Are you having trouble getting your kids to eat vegetables? If so, you have lots of company. But one expert has a pretty tricky solution. Take a look.
Where there's a "Will", There's a Way!
-by Pocahontas
If I ask you when your birthday is you could spout it off in your sleep, couldn’t you? Great. Well let me ask you something else. When is your deathday? *cricket, cricket* Tough one, eh? We know neither the day nor the hour, do we? Well, one thing is for sure. Out of 100 people how many of them are going to die? Yep, all of ‘em. So how many need a will? YES, ALL OF THEM! Would you believe there are people out there who are stumped by that last question?! I hope you weren’t one of them! If you don’t think everyone ought to have a will clearly you’ve never seen or heard of a family fighting over someone’s assets! And even after seeing something like that or hearing bout it happening to someone would you believe there are still people in these United States of America who would tell you, “Oh I don’t need a will because of ‘xyz’ reason”. And ‘xyz’ could range from any excuse as foolish as “I can’t leave my stuff to my spouse because I’m not married” to “I don’t have any money to leave anyone.” Typically, I just look at people like these with my, “Are you kidding me?” face (unless they are my clients then I just break out the stats and educate them.) Regardless of your marital status or your checkbook status, everyone should have a will (and probably a Power of Attorney and Advanced Directive/Physicians Living Will), but for now let’s just concentrate on a will.
There are plenty of people with no spouse in the world. But guess what? Some of them have kids and if you do they are your most precious asset. Shouldn’t you have a written document specifying who takes charge of their care if you don’t come home tomorrow? And it isn’t enough that you told your “mama and ‘nem” to raise them in the event something happens to you. How do you know who is TRULY going to uphold a verbal contract like that when you are six feet under?
Likewise there are plenty of people with only 20 bucks to their name right now, but does that mean they don’t have items of sentimental value or monetary worth like jewelry, keepsakes, etc. that they want to designate to a specific person if God forbid something should happen to them rather than having the cleaning people just come in and trash it once they are gone? If you are married you can’t just assume your husband and/or kids will be the ones to keep your heirlooms. Whose to say there won’t be an argument over it with one of your parents who lay claim to it because they say they bought it for you so by rights it’s theirs. You know they say weddings and funerals bring out the BEST and the WORST in people. So don’t underestimate that sweet mother of yours. Why leave to chance things that a simple piece of paper can solve. If one legal document can ensure all your expectations and requests are met if you are no longer around to carry them out then why don’t YOU have one?
Pocahontas is a licensed Financial Coach and has been in the industry since 2005. She can be reached at pfslynette@gmail.com.
J. Blossom Review - It's Grrrrape!
-by Erica
My family is very much into natural, gentle products because of a history of allergies and other ailments. So I was thrilled to be contacted by the owner of a bath and body company called J. Blossom, which makes products with natural ingredients, including shea butter, lavender, jojoba oil, aloe vera, and vitamin E.
Jamila White started J. Blossom and Co. over a year ago in Bowie, Maryland. Her company offers all-natural bath and body products for girls. Each product is stamped with the picture of an adorable little girl and an affirmation about loving the skin you're in.
Jamila was kind enough to send us samples of the a package of products to try out. Even though the items were originally meant for little girls, I used the grape shower gel on my 2-year-old SON who didn't seem to mind at all. And he really liked the bath sponge that came with it. The scent was very subtle and the gel seemed to be gentle on his skin. The next day we both used the grape lip balm. I also took the body lotion to work, where I slathered it on throughout the day.
Although WE went wild for the grape scent, I have no doubt the others are just as wonderful. Take a look at the J. Blossom website to check out more bath and body treasures.
Moms Selling To Moms: MASSIVE Garage Sales
With everyone trying to save money these days, it's no surprise that garage sales are becoming big business. But today we saw a report on Good Morning America showing that one venue is taking it to another level. Tell us what you think about it after watching this ABC News video .
Babou and Baby
If you have children who are old enough to watch a little television, I hope you've had a chance to catch a series that has become a real gem. I'm talking about Babou and Baby on Nickelodeon. It truly captures the adventures (and misadventures) of bringing home a new baby though the eyes of a preschool sibling.
Each segment comes on between other programs and features 4-year-old Babou. He's the big brother to his little sister Aji. We've been following the series since Babou's family first brought Aji home as a tiny little bundle. Now, she's a year old and Babou is five. Just a beautiful family. Our favorite parts are when Babou shows his strong personality by having a mini-fit and when the large extended family gets together.
You can get caught up and even watch the episodes at NickJr.com . Let us know what you think!
New Golf Champion in the Making
Have you heard of Zakiya Randall? That's OK, you will. The 17 year old is already a golf star. She made history this month by becoming the youngest female to win on the Georgia Golf Amateur Tour against adult men. Read more about her on her website HERE.
Babies R Us is Phasing out BPA Bottles
Babies "R" Us is phasing out BPA-containing bottles and feeding products because of consumer concerns. The national chain says the process should be completed by the end of the year. It is also allowing parents to return any BPA-containing bottles purchased from the store.
So, what's the real deal on BPA? BPA, meaning bisphenol-A, is a potentially dangerous chemical. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration recently decided BPA was not a concern, but the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said earlier this year that BPA might alter an infant's development and cause behavioral problems for infants and children. And just today The National Institutes of Health (NIH) expressed 'some concern' about the effects of bisphenol A on the brain, behaviour, and prostate gland in fetuses, babies, and children. Earlier this year, Canada banned the use of BPA in baby bottles sold there.
No Connection Between Vaccine & Autism
The latest study shows the Measles-Mumps-Rubella (MMR) vaccine does NOT cause autism. That disputes a decade-old study that has been causing panic among worried parents who have considered skipping or "staggering" their child's MMR shots. Read more about the new study HERE.
Which Comes First? The Money or The Plan?
- by Pocahontas
Suppose you took a survey of 100 people at age 65 and asked them, “Do you want to wanted to retire wealthy?” How many of the hundred do you think would say, “Yes”? Obviously all 100! The real question is how many of them do you think actually make it? 10? 25? What if I told you according to the Department of Health and Human Services (who actually did that survey) the answer is 1! Yes, one out of that hundred will retire wealthy. So what happens to the other 99, you ask? Well, 36% of them are still working. Do you think the little gray haired people greeting you with “Welcome to Walmart” are working because they WANT to or because they HAVE to? Now another 54% of them are dependent. Dependent on what you ask? Dependent on things like Social Security (which many call Social “IN”security), family members (ever heard of the elderly having to move in with their daughters and sons?), or friends. Five percent of them are deceased (and we want to stay out of that category as long as possible!) And the other 4% are doing “okay”. This means they were able to at least maintain the same standard of living they had during their working years in retirement. So let’s examine this, shall we? If you look at the statistics closely, you have a better chance of being DEAD than you do “okay” in retirement! And what’s more if you add up the 54% that are dependent plus the 35% still working that equals 90% of our society retiring B-R-O-K-E! Now do you think when these people were in their 20s, 30s and even 40s like you are they thought they’d be broke at retirement? Of course not! Most of them at least thought they’d be in the “okay” category! So then the million dollar question is, “what happened to them?” Let’s examine two main reasons why they failed.
Well, for starters have you heard the saying, “Keeping up with the Jones?” It typically refers to those who are driving cars they can’t afford and living in homes they don’t make enough money to furnish all for “appearance’s sake”. The problem with this is these people don’t know the Jones they’re trying to keep up with are broke! Sure they may appear on the surface to all of us who are on the outside looking in to be living comfortably with all the trappings of a nice life. But if you look deep inside their financial picture you’ll see multiple credit card payments with more going to interest than principal plus little to no savings and investments which add up to a negative net worth. Bottom line, people are blowing money on material things with no thought to the fact that they could be building up wealth.
Also, there’s an old adage that says, “most people don’t plan to fail they fail to plan.” Wouldn’t you agree? People don’t PLAN to retire broke. At age 25 or 35 they are not sitting down with their spouse trying to figure how to have very LITTLE money at retirement. But the problem is they don’t PLAN at all. And a wise person once told me, “a plan is not a plan unless it’s written.” If you have no written financial plan, that’s as bad as trying to drive to Kalamazoo, Michigan with no road map or GPS! A good “financial road map” would answer 3 very important questions:
What is your FIN (Financial Independence Number)? That is the exact amount of money you need to retire at the standard of living you desire.
* How much do you need to be putting away monthly to get there?
* Where do you find the money to do it?
* Ask yourself, “if you were planning to have your dream house built would you rather the contractor use a blueprint or just “wing it”? Then why are you so willing to “wing” your financial house everyday with no blueprint from now until age 65? Think about it.
Pocahontas is a licensed Financial Coach and has been in the industry since 2005. She can be reached at pfslynette@gmail.com.
Maybe Baby: Infertility Part III. The Tx
- by Pocahontas
It’s amusing to hear some of the “old folks” talk about fertility treatments. Since things like Intrauterine Insemination (IUI) and In vitro Fertilization (IVF) didn’t exist back in their day, they often look at these procedures with hesitation and think they would be unnecessary if the woman undergoing them would “just relax which would help her get pregnant the old fashioned way”. But if you are one of the unfortunate women in the world who suffer from an IF diagnosis, you may have to get used to hearing unsolicited “elder” advice and even advice from peers like, “why not just adopt?” when you inform people that you are doing ART (Assisted Reproductive Technology). These misguided and sometimes in appropriate comments can come with the territory. What might actually help instead is to explain the usefulness of such procedures in the lives of hundreds of thousands of women for whom they bring the gift of life in the form of a baby.
IUI and IVF are two of the most popular (yet controversial) ART tx (treatments) in the IF world today. There are others like ZIFT and GIFT that are used far less frequently. So let’s examine what each of these tx entail and which ones suit what IF situations. Remember only an experienced RE will be able to tell what will give you an optimal chance at pregnancy given your circumstances.
IUI stands for Intrauterine Insemination, but you’ll sometimes hear it referred to as “Artificial Insemination” depending on the source. Understanding-infertility.com describes it as the woman being, “ injected with carefully prepared sperm from the husband, partner, or a donor”. This technique can be used in instances where there is a male IF problem (like low motility…meaning the sperm aren’t “swimming” properly) or where the vaginal canal for whatever reason is too acidic for sperm to survive. The sperm is processed, drawn up into a catheter and injected directly into the woman’s uterus bypassing the vaginal canal altogether. Sometimes it is done without any medication. Often times it is done in conjunction with Clomid or an injectible hormone (like the ones described in Part II of this series). The drug is given to help the woman either have a stronger ovulation or ovulate more than one egg to give the sperm “more targets” so to speak.
IVF stands for In vitro Fertilization, and hopefully you won’t have to hear anyone archaically refer to it as “test tube babies” (although you might depending on the generation of the person). It is a more invasive treatment than IUI and is typically used when all other treatment options have not been successful. However, there are some instances in which IVF is the first course of action. These would be cases where a woman has had to have a fallopian tubes removed previously, where both tubes are blocked and unable to be repaired, or in cases of women with their tubes tied who decide they want more children and IVF is their only option. It is also used before other ART techniques when a man has had testicular cancer and may have to rely on previously frozen sperm or has such a low sperm count that ICSI (Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection) has to be used during IVF. ICSI is a procedure in which one single sperm is injected into the egg under a microscope using a needle. During IVF, a woman’s eggs are fertilized outside her womb and requires stimulating her ovulation (typically with injectible drugs), a retrieval of her eggs under conscious sedation or general anesthesia, incubating sperm and eggs together, and then tx’ing the resulting embryos back into the woman’s uterus typically 3 to 5 day later.
ZIFT (Zygote Intrafallopian Transfer) is a similar procedure to IVF except a woman must have healthy tubes for it to work since the embryos are tx’ed into her tubes as opposed to her uterus. For this reason it is sometimes referred to as Tubal Embryo Transfer (TET).
GIFT (Gamete Intrafallopian Transfer) is also similar to IVF and ZIFT except once the woman’s egg is mixed with her partner’s sperm, they are immediately placed back in the fallopian tube which means fertilization takes place there. Whereas with IVF and ZIFT fertilization takes place outside of the woman’s body.
Regardless the ART procedure used to achieve pregnancy, every IF woman’s desired end result is a healthy baby. It may not be as easy for a woman suffering from IF to achieve that result as a woman who has no issues conceiving, but if you have been diagnosed with a problem that makes it difficult to get pregnant, take heart in knowing that technology and medicine have come a very long way and with the right tx, you, too, can experience motherhood.
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