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• September 1, 2016 • Oceana’s Herald-Journal
Viewpoints: yours & ours 5 ways to encourage good finaicnal habits in your children
How often do you discuss money with your children? If your answer is “not often,” you’re not alone. There is an opportunity to help your children form strong spending and saving habits at an early age, and doing so can have a concrete impact on their futures. For example, recent research suggests that children with savings – even as little as $1 to $499 – are four times more likely to go to college than children with no savings at all. There are many reasons why it’s beneficial for children to learn how to manage money from a young age, and getting started sooner rather than later can drastically shape your children’s financial futures for the better. Here are five ways you can encourage your children to develop good saving and spending habits. Find a balanced allowance. One reliable rule of thumb for weekly allowance is to give your children $1 for each year of their age. For example, if your child is eight years old, you would give her or him an allowance of $8 a week. Of course, one size does not fit all, and you can adjust this allowance to fit your family rules and values. Reward them for saving. Back-to-school By Nathaniel Sillin shopping presents a great opportunity to Practical Money Matters teach your children how to differentiate wants from needs. Set a firm school shopping budget, and make a list with your children of what they need for school. Go over their list to see which items are really necessary versus which items are wants. Once you’ve determined what they need, help them calculate how much is left in the budget to spend on wants. Consider rewarding your children by giving them the surplus money to spend as they choose – but only if they’ve covered all of their necessary supplies first. If you have a teenager who’s hoping to drive a new car soon, consider matching his or her savings. Take them to the bank. Middle school is a good time to replace that savings jar with a savings account, and if your children have been saving cash for years, it can be very rewarding to take that money to the bank or credit union and open their first account with it. This is a great way to introduce them to the concept of interest, and how savings accumulate over time when left unspent. Visit the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s website for more information on savings accounts for children. Talk to your children about essential expenses. As your children enter high school, you may want to consider delving into more complex financial concepts with them. If your teen has a paid job, review their paycheck with them and explain where the money goes and why – for example, if money is withheld for tax purposes. Or talk to them about the larger expenses on the horizon, whether it’s a car or college tuition, and discuss all the financial pros and cons of these investments. Help them earn their own money. Earning income through hard work is one of the best ways to learn the true value of money. Encourage your children to earn money, whether it’s through setting up their own lemonade stand, doing chores around the house or neighborhood, or, if they’re teens, getting a part-time or summer job. This helps your children supplement their allowance and teaches them the real-life value of working. Bottom line: Learning how to save and spend wisely is crucial to good money management, and teaches other important values. The best way to help your children build solid financial skills is through practical, age-appropriate lessons, which are relevant as they grow into young adults.
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Of all the American educational system’s problems, none is more severe than the academic year beginning before Labor Day,
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— P. J. O’Rourke —
Publisher/Advertising Mgr.:
Jim Young
Editor:
36th Year — No. 32
Andrew Skinner
September 1, 2016
Community Media Group, Inc.
Published weekly at 123 State St., PO Box 190 Hart, Michigan 49420-0190 231-873-5602 E-Mail: editor@oceanaheraldjournal.com www.oceanaheraldjournal.com Office hours: Monday - Friday 9 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. and 2-5 p.m. Periodicals Postage Paid at U. S. Post Office Hart, Michigan 49420 Subscriptions: payable in advance, $47.50 per year in Oceana County, $54 per year outside Oceana County, $63 per year outside Michigan. E-Edition $47.50. Single copy price $1.50. Postmaster: All subscription correspondence, including change of address form 3578, should be mailed to Oceana’s Herald-Journal, 123 State Street, PO Box 190, Hart, Michigan 49420-0190. Deadlines: All display advertising 1 p.m. Monday before publication; contributed news items, 5 p.m. Friday; classified advertising, 4 p.m. Mondays. The Herald-Journal reserves the right to accept or reject any advertising. Contributed news items will be evaluated and printed for their news value. Member: Michigan Press Association — The National Newspaper Association
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Spec-ulation The other day I happened on a scene in this old 1940s movie, I don’t know the name of it, where there were two women and this guy. One of the women was a gorgeous hottie. The other was a plain Jane. The hottie didn’t wear glasses. The plain Jane did. It turned out the hottie was a reporter, the guy was her editor, and the plain Jane was, guess what, his secretary. Those were the days, I reflected, when the movies relegated any woman who wore glasses to non-sexual status. The famous literary wit Dorothy Parker made the immortal observation, in the 1920s: “Men don’t make passes at girls who wear glasses.” It seemed to be the rule society lived by. You know. Women with glasses were either teachers, or secretaries, or librarians, or old maids. Glasses were such a stigma, and for good reason. Up until the 1950s, they were ugly as sin—wire rims or tortoise shell frames, or no frames at all and that was it. A woman looked 20 years older in the specs of the day. So did children. If you’ve ever looked through your mother’s, or your grandmother’s high school year book, you know what I’m talking about. A girl of 17 who wore glasses looked 35—and a frumpy 35. By Mary Beth Crain There was no umph, no style to the oldContributing Writer fashioned glasses. You only wore them if you were desperate, because not only did they ruin your looks—you got teased and taunted unmercifully by your classmates, who dubbed you “Four Eyes.” In the 50s, though, glasses started acquiring personality. By today’s standards they were still ugly—although, since retro is always “in,” 50s glasses have been remade into a fashion statement. It was the time of the glittery, more colorful frames with the pointy ends, which was what my first pair of glasses looked like. I was 8 years old, so it had to be 1959. I had quite a few eye problems, and when the ophthalmologist finally prescribed glasses, they weren’t just any glasses. They were bifocals. And in the days before progressives, the line between distance and reading vision was clearly visible on the lenses. I think I cried when I heard I had to wear them. But at least I got to pick the frames, and I remember those vividly. They were a blend of brown and pink, with glitter, and they were stylish enough to impress my classmates. I don’t remember anyone ever calling me Four Eyes, anyway. By the late 60s, glasses really took off. The frames were bigger and bolder, and came in all sorts of fancy shapes. I have photos of myself in high school and college, wearing these boisterous hexagonal-shaped glasses, which seemed to go perfectly with my long, frizzy hair and tie-dye dress. There was also the alternative trend in specs—granny glasses. Anyone remember those? Granny glasses were tiny and oval-shaped, with wire frames and lenses that ranged from clear to colored, and they became the rage of the counterculture when John Lennon started wearing them. I remember buying a pair when I was in high school, at the hippie boutique at the mall. It was stupid because, since they weren’t prescription, I couldn’t see squat with them, but I’d parade around in them anyway, bumping into walls but feeling oh so cool. The 60s was also the era of contact lenses. Contacts were to eyes what the pill, another huge 60s breakthrough, was to sex—liberation. I got my first contacts when I was around 18 and I was so excited—for the first time since I was a little kid,
my eyes wouldn’t be hidden behind those damn bifocals. And I did have lovely eyes—large, brown and sparkly, with long eyelashes. Unfortunately, contacts in those days were a royal pain, literally and figuratively. The lenses were rigid, and felt like grains of sand unless you constantly used artificial tears. If you dropped one, good luck finding it; how much time contact wearers have spent on their hands and knees in their lifetime is probably inestimable. Eventually, for the sheer convenience, I went back to glasses. By the way, I’ve always been interested in the history of medicine, and once did research in the history of contact lenses. Did you know that they’ve been around in some form or other since 1508, when Leonardo da Vinci invented a waterfilled glass hemisphere that fit over the eye? It wasn’t practical enough to use for more than a minute, but through succeeding centuries, scientists and inventors fooled around with contacts. The big problem was that none of the experiments allowed oxygen in to the eye, so the contacts couldn’t be worn for any length of time. I’ll never forget this picture I found in one book. It was a Civil War-era Daguerreotype portrait of a woman wearing the contacts of the day—glass spheres that fit completely over the eye. She was positively bug-eyed, and looked absolutely miserable. It was totally creepy. But since in those days, a photograph was a big deal, she probably felt the torture was worth it. Better bug eyes than ugly glasses. In the 70s and 80s, glasses got so big it looked like you were wearing goggles. They took up half your face, but alas, I couldn’t take advantage of the trend because my prescription was so strong that they made giant glasses too heavy to wear. The super-thin and light lenses we’re used to were still unknown, and I had to suffer with lenses that were just this side of Coke bottle bottoms. What’s amazing to me is how the perception of girls who wear glasses has changed so dramatically since Dorothy Parker coined her famous saying. Today, women in glasses are hot. You’ll see them all the time on TV shows and in ads—beautiful, charismatic, proudly flaunting the latest styles in eye wear. I love getting glasses. Today’s frames are dazzlingly varied—you can find any style for any mood. They’re accessories, just like jewelry or purses or shoes. After I had my cataract surgery, I had a ball picking out new glasses at Wal-Mart. I chose a pair of adorable purple frames with shiny pieces of pink and caramel that looked like crushed hard candy. Which explains the name of the style: Hard Candy. I can’t tell you how many compliments I’ve received: “Wow—cool glasses!” has become a standard greeting. And going back to Dorothy Parker: while I was never the most popular kid in school, I never had any trouble getting dates. And in college, I managed to land my first husband, Bob Crain, a veritable Adonis. When I met him, I was a gawky freshman and he was an incredibly cool upperclassman. With his curly blond hair, big blue eyes, handsome face and chiseled athletic build, I never dreamed he’d give me a second look. But he was the sweetest guy in the world, and he liked me. And I wore glasses. So there you have it—the “view” on glasses, past and present. In closing, I’ll share one of my favorite jokes, that’s as old as the hills but somehow never fails to amuse: Did you hear what happened to the girl who fell into the lens grinding machine? She made a spectacle of herself!
Tips from Social Security when applying for disability Becoming disabled and unable to work is a very stressful time in one’s life. There are so many questions and unknowns when you have to transition out of the workforce due to medical issues. While an employer may offer short or long-term disability, most people faced with a disability will file for benefits with Social Security. If you’re facing life with a disability and don’t know where to start, we encourage you to visit www.socialsecurity.gov/ disabilityssi. After reading about Social Security disability, if you’re ready to file, you can do that online as well. When applying, be prepared to answer a number of questions including: When your conditions became disabling: Dates you last worked; The names, addresses, phone numbers, and dates of visits to your doctors; The names of medications that you take and medical tests you’ve had; and Marital information. In addition, if you plan on applying for Supplemental Security Income (SSI) By Vonda VanTil disability payments, for people with low Social Security Public income who haven’t paid enough in Social Affairs Specialist Security taxes to be covered, you will answer questions about: Your current living arrangement, including who lives there and household expenses; All sources of income for you and your spouse, if applicable; and The amount of your resources, including bank account balances, vehicles, and other investments. You can view our disability starter kit at www.socialsecurity. gov/disability/disability_starter_kits.htm. Remember, we are there when you might be faced with one of the hardest obstacles of your life. Social Security helps secure today and tomorrow with critical benefits for people with severe disabilities, not just during retirement. Learn more at www.socialsecurity.gov. QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS Question: How much will I receive if I qualify for Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits? Answer: The amount of your SSI benefit depends on where you live and how much income you have. The maximum SSI payment varies nationwide. The maximum Federal SSI payment for an eligible individual is $733 a month and $1,100 a month for an eligible couple. However, many states add money to the basic payment. For more information, go to www.socialsecurity.gov/ssi. Question: What can I do at www.socialsecurity.gov? Answer: There are many things you can do on Social Security’s website. You can conduct most of your Social Security business with us online at www.socialsecurity.gov/onlineservices. You can get an estimate of future benefits, find out if you qualify for benefits now, and even apply for benefits. You can complete a number of other tasks online, too, including replacing your Social Security card in some states. You can estimate your retirement benefit using our Retirement Estimator, which allows you to get an instant, personalized estimate of your future benefit based on different retirement ages and
scenarios. You can even open your own my Social Security account to plan for and manage your benefits at www.socialsecurity.gov/myaccount. Question: My child, who gets Social Security, will be attending his last year of high school in the fall. He turns 19 in a few months. Do I need to fill out a form for his benefits to continue? Answer: Yes. You should receive a form, SSA-1372-BK, in the mail about three months before your son’s birthday. Your son needs to complete the form and take it to his school’s office for certification. Then, you need to return page two and the certified page three back to Social Security for processing. If you can’t find the form we mailed to you, you can find it online at: www.socialsecurity.gov/forms/ssa-1372.pdf. Question: Is it illegal to laminate your Social Security card? Answer: No, it is not illegal, but we discourage it. It’s best not to laminate your card. Laminated cards make it difficult — sometimes even impossible — to detect important security features and an employer may refuse to accept them. The Social Security Act requires the Commissioner of Social Security to issue cards that cannot be counterfeited. We incorporate many features that protect the card’s integrity. They include highly specialized paper and printing techniques, some of which are invisible to the naked eye. Keep your Social Security card in a safe place with your other important papers. Do not carry it with you. Learn more at www.socialsecurity.gov. Question: I noticed that my date of birth in Social Security’s records is wrong. How do I get that corrected? Answer: To change the date of birth shown on our records, take the following steps: Complete an Application For A Social Security Card (Form SS-5); Show us documents proving: U.S. citizenship (if you have not previously established your citizenship with us); Age; and Identity; and Take (or mail) your completed application and documents to your local Social Security office. Note that all documents must be either originals or copies certified by the issuing agency. We cannot accept photocopies or notarized copies of documents. For details on the documents you’ll need, visit www.socialsecurity.gov/ss5doc. Question: I haven’t received my Social Security Statement in the mail the last few years. Will I ever get one again? Answer: In September 2014, Social Security resumed mailing Social Security Statements to workers ages 25, 30, 35, 40, 45, 50, 55, and 60 who aren’t receiving Social Security benefits, and who don’t have a my Social Security account. Rather than once every five years, those over age 60 will receive a Statement every year. Instead of waiting to receive a mailed Statement once every five years, we encourage people to open a my Social Security account at www.socialsecurity.gov/myaccount so they can access their Statement online, anytime. Vonda VanTil is the Public Affairs Specialist for West Michigan. You can write her c/o Social Security Administration, 3045 Knapp NE, Grand Rapids MI 49525 or via e-mail at vonda.vantil@ssa.gov