Snow Shoveling Hacks Everyone loves the snow — at least until it settles on the driveway, a barrier between your car and the open road. Shoveling snow off your driveway and walkway can be so tedious that you might be tempted to just hope and pray that the sun melts it all before you have to shovel it — which, of course, almost never happens. However, there are a few tools and methods you can use to clear the snow away that are faster than shoveling for hours on end. Check them out below.
HOW TO SPEND LESS TIME CLEARING YOUR DRIVEWAY EVERY WINTER
if you combine 1 teaspoon of dish soap, 1 tablespoon of rubbing alcohol, and 1/2 gallon of water in a bucket, you can spread the mixture over the ice and melt it away, much like the salt you see on major roadways. BE PREEMPTIVE WITH SOME TARPS. Did you see on the weather forecast that your area is about to get some major snowfall? Throw down some tarps on your walkways and driveway. Then, after the snow stops falling, lift the snow off to the side, and your walkways will be as clear as if it hadn’t snowed at all. BLOW THE SNOW AWAY. If you’re lucky enough to be clearing your driveway while the snow is still powdery, rev up your leaf blower instead of breaking out your shovel. You’ll be able to clear your driveway in a fraction of the time it would take to shovel and dump it off to the sides of your driveway.
CREATE A NONSTICK SHOVEL. Wet, partially melted snow might work well for packing snowballs, but it’s a pain to shovel. It has a tendency to stick to the scoop and not let go — unless you spray it with some common household cooking spray. This will make it a lot easier for the snow to slide off your shovel. Just remember to wipe your shovel down afterward! MAKE YOUR OWN SALT ALTERNATIVE. Sometimes you start shoveling, only to find that the snow concealed a layer of ice that you can’t scoop up with your shovel. However,
With one (or a few) of these methods, you can clear your driveway and enjoy the fun side of snowfall in no time!
Why It’s So Important to Know and Understand Your Pension Plan A CAUTIONARY TALE
It’s so important to keep track of your own retirement information and to make sure you understand it. Many systems attempt to automatically track how your retirement is calculated and processed, but as with anything, flaws in those systems can slip through the cracks. We recently worked with a client who fell victim to one of these flaws. For the sake of anonymity, we’ll refer to this client as Claire. Claire served on the Washington, D.C., police force for several years before moving into a different federal government position. The new position isn’t a necessary detail, but what is necessary to know is that while the D.C. police is a federal entity, its pension setup operates differently than other federal agency pensions. When Claire retired in 2017, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), which is responsible for processing retirement calculations for federal employees, got her paperwork and payments squared away without issue — or so she thought. For 2 1/2 years, Claire was receiving the retirement payments she had been expecting as planned. That’s when she got a notice from OPM that they had miscalculated her pension. The result of that miscalculation? Claire now owed them $53,000 . Needless to say, Claire was shocked. We were shocked, too, when she came to us for help. It turns out that when Claire had worked for D.C. police, she had been placed in a special retirement system
for that entity. But when she left the force and went to work for a different federal agency, OPM never transferred Claire’s information into that organization’s retirement system. And no one caught that mistake for 35 years. The natural thought is that Claire can’t possibly be held accountable for this egregious error. It was an internal issue that OPM caused and never corrected. We agree — this isn’t Claire’s fault. But this is a prime example of just how important it is to be aware of the information and money you’re receiving from the government, and, more importantly, to understand what you’re receiving and why. If something is ever confusing, incorrect, or just feels wrong, you must reach out for help. That’s where Retirement Planning Strategies comes in. After carefully combing our way through all the reports and payments sent to Claire by OPM, we were able to catch a few miscalculations. We helped Claire lower her debt of $53,000 to a level that was a little more manageable to start paying back and figured out a system that works for her. It’s not going to be easy, but it will be doable. We don’t share these kinds of stories frequently because we’re not here to fill anyone with dread. But we wanted to share this cautionary tale to demonstrate just how important it is to stay in- the-know where you can and ask for help where you can’t. If you have questions about anything, or if something just doesn’t look or feel right, you can always turn to us for help.
2 | 303-922-4304
Published by Newsletter Pro . www.NewsletterPro.com
Made with FlippingBook - Online catalogs