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Main Street Monthly 905 Old Cherokee Road, Lexington, SC 29072 • P: 803-358-7214 • www.strattonreynolds.com
JULY/AUGUST 2022
Is It Time to Review Your Estate Plan? Once you have a solid estate plan in place, you should review your plan every 3–5 years and whenever you experience significant life changes. The routine review helps us determine whether your goals may have changed. In addition to routine reviews, a review is needed anytime you experience a change in circumstances. This can include:
Be sure the amount is still appropriate, and check beneficiaries. If you have taken out a policy with a specific purpose in mind, be sure you have talked to the beneficiaries about this so they know your wishes. Some examples might be insurance policies to take care of your final arrangements or to help a child or grandchildren with educational expenses. Then look over your trust to be sure that the people listed as beneficiaries are still appropriate. Once all assets have been reviewed, spend some time thinking about your financial goals. Now, consider what has changed since your estate plan was developed. Did you get married or develop a long-term relationship with someone you want to provide for? Is one of your children struggling with addiction or health problems? Do you have a child or grandchild with special needs that you wish to provide for? Is there a charity that you would like to see benefit? These are all very realistic issues that need thoughtful consideration. If you have opened a business, it is especially important for you to develop a business succession plan as part of your overall estate planning process. This ensures that a person or persons of your choosing runs your business. Finally, it may be that the person that you designated as your personal representative, trustee, or guardian for your children is no longer able to serve or has even predeceased you. This is the time to choose another person to act in that capacity. In addition, if you have documents that haven’t been reviewed in many years, it is important to speak with someone to make sure no laws have changed that might affect your estate plan. –TC, Chasity, and Jeff
• Marriage • Divorce • Birth of a child • Adoption of a child • Death or change in circumstance of someone you named as executor or guardian • Serious illness • Change in financial circumstances • Starting a business • Arrival of grandchildren • Changes with your children’s situations
The most crucial steps in estate planning are having a will, powers of attorney for financial and medical decision-making, and a trust. This planning ensures that your property will be transferred as you wish when the time comes and that the correct people are making the decisions for you. Preplanning is often seen as expensive but actually saves money, hassle, and heartache in the long run for your heirs and loved ones. However, much like a good vehicle, an estate plan requires regular maintenance and tuneups. First review all your assets and how they are titled. This includes your home, car, vacation home, travel trailer, etc. If you have a living trust, assets should be titled to the trust or have the trust as a beneficiary in most cases. Next, review insurance policies.
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minerals and low in fat. They contain no cholesterol and are easy on your digestive system. Because they all have slightly different flavor profiles, you can pick your favorite! Walnut milk works surprisingly well in a creamy pasta sauce. No. 3: Add frozen spinach to almost anything. Fresh spinach quickly loses its folate, powerful vitamins, and nutritional benefits over time, but spinach, frozen at its peak freshness, saves the day. That’s why frozen spinach is actually more nutritious than most fresh spinach at the supermarket! Whether it’s for pasta, pizza, scrambled eggs, cheese dip, a smoothie, or curry, frozen spinach is more versatile than you might think. Plus, studies show spinach may have amino acids that help reduce stress and depression! (Bonus) No. 4: Add chia seeds to cold drinks, yogurt, baked desserts, and more! It’s easy to feel guilty for indulging your cravings for sweet tea, pudding, cookies, and cake. But if you add chia seeds, you might feel a little better about it! These small seeds are densely packed with antioxidants, minerals, fiber, and omega-3 fatty acids, all of which may promote heart health, support strong bones, and improve blood sugar management. We hope these tips help make your favorite dishes a little more fun and guilt-free! Enjoy! 3 EASY COOKING HACKS FOR BETTER NUTRITION
Making a meal plan is a pain, but you still want to get all your necessary vitamins, minerals, and protein through everyday foods. Even if you’re not a cooking expert, you can employ a few very simple cooking hacks in the dishes you commonly prepare! You’ll be surprised how these little boosts can reap big, nutritious rewards. No. 1: Add quinoa to recipes. Want to add extra texture or color to your steamed white or brown rice? Mix it up with 1 cup of quinoa (any color) and another 2 cups of water or broth. Or, simply throw quinoa into any grain-friendly soup you’re preparing, like a simple chicken soup! Quinoa is rich in antioxidants and filled with fiber to lower cholesterol and blood sugar levels, reducing your risk of diabetes and heart disease. No. 2: Replace cream with almond, walnut, or oat milk. Cream is a popular mainstay in any American kitchen, but it doesn’t have to be dairy cream. Plant-based milk and creamer (such as almond, walnut, or oat milk) are often extra rich in vitamins and
TEENAGE SELF-ESTEEM VS. SOCIAL MEDIA
What to Know and How to Spend Time Elsewhere
According to Mayo Clinic, nearly 97% of kids aged 13–17 years old use social media, whether it’s YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or another platform. Although these platforms come with major benefits — such as staying in touch with distant family and friends — it’s a good idea to keep an eye on your teen’s social media usage. Research shows that using social media more than three hours a day can increase risk of mental health problems, including anxiety and depression. Here’s why — or at least, a few expert theories. The Proven Risk Factors Social media affects everyone a little differently. For teens, thankfully, there are some studies about these differences. Beyond simply the number of hours spent on social media, there are other ways that researchers have noticed the negative impact of social media on teens. A 2016 study of more than 450 teens found that greater social media use, nighttime social media use, and emotional investment in social media (such as feeling upset when prevented from logging on) were linked to worse sleep quality and higher levels of anxiety and depression.
It even matters how your teen is using social media. Is your teen interacting or only looking? A 2015 study found that social comparison and feedback seeking by teens using social media were linked to depressive symptoms. Additionally, a 2013 study showed that older adolescents who used social media passively, such as simply looking at pictures, reported declines in life satisfaction. In contrast, participants who used social media to interact with others and post their own content didn’t experience these declines. The Alternatives Instead of staring at a screen, encourage your teens to spend time face-to-face with their classmates and friends; that’s especially important for teens who are vulnerable to social anxiety. Remind your teen that certain behaviors aren’t okay on social media: gossiping, spreading rumors, bullying, or damaging someone’s reputation (online or otherwise). Even if these activities can seem harmless at first, they are extremely damaging and hurtful to the people involved. Face-to-face contact is one of the most promising ways to deflect the negative aspects of social media. Don’t miss a chance to give your teen the one-on-one time that they may need.
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An increasing number of people have experienced anxiety at their place of work. In 2018, Wrike, a tech company, released a survey which found that 68% of people feel anxious while at work. Here are a few tips to help decrease the amount of anxiety you may feel in your work environment. Don’t Suppress Your Anxiety Instead of pushing away your anxiety, allow it in and practice acceptance. If you try to ignore the way you’re feeling, those emotions can bottle up inside and make you feel overwhelmed. Instead, you can acknowledge why you may be feeling anxious, process those emotions, and then carry on with the rest of your day. It’s all about your mindset and how you look at the situation — will you let it positively or negatively impact your day? Ask for Help Work can become hectic and busy, and it can be easy to say yes to something even if you have a busy workload. Don’t be afraid to ask for help when you need to; it will provide the clarification you need and remove some of your stress. It can be hard to ask for help, but communicating with your superiors shows that you genuinely care about excelling. Practice Self-Care Sometimes all we need is to focus on ourselves. Don’t forget to take care of yourself and attend to your feelings. You don’t want to change how you live and limit yourself from doing other activities. Take time to pamper yourself and live life to the fullest. If you continue doing what brings you joy, that feeling will follow you while you’re at work. Work can be stressful — and that’s okay. Everyone feels stress and anxiety in their lives; what matters is how you deal with it. This may take some time, but with dedication and practice, you’ll find yourself less anxious while at work — and in every other part of your life as well. Dealing With Work Anxiety? 3 Tips That Can Help You
We are happy to assist our clients with all of their real estate needs. From new home purchases to refinances, we are eager to assist you, your friends, or your family at either our Lexington office or our Aiken office. If you or someone you know is looking to move in the next couple of months, or wants a lower interest rate with a refinance, please let us know. –Chasity, TC, and Jeff WE DO REAL ESTATE CLOSINGS!
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Is It Time to Review Your Estate Plan? PAGE 1 3 Cooking Hacks to Eat Better PAGE 2 Is Your Teen’s Self-Esteem Dropping? PAGE 2 Take a Break! PAGE 3 Don’t Ignore Anxiety PAGE 3 3 Summer Food Festivals Worth the Trip PAGE 4 Traveling for the Food? Inside this Issue
Don’t Miss These 3 Festivals
According to AAA, millions of Americans take “culinary-focused vacations” every year. We’ll travel to Philadelphia for cheesesteaks, Texas for barbecue, Louisiana for gumbo … you get the idea. Our culture loves to eat! If you’re a traveling foodie, you are in luck: Add these three summer festivals to your must-visit list for this summer or future food-finding trips. Pierogi Fest (Indiana) July 29–31; PierogiFest.net The Polish pierogi is a humble food: mashed potatoes and cheese wrapped in soft dough and either fried, baked, or grilled to perfection. But simplicity should be celebrated! In Whiting, Indiana, Pierogi Fest is a three-day affair that brings in more than 300,000 people for events like a Polka Parade, a pierogi toss, and, of course, pierogies stuffed with everything from cheese to alligator meat. Of course, there’s also a beer garden, because as the organizers put it, “Beer and pierogies go together as well as peanut butter and jelly.”
themselves with jerk chicken, enjoy whole fish, and drink icies straight from hollowed- out pineapples. Six
celebrity chefs will make appearances this year to compete in food contests and show
off their Jamaican roots and/or dishes. When attendees aren’t eating, they can relax at a musical or cultural performance.
Key West Lobsterfest (Florida) Aug. 11–14, KeyWestLobsterfest.com
This year is the 25th annual Key West Lobsterfest! Seafood lovers come from all corners to enjoy the crustacean-crazed festival, which includes a cinematic lobster boil at sunset, a lobsterfest pool party, a pub crawl, and an all-you-can-eat-and-drink lobster brunch. Head to the website to learn more and score delicious lobster recipes — even if you can’t attend! Want more food festival intel? We’ve got you. Visit Insider.com and search “food and drink festivals” for a list of 28 top food attractions, ranked by Yelp reviews.
Grace Jamaican Jerk Festival (New York) July 31; JerkFestivalNY.com
Yes, New York City is home to fantastic pizza and bagels, but it’s also a Caribbean food hub! At this festival, visitors can stuff
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