Ridgewood NJ, According to the latest census data home prices across the state are still feeling the effects of the Great Recession, According to the most recent Census data, the median home value in New Jersey is $315,900, a 20 percent decline between the 2005-2009 Census and the 2011-2015 data.
Bergen County had the highest home values in the state, with the runner-up position going to Morris County. Bergen home values dropped from $530,867 to $441,100 or -16.9% from the 2005-2009 period to the 2011-2015 period compared to New Jersey values which dropped 19.5% and US values dropped -12.5% during the same period.
Parents are investing more and more time, money, and emotional effort into their kids’ sports — despite what the research shows is best for kids.
by: Kirsten Jones Neff | July 9, 2016
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A few years ago, when our youngest was 12, he waited for a pause in dinner conversation, then cleared his throat and told us that he did not want to play competitive sports anymore. For a moment, the family was stunned into silence.
Full disclosure: for the past decade, we’ve been that family, the one living and breathing our kids’ sports: driving cars full of cleated kids to remote, windblown corners of California to set up goals, sell cookies, shoot photos, run the clock, keep stats and even, yes, coach the teams. We’ve split up to attend different events and foregone family vacations to fly to other states for tournaments. Even as I write, I’m in the midst of organizing a trip to San Diego for my daughter’s high school lacrosse team.
Devotion to our children’s athletic endeavors has “paid off”: our oldest child competes on her university’s beach volleyball team, and our second was recruited to play college lacrosse. Because their sports required huge investments of time and money, my husband and I vowed to never get ahead of our children. They had to be eager to make sacrifices (miss school dances, family vacations, etc.) and at least appear thankful for our financial and logistical support. As it turned out, both daughters love their sports, despite the sacrifices involved. When our son began to play soccer, basketball, and lacrosse, we assumed the status quo: a yearly calendar jam-packed with sports priorities. It was jarring to hear he wasn’t happy. What did we do wrong?
Here’s some fake “mainstream” news stories for you to consider:
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“The Zapruder film:” frames of video footage of JFK’s assassination were reversed, making it appear that Kennedy’s head lurched the opposite direction, spawning a million conspiracy theories about multiple gun men, the grassy knoll, etc.
“The October Surprise:” Reagan supposedly sent Bush 41 to Iran to prevent the hostages from being released until he was elected president. Bush never went to Iran, and his whereabouts on the supposed dates were very public.
“Bush 43 snorted Coke”… according to a Texas inmate whose only known encounter with Bush was when Bush refused to pardon him.
“Laura Bush had an abortion.”
“Proof Bush avoided the draft” was based on a letter publicized by Dan Rather on 60 minutes that was such an obvious forgery, TV viewers spotted fifteen proofs of forgery from their living room couches.
“Jet fuel doesn’t burn hot enough to destroy the Twin Towers” It doesn’t burn hot enough to melt steel, but it burns plenty hot enough to weaken it. Ever take metal shop, anyone?
“Mad Max Beyond Superdome” No, after Hurricane Katrina, the Louisiana stadium was not filled of desperate people resorting to cannibalism.
“Blame for Katrina” The Bush administration had attempted to use federal funds to rebuild the dykes and levees in Louisiana, but was blocked by local Democrat politicians.
“Tar balls in the Gulf coast” were an entirely natural phenomenon. If they were affected at all by the oil spill disaster it was because there were fewer oil rigs to collect natural seepage, which leak far more oil every year than the oil spillage.
Most contentiously, “Project Veritas” misled America by editing footage to make it appear that Planned Parenthood sold baby parts, PP also arranged to keep child prostitution secret, NPR negotiated with reporters undercover as Islamicists, Clinton staffers coaching on how to commit vote fraud, … except, oh, yeah… Project Veritas released the entire unedited footage with the footage that had been merely edited for time, just like every news story based on recorded footage since the dawn of man. This is contentious, because I suppose it’s partly subjective whether the fact that a PP employee went in the back room to discuss a proposal to smuggle child prostitutes with her manager for several minutes amounts to exculpatory evidence; “obviously” it demonstrates some hesitance.
And some less important, but outrageous ones:
Dateline NBC demonstrated that GM minivans were prone to burn when struck in a collision, but didn’t include “if you overfill them with gas, and you stick bottle rockets where the gas is flowing out of them.”
A Food Lion was busted with old meat in the meat fridge… moments after it was put there by the network reporter who busted them.
The Washington Post accuses dozens of “right-wing” news sites and aggregators of spreading anonymous Russian-sourced fake news stories they found on the web and failed to verify … based on some anonymous probably Ukrainian-sourced fake news stories they found on the web and failed to verify.
Veteran financial guru Larry Kudlow, who served as the Donald Trump campaign’s senior economic adviser, predicts to Newsmax TV thatPresident-elect Donald Trump is assembling the type of cabinet “to end the White House war against business that we’ve experienced under the Obama administration.”
“There has been a war against business from day one and that is going to end,” Kudlow told Steve Malzberg on “America Talks Live.”
“I think Trump’s Cabinet picks have been very good and very skillful,” said Kudlow, a Newsmax Finance Insider, radio talk-show host and CNBC senior contributor.
Ridgewood NJ, Slippery road conditions resulted in numerous motor vehicle crashes in the Village of Ridgewood on Sunday evening, 12/11 including this crash on Glenwood Road in which the driver of an Acura MDX lost control of his vehicle and hit a retaining wall as he was driving eastbound toward the Ho-Ho-Kus train station. No injuries were reported in the incident, although a passenger’s side air bag did deploy. Ridgewood PD and EMS responded. The damaged vehicle was removed by a flatbed tow truck. Glenwood Road remained closed between Upper Boulevard and the Ho-Ho-Kus train station until road conditions improved.
Mark Krulish , Staff Writer, @Mark_Krulish10:14 a.m. EST December 11, 2016
(Photo: Courtesy of Roni Farfalla)
Port Authority Police Badge No. 1214 may not be as shiny as most, but it’s every bit as treasured.
On Friday, Nick Farfalla accepted that badge as he graduated from the Port Authority Police Academy, just as his father and grandfather had before him.
Steve Janoski , Staff Writer, @SteveJanoski4:34 p.m. EST December 11, 2016
A former probationary Ridgewood police officer is scheduled to appear in Superior Court in Sussex County on Monday on charges related to an Aug. 23 car accident.
Patrick Ward, 22, resigned from the force in September, submitting a letter to the village citing injuries that he suffered in the early morning car accident in Sussex County.
Council, please tell them before they hire an architect that you will never permit this. Flood zone, serious parking issues for years already, loud stuff next to a library? The area between the buildings should never have been built on–that’s the only logical place for the entrance driveway. Aronsohn and Pucciarelli had their years to dream. It’s over and so should be this ridiculous idea. These groups meet and meet and have to come up with projects and plans. Maybe it’s time to disband every committee and board–they’re wrecking the place with their dreams.
Ridgewood NJ, Ridgewood PD and EMS personnel were dispatched to aid an adult male pedestrian who was struck by a motor vehicle as he was trying to cross Godwin Avenue in front of Whole Foods, late afternoon, Sunday, 12/11. The victim, who was transported by ambulance to The Valley Hospital, sustained a non-life threatening leg injury. Ridgewood PD issued three (3) summonses in connection with the incident.
Living in the leafy suburbs or the peace of the countryside may invite disdain from inner-city urbanites but it might just save your life, according to Harvard University.
People whose homes are surrounded by the most greenery are 13 per cent less likely to die of cancer. Their risk of dying from respiratory disease also drops by 34 per cent, the biggest ever study into green spaces and health has shown.
Overall mortality was 12 per cent less for people who had the most greenery within 250 metres of their homes during the eight year follow-up period.
Fox Business host Maria Bartiromo slammed the establishment and members of the media Sunday, saying they failed to see the economic issues that mattered to Americans during the presidential campaign.
“Obviously the elites, the establishment, the media, they had no idea what the people wanted and had no idea where the people were in terms of economic issues, in particular jobs,” Bartiromo said on the “Cats Roundtable” on 970 AM in New York.
The “Mornings with Maria” host emphasized that the 2016 election was about “the working man and woman.”
“I think it was very much about the working man and woman. And I think there’s a big portion of the population out there who was saying, ‘You know that, I’m the forgotten man and woman. I’m the one who has not seen their wages move in 20 years,’” she told host John Catsimatidis.
The Fox Business host noted that investors are seeing that “the Trump plan is a growth plan,” and the incoming administration’s changes will pass through because of the “Republican sweep.”
“Businesses are sitting on cash because, before the election, they didn’t know what was around the corner. They were getting just strangled by regulations,” she said.
Weather Summary for the local Tri-State Region
National Weather Service New York NY
505 AM EST Sun Dec 11 2016
Another dry and cold day today but snow coming into the picture this afternoon and tonight as a low pressure system moves into the Great Lakes. Its associated warm front will be approaching and eventually moving northward across the region late tonight into Monday morning. Likewise, we should see a transition of snow to a wintry mix of snow, sleet, and freezing rain across the far interior parts of the region while closer to the coast, this will be more of mix of snow, sleet, and rain. Eventually all precipitation changes to rain late Monday morning with warmer air moving across on an increasing southerly flow. The rain tapers off behind the cold front from west to east Monday afternoon into Monday evening. Dry and seasonably cold weather is in store for Monday night with high pressure building southwest of the area.
Ridgewood NJ, Americans are living longer than ever, which means retirement could last 20 to 30 years for some people – maybe even longer.
That’s great for those who remain in reasonably good health and retire with plenty of financial stability.
But lengthy life spans also increase the odds that many seniors will deplete their savings, face debilitating health problems and need to turn to their children for financial help or caregiving.
That’s a far cry from the kind of retirement they dreamt of over the years.
“I’ve done focus groups where one of the chief concerns that comes up is people don’t want to become a burden on their kids,” says Jeannette Bajalia, a retirement-income planner, president of Woman’s Worth® (www.womans-worth.com) and author of Retirement Done Right and Wi$e Up Women.
It’s really too late to do much, though, when you’re 80 and your life starts unraveling. That’s why it’s important to plan ahead to get your finances and health in the best shape possible, she says. Among some of the points worth thinking about:
• Unanticipated health care costs. It’s estimated that the average married couple will need to pay up to $250,000 in out-of-pocket expenses for healthcare during their retirement, beyond what Medicare and most Medicare Supplements will pay. “We’re beginning to see a lot of cost shifting out of both Medicare programs and private health plans, which means more out-of-pocket healthcare costs,” Bajalia says. “It’s entirely possible that the savings you thought would allow you to travel or to at least pay all the bills could be gobbled up by medical expenses. As you plan for retirement, you should make it a priority to discuss this concern with your adviser so the two of you can look at what options you might have to try to keep that from happening.” • Long-term care planning. When it comes to aging, consider the possibility you might have to receive home healthcare or live in a nursing home or an assisted-living facility. The costs of such care can be daunting. For example, studies have shown that home healthcare can cost $50,000 or more per year, and nursing home care can run as high as 90,000 per year. “You don’t want your kids to have to pay for that,” Bajalia says. There are ways to prepare, such as buying a long-term care insurance policy or checking with a financial professional to help you develop a strategy for protecting your assets from nursing-home claims, she says. • Self-care. Not every financial professional may do this, but Bajalia says she believes it’s important to integrate health education and a lot of self-care into a retirement plan. Spending money on preventive health routines to take care of yourself now can help you avoid significant health problems that lead to even costlier expenses later on, she says. Research is now telling us that longevity is over 70 percent lifestyle.
“I know it’s important to older people that they be able to remain independent as long as possible and not have to turn to their children to help,” Bajalia says. “They just need to remember that careful planning is the route to accomplishing that.”
And one of the planning tools would be to help fund long term care insurance for your aging parents to keep assets in their estates, she says, so long term care is not simply for yourself but for your aging parents.
About Jeannette Bajalia
Jeannette Bajalia, author of Retirement Done Right and Wi$e Up Women, is president and principal advisor of Petros Estate & Retirement Planning, where she has designed and implemented innovate estate-planning solutions for clients and their families. She also is founder and president of Woman’s Worth® (www.womans-worth.com), which specializes in the unique needs facing women as they plan for their retirement.
Ridgewood NJ, One bit of conventional wisdom has it that to achieve success people must take a nose-to-grindstone, burn-the-midnight-oil approach.
Personal happiness is an afterthought – if it’s a thought at all.
But that’s the wrong way to look at things, says Scott MacDonald, a seasoned CEO and author of Saving Investa: How An Ex-Factory Worker Helped Save One of Australia’s Iconic Companies (www.AuthorScottMacDnald.com).
“Hard work absolutely is important, but I’ve met plenty of people who worked hard and never made much money or achieved satisfactory career objectives,” he says. “Working hard is just one part of the equation for success. You also need to be organized, plan, work smart and choose to focus your effort where there’s reward.”
From his decades of experience, MacDonald says he learned numerous lessons that helped him achieve both career success and personal happiness. Here are just five of those lessons:
• Don’t expect anyone to give you anything. In grade school and junior high, MacDonald earned money by doing yard work for neighbors, handling a paper route and washing dishes at his junior high school. As a teenager, he bagged groceries, stocked shelves in a pharmacy and worked in a fiberglass factory. “If you want something, work for it,” MacDonald says. “You will appreciate it more and not be indebted to anyone.” • You make your own luck. Former University of Texas football coach Darrell Royal was fond of saying, “Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.” MacDonald agrees. “Nothing in my life that I can think of has been the result of luck,” he says. • Losers have the best excuses. Winners find ways to succeed despite the many roadblocks and unexpected difficulties they encounter. People who are unsuccessful reach for excuses. “Whenever things go wrong, and things always go wrong at some point, look in the mirror for answers,” MacDonald says. “Successful people focus on what they can do to respond to setbacks and don’t waste time playing a blame game or feeling sorry for themselves.” • Players score points, but teams win games. To be successful, any organization must have a culture of teamwork. Individual stars need to be supportive of the team concept, or those individuals should be moved on. MacDonald once fired a top chief financial officer who was good at his job, but didn’t see the necessity of working with colleagues and was dismissive of others’ ideas. “The entire company performed better after he was gone,” MacDonald says. • Life is too short to deal with “jerks.” No matter how important the project, if someone can’t deal with you professionally and ethically, just pass on the deal and move on. “There will be other deals,” MacDonald says. “I may have lost an occasional deal, but overall my companies enjoyed good success and reputation, which led to other and better opportunities.”
Ultimately, people can moan about how unfair the world is, he says, but all that griping won’t get them anywhere.
“There’s no doubt that the competitive work environment places huge pressures on your time and energy,” MacDonald says. “But the quicker you understand that you’re responsible for your own destiny, the happier you’re going to be.”
About Scott MacDonald
Scott MacDonald, a successful CEO with a history of turning around struggling companies, is the author Saving Investa: How An Ex-Factory Worker Helped Save One of Australia’s Iconic Companies (www.AuthorScottMacDonald.com). MacDonald’s decades of corporate experience include serving as a senior consultant for Morgan Stanley, president of New Plan Excel Realty Trust and CEO of Center America Property Trust.
