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Holiday Cheer Part I: Unique Gifts for Under $20

12/6/2018

This is the stocking stuffer/small gift follow-up to our really popular "6 Unique Gift Ideas" blast.
Whether shopping for your secret Santa, someone who already has it all so what the heck can you get him/her, or looking for something different to give this year, here are some quite unique stocking/under the tree stuffers for under $20...all recommended by our pals at Good Housekeeping!
Oh...and you who celebrate Hannukah, if you're in need of something for the last few days...we've got you covered!

Pop Socket

Secures the grip of their phone or tablet for texting, calling, photos, and selfies
compatible with all smartphones and Iphones/pads
Works in landscape and portrait modes.

NY Times Monday Crossword Puzzle Book
For the crossword lover in your life who enjoys the Times' easiest puzzles so can't wait for Monday to roll around...a collection of favorite start-of-the-week puzzles in one portable package.

Relative Insanity Party Game
Featured on THE TONIGHT SHOW STARRING JIMMY FALLON, RACHAEL RAY SHOW and others. It’s a hilarious game about crazy family members and even crazier situations...perfect for game nights with friends and family.

Mouse Pad Hand Warmer
Your recipient will never suffer from ice-cold hands at work again. This hand warmer plugs into a USB-port to keep things toasty while she does her computer stuff (comes in pink only...unfortunately).

Himalayan Salt Night Light
Before investing in a full-size Himalayan salt lamp (they can be kind of pricey), introduce your recipient to the trend with this small (but mighty) night light, which helps purify air, boost mood, and promote sleep.

Chocolate Video Game Controller
Perfect for the gamer in your life, this made-to-order chocolate almost looks too good to eat...almost.

Stainless Steel Straws
Plastic straws are out; reusable straws are in. For a practical and environmentally-friendly gift, add this set of four stainless steel straws to her/his stocking.

3-in-1 Avacado Slicer
Gift this to the person with the killer guac recipe. The tool splits and pits avocados on one end and scoops out even slices on the other.

Bring Me Some Wine/Coffee/Beer Cotton Crew Socks for Men/Women
These one-size-fits-all fuzzy socks speak from the sole. Choose the color combination/message that best suits the wine/coffee/vodka/beer lover in your life.

Silk Therapeutic Eye Mask
Made from 100% Mulberry silk, it aced the Good Housekeeping Institute's fabric-strength and abrasion-resistance tests, plus it's temperature-regulating and moisture-wicking to keep them cool.

Lightweight Medium Crossbody Bag
Their editors plus 1,400 other reviews swear by this bag. It comes in 22 different colors, so whether your recipient's style is more neutral or bold, there’s a color option for everyone.

Breakfast Sandwich Maker

Can handle their own choice of fresh ingredients, including eggs, meat, cheese, English muffins, biscuits, small bagels, and more
All parts are removable and dishwasher safe; surfaces are covered with durable, nonstick coating.

TheraFlow Dual Foot Massager Roller

Soothes foot/heel pain from constant standing, plantar fasciitis, neuropathy & other ailments using acupuncture/ acupressure therapy
Perfect for feet of all sizes & weighs only 1.6 lbs
Made of high-quality, polished Theaceae wood. Sturdy, stable & solid construction.

You have been officially alerted....

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Thanksgiving Wishes...Boomer Nation! Style...

11/21/2018

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From Carol, our Producer:
"May your Thanksgiving be filled with lots of great food & family...lovely holiday attire optional..."

From Sheryl, our Production Assistant:
"I hope your Thanksgiving turkey is way a-head of all the rest...!"

From Terri:
"Ah Thanksgiving...food...family...football... OK, football...food...yeah, sure, family...if your team is anything like my Eagles, they'll play pretty much like these guys.

Happy Thanksgiving from all of us to all of you...
...here's to your holiday being as groovy & outtasight as we think you are!

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Everything You Never Knew About Veterans Day

11/8/2018

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The military men & women who serve(ed) & protect(ed) the U.S. come from all gender, religions, & backgrounds; they are spouses, parents, children, grandparents, friends, neighbors, coworkers, and an important part of our communities.

Here are all the facts about the holiday that, to honor our Vets, we do well to know, with thanks to History.com...

Origin & Evolution of Veteran's Day:

Veterans Day originated as “Armistice Day” on Nov. 11, 1919, the first anniversary of the end of World War I;
Unlike Memorial Day, Veterans Day pays tribute to all American veterans—living or dead—but especially gives thanks to living veterans who served their country honorably during war or peacetime;
Congress passed a resolution in 1926 for an annual observance, and Nov. 11 became a national holiday beginning in 1938;
In 1954, President Dwight D. Eisenhower officially changed the name of the holiday from Armistice Day to Veterans Day;
In 1968, the Uniform Holidays Bill was passed by Congress, which moved the celebration of Veterans Day to the fourth Monday in October. The law went into effect in 1971, but in 1975 President Gerald Ford returned Veterans Day to November 11, due to the important historical significance of the date.

About the veteran population of the United States:

16.1 million living veterans served during at least one war;
5.2 million veterans served in peacetime;
2 million veterans are women;
7 million veterans served during the Vietnam War;
5.5 million veterans served during the Persian Gulf War;
Of the 16 million Americans who served during World War II, about 558,000 are still alive;
2 million veterans served during the Korean War;
6 million veterans served in peacetime;
As of 2014, 2.9 million veterans received compensation for service-connected disabilities;
As of 2014, 3 states have more than 1 million veterans among their population: California (1.8 million), Florida (1.6 million) and Texas (1.7 million);
The VA health care system had 54 hospitals in 1930, since then it has expanded to include 171 medical centers; more than 350 outpatient, community, and outreach clinics; 126 nursing home care units; and 35 live-in care facilities for injured or disabled vets.

Finally, It's Celebrated Around the World:

Great Britain, France, Australia and Canada also commemorate the veterans of World War I and World War II on or near November 11th: Canada has Remembrance Day, while Britain has Remembrance Sunday (the second Sunday of November).
In Europe, Great Britain and the Commonwealth countries, two minutes of silence are observed at 11 a.m. every November 11.

To all our listeners who are Vets, & those who have family/loved ones who are Vets, we humbly, proudly salute you.

You have been officially alerted....

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Boomers; Progenitors of...Halloween?!

10/25/2018

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Yes, it's true: we were the first generation to go "trick or treating" so, in essence, Boomers (and our parents) invented Halloween traditions as we know them.
And we know how to do Halloween right.

Kids, that means if you want a fistful of good, un-nutritious candy instead of kale (yep, a woman in VT is dispensing it), an apple, or rice cakes (in our neighborhood, whoever dispensed apples was off the next year's tour list - & luckily rice cakes hadn't been invented yet), you must go to the homes of the people who know what Halloween is all about – Boomers.

But, before I go on about how Halloweeny we are, let's get in the holiday mood with a well written/quite the chuckle recount of how it all began, from columnist Michael Howlett:

"Halloween originated in Ireland and was called Hallow E’en, or All Hollows Eve among the sober people. But, who are we kidding...we’re talking Ireland; there are no sober people...

Folk lore has it that during this pagan holiday the veil between the living and the world of the dead was (veeerry) thin... Because of this, the dead just walked right through the veil to visit the living, which was more thrilling for the dead than the living, who would hide under their beds chugging whiskey.

However, that didn’t stop the dead from a-knockin’ so the Irish decided to try something different. In their drunken state, they ascertained that leaving food and candies for the dead would appease them, and prevent them from making scary noises and performing some nasty tricks, such as cutting off the head of the family horse.

Just in case being nice didn’t work, the frightened people would carve out turnips and rutabagas, and place embers in them to ward off the evil spirits, who would often laugh and joke a great deal before eating the family dog.

The Roman Catholic Church got a little fed up with all this foolishness and created All Saints Day, also called Hallomas, on Nov. 1 and All Souls Day on Nov. 2 in an effort to get rid of this Hallow E’en craziness. However, it didn’t work and the Druid Holiday is bigger now than it has ever been."

And in America, Boomers' influence keeps its popularity intact because we love Halloween. A study by the National Confectioners Association (NCA) shows that people aged 60+ are most likely to hand out candy on the big night. It also shows that we’ve got plenty of candy on hand. Only 37% of Boomers report running out of treats, vs. half of the general population. Groovy

So...given that we were the first generation of trick-or-treaters, we are the first generation of grandparents who have trick-or-treated ourselves. Of course, the NCA study gives another reason Boomer abodes are the best place for good treats: we're also most likely to be home. While 51% of the 18-to-29 year olds will most likely be attending a Halloween party, only 14% of the 60+ generation will be partying away from home.

So to all those out kids who get their trick-or-treat bags full to the brim of all the good stuff, we Boomers gladly say, “You’re welcome!”

You have been boo-fficially alerted....

PS: If you want to hand out candy made in America, go with:

Mike & Ike's,
Tootsie Rolls,
all Hershey's products,
Butter Fingers,
DOTS,
Jelly Belly's & Jelly Belly's Candy Corn, and
Dum Dum pops.

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How to Prepare for a Spouse's Retirement

10/11/2018

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When only one member of a married couple retires, planning and preparation are still necessary - in fact, they're essential. That's because couples often underestimate the social, psychological and financial impact of having a spouse retire.

Income might be cut in as much as half after one spouse retires, so both of you will need to adjust to the reduced cash flow, which can take some time (for many, a year or two...).
The retired spouse will also have considerably more free time than the working spouse, so who does which household chores and how to spend leisure time are likely to change.

Here's how to prepare so the inevitable changes don't take a toll:

Make a New Budget

Usually the amount you two will net will be lower. Do the math based on the retiring spouse's new "take-home" from the monthly amount s/he will be taking from a retirement account and/or Social Security. Better to know now what you'll be working with than after the smaller amount is in play.

Plan Your New Lifestyle

Prepare for the possibility that the new retiree may want to do things the working spouse still won't be able to, so plan for what things you will and will not do able to do together. The retiring spouse and the working spouse need to clearly communicate about shared and separate experiences in order to avoid conflict.

Prepare for Impacts on Your Relationship

Roles and duties could change when one spouse retires. The working spouse may come home after a hard day not expecting to cook and clean, even if that was his/her role previously. You want to avoid "This guy is annoying me because he has nothing to do."

Your personal routines will also need to be adjusted. The retired spouse could become a night owl, staying up late to watch movies, which could disrupt the working spouse, who has to get up early to go to work. An employed spouse might want to relax in the evenings after working all day, while the retired spouse slept in and is eager to go out and socialize. Look ahead as realistically as possible and prepare for what you see.

Have/Update Your Plan for Collecting Social Security

Married couples can coordinate when they sign up for Social Security to maximize their benefit as a couple.

Benefits payments are reduced if you enroll in Social Security in your early 60s. For those who wait beyond 66 or 67, benefits increase every year until age 70. If both spouses are in good health, it's typically recommended that people wait until their full retirement age, 66 or 67 depending upon the actual year born, to claim Social Security benefits. Remember, these decisions are very interdependent, so a good practice is for couples to create a two models: one based on what it would look like to have one spouse claim Social Security versus delay Social Security and vice versa, and one to model what happens to Social Security when one spouse dies.

Plan Ahead to Reduce Your Portfolio Risk

The working spouse might be continuing to save for retirement, but it's also important to protect the money you have already accumulated. Since retirees often shift a portion of their retirement savings to more conservative investments that are less likely to lose money, you will want to decide sooner than later the amount of risk you can tolerate now that one of you is no longer working.

Another thing to consider according to a number of financial planners: If as a couple you fall into a lower tax bracket due to loss of one income, convert some of your traditional 401(k) or IRA savings to a Roth account. The tax on the conversion will be charged at your new lower tax rate, and you won't have to pay taxes on future growth in the Roth account.

And here's a little known option: Since one spouse is still working, s/he can make an IRA contribution for the nonworking spouse in a spousal IRA. You can defer paying income tax on up to $5,500 in a spousal IRA, or $6,500 for people 50 or older. The rules: The couple must be married, file a joint return and have earned income of at least the amount being contributed.

Finally...

Plan for Health Insurance

When one spouse continues to work, both spouses might be eligible for employer health insurance; look into it in advance.

Either way, once each of you turns 65, make sure to sign up for Medicare on time. If someone retires and doesn't file for Social Security until they are over 65, they still must enroll in Part B at age 65. There is a penalty if you don't enroll in time, and it lasts for the rest of your life. For every 12 months you don't enroll, it's a 10% hike.

You have been officially alerted

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Holiday Cheer Part I: Unique Gifts for Under $20

Thanksgiving Wishes...Boomer Nation! Style...

Everything You Never Knew About Veterans Day

The military men & women who serve(ed) & protect(ed) the U.S. come from all gender, religions, & backgrounds; they are spouses, parents, children, grandparents, friends, neighbors, coworkers, and an important part of our communities.

Boomers; Progenitors of...Halloween?!

Yes, it's true: we were the first generation to go "trick or treating" so, in essence, Boomers (and our parents) invented Halloween traditions as we know them.
And we know how to do Halloween right.

How to Prepare for a Spouse's Retirement

When only one member of a married couple retires, planning and preparation are still necessary - in fact, they're essential. That's because couples often underestimate the social, psychological and financial impact of having a spouse retire.

Blog Author

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Categories

Holiday Cheer Part I: Unique Gifts for Under $20

Thanksgiving Wishes...Boomer Nation! Style...

Everything You Never Knew About Veterans Day

The military men & women who serve(ed) & protect(ed) the U.S. come from all gender, religions, & backgrounds; they are spouses, parents, children, grandparents, friends, neighbors, coworkers, and an important part of our communities.

Boomers; Progenitors of...Halloween?!

Yes, it's true: we were the first generation to go "trick or treating" so, in essence, Boomers (and our parents) invented Halloween traditions as we know them.And we know how to do Halloween right.

How to Prepare for a Spouse's Retirement

When only one member of a married couple retires, planning and preparation are still necessary - in fact, they're essential. That's because couples often underestimate the social, psychological and financial impact of having a spouse retire.

Blog Author

Archives

Categories

Yes, it's true: we were the first generation to go "trick or treating" so, in essence, Boomers (and our parents) invented Halloween traditions as we know them.
And we know how to do Halloween right.