One might argue that an inappropriate amount of thought, time, and effort went into making the candle on the left. The wax itself came from my backyard, where about 30,000 or so bees worked tirelessly to create the comb that it came from. This was my first year hosting a friend's hive, and I’m still a bit in my beekeeping honeymoon. No stings yet, and I’ve got a small... Read More

Two weeks ago I wrote about financial loans and gifts to family, especially children. But there’s a bigger gift than money, and that’s letting your adult child move back in with you. Actually, a grown child moving back in with you might be a favor for him/her, or it might be a favor to you, depending who’s in need. Either way it raises important questions, such as:... Read More

A favorite saying of mine is from John Lennon’s song “Beautiful Boy”—“Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans.” In my life, today, that usually means Booker. Booker is a mixed-breed dog we got last year from the Sterling Animal Shelter, after a number of years of having no dogs. My husband swore we were done with dogs, while I was never quite... Read More

There are lots reasons to be a lender or giver. First, you probably want to help out a child, a parent, or perhaps another relative, if you can. Second, lending is a form of investment (you and, say, a child can both come out ahead if you have savings that earn a low rate of return, and the child has credit card debt at a high rate, so the child borrows from you at a ... Read More

This is not always an easy question to answer. Probably, a majority of people do not need new life insurance as they head into retirement, but some do, and others may benefit from keeping insurance they already have. The most common reason for owning life insurance is to make up for your lost income if you die prematurely, so your family will not be thrown into pove... Read More