Local Opinion Editorials

If you are, or will be, a caregiver for elderly parents or another close family member living with Alzheimer’s disease, you may experience some emotional stress – but you also need to be aware of the financial issues involved and what actions you . . . 

Now in theaters, Little centers on successful CEO and entrepreneur Jordan Sanders (Regina Hall) and her assistant, April (Issa Rae). After she was bullied as a child, Jordan grows up to be a pretty big bully herself, berating and belittling her employees . . . 

We’re getting close to the tax-filing deadline. For many of us, this means it’s that time of year when we get our biggest financial windfall – a tax refund. If you have recently received a refund, or are expecting to get one in the next few weeks, . . . 

Recently, I subscribed to HBO Now for a month in order to watch the new documentary that I wrote about last time, The Case Against Adnan Syed. Having now seen all four episodes of that documentary, I still think that it is a high-quality, interesting . . . 

In Us, Adelaide Wilson (Lupita Nyong’o, Madison Curry, Ashley Mckoy) gets lost in a carnival funhouse when she is little and encounters a girl in one of the mirrors who looks just like her, but evil. For years afterward, she struggles with PTSD and . . . 

Spring is here – and for many of us, that means it’s time for some spring cleaning. This year, in addition to tidying up your home, why not try brightening your financial environment? Some of the same moves you make to clean your surroundings may . . . 

Ideally, retirement is a time someone anticipates eagerly – a reward for a lifetime of hard work and solid financial planning. But nearly half of workers who haven’t reached retirement yet aren’t that excited about the so-called golden years. . . . 

In Greta, Frances McCullen (Chloë Grace Moretz) is grieving her mother’s death and trying to get on her feet in New York City when she finds a lost handbag on the subway. Despite her best friend and roommate, Erica’s (Maika Monroe), protests (“This . . . 

When it’s time to do your estate planning – and it’s actually never too soon to begin – you may find the process, at first, to be somewhat bewildering. You’ll have many questions: What sort of arrangements should I make? Who should get what? . . . 

In V, Ali Davis (Taraji P. Henson) is a sports agent who gets passed up for partnership in the agency and is told that she does not connect well with men. The next day, at her friend’s bachelorette party, she talks to a “psychic,” Sister (Erykah . . . 

As you work toward achieving your goals in life, you will need to make moves that contain financial, tax and legal elements, so you may want to get some help – from more than one source.

Specifically, you might want to put together a team comprised . . . 

This Valentine’s Day, instead of going to the theater to see a standard romantic comedy, you might choose instead to see Isn’t It Romantic? the sendup of romcoms starring Rebel Wilson, Priyanka Chopra, and Liam Hemsworth.

In the movie, Natalie . . . 

Think about your loved ones. What will their future be like? Can you picture them living in your house many years from now? Can you picture your children going to college? Can you picture your spouse or partner enjoying a comfortable retirement? These . . . 

When interest rates rise, the value of your fixed-income investments, such as bonds, will typically fall. If this happens, how should you respond?

First of all, it’s important to understand this inverse correlation between interest rates and bond . . . 

In my last column of the 2018, I am reviewing two movies that each focus on difficult relationships between women that come to disastrous (in the case of The Favorite) or heartwarming ends (in Dumplin’).

The Favorite reminded me of a cross . . . 

As the year winds down, you may want to look ahead to see which areas of your life you can improve in 2019. Perhaps you’ll decide to exercise more, eat healthier foods, reconnect with old friends or volunteer at a school or charitable organization. . . . 

Winter is here again – which may make you wish you were somewhere else. You might be thinking how pleasant it would be to become a snowbird and move to a warmer climate for the season. Of course, your stage of life will help determine if you are . . . 

It was the day after Thanksgiving. As a police officer, Samuel was preparing to go on patrol, but he had to fill out the required reports first. Paperwork was the thing he hated most. He much preferred to be out on the streets. He finished his reports . . . 

I spent some time last weekend waffling over going to see The Nutcracker and The Four Realms. In the end, I decided that if I was going to watch the feature-length equivalent of a perfume ad, I’d rather spend that time on terrible made-for-TV Christmas movies. Traditionally, Hallmark has cornered this market, but in the last few years, Netflix has been getting in on the game.

As I embarked on my quest to round up of the best/worst cheesy Christmas movies on Netflix, my husband, Julio, (who had never seen one of these movies) joined me. After listening to him complain about the poor acting (“It’s like they learned how to act from Joey! I think I saw one of them do ‘‘smell the fart’ acting’!”), I had to explain to him that there is a formula that these movies generally follow:

Two leads who will presumably fall in love + a tragic ending to a prior romance and/or a failed business/creative dream + magic and/or meddling relatives = everyone is happy by Christmas. End under the mistletoe.

Julio noted that if Netflix has started making movies based on this Hallmark model, then we can perhaps assume that the poor production value is intentional. “That’s the point,” I said. So, as we turn the corner from Thanksgiving towards the Holiday Season, I would like to offer a brief guide to the best and worst cheesy Christmas movies on Netflix this year. Just please keep in mind that the line between best and worst is really very thin in this genre.

The Holiday Calendar stars Kat Graham, Quincy Brown, Ethan Peck and focuses on a young photographer languishing in a holiday portrait studio when she wants to be doing her own art. Her grandfather (who you might recognize from This is Us) gives her an antique advent calendar that might have magical powers. As the calendar gives daily gifts, they have striking connections to the events of her day and her budding romance with a handsome doctor. Meanwhile, she reconnects with her best friend and starts to get on her feet in her photography career. Until she almost messes it all up. This movie was very charming and features a wonderfully diverse cast, built around funny family dynamics that give it a lot of hominess as a backdrop for the romance. Of all the movies I watched so far this year, it was by far my favorite. It had a nice dose of magic without getting out of the control with sweetness or romance.

Christmas with a View was the worst movie I watched this year. It stars Scott Cavahiero, Kaitlyn Leeb, Vivica A. Fox, and the dad from Step by Step. The film is the story of a pretty restaurateur and a handsome celebrity chef who fall in love in a resort town. There is some family drama added for good measure, and an incredibly bland villain. In general, the plot did not hang together very well and the acting was terribly wooden. With all the options out there, I would skip this movie.

Holiday Breakup was far quirkier than I expected, and in a fun way. It stars Manon Mathews (doing her best impression of Debra Messing), Shawn Roe, and Katie Leclerc. The movie has a different perspective and an offbeat sense of humor that sets it apart from the norm, as it follows the rise and fall of the romance between Chloe and Jeff. The pair breaks up on Halloween, then, instead of dealing with everyone pitying them over the holidays, they pretend to still be together. The parents are awful. The drama is high. The humor is pretty silly, but it would be a good palate cleanser after all the standard Christmas romances.

A Christmas Prince made a bit of a splash last year, as it became incredibly popular despite having the kind of low production value that suggests they didn’t even have a script supervisor. The movie stars Rose McIver and Nate Atkins and tells the story of a mediocre journalist who goes undercover to find out the truth about a rambunctious prince. The story that unfolds is silly, romantic, and requires a lot of suspension of disbelief. This year there’s the sequel, A Christmas Prince: The Royal Wedding. I’m saving it for when I’m wrapping presents.

Finally, there’s Christmas Inheritance which stars Eliza Taylor, Jake Lacy, and Andre MacDowell and tells the story of a socialite who wants to take over her father’s company, but is pretty irresponsible, so she first has to jump through a lot of hoops and do plenty of good deeds to prove her worth. It has faint undertones of Scrooge and is very corny, but delivers some pretty good laughs.

If you want to up the ante on our own movie marathon, there is a Hallmark movie drinking game readily available on the internet. You could always adapt it with hot cocoa if you like to watch with kids. Enjoy!

If you participate in a pension plan at work, you might be offered a buyout at some point. This could happen if your employer wants to shrink its future pension obligations or if your company has been bought, and your new employer decides to terminate your existing pension plan. In either case, you will likely have two main options: You can take your pension as a lump sum of your accrued benefits, or you can convert it to an annuity, which can be structured to provide you with a lifetime income stream. Which choice is best?

There’s no right answer, but here are some factors to consider:
Comfort in investing – If you take your pension as a lump sum, you can invest it yourself – but you’ll be solely responsible for making the money last throughout your retirement. To help ensure your lump sum is invested in a way that’s appropriate for your goals and risk tolerance, you may want to work with a financial professional.

Other sources of retirement income – If you don’t think you will have enough money from other sources – such as Social Security and your investment portfolio – to meet your essential living expenses during retirement, you may want to consider taking your pension funds as a lifetime annuity. (Keep in mind that the lifetime income payments from an annuity are subject to the issuer’s ability to meet its commitments.) Conversely, if you think your retirement income will be more than sufficient to meet your living expenses, you could take the lump sum and put it in a mix of investments, some of which could offer long-term growth potential.

Projected longevity – If you come from a long-living family and you are in good health at the time of your pension buyout, you may want to annuitize your pension to provide a source of income you can’t outlive. However, if you anticipate a shorter life span, possibly due to your family’s medical history, you might be better off by taking the lump sum.

Wealth transfer goals – You might not be able to transfer a pension’s annuity payments to your children or grandchildren. On the other hand, by taking the lump sum and investing it, you might have assets remaining at the time of your death – and you can include these assets in your estate plans.

Taxes – If you take your pension buyout as a lump sum, it will be taxable as ordinary income, unless you roll it over to an IRA or an employer’s qualified retirement plan. A direct rollover from your employer’s pension plan to your IRA provider won’t incur immediate taxes and can allow your investment to grow on a tax-deferred basis. Consult with your tax advisor before making this rollover. (Eventually, you will be taxed on the withdrawals, and withdrawals made before you reach 59 ½ may be subject to a 10% tax penalty.)

It’s worth noting that some pension plans may allow you to split your benefit between an annuity and a lump sum, although these plans seem to be in the minority.

Clearly, you’ll have much to consider if you’re offered a buyout of your pension. So, take your time, evaluate all the factors, and work with your tax, legal and financial professionals to reach the decision that makes the most sense for you.

This article was written by Edward Jones for use by your local Edward Jones Financial Advisor.

Currently, there is a flurry of documentaries about criminal justice reform. On Hulu, v, directed by Stephen Maing, follows a group of NYPD officers who go against the department in an effort to bring down an illegal quota system that was leading to a disproportionate number of people of color facing tickets, summons, and jail time for minor infractions, real or otherwise. The sprawling documentary covers not only the officers and the cost they paid for speaking up, but also citizens who were adversely affected by the quotas. It takes a deep dive into how this system came about and how the group of officers pushed back.

Although thoroughly researched and made with a keen attention to detail, often the pace of Crime + Punishment is so slow and the scope so large that the story became hard to follow. I have a lot of interest in the subject matter and I even found myself drifting. I do recommend the documentary for those interested in the subject, but a more easily digested approach to the topic can be found in the recent episodes of the podcast Reply All, “The Crime Machine Part I” and “Part II”. The podcast covers the story in a simpler and more engaging manner that makes the complicated turns of the story easier to follow.

A documentary that I recommend more enthusiastically is Bombshell: The Hedy Lamarr Story, directed by Alexandra Dean and streaming on Netflix. Hedy Lamarr was a gorgeous Hollywood actress who worked for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer starting in the late 1930s. She was also a bit of a genius and, with no formal training, she invented a frequency-hopping system that was used in Naval ships and later helped in the development of Bluetooth and WiFi. The documentary covers Lamarr’s career, inventions, and her lifelong struggle with mental illness. Her story is a fascinating look at a woman who defied expectations and is both timely and compelling. The documentary navigates the complicated story with sufficient detail and sympathy and produces a portrait that resonates with some of the issues around gender and creativity of our time, too.

If the fall weather and longer nights still have you in the mood for something supernatural, both Hulu and Netflix have a series for you to stream.

On Hulu, Light as a Feather is a good option for fans of shows such as Pretty Little Liars. Light as a Feather centers on a group of high school girls (Liana Liberato, Brianne Tju, Ajiona Alexus, Peyton List) who play a game of Light as a Feather, Stiff as a Board on Halloween night and, one by one, begin dying in ways described by new student Violet Simmons (Haley Ramm) during the game. As the girls cope with their grief, they also get caught up in a web while investigating Violet’s secrets and lies. The show starts out strong as the creepy elements and the central mystery get the audience hooked. As the episodes progress, however, the story gets more juvenile. The acting is on par with other TV teen dramas, as is the production quality, which is to say that the show is entertaining, but not especially high-quality.

Netflix’s The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina is a bit more sophisticated of an option. The show stars Kiernan Shipka (who you probably remember as Sally from Mad Men) and is a new incarnation of Sabrina the Teenage Witch and features a darker tone and a mid-century vibe. The acting on Sabrina is often oscillates between wooden and cheesy, but the story is intriguing and the style of the show is both eye-catching and fun. I was hooked by the moment in the pilot when Sabrina and her friends dissect the political undertones of the zombie movie they’ve just watched. The show has many winks like that for the audience, making it a clever, if sometimes also silly take on the teenaged witch. The show also has some eerie or scary moments that contribute to its darker, more mysterious tone. This is not the Sabrina we enjoyed on TGIF, but it is definitely worth trying out.

We’ve still got a couple of months left in 2018, but it’s not too soon to start thinking about some year-end investment moves that might benefit you. Here are a few possibilities (although not all will apply to your situation):

Add to your IRA. For the 2018 tax year, you can put up to $5,500 into your traditional or Roth IRA (assuming you are eligible), or $6,500 if you’re 50 or older. If you haven’t reached this limit, consider adding some money. You have until April 15, 2019, to contribute to your IRA for 2018, but why wait until the last minute?

Increase your 401(k) contributions. You already may be investing in your 401(k) or similar employer-sponsored retirement plan, but you might be able to bump up your contributions for the rest of the year, if it’s allowed. Of course, you should always put in enough to earn your employer’s matching contribution, if one is offered.

Take your RMDs. If you are 70½ or older, you must start taking withdrawals – called required minimum distributions, or RMDs – from your traditional IRA and your 401(k) or similar retirement plan. Generally, you must take these RMDs by December 31 every year. But if you turned 70½ in 2018, you can wait until April 1, 2019, until you take your first RMD. However, you will then have to take a second RMD (the one for age 71) by December 31, 2019. Taking two RMDs in one year could give you an unexpectedly large taxable income for the year, possibly bumping you into a higher tax bracket and affecting the amount of your Social Security benefits subject to taxes. So, if you are considering delaying your first RMD, consult with your tax advisor.

Make changes in response to life events. In 2018, did you experience a major life event, such as a marriage, divorce or addition of a child? Or did you change jobs or retire? Any of these events could lead you to adjust your investment plans, so now may be the time to do so, possibly with the help of a financial professional.

Review your investment mix. At least once a year, it’s a good idea to review your investment mix to ensure it’s still suitable for your goals and risk tolerance. Sometimes, even without your taking any action, your portfolio might change in ways you hadn’t expected. For example, suppose you wanted your portfolio to contain 60% stocks and 40% bonds and other investments. After a period of rising prices, though, the value of your stocks may have increased so much that they now occupy 65% of your portfolio – which means you may be taking on more risk than you had originally intended. Consequently, you may need to rebalance your portfolio to get back to your original 60% to 40% ratios. (Keep in mind that these figures are just for illustration; everyone’s ideal portfolio mix will depend on their individual situations.)

These aren’t the only year-end moves you may want to consider, but they can help you close out 2018 on a positive note. Plus, they can serve as a reminder that you need to be vigilant as you keep working toward your financial goals.

This article was written by Edward Jones for use by your local Edward Jones Financial Advisor.

“No live organism can continue for long to exist sanely under conditions of absolute reality; even larks and katydids are supposed, by some, to dream. Hill House, not sane, stood by itself against its hills, holding darkness within…” Netflix’s The Haunting of Hill House begins with the opening lines of the Shirley Jackson’s novel of the same name, but from there it diverges dramatically, creating a series that is different in plot, but similar in tone, theme, and scariness.

The series takes place during two time periods: two months in the early 90s when the Crain family lived in Hill House while they worked on remodeling it for resale, and the present, which explores the emotional repercussions of Hill House for the family. The Crain family–Olivia (Carla Gugino), Hugh (Timothy Hutton/Henry Thomas), Steven (Michiel Huisman/Paxton Singleton), Shirley (Elizabeth Reaser/Lulu Wilson), Theo (Katie Siegel/Mckenna Grace), Nell (Victoria Pedretti/VIolet McGraw), and Luke (Oliver Jackson-Cohen/Julian Hilliard), as well as the house’s caretakers Mr. (Robert Longstreet) and Mrs. Dudley (Annabeth Gish), are haunted by the house, even after they leave the premises. Setting limits with the house seems to be the only way to get through unscathed, but not everyone can do that, and when the story picks up years after the family’s traumatizing final days in the home, Nell has started seeing the Bent Neck Lady, the ghost who terrorized her as a child, again. The return of the ghosts reignites suppressed fears and family fights about whether mental illness or paranormal activity leads to the destructive streak in the Crain family. What unfolds is a family drama with plenty of scares, but also reflective, emotional elements that raise questions about the connections between members of a family as well as between people and the places they call home.

Shirley Jackson is one of my favorite authors and I thoroughly recommend reading her novel, The Haunting of Hill House. The series pays homage to the novel by naming its main characters after main characters in her book and Shirley herself. It also borrows some exact language from the novel, such as the scene featuring Nell’s cup of stars, the scene in which a ghost squeezes Theo’s hand while she tries to sleep, and the monologue about a rainstorm of tiny stones. Hill House itself is very similar between both the series and the novel. While the plots are completely different, the focus in the series on family, grief, anxiety, and trauma resonates with Jackson’s body of work. This drama elevates the scary parts and makes the plot compelling.

The scary parts really are scary, though. The Haunting of Hill House is atmospheric and filled with a pervasive sense of dread. There are some jump scares, but in other moments a ghost might just lurk in the background without the characters realising it. The combination of an unsettling style and classic haunted house gags makes the show fun to watch but also artfully made. As scary as I found the series in the moment, it did not keep me up at night.

I binge watched The Haunting of Hill House, hooked by the ghost stories and the outstanding acting of the cast, as well as the moving character development. Once I was done with the finale, the only episode that seemed so-so to me, I wanted to go back and rewatch the series. As I started to watch the episodes again, at a more measured pace, I was struck by how meticulously the two timelines of the story are woven together. There are callbacks and foreshadowing throughout that are sometimes subtle enough that they reflect on the intricacies of memory. Other times, the nonlinear plot allows for clever winks at the audience. The overall effect is to keep the audience in the dark about what really happened on those last days in Hill House, just as the Craine children are.

Because I like Shirley Jackson’s writing so much, I was very skeptical when I first saw the promotions for the Netflix series. I ended up getting totally swept away by this scary, moving portrait of grief, family dysfunction, and the power of place on the psyche.

The Haunting of Hill House was created by Mike Flanagan, inspired by the novel by Shirley Jackson. Its ten episodes stream on Netflix and are rated TV-MA.

As you may have heard, the stock market has been on a wild ride lately. What’s behind this volatility? And, as an investor, how concerned should you be?

Let’s look at the first question first. What caused the steep drop in stock prices we experienced on a few separate days?

Essentially, two main factors seem to be responsible. First, some good economic news may actually have played a significant role. A 17-year low in unemployment and solid job growth have begun to push wages upward. These developments have led to fears of rising inflation, which, in turn, led to speculation that the Federal Reserve will tighten the money supply at a faster-than-expected rate. Stocks reacted negatively to these expectations of higher interest rates.

The second cause of the market volatility appears to be simply a reaction to the long bull market. While rising stock prices lead many people to continue buying more and more shares, some people actually need to sell their stocks – and this pent-up selling demand, combined with short-term profit-taking, helped contribute to the large sell-offs of recent days.

Now, as for the question of how concerned you should be about this volatility, consider these points:

Sell-offs are nothing unusual. We’ve often experienced big sell-offs, but they’ve generally been followed with strong recoveries. Of course, past performance is not a guarantee of future results, but history has shown that patient, persistent investors have often been rewarded.

Fundamentals are strong. While short-term market movements can be caused by a variety of factors, economic conditions and corporate earnings typically drive performance in the long term. Right now, the U.S. economy is near full employment, consumer and business sentiment has risen strongly, manufacturing and service activity is at multi-year highs, and GDP growth in 2018 appears to be on track for the best performance since 2015. Furthermore, corporate earnings are expected to rise this year.

So, given this background, what’s your next move? Here are some suggestions:

Review your situation. You may want to work with a financial professional to evaluate your portfolio to determine if it is helping you make the progress you need to eventually achieve your long-term goals.

Reassess your risk tolerance. If you were unusually upset over the loss in value of your investments during the market pullback, you may need to review your risk tolerance to determine if it’s still appropriate for your investment mix. If you feel you are taking on too much risk, you may need to rebalance your portfolio. Keep in mind, though, that by “playing it safe” and investing heavily in vehicles that offer greater protection of principal, but little in the way of return, you run the risk of not attaining the growth you need to reach your objectives.

Look for opportunities. A market pullback such as the one we’ve experienced, which occurs during a period of economic expansion and rising corporate profits, can give long-term investors a chance to add new shares at attractive prices in an environment that may be conducive to a market rally.

A sharp market pullback, such as we’ve seen recently, will always be big news. But if you look beyond the headlines, you can sometimes see a different picture – and one that may be brighter than you had realized.

This article was written by Edward Jones for use by your local Edward Jones Financial Advisor.

None of us can completely control all the things that happen to us. Yet, when it comes to achieving your long-term financial goals, including a comfortable retirement, you do have a great deal of power – as long as you follow a clear, well-defined financial strategy. And one way to help build and maintain such a strategy is by consolidating your financial accounts.

Over the course of their lives, many people pick up a variety of financial accounts from multiple sources. They might have a few IRAs from different providers, a couple of old 401(k) plans from past employers, an insurance policy (or two) purchased many years ago, and a scattershot of stocks, bonds, certificates of deposit and other investments.

If this picture describes your situation, you may want to think about consolidating. For one thing, having a variety of accounts can run up a lot of fees. Furthermore, you’ll have lots of paperwork to keep track of all your accounts, including several different tax statements. Plus, just by having so many accounts, you risk forgetting about some of them – and if you don’t think you’d ever forget about your own money, consider this: Well over $40 billion in unclaimed cash and property, including 401(k)s, pensions and IRAs, is awaiting return to the rightful owners, according to the National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrators.

But beyond reducing your possible fees, paperwork and potential for lost assets, consolidating your accounts with one provider can give you a centralized, unifying investment strategy, one that can help you in the following ways: 

Diversification – If you own several different financial accounts, including IRAs, 401(k)s and online accounts, you might have many similar investments within them. You might even own a cash-value insurance policy containing investments that closely track the ones you have in the other accounts. This type of duplication can be harmful, because if a market downturn primarily affects one type of asset, and your portfolio is dominated by that asset or similar ones, you could take a big hit. But if you have all your investments in the same place, a financial professional can review your holdings and recommend appropriate ways to diversify your investment dollars. (Be aware, though, that while diversification can reduce the impact of market volatility on your portfolio, it can’t guarantee profits or protect against all losses. 

Staying on track – With all your accounts in one place, you’ll find it easier to keep the big picture in mind and make the moves necessary to help you progress toward your financial goals. Two main actions include buying or selling investments and adjusting your portfolio to make it more aggressive or conservative, depending on your situation.

Avoiding mistakes – If you own several separate accounts, you could see a loss in one or more of them and overreact by selling investments that could still be valuable to you. But with a consolidated investment platform, you can see more clearly that the impact of a loss may be small, relative to the rest of your holdings.

As we’ve seen, consolidating your investment accounts with a single provider can have several advantages. So think carefully about bringing everything together – you may find that there’s strength in unity.

This article was written by Edward Jones for use by your local Edward Jones Financial Advisor.