September 17, 2022 Issue, Page 11 of 16

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September 17, 2022 The Elk City News -11 Cie p, CC C4ffectine alumn With sel & Renie Bowman | “Plan, Execute And Enjoy In The Right Dose” Renie wanted a gorgeous new flower garden. Andy, muttering: “I can specifically tell you So she spent some time picking the brain of a where I'd like to place that plant, and it would college educated agriculturalist. Aman who had be in full shade!” spent years as a high school teacher in that field. But finally, all was done, and it looked great. Plus, for the last ten years after retirement, he and his wife had a “hobby” - working their own Every one of those babies were in the perfect small truck farm. He had qualifications galore location, fertilizer in the holes under them, for knowing when, what, where, and how to watered well, and lookin’ good! Weeks went by, plant just about anything, and they flourished, with deep green leaves and So now she was ready. She knew exactly what plants she wanted to have in her flower garden, beautiful blooms beginning to show. and where, And how to care for them. The expert ‘Then it began. had briefed her on the best environment for her A wilted leaf here, a drooping bloom there, plants. Fertilizing, watering, and amounts of ‘Then those pretty blooms started hitting the sunshine were included in the tutorial. ground, and those wilting leaves began yellow- So far, so good. ‘The morning came when they both began the ing. And finally, everything was acting as if au- process of digging holes and planting. (Well, in tumn had hit a couple of months early, the gar- the interest of full disclosure - Renie mostly di- den looking like the end of October. recting, Andy digging and planting.) What in the world? Yep, you've probably Renie, sweetly: “Honey, these have to be right here, ‘cause they need morning sun, but they guessed it by now. Too much of a good thing... can’t take the scorching heat of the afternoon. fertilizer. And don't forget to sprinkle the fertilizer in the Folks, anything can be carried to excess and bottom of the hole each time!” cause the exact opposite of its intended out- Andy, cheerfully: “Okay, sweetie, you were come. Dessert gives a great touch to meals, but = eon ota the one who talked to the expert, so whatever too much leads to bad endings. Working extra ya say!” This process went on for quite a while, her hours is admirable, except when you take on arr directing with him patiently digging, fertilizing so much that the kids begin to ask Mom what PEERED and planting. But as the hours went by, and the Dad looks like. Building up your credit score day’s heat increased, so did the conversation. is a great idea - but without monitoring your ‘urrent Bpenre 7,296 95] 05] 1 aah Balance on wand June 30, 2027 G afeo} Reserve for int. oa Warranta ¢ Revaluation 000 3. egal tavestnente Properly Maturing afea| Renie, exasperated: “Andy, I thought I specifi- aan: ‘Total Regelred 7,376,958] 05] 9. duagnanee Faia To Recover by Tax avy ‘__Foral_ tigate Asset o afoo| feo} cally said this plant had to be placed in full sun! spending, it’s gonna backfire on you. Gash Pound Balance Sa9,sz] oil] peaser Matured tndebeednens Look at it! Here it is only 1:00 PM., and it’s al- Plan, execute, and enjoy. Important stuff. But ‘atineted Miecelianaous Revente ao] Bue. Coupons o ready in the shade!” correct dosing is pretty important too. == = 4 | Look closely at open Tamunt Accrual on "Prepaid" Suagnento ‘aauai Accrual on Unpaid Judgeent Enterest on Unpaid Judgments foo] enrollment choices Once again, it’s the season age 65 that aren’t used for L. tncens of Asseta Over Uiabiliview for football games and back- qualified medical expenses are Beyond the various insur- ceo Raise ny Fax Lewy to-school activities. And if taxable and subject to a 20% ance policies your employer you work fora medium-size or penalty; once you reach 65, may offer, you'll also want to large employer, it will soon be the penalty no longer applies, closely look at your 401(k) or open enrollment season — the although withdrawals are still similar retirement plan. Typi- time of year when you can re- taxable as income if not used cally, you can make changes Si Year ta Bacess of Gash on Wand (Pron Line 16a Abevel view your employee benefits for a qualified expense.) to your 401(k) throughout Form T60aRN RACIEy, BRON County 1 Dist and make changes as needed. the year, but it’s important to What areas should you focus Your next benefit to con- make sure your investment on? sider: Life insurance. Your em- selections and contribution ployer may offer a group life amounts are still aligned with Actually, it’s a good idea to insurance plan, but you'll want your risk tolerance and goals. pay close attention to all your to evaluate whether it’s suffi- Also, are you contributing benefits. Some of the offerings cient for your needs, especially enough to earn your employ- may have changed from last if you've experienced changes er’s match, if one is offered? year — and you might have in your personal situation over And if you've already receiving experienced changes in your the past year, such as getting the match, can you still afford own life, too, which might lead married or adding a new child. to put in more to your plan if you to look for something dif- There’s no magic formula for such a move makes sense for ferent from your existing ben- how much life insurance you you? the said messyency Medical Service Board, that the marinated Income to be derived fron eources ether tha Ad valores efits package. need — you'll need to con- sider a variety of factors, such You may want to start with as your income, family size, Your employee benefits your health insurance. If mortgage and so on — but it package can be a valuable part you're satisfied with your cov- may be necessary to supple- of your overall financial strat- erage, and it’s essentially the ment your employer's cover- egy. So, as open enrollment same as it’s been, you may well age with a private policy. season proceeds, take a close want to stick with what you look at what you already have, have. However, many employ- Your employer may also of- what's being offered, and what ers are increasingly offering fer disability insurance as a changes you need to make. It high-deductible health plans, benefit. Some employers’ dis- will be time well spent. egatced to be published in a Lepaily-qialitied nevapaper printed n the County, oF one Lanve published in « which, as the name suggests, ability policies are fairly lim- could entail more out-of-pock- ited, covering only short peri- This article was written by Ed- et costs for you. But high-de- ods of time, so you may want ward Jones for use by your local ductible plans may also offer to consider a private policy. Edward Jones Financial Advisor. something of benefit: the abil- ity to contribute to a health savings account (HSA). Your HSA contributions are made with pre-tax dollars, so they Edward Jones, Member SIPC can reduce your taxable in- come for the year. Also, your earnings grow tax-free, and W. 3 rd | Elk City, OK 73644 2014 your withdrawals are tax-free, provided the money is used Robert Stephens (580) 225-3156 for qualified medical expenses. Financial Advisor [email protected] (Withdrawals taken before