Chilled Prawns with Balsamic Mustard Aioli

The  recipe calls for 24 medium Alaskan spotted prawns, but works well with the Costco 31-40 shrimp which we keep on hand.   It makes two cups of Aioli that stores well, although the garlic keeps intensifying the longer you leave it in the refrigerator.  Definitely a garlic lover’s appetizer, so if sharing with friends make sure everyone has some.  Not good to have only half the room with garlic breath and the other half hiding from them!

Click here to view recipe

IRA and Retirement Plan Limits for 2014

Professional Alliance member Victoria Trigg reminds us that while contribution limits for 2014 remain relatively unchanged, income limits for determining the deductibility of traditional IRA contributions have increased for 2014, as have income limits for those making Roth IRA contributions.  

Click here to read full article

Trends & Innovations: 3D-Printed Hand

A British inventor hopes to revolutionize the health industry after producing 3D printed prosthetic limbs. The engineering graduate has created The Dextrus hand, a fully-working prototype built with a 3D printer.  The NHS currently has to pay around £70,000 for a prosthetic hand, but robotics expert Joel Gibbard, 23, has come up with an alternative which could cost just £600.

Click here to view full article by Emma Innes, The Daily Mail Online

329 BC – The Opening Of The Silk Road To The East

The propensity to trade, barter and exchange is as old as man.  However, there are limits to the benefits of trade.  Be it in rural hamlets or isolated city-states, the division of labor and gain from exchange is bound by the variety of locally available resources and technologies.  The greater the area of trade, the greater the potential variety from which to benefit.

Click here to read full article © Russell Investments 2013. All rights reserved. Reprinted with permission.

Pepperoni and Cheese Scrambled Eggs

Robert Irvine from the Food Network inspired this delicious breakfast recipe that only takes about 15 minutes to whip up.  The creamy scrambled eggs with spicy pepperoni are the perfect way to start the day.  

Click here to view recipe

Social Security and Medicare Figures for 2014

The Social Security Administration (SSA) has announced that Social Security and SSI beneficiaries will receive a 1.5% cost-of-living (COLA) adjustment for 2014. According to the SSA's announcement, after the COLA adjustment, the estimated average retirement benefit will rise from $1,275 in 2013 to $1,294 in 2014.

Click here to read full article

Year-End Charitable Giving Enhanced with Tax Planning

As the holiday season approaches, with the end of one year and the start of another, we pause to give thanks for our blessings and the people in our lives. It is also a time when charitable giving often comes to mind. Professional Alliance members Neil Larson and Victoria Trigg remind us that charitable giving can be enhanced using income tax deductions, and so it can be much more effective when it is included as part of year-end tax planning.

Click here to read full article

Nellie Cashman Event

Almost every year for the past thirteen years I have attended the inspiring annual award ceremony with my friend and past Nellie winner, Tish Johnson.  The Nellie is organized by the Woman Business Owners of Puget Sound and it is always motivational listening to the challenges and successes of women entrepreneurs.  I recommend it to anyone thinking of starting a business or running their own.

600 BC - Olive Press Call Options?

Usually regarded as new risk management tools developed by financial engineers, derivatives have been part of our financial landscape for literally thousands of years.  Aristotle is credited with recording the first use of call options in Book One, Part XI of Politics, written in 350 BC.  To illustrate the art of accumulating wealth, Aristotle recounts the anecdote of Thales of Miletus (620-546 BC).

Click here to read full article © Russell Investments 2013. All rights reserved. Reprinted with permission.

Fiscally Responsible Pumpkin

My parents are blessed with a wonderful neighbor whose parents originally built the home they live in. The children that now occupy the old homestead are continuing to instill fiscal responsibility in their children by keeping family tradition alive. To this family, pumpkins are more than an ingredient in pumpkin pies and the medium for sculpting jack-o-lanterns. They are a lesson in patience, hard work and fiscal rewards. The family’s daughters were responsible for planting and caring for the pumpkin patch and in the fall would haul the pumpkins out to the road and sell them: they got to keep the proceeds.

The annual pumpkin sale continues, only now it is the granddaughters that offer up bins of pumpkins that sell out in only a couple of hours. The family’s tradition lives on and I can not resist purchasing a few pumpkins to make into jack-o-lanterns to greet the many trick-or-treaters that live in my Ballard neighborhood. I am sure the rewards for these girls’ hard work is much sweeter than any trick-or-treat candy they may have received on Halloween.

Savory Pumpkin Seeds

We always look forward to pumpkin seeds not only because of our annual barbequed stuffed pumpkin, but because of our love of savory baked pumpkin seeds.  Our favorites are the seeds from pie pumpkins as they have the most seeds per pound of pumpkin.  The recipe is at the bottom of the Great Pumpkin recipe.  

Click here to view recipe

58th Annual NW Estate Planning Seminar

Professional Alliance members, Pat McGowan, Neil Larson, and Candy Lee participated in this two-day comprehensive estate planning event.  The event is sponsored by the Estate Planning Council of Seattle and the Washington State Bar Association.  The two days help members review best practices and learn of new innovations in planning.

Trends and Innovations: 3-D Scanning Technique Recreates Stroke-Perfect Van Goghs

Have you always wanted a Van Gogh in your living room, but never seem to have a spare $20 million to pick one up? A new technique from Fujifilm could give you the next best thing: a 3-D printed reproduction almost indistinguishable from the original.  It's called Reliefography, and it works by combining traditional high-quality photography with 3-D scanning and printing.  Click here to read full article, from NBC News

2342 BC – Urukagina Stands Up For Property Rights

From around 5000 BC, the emergence of agriculture in ancient Sumer led to the rise of city-states.  Government, religion and writing followed.  To track tax payments, tithe and trade, the ancient Sumerians developed a system of writing, called cuneiform, that used a wooden wedge to impress shapes onto clay tablets.  It is from these clay remnants that we learn of their laws and practices and of a revolution that occurred in the city-state of Lagash.

Click here to read full article  
© Russell Investments 2013. All rights reserved. Reprinted with permission.

Live Well and Leave a Legacy – Join “Leave10”

I was pleased to be honored as founding member of a new charitable movement to pledge to leave more than 10% to charity when our mission here on earth is over.  We have always believed in giving back to the community, starting in our youth with boy scouts for Rocke and 4-H for me.  We believe every dollar of our charitable donations will come back to us ten times over.  We implore you to consider giving more to expand your wealth. 

Click here to learn more about Leave10

Or check out the Leave10 facebook page 

Medicare Open Enrollment Period October 15 – December 7

David Johnson, Medicare supplement and Long Term Care specialist with Lehman Wood Johnson, Inc., reminds us the Medicare open enrollment period is the time during which people with Medicare can make new choices and pick plans that work best for them. Each year Medicare plans typically change what they cost and cover. In addition, your health-care needs may have changed over the past year. The open enrollment period is your opportunity to switch Medicare health and prescription drug plans to better suit your needs.

Click here to read full article

For more information call 1-800-MEDICARE or visit the Medicare website at www.medicare.gov

Trends and Innovations: Late Retirement Helps Brain

People who continue to work later in their lives have less of a risk of developing Alzheimer’s or other types of dementia, according to Inserm, the French gov’t health research agency.  The agency studied half a million workers, from shopkeepers to bakers, and found that for each additional year of work, the risk of getting dementia is cut by 3.2%.  The Alzheimer’s Association said people don’t necessarily have to delay retirement, but the key is to keep cognitively active after retiring.

Article obtained from Investor’s Business Daily, July 2013

New Interest Rates on Federal Student Loans - Again

On August 9, President Obama signed the Bipartisan Student Loan Certainty Act of 2013, which changes the formula for determining federal student loan interest rates. The law comes after months of partisan bickering and uncertainty in the student loan arena, which culminated with the rate on subsidized Stafford Loans doubling to 6.8% on July 1. The new legislation introduces a new market-based system that ties federal student loan interest rates to the government's borrowing costs. The legislation will apply retroactively to student loans that originated July 1.

Click here for full article and details on the new rates

Tesla Model S Achieves Best Safety Rating of Any Car Ever Tested

Independent testing by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has awarded the Tesla Model S a 5-star safety rating, not just overall, but in every subcategory without exception. Approximately one percent of all cars tested by the federal government achieve 5 stars across the board. NHTSA does not publish a star rating above 5, however safety levels better than 5 stars are captured in the overall Vehicle Safety Score (VSS) provided to manufacturers, where the Model S achieved a new combined record of 5.4 stars.

Click here to read more.  Article courtesy of Tesla Motors.  

Sharp and Sweet Green Salad

This salad is delicious to eat year round, though we especially like having it in the summer as an accompaniment to a nice serving of grilled ahi.  The lime-pepper dressing gives this light and fresh salad a nice kick – it can be used as a marinade or dipping sauce as well.

Click here to view full recipe

Two Supreme Court Rulings Boost Same-Sex Marriage Rights

On June 26, 2013, the U.S. Supreme Court announced its rulings on two landmark cases related to same-sex marriage. The 5-4 decisions bolster the federal benefits available to same-sex married couples and clear the way for same-sex marriages in California.

In the first case, the court struck down Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act of 1996 (DOMA), which defined marriage as the union of a man and a woman. This case involved a claim by Edith Windsor, who sought a refund from the IRS of the $363,000 in estate taxes she paid because the federal government did not recognize her marriage to her long-time partner and spouse, Thea Spyer. Her suit contended that DOMA violated the principles of equal protection.

Click here to read full article, which contains details on some of the federal benefits or protections that may now be available to legally married same-sex couples.

Trends and Innovations: Gene May Block Breast Cancer

Among the latest genetic developments in health care, a team from Osaka University and the University of Toronto has found a gene that suppresses the spread of breast cancer.  The finding could lead to new drugs to treat the disease, which, according to the American Cancer Society, will strike an estimated 232,340 American women this year.  Research would be aimed at increasing the presence of the gene, called Monad, which in tests helped prevent spread of the deadly disease beyond the mammary glands.

Article obtained from Investor’s Business Daily, July 2013

3000 BC – Money!

What exactly is money? According to historian Niall Ferguson, it is “a medium of exchange, which has the advantage of eliminating inefficiencies of barter; a unit of account, which facilitates valuation and calculation; and a store of value, which allows economic transactions to be conducted over long periods as well as geographical distances.” It can take many forms. 

Click here to read full article  © Russell Investments 2013. All rights reserved. Reprinted with permission.

Introducing: Great Moments in Financial History

In 2005 Russell started a quarterly newsletter, Russell Communiqué, which was designed to highlight new research topics and to address some of the emerging investment challenges faced by the client base. From the beginning, the closing column, "Great Moments in Financial History," offered a short, interesting historical counterpoint to the topical content in the rest of the newsletter.

The book’s articles address great moments from 3000 BC to 2012 and are organized in the following three sections:  1.Origins (3000 BC to 17th Century) 2.The Enlightenment (1661 to 1787) and 3.Modern Times (1811 to 2012)

We are delighted to share these articles with you.  To view the first installment in our “Greatest Moments in Financial History” series click the following link:  3000 BC– Money!

© Russell Investments 2013. All rights reserved. Reprinted with permission.

Washington State Edits State Estate Tax

On June 13^th, without a whole lot of fanfare, the Washington State Legislature approved a new law that will change the Washington estate tax. These changes include: (1) The applicable exclusion amount (2) The tax rate will increase (3) Up to a $2.5 million deduction can apply and (4) a “glitch” was corrected…

Click here for more details as published in Professional Alliance member Warren Baker’s Spring 2013 Death & Taxes newsletter.

Grilled Salmon With Tawny Port Tarragon Sauce

Washington State is producing some very fine Ports and some great salmon.  This recipe lets you enjoy them both when it is also the perfect time of year to bring out the barbeque.  This unique combination of Tarragon and Port make a very flavorful, moist barbequed salmon.

It is now Bing cherry season so don’t forget to pull out our Bing cherry favorites; Grilled Bratwurst with Bing Cherry Sauce, Goat Cheese Mashed Potatoes & Arugula Salad and a great summer salad, Cherry-Walnut Gelatin Mold.   All are available in the Rock-Candy Cookbook.

Click here to view this month’s recipe

Click here to view the RockCandy Compilation Cookbook

Tesla Repays Loan: Nearly $500 Million

Electric car-maker Tesla Motors wired almost half a billion dollars to the U.S. government on Wednesday, erasing the remaining balance on its 2010 taxpayer loan and sidestepping a continuing controversy over the Obama Administration’s support for a handful of companies pursuing green-car development.  By paying off the loan nine years ahead of schedule, Tesla becomes the only American car company to have fully repaid the federal government under the Department of Energy‘s Advanced Technology Vehicle Manufacturing program.

Click here to read full article, courtesy of forbes.com

Pea, Asparagus, and Fava Bean Salad

We love fresh asparagus in the spring time.  When we were growing up in Yakima we used to pick wild asparagus in the pear orchards next door.  They were very flavorful thin stalks.  When it is fresh we like to eat it as often as we can.  This new Bon Appétit recipe is a great one to do for multiple meals.  It is a cold salad that can last for several days.  I keep the fried shallots and bacon in a separate container to heat them and top the salad just before serving.  

   

Click here to view full recipe

Trends and Innovations: Exoskeleton Allows Paraplegics to Walk

The idea of "wearable robots" may seem like something out of a movie, but this technology is already being used in real life.  Started as a project for the military, the exoskeleton has transformed from a device designed to allow soldiers to lift heavy loads and walk further to one that enables people with disabilities to step out of wheelchairs and stand upright.  The "Ekso" is a bionic exoskeleton developed by Ekso Bionics that gives paraplegics upright mobility.

Click here to read full article, courtesy of cnn.com

Glitter Gala Save the Date: Nov 2nd, 2013

Save the date for the Goodwill Glitter Gala - 6 PM Saturday, Nov 2^nd 2013

Yes, it's on a weekend this year.  We are moving to the big leagues and expect even more “bling” than ever before plus dancing and desserts after the fashion show in the foyer.  I have attached the video of last year’s show and the link to photos.  It was the best ever and 2013 will be even more spectacular.   Please spread the word to others that might be interested in attending.  

Click here to see:
Fashion Show Video                 Gala Pictures

Fixed Income in a QE World: Yields Compress, Russell Adjusts

Jeff Hussey, CFA, Chief Investment Officer of Fixed Income for Russell recently published this excellent piece on their perception of this unprecedented high bond market.   He warns us that in today’s environment, it is critical that investors remain vigilant about the risks in their fixed income portfolios and take active approaches to potentially avert harmful outcomes as bond yields rise.  Managing fixed income in a rising interest rate environment is tricky and we appreciate that Russell is adjusting to current market conditions and minimizing the risk for this asset class.   

Click here to read full article, courtesy of Russell Research

Consumer Reports Highest Score Ever – 99 of 100

The Tesla Model S was recently given the highest score ever recorded in Consumer Reports magazine's automotive testing; only the Lexus 460L (2007) has ever received as high of a mark.  "It accelerates, handles and brakes like a sports car. It has the ride and quietness of a luxury car and is far more energy-efficient than the best hybrid cars," Jake Fisher, the magazine's director of automotive testing, said Thursday in a statement. 

Click here to read full article, as published on cbsnews.com

Click here to read the Tesla Model S Consumer Report, as published on consumerreports.org

Trends and Innovations: Bioengineered Windpipe Surgery

Using plastic fibers and human cells, Dr.Paolo Macchiarini and his team have built and implanted a windpipe in a 2 ½-year-old girl — the youngest person ever to receive a bioengineered organ.  

To make the windpipe, a half-inch diameter tube was created out of plastic fibers, bathed in a solution containing stem cells taken from the child’s bone marrow and incubated in a shoebox-size device called a bioreactor. Because the windpipe uses only the child’s own cells, there is no need for drugs to suppress the patient’s immune system to avoid rejection of the implant.

Click here to read full article, as published on nytimes.com

Health-Care Reform: Looking Back and Ahead

The Affordable Care Act has been with us since 2010, having survived a legal challenge with the Supreme Court.  Several important provisions of the law have already taken effect, while other major requirements are due to be implemented in 2014.

Click here to read highlights of provisions that have already been implemented and to see what’s in store for 2014.

For more detailed information on healthcare reform we rely on Professional Alliance member Jere Meyer.

Caviar and a Movie Night

Several years ago we gave piggy banks away as holiday gifts and we had several left over.  We filled one of ours with change - when it was full we thought…“what fun decadent thing can we do with this money that usually just slips through our fingers?”  We decided to use it to buy caviar and invited our friends, the Kennedy’s, over for Caviar and Movie night.  We had a great time and gave them a piggy bank to start saving for dinner at their house. 

The piggy banks fill up so fast and there just aren’t that many good movies, so we both end up cashing in piggy banks when we get together so we can have a premier champagne for Karen, and duck foie gras for Craig and Rocke.  Last time we got together we had  Tuna Tartare as the starter course and plan to make it a tradition of the Caviar and a Movie night.  I still have a few piggy banks left if you want to start your own Caviar and a Movie tradition.

Tuna Tartare on Marinated Cucumbers

Rocke and I love to cook and recently have been obsessed with watching Jacque Pepin’s  “Essential Pepin” and watching re-runs of old cooking shows with Julia Child  and Jacque cooking together.  The both are such amazing chefs.  A week before one of our “Caviar and a Movie” nights we happened to watch his program on Tuna Tartare topped with pressed caviar.  It was a perfect addition to our traditional caviar.

This recipe is very challenging the first time you do it, and it is worth buying the video set – Essential Pepin - just to learn how to do it.  I recommend making 2 to 3 times as many of the marinated cucumber slices in order to have enough slices that are equally thick and long enough to arrange like they have them in the picture.  This dish is tangy, rich and smooth all at once.  It makes a very attractive dish and we served it with pepper water crackers.    

Click here to view recipe

Tesla Family Reunion

For the first time both generations of Teslas came together for a family reunion at the  Metropolitan Detail facilities in Bellevue.  There were approximately 30 Model S vehicles at the event and 60 Tesla owners.   We had classes on how to properly wash our cars, adventure across country with an all electric car, and where you can legally test the speed and handling via the Audi Club driver events.  Rocke and I had a good time talking to the other Model S owners and learned of a handy storage pouch under the driver’s seat that we never knew about.  We love the car and think everyone should have one.

Roth IRA and Legacy Trust: A Match Made in Tax-Free Heaven

We are pleased to announce that Warren Baker, tax attorney with Amicus Law Group PC and Professional Alliance member, was recently published in the Puget Sound Business Journal.  Baker discusses how naming a “legacy trust” as beneficiary to a Roth IRA can potentially increase the long-term growth and tax benefits of what normally is considered a standard retirement vehicle. 

Click here to read the full article

Trends and Innovations: New Electronic Tattoos Could Help Monitor Your Health

Taking advantage of recent advances in flexible electronics, researchers have devised a way to “print” devices directly onto the skin so people can wear them for an extended period while performing normal daily activities. Such systems could be used to track health and monitor healing near the skin’s surface, as in the case of surgical wounds.

So-called “epidermal electronics” were demonstrated previously in research from the lab of John Rogers, a materials scientist at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; the devices consist of ultrathin electrodes, electronics, sensors, and wireless power and communication systems.

Click here to read full article

Courtesy of MIT Technology Review

Mustard-Glazed Corned Beef with Baby Vegetables in Golden Ale Broth

An excellent crock pot recipe for St. Patrick’s Day or any day for that matter.  We found the original recipe years ago in a Sunset magazine article highlighting crock pot recipes.  We have added our touches to it over the years, but always look forward to March when the corned beef shows up in the market.  We usually buy three, use one and one half immediately and freeze the other one and a half for later in the year.   

Click here to view full recipe

There's Still Time to Contribute to an IRA for 2012

Victoria Trigg reminds us that taxpayers have until their tax return due date (not including extensions) to contribute up to $5,000 to an IRA for 2012 ($6,000 if they are age 50 by December 31, 2012). For most taxpayers, the contribution deadline for 2012 is April 15, 2013.   

Click here to read full article

Trends and Innovations: Best Inventions of 2012 Indoor Clouds

That’s not Photoshop. The Dutch artist Berndnaut Smilde has developed a way to create a small, perfect white cloud in the middle of a room. It requires meticulous planning: the temperature, humidity and lighting all have to be just so. Once everything is ready, Smilde summons the cloud out of the air using a fog machine. It lasts only moments, but the effect is dramatic and strangely moving. It evokes both the surrealism of Magritte and the classical beauty of the old masters while reminding us of the ephemerality of art and nature.  (Article courtesy of time.com)

Understanding Sequestration

Automatic sequestration cuts are effective March 1, 2013. From 2013 through 2021, sequestration is scheduled to cut a total of $1.2 trillion, split evenly between defense and domestic programs. In 2013, the cuts will total $85 billion.  
Click here to read full article

2013 Retirement Plan Increases

Please note that in 2013 the maximum amounts you can add to many retirement plans have increased.  See table below.

¹ Must aggregate employee contributions to all 401(k), 403(b), SAR-SEP, and SIMPLE plans of all employers. Contributions to 457(b) plans are not aggregated. For SAR-SEPs, the percentage limit is 25% of compensation reduced by elective deferrals (effectively, a 20% maximum contribution).

² Special catch-up limits may also apply to 403(b) and 457(b) plan participants.

American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012

Victoria Trigg reminds us that the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012 (enacted to avoid the fiscal cliff) contains two provisions that may be important to certain IRA owners and retirement plan participants.  The first extends tax-free charitable contributions from IRAs through 2013, and the second liberalizes the rules for 401(k), 403(b), and 457(b) in-plan Roth conversions.

Click here to read full article

Stained Glass Piece # 3

I finally finished my third stained glass piece.  I started it during the winter months and didn’t get it finished before spring gardening took priority.  This one was too large for my art room so I set up shop in the garage.  I needed to speed up its completion to make room for the Tesla.  I could have a work bench and Smart car in the garage at the same time, but not the super roomy Tesla.  

The following is a link to my first two pieces: http://www.candyjlee.blogspot.com/2010/08/beginning-stain-glass.html