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Consider Financial Gifts For Grandchildren

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...

 

Winding Down

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 ma...

 

Rain Delays

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...

 

Own A Business? Consider These Retirement Plans

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...

 

What Does It Cost Not To Have Life Insurance?

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...

 

Green Again

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...

 

We're Busy Laboring

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...

 

Should You Invest....Or Speculate?

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...

 

Back To School Means It's Fall??

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...

 

Should You Downsize When You Retire?

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...

 

Getting Back Into The Groove

Or maybe it's more of a rut? I guess that depends on your perspective (or in how you choose to regard your life). In any case, I'm home and the garden is progressing into the over-productive phase....

 

Lollygagging – Again

Lollygag: to spend time aimlessly, idle; to dawdle I’m not sure this most recent very short vacation counts as lollygagging, but that’s what I’m going with. I did spend some slow-moving time (dawdling) in the sun, enough that I came home a bit...

 

Smart Ways To Invest In Bonds

Most investors are aware of the different types of stocks: big-company, small-company, technology, international and so on. And it may be a good idea to own a mix of these stocks as part of your overall investment portfolio. But the importance of...

 

Poor Timing

I’ve discovered that growing a vegetable garden and taking summer vacations doesn’t work out too well. There’s always something that needs harvesting at the same time a fun trip could be had. I may decide to not plant so many veggies next...

 

Help Get Your Teen Started With A Roth IRA

To be successful in most endeavors, it’s important to develop good habits — and that’s certainly the case for investors. And the earlier one develops these habits, the better. So, if you have teenagers who may be starting to work at part-time...

 

Retired?

After spending decades in the workforce, you might look forward to the day you retire. But if you decide, for one reason or another, that you’d like to redefine “retirement” to include part-time work or consulting, you could enjoy exercising...

 

Berry Busy

The raspberries have really come on strong in the past couple of weeks. I can easily spend three hours in the cooler air of the early mornings picking them. Then they need to be rinsed, drained, and frozen. I’ll vacuum-seal them in pints the next...

 

Ooops

I’m tendering apologies. I completely forgot to write a column last week! I can offer several excuses: I’m old; I was busy doing other things (can’t remember what - see previous excuse); I was lazy; I didn’t feel like it; I honestly thought...

 

Cow Chips

If you were not a “country kid” you may not have any memories of the following, however I think that several of us can remember getting to head outside to the pasture on Mom’s baking day to collect “cow chips.” This was not a real...

 

Back To Work

I’m sure not many noticed the lack of a Green Spaces column the past two weeks. If you are one who did, you could blame my sisters (with their husbands in tow) for coming from southeastern Missouri to see us. The first few days here were spent...

 

Special Needs Trust Could Ease Families' Stress

If you have a family member with special needs, you might face emotional and physical issues, but you also may be concerned about maximizing the financial support your loved one requires. Consequently, you may want to consider establishing a special...

 

Rinse & Repeat

Mother Nature seems to be stuck in a wash cycle that features way too many rinses and repeats. The rains just keep on coming. We’re definitely not complaining about the abundant moisture after the past few years of drought. Personally, I’m...

 

There's Always More To Be Done

A lot more has been accomplished up here beyond the Middle of Nowhere, but the end is nowhere in sight. I repeat: there’s always more to be done, especially weeding and mowing. No complaining about the rain is to be tolerated, however. It’s...

 

Should You Consider 401(K) Loans Or Withdrawals?

At some point, you may have more money in your 401(k) than in any other investment. And even though your 401(k) is intended for your retirement, you may one day think you have to tap into your account early — but should you? And if you do, how...

 

Still Busy

There's been a lot more work completed up here this past week, some in the garden and some in the house. And, of course, as mentioned last week, there's still more to be done. The goldfinches are...

 

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