With Your Family in Mind

People of all ages have decided to jump start there summer by starting a new career as a dental assistant.

“Do what you can, with what you have, right where you are.” – Theodore Roosevelt

Ever wonder how child support laws came to be?  When children would be abandoned; or a mother left on her own unable to support her children; and charities couldn’t provide for all; the government ended up paying the cost.  Where did the government’s money come from?  It comes from the taxpayer, of course. 

You’ve planned your summer vacation.  Now let’s do a checklist:
1. Clothing: List generically, per day.  Then lock in specifics.  Some clothing can be rinsed out in hotel rooms or sent to a hotel’s laundry.

Robins Financial is an independent financial services company of financial professionals who are Certified Public Accountants (CPA’s) with added specialization in financial services including the AICPA Personal Financial Specialist (PFS) and the Certified Financial Planner (CFP©) designations. 

In addition to addressing the current housing crisis, the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 makes changes to reverse mortgages, including higher borrowing limits and protections from aggressive marketing.  A reverse mortgage allows a homeowner who is at least 62 years old to use the equity in his or her home to obtain a loan that doesn’t have to be repaid until the homeowner moves, sells, or dies. 

June is the month of new beginnings.  Summer is here and weddings and honeymoon trips are taking place.  For some, it is the most wonderful time of the year.  For some children however, this month is not a time of excitement and happiness.  When school ends and friends leave, some children feel lost and alone. 

Hitting bottom is a term used in addiction recovery to define the moment of realization an addict has when he sees himself objectively for the first time as a true addict who can and must recover.  It is a moment when that crystallizes into the realization that, “I cannot live like this for a single moment more…”

Great questions about the voiceover business are always coming in from The Magazine of Santa Clarita readers.  This month, a voice actor asks about funding his V-O demo.  

Does balancing your checkbook frustrate you?  Is it hard for you to track your appointments, be on time, prioritize your activities?  Do you forget what your boss asked you to do?  These may be indications of a processing disorder. Understanding your processing strengths and weaknesses can help you to find methods to get through your daily or work activities in a more efficient manner.
Everyone can benefit from understanding why they do things the way they do and why some things are a challenge. 

In a family law case involving children, the parties should always try to work out custody arrangements without involving the court.  If they are unable to do so, one of the parties will eventually file papers asking the court to resolve the dispute.  The judge will then issue a temporary custody order, called a “pendente lite” order, which remains in effect until changed by the court, written agreement by the parties, or until a final judgment is entered at the end of the case.

The Santa Clarita Valley Senior Center’s Adult Day Care and Resource Center (ADCRC) provides a safe and cheerful social outlet for adults with Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s, post-stroke, and other chronic conditions requiring supervision and care.
Staffed by its skilled, supportive team, the State of California-licensed day care also offers a precious bonus for caregivers, who are generally elderly spouses or busy adult children with families and careers: valuable weekday windows of time for tending to their own (frequently overlooked) needs. That’s a crucial benefit for reducing the physical and emotional stress levels associated with care-giving.   

When putting together your estate plan, you may want to consider making a bequest to charity.  The vast majority of people leave all of their assets to their children when they pass away.  The desire to provide for one’s children is understandable and universal.  However, carving out a small amount for charity can make a significant impact for the greater good.  

Here in the Santa Clarita Valley we enjoy one of lowest crime rates in the country.  Still burglaries do occur here.  My advice is never think that it can’t happen to you.  Although no actions you take can definitely prevent your home from being burglarized, there are some simple proactive measures that work well as deterrents.  These include the following:
• Install and use a security system.

Every child deserves to have a safe, loving and permanent home.  With 129,000 children currently in foster care and many unable to return to their families of origin, Children’s Bureau is seeking caring families to consider adoption of older children and large sibling sets. 

My mother spent several days in a hospital recently.  She recovered, and her discharge home was timely and appropriate.  Thankfully, she is doing well.  But, there are many patients who are not so lucky.  Many are discharged from the hospital too early, and their health suffers.  It is important to remember that hospitals have a strong financial incentive to discharge Medicare patients as quickly as possible.  Medicare generally pays hospitals flat rates based on the type of medical problem being treated.  If the hospital spends less money on your care than Medicare pays, it makes money. 

In a Chapter 7 case, debtors must list all their assets on their bankruptcy forms.  Debtors must also indicate all the exemptions (protections) that apply to their assets, both real and personal property.  
Assets include all interests of the debtor, both legal and equitable.  Some examples of assets include houses, condos, vehicles, timeshares, bank accounts, retirement accounts, income that has been earned but not yet received, and even claims against others that have not been collected or may be disputed.

The current recession has forced many companies, especially those in the financial services sector, to trim their ranks.  After all, getting fewer people to do more work has an immediate impact on the bottom line.  And that has many people worried.
For those that do find themselves in the position of seeking new opportunities, the highest priority may not be the company’s benefits package, stock options, or corporate perks.  Instead, today’s job hunters may only be interested in one thing: job security.

Some of the best advice that I have ever received was found in a short quote that I read some years ago which simply said, “Plan your work and work your plan.” Of course I did not realize at the time that in order to do this I had to have three qualities – patience, discipline, and structure.  As I began to plan my work and work my plan in various areas of my life, I discovered that it was impossible to do without patience, discipline, and structure.  I quickly discovered that I was going to need an incredible amount of patience.  Why?  Because nothing is accomplished overnight.