Safe, Sound and Savvy

Estate Planning: Dealing With Your Problem Child

Mar 15th, 2013 | By
Estate Planning: Dealing With Your Problem Child

Ah, the age-old issue: How to deal with your problem child. This often produces uncomfortable pauses, silence and embarrassment in the parents’ first interview with a lawyer. Many parents don’t want to admit that their grown sons or daughters are addicts, deadbeats or just ungrateful offspring who have come to hate their parents. Actually dealing
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Hiring a Caregiver: Tips on Finding In-home Help with Safety in Mind

Mar 15th, 2013 | By
Hiring a Caregiver: Tips on Finding In-home Help with Safety in Mind

  As illness and frailty take their toll on an elderly family member, bringing a caregiver into the home a few hours a day may be the ticket to keeping your loved one living independently and safely. “Everyone wants to stay in their own home,” says Sandy Morrill, social services supervisor for Calaveras County. In-home
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Caregivers’ Corner: Managing Medications

Mar 15th, 2013 | By

Is mom’s illness simply getting worse, or could her medications be making her sicker? One of the challenges of being a caregiver is to help your mom, dad, husband or wife manage medications effectively. As bodies get older they often become less efficient at processing medications. The liver and kidneys don’t metabolize drugs as effectively.
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Estate Planning: Naming an IRA Beneficiary

Dec 15th, 2012 | By
Estate Planning: Naming an IRA Beneficiary

What happens to your Individual Retirement Account when you die, and how will that impact your heirs? Distributions from an IRA are taxable to the recipient just as they would have been to the original owner. However, it’s important that IRAs are properly titled to allow beneficiaries to “stretch” payout – thus reducing or delaying
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A Warm Meal and a New Best Friend

Dec 15th, 2012 | By
A Warm Meal and a New Best Friend

Improving the quality of life for both people and pets is the aim of a new program matching Tuolumne County Meals on Wheels clients with dogs and cats needing homes. Under the program, willing seniors will provide foster homes for pets from the county Animal Control shelter until permanent owners are found. “They would provide
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Calaveras Teens Eager to Share Tech Savvy

Dec 15th, 2012 | By

It began when two Calaveras moms brainstormed community service ideas for a college-bound son. What do teens know inside and out, they pondered? High-tech gear like cell phones, tablets, laptops, e-readers and GPS navigators. Who finds these devices baffling at times? Older folks. A generation-bridging project was born: Teens Teaching Technology, an hour-long drop-in session
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“If There’s Anything I Can Do”: How to Help Someone Who’s Grieving

Dec 15th, 2012 | By
“If There’s Anything I Can Do”: How to Help Someone Who’s Grieving

By Suzanne Praisler The loss of a loved one is something that happens to all of us. As friends, it’s often hard to know just what to say or do. We may be unsure about how to extend our condolences. As one who recently experienced a profound loss – my domestic partner of 20 years
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Caregivers’ Corner: How to Handle That Sneaky Stress

Sep 15th, 2012 | By

Stress is sneaky. It tightens your shoulders and tries to hitch them to your ear lobes. It sends blood racing to the center of your body, upsetting your tummy and leaving your hands and feet cold. Your muscles clench, temples throb, and chocolate becomes your only food group. All while giving you the illusion that you’re
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Yosemite Transportation: YARTS Proves Popular

Sep 15th, 2012 | By

Yosemite Area Regional Transportation System (YARTS) in the spring and summer of 2012 expanded its reach to provide bus service from Sonora, Jamestown and Groveland to the park’s Big Oak Flat entrance station, Crane Flat and Yosemite Valley. Service is daily from Sonora, Jamestown and Groveland. The bus departs from Sonora’s Best Western at 8am,
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Estate Planning: Planning for Long-Term Care

Sep 15th, 2012 | By
Estate Planning: Planning for Long-Term Care

“I am in great health,” my client said. “Why should I worry about long-term care?” “I don’t want you to worry about it,” I answered. “I want you to plan for it so that you don’t end up in a crisis situation some time in the future.” Here are five good reasons to plan for
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