Have you lost your religion?

 No matter what your faith is or is not, no matter where in the world you are, I want you to know that during this special time of the year your beliefs will be with you. In the eyes of every child and the melody of every song. Small children show us every day the love they share for each other.

As they explore and learn about this amazing world we live in, they experience the joy that radiates to all those around us. Watch a toddler for a while and put yourself in their position. They see the joy in the jelly bowl as it shakes when they push on it, they see the wonder of the puppy as it runs up to them and licks their face. 

The hardest part of growing old is losing your religion and forgetting your youth and becoming angry. "Losing my religion” is an old southern expression for being at the end of one’s rope, and the moment when politeness gives way to anger. We need to keep our religion and still, as toddlers do see the joy in the glimmer in the ice crystals, the rays in the sun, and the stars at night.

And see the good in your humankind with each smile you see, every hug you receive, and every laugh you hear, Try reaching out through another, with blessings and tidings which should last you the year.

Keep on Winking

 A pharmacist comes back from his lunch to the pharmacy. As he approaches, he sees a man outside the pharmacy clutching onto a pole for dear life, barely breathing, not moving, not twitching a muscle, just standing there, frozen.

The pharmacist goes up to his assistant and asks: "What's the matter with that guy? Wasn't he in here earlier?"

"Yes, he was." Replies the assistant. "He had the most terrible cough and none of my prescriptions seemed to help."

"Well, he seems to be fine now." "Sure, he does. I gave him a box of laxatives. Now he won't dare cough!"

A distraught senior citizen phoned her doctor’s office. "Is it true," she wanted to know, "that the medication you prescribed has to be taken for the rest of my life?"

"Yes, I’m afraid so," the doctor told her.

There was a moment of silence before the senior lady replied: "I’m wondering, then, just how serious is my condition because this prescription is marked ‘NO REFILLS."

An elderly woman went into the pharmacy. When the pharmacist asked why she was there, she replied, “I’d like to have some birth control pills.”

Taken aback, the pharmacist thought for a minute and then said, “Excuse me, Mrs. Smith, but you’re 75 years old. What possible use could you have for birth control pills?”

The woman responded, “They help me sleep better.”

The pharmacist thought some more and continued, “How in the world do birth control pills help you to sleep?”

The woman said, “I put them in my granddaughter’s orange juice and I sleep better at night.

A man goes in for an interview for a job as a TV news broadcaster. The interview went quite well with one problem - he kept winking at the camera. The interviewer said, "Although you have a lot of the qualities we're looking for, the fact that you keep winking is a real problem. I'm afraid we won't able to hire you unless you get it under control."

"Oh, that's no problem," said the man. "If I take a couple of aspirin I stop winking for a couple of hours. More than enough time to get the broadcast done."

"Alright, show me," said the interviewer. So, the man reached into his pocket.

First, he put his hand in his right pocket, and as he took it out, he pulled out loads of condoms of every variety and size, but no pills. Next. he dug into his left pocket, and again pulled out an embarrassing number of condoms in all shapes and colours before finally finding the packet of aspirin.

He took the aspirin, and the second take went without a single hitch. The interviewer said, "That's amazing, I'd hire you on the spot, except that we're not in the habit of hiring such womanizers. We've had too many sexual harassment suits."

"Excuse me!" exclaimed the man, "I'm a happily married man, not a womanizer!" "Well how do you explain all the condoms, then?" asked the interviewer.

The man sighed. "Have you ever tried going into a pharmacy, asking for aspirin, and winking all the while?"

For more great jokes go to https://www.ba-bamail.com/jokes/ 

Questions, more questions and finally more questions, and no answers...

It’s Time to Change How We Talk about ‘Retirement,’ Starting with the Word Itself. It’s been said going down a mountain is twice as perilous as going up it, and we find the same to be true for retirement planning. For the bulk of someone’s working career, it’s straightforward as people are in saving mode without too much concern about the swings of the market.

As the finish line approaches — or starting line, however, you look at it — you are now tasked with converting assets into income and making sure there is enough income to last (while keeping up with inflation) over a potentially 30+ year period, all in the context of the other pitfalls that could pop up if not addressed. Hopefully, however, with careful planning, one can go into retirement checking off their “peace of mind box®” knowing that these issues have been addressed and enjoy the retirement of which they have always dreamed.

Turning 50 often can act as an important milestone for people to really take a hard look at different aspects that may impact them In our 50’s retirement is often at the forefront of our minds as they are looking at our finances can be an exciting aspiration Though, as you get five to eight years from retirement, the “margin for error” on planning mistakes become less and less and the questions to ask become more critical.

Ask yourself and your Financial Advisor

1. What are your plans for retirement? Are you confident you are on the right path?

a. If you were unable to live in your current location, where would you want to go?

b. Have you considered if you could maintain a household alone if necessary?

2. Do I have enough saved for retirement? If not, with likely five to eight years left, what course corrections must be made today?

a. Is my money in the right places? Is it diversified properly? Am I taking on more risk than I need to (or should)?

b. What are your planned sources of retirement income?

c. Do you have any sources of debt? If so, what are they?

3. What percentage of my retirement income versus expenses will be guaranteed income (pensions, Social Security, income annuities, etc.) versus drawing down assets from accounts that can fluctuate?

4. Is my estate planning up to date? Is it correct?

5. Should I have life insurance that will continue beyond retirement?

6. What type of insurance coverage do I have (life, long-term care, Medicare, Life)?

a. What might long-term care cost me down the road, and how could I handle a potentially $10,000+ per month extra bill for a couple of years, for example, if need be?

7. Is my retirement plan ready for the impact of me or my spouse dying and what the reduction in Social Security would mean for the surviving spouse?

8. Do you have a written retirement plan?

9. Are you now working with an investment planning professional?

10. When should I collect the government benefits (Social Insurance, Canada Pension, etc.?

These are just some of the issues to consider when turning 50, or whatever age you find yourself seriously starting to consider retiring in the next five to eight years (or less). As much emphasis is placed on saving and investing, there often are other important areas missed in planning as mentioned, such as life planning (what goals do I want to reach, what do I want to do to leave a legacy,) state planning, life insurance and long-term care, to name a few. The earlier you start to think about these issues the better but remember it is never too late to plan. I started to plan for retirement about 8 years before I retired and was able to focus for those eight years to make my retirement what I wanted it to be.

It is nice to be popular

 When I was growing up and still to this day, I use the saying “It is nice to be popular, but it is hell to be the rage.” I am involved in many activities as I am sure most of you are. Over time I have discovered the gift of being able to say no to those activities that are interesting but not exciting and yes to those activities that are both interesting and exciting.

I realize that the ability to say no may not be seen as a gift by some. When someone is passionate about their idea, and they say to you “do you realize, you're right in the middle of living your greatest story yet” with the passion and zealousness of a fanatic, they become surprised when you say no. However, just because someone is passionate about an idea, does not mean that you should be caught up in another person’s dream. The idea is to find your own dream.

When you find your own dream and work hard at trying to achieve it you should be satisfied with accomplishing your goal. However, if your dream is to become famous then once you do whatever it is that makes you famous, people will show up in droves, strangers will know your name, your friends may place you on a pedestal you can say the legend has begun. Be careful what you ask for because it is nice to be popular, but hell to be the rage.