances and investing for your future are important tasks — and they can be challenging. But you don’t have to go at it alone. Many people benefit from working with a financial advisor, someone who knows their needs and goals and makes appropriate recommendations. If you’re considering getting some help, you’ll want to ensure a particular financial advisor is right for you, so it’s a good idea to ask questions. Here are some to consider: • Have you worked with people like me? All of us are unique individuals. Yet, you do shar...
Paying for health care can be challenging — but are you taking full advantage of all the resources available to you? You might have access to a Health Savings Account (HSA) or a Flexible Spending Account (FSA), so let’s look at both. An HSA is a personal savings account used to pay health care costs. If you’re enrolled in a high-deductible health plan, you also may be eligible to contribute to an HSA. You aren’t taxed on the money you put into this account or on the earnings generated from your contributions, as long as withdrawals are used for...
Editor's Note: This column was submitted Sept. 24. Fall arrived with some measurable amounts of rain last week. That doesn't always happen. We'd finished our wheat harvest before this last wetting, plus there's some winter wheat planted, so the rain is making us happy. I have not yet finished harvesting good things from the garden. There are still potatoes and carrots to dig, as well as tomatoes and husk cherries (aka prairie gooseberries) to pick and enjoy. I've pulled all the moon flower plant...
If you have grandchildren, you probably enjoy spending time with them and watching them grow. And to help them achieve a bright future, you might like to make some financial gifts — but which ones? You have several options. Let’s look at three of them: • 529 plans – When you invest in a 529 education savings plan, any earnings growth is distributed federally tax free, as long as withdrawals are used for qualified education expenses. (Withdrawals used for expenses other than qualified education expenses may be subject to federal and state t...
A big part of ending a gardening season is clearing out those items that are done for this summer. All my cornstalks have been dug up and hauled away. While doing that, I found enough small ears to make another half-batch of frozen corn. (I'll correct my mis-info from last week: the recipe is from Helen Blankers, who was a cousin of my mother-in-law. I discussed this with Aunt Nina this past week, and have made a note on my recipe card.) Also, while clearing the corn, I found evidence that there...
The wheat harvest has been on hold for the past week. We'd had rain on the Monday of Labor Day weekend, which prevented our continued laboring. (We slept most of that day, catching up.) It rained again the next weekend, further delaying our returning to labor with a combine. The rain delays did not stop the harvesting in my garden. It did cause several of my cherry tomatoes to burst open upon picking, such that they had to be discarded. The ones that hadn't burst open were taken to the banquet...
If you own a small business or are self-employed, you’ve always got plenty to do, but you can’t forget about the days when you’ll be less busy — that is, when you’re retired. How can you prepare for that time of your life? One key step is establishing a retirement plan for your business or yourself. And thanks to the 2022 SECURE 2.0 Act, you can now receive tax credits for opening and administering a 401(k), SEP-IRA or SIMPLE IRA. These aren’t the only plans available for small businesses or sole proprietors, but they are among the most popula...
It’s probably not on your calendar, but September is Life Insurance Awareness Month. And that means it’s a good time to become more aware of the benefits of having life insurance — and the dangers of not having it. Unfortunately, confusion about some of the basic elements of owning life insurance may be keeping people from getting the protection they need. More than half of uninsured Americans say they have put off purchasing coverage because they don’t know what to buy or how much they need, according to Life Happens and LIMRA, two nonprof...
Editor's Note: This column was submitted for the week of Aug. 30. I’d mentioned a while ago that my multiple summer trips had left my lawn rather parched, with multiple brownish patches. I’ve now stayed home long enough to have kept the sprinkler going. Combine that with those few cooler days, with some natural rain and even fog up here, and the lawn is again green and fairly lush. Granted, it’s not springtime lush, when the snow is newly melted and we’ve enjoyed the spring rains. But for this time of year, I’m pretty happy with it. Dennis got...
Whose bright idea was it to schedule the holiday to honor the laborer right during farmers’ (our local laborers) busiest time of year? While everyone else gets a long weekend to celebrate, us farmers are laboring over our harvest. If you haven’t thought about it (or listened to farmers’ conversations), let me point out that this is our yearly paycheck time! We don’t get bi-weekly or monthly paychecks, this is all or nothing for the entire year until next harvest. We aren’t about to let the crops set in the fields an extra day (or three) in...
You’ll find some big differences between traditional and speculative investments — and knowing these differences can matter a great deal when you’re trying to reach your financial goals. To begin with, let’s look at the basic types of traditional and speculative investments. Traditional investments are those with which you’re probably already familiar: stocks, bonds, mutual funds, government securities, certificates of deposit (CDs) and so on. Speculative investments include cryptocurrencies, foreign currencies and precious metals such as g...
It seems to me as though once the kids are heading back to school Mother Nature decides it’s time for cooler weather. I guess that makes the kids appreciate their new warm school clothing. That cooler weather only lasts a few days, though. The early mornings will be cool, but afternoons still get quite warm. This results in lots of jackets and sweatshirts being left behind, to the dismay of moms everywhere. This change in the weather has me thinking about all the houseplants I have parked outside and how I’m really going to cut down on the num...
When you retire, you’ll experience many changes — should one of them involve your living arrangements? The issue of downsizing is one that many retirees will consider. If you have children, and they’ve grown and left the home, you might find yourself with more space than you really need. Of course, this doesn’t necessarily mean you must pack up and scale down yourself. You might love your home and neighborhood and see no reason to go. But if you’re open to a change, you could find that moving to a smaller house, a condo or an apartment...
