Sunday, October 31, 2010

Why I like Retirement

We enjoyed the time of fellowship Saturday night up in Seattle as sister Hazel Redden celebrated her 80th birthday. Today our Sunday school lesson was on "The Conflict of the Ages" the morning sermon was on "Things to Remember without Ceasing" and the afternoon study was on "Ruth and Return". Outlines can be viewed here: TLBC

Why Do I Like Retirement?


Question: How many days in a week?
Answer: 6 Saturdays, 1 Sunday


Question: When is a retiree's bedtime?
Answer: Three hours after he falls asleep on the couch.

Question: How many retirees to change a light bulb?
Answer: Only one, but it might take all day.

Question: What's the biggest gripe of retirees?
Answer: There is not enough time to get everything done.

Why don't retirees mind being called Seniors?
Answer: The term comes with a 10% percent discount.


Question: Among retirees what is considered formal attire?
Answer: Tied shoes.


Question: Why do retirees count pennies?
Answer: They are the only ones who have the time.


Question: Common term for someone who refuses to retire?
Answer: NUTS!

Question: Why are retirees so slow to clean out the basement or garage?
Answer: One of their adult kids will want to store stuff there.

Question: What do retirees call a long lunch?
Answer: Normal

Question: What is the best way to describe retirement?
Answer: The never ending Coffee Break.

Question: What's best about going back to school as a retiree?
Answer: If you cut classes, no one can call your parents.

Question: Why do we say we don't miss work, but the people we on the job?
Answer: We're too polite to tell the whole truth.

Question: What do you do all week?
Answer: Monday to Friday; Nothing, Saturday & Sunday I rest.



Share this one with all the retirees that you know.

I'm sure they can relate to some of them!

AND, If you have not yet retired, look what you have to look forward to.


Happiness is a voyage, not a destination,
there is no better time to be happy than... NOW

Thursday, October 28, 2010

Are you ready for this?

Friends: This is Major SERIOUS Stuff!!!!!!! If anyone has an answer for survival of the elderly, please share!!! The poor don't get poorer, they get totally eliminated.

Grandparents..should die by Dec 31.

This is Going to Be So Difficult for all of us ...


On January 1, 2011, the largest tax hikes in the history of America will take effect.

They will hit families and small businesses in three great waves.

On January 1, 2011, here's what happens... (read it to the end, so you see all three
waves)...

First Wave:


Expiration of 2001 and 2003 Tax Relief

In 2001 and 2003, the GOP Congress enacted several tax cuts for investors, small business owners, and families.

These will all expire on January 1, 2011.

Personal income tax rates will rise.

The top income tax rate will rise from 35 to 39.6 percent (this is also the rate at which two-thirds of small business profits are taxed).

The lowest rate will rise from 10 to 15 percent.

All the rates in between will also rise.

Itemized deductions and personal exemptions will again phase out, which has the same
mathematical effect as higher marginal tax rates.


The full list of marginal rate hikes is below:

The 10% bracket rises to an expanded 15%

The 25% bracket rises to 28%

The 28% bracket rises to 31%

The 33% bracket rises to 36%

The 35% bracket rises to 39.6%

Higher taxes on marriage and family.

The "marriage penalty" (narrower tax brackets for married couples) will return
from the first dollar of income.

The child tax credit will be cut in half from $1000 to $500 per child.

The standard deduction will no longer be doubled for married couples relative to the
single level.

The dependent care and adoption tax credits will be cut.

The return of the Death Tax.

This year only, there is no death tax. (It's a quirk!) For those dying on or after
January 1, 2011, there is a 55 percent top death tax rate on estates over $1 million. A person leaving behind two homes, a business, a retirement account, could easily pass along a death tax bill to their loved ones.

Think of the farmers who don't make much money, but their land, which they
purchased years ago with after-tax dollars, is now worth a lot of money. Their children will have to sell the farm, which may be their livelihood, just to pay the estate tax if they don't have the cash sitting around to pay the tax. Think about your own family's assets. Maybe your family owns real estate, or a business that doesn't make much money, but the building and equipment are worth $1 million. Upon their death, you can inherit the $1 million business tax free, but if they own a home, stock, cash worth $500K on top of the $1 million business, then you will owe the government $275,000 cash! That's 55% of the value of the assets over $1 million! Do you have that kind of cash sitting around waiting to pay the estate tax?

Higher tax rates on savers and investors.

The capital gains tax will rise from 15 percent this year to 20 percent in 2011.

The dividends tax will rise from 15 percent this year to 39.6 percent in 2011.

These rates will rise another 3.8 percent in 2013.

Second Wave:

Obamacare


There are over twenty new or higher taxes in Obamacare. Several will first go into effect on January 1, 2011. They include:

The "Medicine Cabinet Tax"

Thanks to Obamacare, Americans will no longer be able to use health savings account
(HSA), flexible spending account (FSA), or health reimbursement (HRA) pre-tax dollars to purchase non-prescription, over-the-counter medicines (except insulin).

The "Special Needs Kids Tax"

This provision of Obamacare imposes a cap on flexible spending accounts (FSAs) of $2500 (Currently, there is no federal government limit). There is one group of FSA owners for whom this new cap will be particularly cruel and onerous: parents of special needs children.

There are thousands of families with special needs children in the United States, and many of them use FSAs to pay for special needs education.

Tuition rates at one leading school that teaches special needs children in Washington , D.C. ( National Child Research Center ) can easily exceed $14,000 per year.

Under tax rules, FSA dollars can not be used to pay for this type of special needs
education.

The HSA (Health Savings Account) Withdrawal Tax Hike.

This provision of Obamacare increases the additional tax on non-medical early withdrawals from an HSA from 10 to 20 percent, disadvantaging them relative to IRAs and other tax-advantaged accounts, which remain at 10 percent.

Third Wave:

The Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) and Employer Tax Hikes

When Americans prepare to file their tax returns in January of 2011, they'll be in for a nasty surprise-the AMT won't be held harmless, and many tax relief provisions will have expired.

The major items include:

The AMT will ensnare over 28 million families, up from 4 million last year.

According to the left-leaning Tax Policy Center, Congress' failure to index the AMT will lead to an explosion of AMT taxpaying families-rising from 4 million last year to 28.5 million. These families will have to calculate their tax burdens twice, and pay taxes at the higher level. The AMT was created in 1969 to ensnare a handful of taxpayers.

Small business expensing will be slashed and 50% expensing will disappear.

Small businesses can normally expense (rather than slowly-deduct, or
"depreciate") equipment purchases up to $250,000.

This will be cut all the way down to $25,000. Larger businesses can currently expense half of their purchases of equipment.

In January of 2011, all of it will have to be "depreciated."

Taxes will be raised on all types of businesses.

There are literally scores of tax hikes on business that will take place. The biggest is the loss of the "research and experimentation tax credit," but there are many, many others. Combining high marginal tax rates with the loss of this tax relief will cost jobs.


Tax Benefits for Education and Teaching Reduced.

The deduction for tuition and fees will not be available.

Tax credits for education will be limited.

Teachers will no longer be able to deduct classroom expenses.

Coverdell Education Savings Accounts will be cut.

Employer-provided educational assistance is curtailed.

The student loan interest deduction will be disallowed for hundreds of thousands of
families.

Charitable Contributions from IRAs no longer allowed.

Under current law, a retired person with an IRA can contribute up to $100,000 per year directly to a charity from their IRA.

This contribution also counts toward an annual "required minimum distribution."
This ability will no longer be there.

PDF Version Read more: ; http://www.atr.org/six-months-untilbr-largest-tax-hikes-a5171##ixzz0sY8waPq1


And worse yet?

Now, your insurance will be INCOME on your W2's!

One of the surprises we'll find come next year, is what follows - - a little
"surprise" that 99% of us had no idea was included in the "new and
improved" healthcare legislation . . . the dopes who backed this
administration will be astonished!

Starting in 2011, (next year folks), your W-2 tax form sent by your employer will be
increased to show the value of whatever health insurance you are given by the company. It does not matter if that's a private concern or governmental body of some sort.

If you're retired? So what...
your gross will go up by the amount of insurance you get.

You will be required to pay taxes on a large sum of money that you have never seen. Take your tax form you just finished and see what $15,000 or $20,000 additional gross does to your tax debt. That's what you'll pay next year.

For many, it also puts you into a new higher bracket so it's even worse.

This is how the government is going to buy insurance for the15% that don't have insurance and it's only part of the tax increases.

Not believing this??? Here is a research of the summaries.....

On page 25 of 29: TITLE IX REVENUE PROVISIONS- SUBTITLE A: REVENUE OFFSET
PROVISIONS-(sec. 9001, as modified by sec. 10901) Sec.9002 "requires employers to include in the W-2 form of each employee the aggregate cost of applicable employer sponsored group health coverage that is excludable from the employees gross income."

- Joan Pryde is the senior tax editor for the Kiplinger letters.
- Go to Kiplingers and read about 13 tax changes that could affect you. Number 3 is what is above.

Why am I telling you this? The same reason I hope you forward this to every single
person in your address book.

People have the right to know the truth because an election is coming in November!
Looks like the shoe will drop come 2011. This isn't the worst of it. The really big healthcare bombs don't hit until after the 2012 election. Wonder why that is.
Convenient isn't it?


Timothy Shaffer
Senior Marketing Broker
Residential & Investment Specialist
Windermere R.E. / South Inc.
13106 - SE 240th St. Suite 200
Kent, WA 98031
Direct: 206.650.6260
Fax: 253-854-4682

Sunday, October 24, 2010

Advice from an old farmer

My Sunday school lesson today was on "The Two Witnesses", Morning Sermon was on "Life, Death and Eternity" and the afternoon lesson was on "Ruth and Resolve". See the outlines for these on the front page of our church website TLBC.

Hot Air Hand Dryers

My pastor friend put sanitary hot air hand dryers in the rest rooms at
his church and after two weeks, took them out.

I asked him why, and he confessed that they worked fine, but when he
went in there he saw a sign that read, "For a sample of this week's
sermon, push the button."

*****
An Old Farmer's Advice:

* Your fences need to be horse-high, pig-tight and bull-strong. *

* Keep skunks and bankers at a distance.*

* Life is simpler when you plow around the stump.*

* A bumble bee is considerably faster than a John Deere tractor.*

* Words that soak into your ears are whispered...not yelled.*

* Meanness don't jes' happen overnight.*

* Forgive your enemies. It messes up their heads.*

* Do not corner something that you know is meaner than you.*

* It don't take a very big person to carry a grudge.*

* You cannot unsay a cruel word.*

* Every path has a few puddles.*

* When you wallow with pigs, expect to get dirty.*

* The best sermons are lived, not preached.

* Most of the stuff people worry about ain't never gonna happen anyway.*

* Don't judge folks by their relatives.*

* Remember that silence is sometimes the best answer.*

* Don't interfere with somethin' that ain't bothering you none.*

* Timing has a lot to do with the outcome of a Rain dance.*

* If you find yourself in a hole, the first thing to do is stop diggin'.*

* Sometimes you get, and sometimes you get got.*

* The biggest troublemaker you'll ever deal with, watches you from the mirror.*

* Always drink upstream from the herd.*

* Good judgment comes from experience, and a lotta that comes from bad judgment.*

* Lettin' the cat outta the bag is a whole lot easier than puttin' it back in.*

* If you think you have some influence, try orderin' somebody else's dog around.*

* Live simply. Love generously. Care deeply.*

* Never fight an old man. If he is too old to fight, he'll just kill you.*

* Speak kindly. Leave the rest to God.*

Thursday, October 21, 2010

GRRRRRR...!

Marion and I have been out of town for the past week and had a wonderful time. It was good to be back in Prayer Meeting last night at TLBC. Am now sorting through the emails, snail mail, and all the election junk mail...

GRRRRRRRRRR....!
I'm MAD AND YOU WILL BE TOO!

Your U.S. House & Senate have voted themselves$4,700 and $5,300 raises.

1. They voted to not give you a S.S. Cost of living raise in 2010 and 2011.

2. Your Medicare premiums will go up $285.60 for the 2-years and you will not get the 3% COLA: $660/yr.

Your total 2-yr loss and cost is -$1,600 or -$3,200 for husband and wife.

3. Over 2-yrs The House & Senate each get $10,000 raises

4. Do you feel CHEATED?

5. WILL your cost of drugs - doctor fees - local taxes - food, etc., increase? You better believe they will!

WILL THEIRS? ...NO WAY . They have a raise and better benefits. Why care about you? You never did anything about it in the past. You're obviously too stupid or don't care. No offense; just making a point!

6. Do you really think that Nancy , Harry , Chris , Charlie , Barnie, et al, care about you?

SEND THE MESSAGE-- You're FIRED.

IN 2010 YOU WILL HAVE A CHANCE TO GET RID OF THE SITTING CONGRESS AND Up to 1/3 OF THE SENATE, AND 100% OF THE HOUSE.

MAKE SURE YOU'RE STILL MAD ON NOVEMBER 2nd AND TELL THEIR REPLACEMENTS NOT TO SCREW UP TOO.

It is OK to cop and forward this to your sphere of influence if you are finally tired of the abuse. Maybe it's time for the........
Amendment 28

"Congress shall make no law that applies to the citizens of the United
States that does not apply equally to the Senators or Representatives,
And Congress shall make no law that applies to the Senators or
Representatives that does not apply equally to the citizens of the
United States ."

Let's get this passed around, folks - these people in Washington have brought this upon themselves!!! It's time for retribution. Let's take back America .


If you don't forward this to all your friends; your apathy is just part of the national problem.


IT'S TIME!!!!!!!
JUST DO IT!


They are taking our money for their raises and benefits. Do they care what happens to us? The answer is obvious - NO!

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Don't Ask Don't Tell BLOCKED

DON'T ASK DON'T TELL BLOCKED BY INJUNCTION.

By JULIE WATSON, Associated Press Writer Julie Watson, Associated Press Writer.

SAN DIEGO – A federal judge issued a worldwide injunction Tuesday stopping enforcement of the "don't ask, don't tell" policy, ending the military's 17-year-old ban on openly gay troops.
=====
What? How can this be? What gives a Judge this kind of authority? This goes way beyond "checks and balances". Any Judge that issues an injunction or court order that is in opposition to the established Rule of Law according to the law making Legislative and Executive branches of our government should have his or her recent relative court decisions voided, all financial benefits immediately revoked and should be removed from the bench. Who has the legal authority to remove a Judge from the bench? I believe the duly elected "Oath Keeping" County Sheriff does. LJK.

Sunday, October 10, 2010

Judgment Day

Thank the Lord for the goodness of God. Good services again today at TLBC. We had visitors all the way from Long Island, New York. My Sunday school lesson was on "The Bitter-Sweet Inheritance" and the morning sermon was on "Don't Miss the Truth". Again, the outlines are on the front page of our church website click here.

=====
A preacher said to a farmer, "Do you belong to the Christian family?"

"No," he said, "they live two farms down." "No, I mean are you lost?"

"No, I've been here thirty years." "I mean, are you ready for Judgment Day?"

"When is it?" "Could be today or tomorrow."

"Well, when you find out for sure when it is, you let me know. My
wife will probably want to go!"
=====
A pastor places his order at the pet store. "I need at least 50 mice,
2,000 ants and as many of those little silverfish you can get."

The clerk replies, "We can probably do that, but it might take some
time. Mind if I ask why you are placing such an unusual order?"

The pastor replies, "I've accepted a call to another church and the
pastor's council told me to leave the parsonage the way I found it."
=====
During the last Sunday service that the visiting pastor was to spend
at the church he served for some months, his hat was passed around for
a goodwill offering.

When it returned to the pastor, it was empty. The pastor didn't
flinch. He raised the hat to Heaven and said, "I thank You, Lord,
that I got my hat back from this congregation."
=====

Saturday, October 09, 2010

45 wonderful years



Marion and I celebrate our 45th Anniversary today. It was a quiet day. We stayed home hand had home made tacos. Next week however we are taking a trip out of state for a few days. I thank the Lord for giving me such a helpmate as my sweetheart. In His providence, He brought her halfway around the world just for me. AMEN.

Sunday, October 03, 2010

Take your burden to the Lord


The Sunday school lesson today was on "Demonic Plagues" and the morning sermon was on "Pounding Home the Truth" while in the afternoon we studied "Ruth and Ruin" Click here for a look at the outlines today.

To vote on if homosexuals should be allowed to marry click here.

Concentrate on this Sentence
'To get something you never had, you have to do something you never did.' When God takes something from your grasp, He's not punishing you, but merely opening your hands to receive something better.

Saturday, October 02, 2010

Pressing on

We had a wonderful time of Fellowship Last night at the First Friday Fellowship meeting at TLBC. Elder James Tweet from the South Park Missionary Baptist Church in Seattle preached a message from 2Cor.5:17-20 on New Creatures and New Desires.

I attended another Tea Party rally on the steps of our State Capital today and was asked to lead in prayer for the convocation after the Flag Salute. The speakers were very good. This is grass roots patriotism at it's best. The crowd was not as large as in the past due to the fact mainly I think that many of the folks were out door belling and sign waving for the local candidates in their respective districts. Monday is the last day to get registered to vote. Only two more week before the mail in ballots start being delivered. November 2nd is Judgment Day for the elite tax and spend cronies of big government. We are hopeful for some change this time that will be for the good rather than what we got last time.