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