I love buying gifts for people, and enjoy it even more when it is unexpected. In other words, I love seeing family and expressing our love for each other – I don’t love the obligatory gift giving that comes with the holidays. I do it, but I don’t love it as much. I know that sounds a little scrooge-like, but I like giving gifts to people that I love more spontaneously. This holiday season, I plan on doing a little estate planning and talking to my kids about investing. When it comes to retirement accounts, starting early is more important than investing lots of money. Kathy and I are lucky; we definitely over-indulged our kids quite a bit when they were younger, but for some reason they didn’t turn out entitled or materialistic. I think the conversation will be welcomed.
The woman who gave me life and shaped me to be the person that I am passed away on March 5th. My mother Irma was a strong woman – a really strong woman. She was the matriarch of our family. I joke that the rest of us were just part of her supporting cast...