FREEMAN-SPICER FINANCIAL SERVICES

Finance • Leasing • Accounting • Premium

316 South Eddy Street  South Bend, IN 46617 / 574.234.0069 (V) • 574.234.6414 (F) • surekey@aol.com

Vol. 29, No. 12 • December, 2011 / www.Freeman-Spicer.com

[Remembering Eli Spicer 1914-2009] - It’s what you do for others that helps you succeed in Life!

 

All of us at Freeman-Spicer wish you a very healthy, happy and prosperous New Year. We want to thank you for allowing Freeman-Spicer to help you in the past, present and we hope in the future, with your financial needs. After the first of the year you will see a small change in our name. We will be merging the Leasing and Finance companies into one - our new name will be: Freeman-Spicer Financial Services, Inc. We will only be changing our name, our personalized service will continue. (No Change in our web address.)

 


Business Mailing . . . . . .  Business mailers can send a second ounce of mail free starting Jan. 22nd. That will let firms stuff more advertising and other materials into envelopes being sent via presorted first-class mail. The two-for-one pricing scheme is an effort by the Postal Service to hold on to high-volume automated mailers . . . phone companies, banks, utilities, etc....that are encouraging customers to opt for paperless billing. Letters weighing more than two ounces will be subject to the normal pricing scheme. Both mailers and outside advertisers can benefit from the opportunity to piggyback flyers and other ad materials on bills that are sure to be opened. (Kiplinger)

 

What Americans Eat For Breakfast . . . .  We asked 1,234 U.S. residents 21 and older what they ate for breakfast on one weekday morning. (They could name any of more than two dozen options.) Here’s what we found:

•              Twenty-two percent had skipped breakfast

•              Older respondents were more likely to have eaten breakfast (93 percent of people 75 or older; 72 percent of those younger than 30).

•              People whose breakfast came from home were more likely to have a lower body mass index (under 25) than those who had eaten food from elsewhere.

•              Men were more likely than women to have eaten breakfast meat; women were more likely than men to have eaten yogurt.

•              Some specifics about the breakfast eaters: 42% ate fruit.  29% ate cold cereal. Runaway favorite: Cheerios.  22% ate eggs or egg substitutes.  10% ate breakfast bars. 14% ate peanut butter or other nut products. (Consumer Report)

 

 

Tough Questions To Ask Elderly Parents . . . . . . .

                Do you have up-to-date wills?

                Do you have hidden assets or liabilities?

                Where do you keep your important financial documents?

                Who will handle your affairs if you become incapacitated?

                Do you have a living will and medical power of attorney?

                Do you have sufficient medical insurance?

                Do you have long-term care insurance?

                Have you made funeral plans? Do you own plots?

                Will your estate owe taxes, and do you have money to pay them? (New Man)

 

Signs Of The Times..........

 

·         Sign over a Gynecologist’s Office - “Dr. Jones at your Cervix.”

·         In a Podiatrist’s Office - “Time wounds all heels.”

·         At a Proctologist’s Door - “To expedite your visit, please back in.”

·         At an Optometrist’s Office - “If you don’t see what you’re looking for, you’ve come     to the right place.”

·         On a Plumber’s Truck - “We repair what your husband fixed.”

·         At a Tire Shop - “Invite us to your next blowout.”

·         On an Electrician’s Truck - “Let us remove your shorts.”

·         On a Maternity Room door - “Push. Push. Push.”

·         On a Fence - “Salesmen welcome! Dog food is expensive.”

·         At a Car Dealership - “The best way to get back on your feet - miss a car payment.”

·         Outside a Muffler Shop - “No appointment necessary. We hear you coming.”

·         In a Veterinarian’s waiting room - “Be back in 5 minutes. Sit! Stay!”

·         At the Electric Company - “We would be delighted if you send in your payment. However, if you don’t, you will be.”

·         And Finally - Sign on the back of Septic Tank Truck - “Caution - This truck is full of Political Promises!” (Foti)                                                                                

 

The Argument . . . . . . that corn should be used for food instead of making ethanol? Forget it! Seems the fuel’s by-products are richer in nutrition than corn itself. Starch is removed from corn when ethanol is made, leaving what’s left with more fiber, protein, oil and phosphorus. Cattle eat most of the distiller’s grains and other leftovers, but hogs and poultry are also trying the new feed in place of corn, barley, sorghum, wheat and such. In fact, the leftovers have displaced soymeal as the No. 2 feed source. (Kiplinger)

 

Through The Eyes Of A Child . . . . . . A bank president brought his 12-year-old daughter to work one day, showed her around and introduced her to people. Driving home, he asked her if she liked the bank. Much to his surprise, she said, “No!” “Why?” her shocked father asked. “No one looked like they were having fun. No one was smiling,” the young girl said. He mentioned the incident at a companywide meeting and found that it was exactly as his daughter had said. People weren’t having any fun. Her observation resulted in a complete revamping of the bank’s culture. (How To Succeed In Business)

 

Cities are adding smarts to everything from traffic lights to parking meters . . . .

 

‚        In Curitiba, Brazil, buses send signals instructing traffic lights to stay green.

‚        Amsterdam aims to eliminate internal-combustion cars by 2040; it’s installing electric-vehicle charging stations.

‚        Nearly 30% of San Francisco’s traffic comes from drivers seeking parking; a phone app guides drivers to open spots.

‚        Washington, D.C. uses software to analyze water use to learn where repairs are needed to prevent costly leaks.

‚        Streetlights in Keynsham, England, dim based on the natural light of the day, saving $7,300 annually. (Fast Company)

 

“The early bird gets the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese.”  Steven Wright

 

Golf Can Best Be Described . . . . . as an endless series of tragedies obscured by the occasional miracle, followed by a good bottle of beer!

·         Golf! You hit down to make the ball go up. You swing left and the ball goes right. The lowest score wins. And on top of that, the winner buys the drinks.

·         Golf is harder than baseball. In golf, you have to play your foul balls.                     

·         The term “mulligan” is really a contraction of the phrase - maul it again.

·         A “gimme” can best be defined as an agreement between two golfers, neither of whom can putt very well.

·         An interesting thing about golf is that no matter how badly you play, it is always possible to get worse.

·          And Finally . . . . Golf is the only sport where the most feared opponent is you!

(S. Katz & J. Stesiak)

 

Password Tips . . . . . There are two key components to password strength: length and complexity. An ideal password should be long and contain a combination of letters, numbers as well as special characters. The greater the character variety in a password, the better off you are. We suggest you make your passwords as long as you can. If possible use no less than 14 characters. It is preferred to maintain a separate password for all your accounts, as much of a hassle as it may seem. This way you are guaranteed account isolation, so if one of your account logins gets compromised, other login credentials will be safe. This is easily accomplished by using one of the many password manager apps available on the internet. (Pwnedlist)  My Opinion: “Bogas – it’s almost impossible to do this – but had to at least offer the solution!”

 

The Most Valuable Brands . . . . . . The 10 most valuable brands in the world, according to the European Brand Institute (estimated value in billions of dollars):   1. Apple - $96 billion   2. Coca-Cola - $76 billion   3. Microsoft - $70.6 billion   4. Google - $66.4 billion   5. IBM - $63.8 billion   6.McDonald’s - $62 billion   7. AT&T - $61.4 billion       8. Procter & Gamble - $61 billion   9. PepsiCo - $59.5 billion   10. Philip Morris - $59.2 billion. (Chicago Tribune)

 

Quotes For The End The Year . . . . . .

“People always call it luck when you’ve acted more sensibly than they have.” Anne Tyler

 

“Money is nothing more than Frozen Effort!” Josh Courtney

 

“Patience and perseverance have a magical effect before which difficulties disappear and obstacles vanish.”   John Quincy Adams

 

 “When I was 5 years old, my mother always told me that happiness was the key to life. When I went to school, they asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. I wrote down “happy”. They told me I didn’t understand the

assignment, and I told them they didn’t understand life.”

John Lennon                                                                                                    Sincerely,

 

                                                                                                           

Again, Happy Holidays and Happy New Year                                           Edward C. Levy

                                                                                                                        President