What’s it WORTH on eBay?
​ What’s it WORTH on eBay? EZSellUSA specializes in selling items for clients on eBay. If you have an item and you would like to know what it is worth send digital pictures with a brief description to paulhconnor@gmail.com Our offices have moved to 201 North Commerce Street, Galena, IL 61036 our phone is 815-402-3300. Come visit, we would love to give you a tour and show you our new Consignment Retail Center with ten thousand square feet of retail. Let us help you discover “What’s it WORTH on eBay!”

Tip My Hat!

Tipping one’s hat is a cultural expression of recognition, respect, gratitude or a simple salutation. Top hats from the late 1800’s created a statement of stature and grandeur when worn. These hats showed age appropriate wear but still make an expressive display when worn and properly tipped. This group of 3 recently sold at auction on eBay for $110.50.

Five Questions To Ask When Meeting With A Financial Advisor About Retirement Planning

An experienced financial professional can help you work toward a better retirement.

(NAPS)—Only about one-third (31 percent) of middle-income baby boomers feel prepared for retirement, according to a recent study conducted by Bankers Life Center for a Secure Retirement. However, even if you only recently started your preparation for retirement or have not yet begun, it is never too late to improve the outlook for your retirement financial security. 

A financial professional with experience in retirement planning strategies can be an extremely valuable resource in building your plan and helping you find savings products that can provide a reliable monthly income. Options are available for different stages of life and financial need. An advisor can provide a comprehensive review of your financial forecast and help you develop a plan for the future.

Before your first meeting with an advisor, it is essential to collect critical information and identify specific, fact-based questions in order to get the most out of the experience. Here are five questions you should ask a professional financial advisor about retirement.

1.    How do I protect my existing financial assets? 

​Before you visit a financial advisor, take stock of your current financial situation, including your retirement savings accounts and any pension you have collected. A financial advisor will help identify ways to protect the baseline of assets you’ll need for primary expenses, and can help maximize any additional assets with solutions such as annuities, mutual funds
or investments.

2.    How will you help me achieve my retirement goals?

Spend time thinking about specifics—how you envision your life in retirement and what target monthly income you feel that will require, especially if you are over age 50 or nearing retirement. Be prepared to talk honestly about your expectations so that a financial advisor can map out a realistic plan. For instance, be transparent about plans to relocate after retirement, a desire to pass an inheritance to family, and any debt. You should also discuss plans for covering retirement health care expenses and any plans to work part-time to supplement your income. 

3.    How do I determine my full retirement age?

A common misconception is that every person’s full retirement age is the same. However, while 62 is the earliest at which you can collect partial Social Security benefits, eligibility for full benefits begins at 66 if you were born between 1943 and 1954 and can be later, depending upon the year you were born. This knowledge will help you work with your advisor to see the most accurate picture of your retirement income needs. Look up your full retirement age at SSA.gov.

4.    How will you and your firm work in my best financial interest?

When choosing an advisor, it is important to speak with a professional who is registered. Before you agree to work together, ask the advisor about her experience, the other clients she has helped and the advisor’s retirement planning approach. This is an important relationship, so make sure you select a financial professional who you feel understands your goals.

5.    How are financial advisors compensated? 

Financial advisors are typically compensated in one of two ways: commission-based, meaning a sum of money that is paid to a financial advisor upon completion of purchase or sale of securities, or fee-based, meaning a fee based upon a percentage of assets under investment management. The bottom line is that either method works as long as there is open communication between you and your advisor.

Did You Know?

About nine in 10 (87 percent) middle-income boomers who have a financial professional are either very satisfied or completely satisfied with their professional, according to Bankers Life Center for a Secure Retirement. To learn more about planning for retirement, visit www.BankersLife.com.

• On June 10, 1692, in the Massachusetts Bay Colony, Bridget Bishop, the first colonist tried in the Salem witch trials, is hanged after being found guilty of practicing witchcraft. Bishop, known for her dubious moral character, frequented taverns, dressed flamboyantly (by Puritan standards) and had been married three times.

• On June 4, 1942, the Battle of Midway begins. During the four-day sea-and-air battle, the outnumbered U.S. Pacific Fleet succeeded in destroying four Japanese aircraft carriers while losing only one of its own, the Yorktown.

• On June 3, 1956, authorities in Santa Cruz, California, announce a total ban on rock and roll at public gatherings, calling the music “detrimental to both the health and morals of our youth.” A crowded dance party attended by 200 teenagers the previous evening led to the decision. 

• On June 9, 1956, bestselling crime novelist Patricia Cornwell, creator of crime-solving medical examiner Kay Scarpetta, is born. Her mother had a nervous breakdown when Cornwell was 9 and tried to give the children away to evangelist Billy Graham and his wife. The Grahams placed the children in foster care.

• On June 2, 1967, Capt. Howard Levy, 30, a dermatologist, is convicted by a court-martial of disobeying orders for refusing to instruct Green Beret medics on skin disease, calling it a “tool of political persuasion.” Levy was sentenced to three years at hard labor.

• On June 5, 1967, the Six-Day War begins when Israel launches simultaneous attacks against Egypt and Syria. Jordan subsequently entered the fray. By the time the United Nations cease-fire took effect on June 11, Israel had more than doubled its size.

• On June 7, 1976, New York magazine publishes the story that becomes the film “Saturday Night Fever.” “The Tribal Rites of the New Saturday Night,” by journalist Nik Cohn, thought to be a true story about a Brooklyn disco dancer, was almost entirely fabricated.

• On June 1, 1990, President George H.W. Bush and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev sign a historic agreement to end production of chemical weapons and begin the destruction of both nations’ reserves.

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All Rights Reserved

Three Common Ways
Your Social Security Payment
​Can Grow After Retirement 

You made the choice and now you are happily retired. You filed online for your Social Security benefits. They arrive each month in the correct amount exactly as expected. But, did you ever wonder if your Social Security check could increase?

Once you begin receiving benefits, there are three common ways benefit checks can increase: a cost of living adjustment (COLA); additional work; or an adjustment at full retirement age if you received reduced benefits and exceeded the earnings limit.

The COLA is the most commonly known increase for Social Security payments. We annually announce a COLA, and there’s usually an increase in the Social Security and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefit amount people receive each month. By law, federal benefit rates increase when the cost of living rises, as measured by the Department of Labor’s Consumer Price Index (CPI-W). More than 66 million Americans saw a 2.0 percent increase in their Social Security and SSI benefits in 2018. For more information on the 2018 COLA, visit www.socialsecurity.gov/cola.

Social Security uses your highest thirty-five years of earnings to figure your benefit amount when you sign up for benefits. If you work after you begin receiving benefits, your additional earnings may increase your payment. If you had fewer than 35 years of earnings when we figured your benefit, you will replace a zero earnings year with new earnings. If you had 35 years or more, we will check to see if your new year of earnings is higher than the lowest of the 35 years (after considering indexing). We check additional earnings each year you work while receiving Social Security. If an increase is due, we send a notice and pay a one-time check for the increase and your continuing payment will be higher.

Maybe you chose to receive reduced Social Security retirement benefits while continuing to work. You made the choice to take benefits early, but at a reduced rate. If you exceeded the allowable earnings limit and had some of your benefits withheld, we will adjust your benefit once you reach full retirement age. We will refigure your payment to credit you for any months you did not receive payments.  Your monthly benefit will increase based on the crediting months you receive. You can find additional information about working and your benefit at www.socialsecurity.gov/pubs/EN-05-10077.pdf. 

Retirement just got more interesting since you learned about potential increases to monthly payments. Social Security has been securing your today and tomorrow for more than 80 years with information and tools to help you achieve a successful retirement.

Social Security Helps You Care
​for Seniors

World Elder Abuse Awareness Day is June 15. This is an opportunity for everyone, all over the world, to voice their opposition to abuses inflicted on some of the most vulnerable members of our society. For more than 80 years, Social Security has provided for the elderly as part of our everyday mission.

Sometimes a family member is incapable of representing themselves due to health reasons. Generally, we look for family or friends to serve as representative payees. Social Security's Representative Payment Program helps our beneficiaries who are incapable of managing their Social Security and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) payments. You can read more about the program at www.socialsecurity.gov/payee.

Family members and caregivers can protect the older people they love with help from the Representative Payee Interdisciplinary Training series. The training was developed in partnership with the Administration on Aging within the Administration for Community Living and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

It educates people and organizations about the roles and responsibilities of serving as a representative payee, elder abuse and financial exploitation, and effective ways to monitor and safely conduct business with the banking community. It also teaches ways to recognize the changes in an adult or senior’s ability to make sound financial decisions.

You can view our series of videos about this training at www.socialsecurity.gov/payee.

Protecting the ones you love is part of securing today and tomorrow. And we’re here for you. You can always access our website and online services at www.socialsecurity.gov.

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