A&C 7.24.2021 DONE

Packing considerations for one’s life journey

By KRISTY SMITH
Different Drum Humor
Perhaps the only gift of
divorce is that it’s helped
many a child and parent bet-
ter suitcase packers. It’s an
important life skill to be able
to quickly scan one’s room
for relatively clean articles of
clothing that will cover all
the bases and body parts and
be suitable for most occa-
sions one might expect to
encounter away from access
to one’s closet and under-
wear drawer.
Over the years, my kids
have learned to pack lightly,
sometimes too lightly, for
wherever they go in life. This
often amounts to being a
jacket short for the weather
and mosquitos. My greatest
hope as a mom is that I’ve
sufficiently drilled into them
the concept of packing just
enough and the art of wear-
ing a basic t-shirt Day #1 of a
trip that then becomes a
nightshirt for the remainder
of their journey (unless
they’re staying somewhere
that requires actual sleep-
wear for decency reasons).
If only I could teach them
to NOT take my daily groom-
ing items with them when I
will not be traveling along.
Our family does lot of unof-
ficial (aka “non-permis-

sioned”) sharing of personal

care products, with the

exception of the person-spe-

cific overpriced tubes of

beard wash and feminine

hygiene supplies.

If I’m in the shower and

my daughter’s bar of com-

plexion soap is handiest, I’ll

use it instead of the commu-

nal bar of Dial. The same

goes for my when my eyes

are closed and the bottle I

snag when I reach for sham-

poo ends up being my son’s

3-in-1 cleaner, deodorizer

and conditioner. The

fast-lowering levels of some

of my personal care products

indicate they do similar prod-

uct “borrowing.”

However, use of my razor

is a different story. I would

prefer my daughter stick with

her own and that the bearded

one not even make eye con-

tact with it. If asked, both

kids deny ever touching it.

But that doesn’t explain why

the blade I just replaced (and

cut myself on during my ini-

tial shave with) has become

relatively dull by my second

use of it. Hmm. Is some

weirdo with a razor fetish

breaking into our home and

using Atra II while I’m at

work? According to my kids,

I should not rule out that pos-

sibility.

Recently, the pair jour-

neyed nearly five hours north

(depending on who was

doing the driving) for a fam-

ily reunion and on their dad’s

side of the family. My son

prided himself in being

packed “way ahead of time”

• which translates to not
  shoving things into a duffle
  bag walking out the door. He
  then rode his sister’s butt
  over her not yet being ready
  and announced the time
  every five minutes.
  What makes this especial-
  ly funny is that on a typical
  morning of going to work,
  my son usually runs back
  into the house for something
  he forgot – basics, like shoes
  or car keys – and sometimes
  more than once. He regularly
  neglects to put his work
  phone on the charger over-
  night and absent-mindedly
  drives past the gas station on
  his way home from work
  only to drive too fast (on
  fumes and a prayer!) for gas
  the following morning after
  announcing his fuel gauge is
  on “E.” Which rhymes with
  “Really?!”
  So, on those rare occa-
  sions of his getting ready
  “way ahead of time” my son
  becomes highly sanctimo-
  nious. “I can’t believe it’s
  taking you so long to get
  ready to go, Mom,” he will
  say, standing in the doorway,
  watching as I clean up from a
  meal his only role was to eat,
  equally oblivious to the wet
  towels he left on the bath-
  room floor. Grrr. In my book,
  I don’t care how ready you
  think you are – you’re not
  truly ready to go until after
  you’ve picked up after your-
  self and finished phone,
  house and vehicle mainte-
  nance. Any fool can (and
  frequently does) throw on
  clothes and declare himself

ready to go.

Eventually my kids got on

the road. In getting myself

ready that morning, I discov-

ered they had “borrowed” a

few personal care products of

mine, ranging from a special

snarl-busting comb to tooth-

paste and my bottle of Clear

Eyes. Clearly, our next life

lesson must focus on packing

your own items only for your

life journey.

Kristy Smith’s Different

Drum humor columns are

archived at her blog: diff-

drum.wordpress.com

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st

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The right emotions can be useful in investing

You may have heard that

it’s important to take the

emotions out of investing.

But is this true for all emo-

tions?

Certainly, some emo-

tions can potentially harm

your investment success.

Consider fear. If the finan-

cial markets are going

through a down period –

which is actually a normal

part of the investment land-

scape – you might be so

afraid of sustaining losses

that you sell even the

investments that have good

prospects and are suitable

for your needs.

Greed is another negative

emotion. When the finan-

cial markets are rising, you

might be so motivated to

“cash in” on some big gains

that you will keep purchas-

ing investments that might

already be overpriced – and

since these investments are

already expensive, your

dollars will buy fewer

shares.

In short, the combination

of fear and greed could

cause you trouble.

But other emotions may

prove useful. For example,

if you can channel the joy

you’ll feel upon achieving

your investment goals, you

may be more motivated to

stay on track toward achiev-

ing them. To illustrate: You

may want to see your chil-

dren graduate from college

someday. Can you visualize

them walking across the

stage, diplomas in hand? If

so, to help realize this goal,

you might find yourself

ready and willing to con-

tribute to a college savings

vehicle, such as a 529 plan.

Or consider your own

retirement: Can you see

yourself traveling or pursu-

ing your hobbies or taking

part in whatever activities

you’ve envisioned for your

retirement lifestyle? If you

can keep this happy picture

in mind, you may find it

easier to maintain the disci-

pline needed to consistently

invest in your IRA, 401(k)

or other investment

accounts.

Another motivating force

is the most powerful emo-

tion of all – love. If you

have loved ones who

depend on you, such as a

spouse and children, you

need to protect their future.

One key element of this

protection is the life insur-

ance necessary to take care

of your family’s needs –

housing, education and so

on – should something hap-

pen to you. Your employer

may offer group life insur-

ance coverage, but it might

not be sufficient, so you

may want to supplement it

with your own policy.

Furthermore, you may

need to protect your loved

ones from another threat –

your own vulnerability to

the need for long-term care.

Someone turning age 65

today has almost a 70%

chance of eventually need-

ing some type of long-term

care, according to the U.S.

Department of Health and

Human Services. This type

of care, such as an extended

nursing home stay or the

help of a home health aide,

is extremely expensive,

and, for the most part, is

outside the reach of Medi-

care. So, to pay for long-

term care, you might have

to drain a good part of your

resources – or depend on

your grown children for

financial help.

To keep your financial

independence and avoid

possibly burdening your

family, you may want to

consult with a financial pro-

fessional who can recom-

mend a strategy and appro-

priate solutions to cover

long-term care costs.

By drawing on positive

emotions, you can empow-

er yourself to make the

right financial moves

throughout your life.

This article was written

by Edward Jones for use by

your local Edward Jones

Financial Advisor.

Edward Jones, Member

SIPC

JASON ABRAMSCOTT

Financial

FOCUS

Provided by the Edward Jones offices of

Jason Rapelje, Abram Soper and Scott Evans

DIFFERENT DRUM