100 Year Old Bird Houses

My husband, Rocke Koreis and I enjoy woodworking and this year we built Wren and Blue Bird Birdhouses out of reclaimed 100 year old cedar fencing that we salvaged from our neighbors fence several years ago.   We built 14 birdhouses to share with family and friends over the holidays.  My main contribution to the project was helping with the roofing since each roof has 300 shingles which were individually secured with a spot of glue.  

Sautéed Pork Chops with White Pan Sauces

The sautéed Pork Chops are easy to make and complement a variety of vegetables.  Bone in pork chops are a must otherwise the chops get to dry and loose flavor.  The bone keeps the centers moist and this easy wine deglazing makes an instant very flavorful sauce. 

Click here for the full recipe

New Alliance with Tim Bovey of Kirkland Financial Advisors

I have always encouraged everyone to plan for all possibilities and then live for today.   I am pleased to announce I have completed my will, healthcare directives and retirement plan for Candy J. Lee Financial Planning and Money Management.   Tim Bovey and I have been colleagues at fsic for over 15 years and share the same commitment to comprehensive financial planning and diverse portfolio management.

Tim Bovey, ChFC

Tim has always provided a verbal commitment that he would be there for my clients if I was no longer able to provide financial guidance to friends and clients.  Starting in February that verbal commitment was formalized and we will now share support staff as well our joint commitment to your continued wealth, health and happiness.  

Click here to read more about the new alliance

Trends and Innovations: Robots

In the late 15^th century, Leonardo da Vinci sketched a plan for a “mechanical knight” that could sit, stand, and move its arms.  Powered by pulleys and levers, it’s often regarded as the earliest know example of robot design.  Now many robots are found in hospitals.  A surgical robot called the da Vinci performs minimally invasive surgery and has been involved in over 1.5 million procedures.

Click to read a short article on Robots form the October Rotarian

Good news for 529 Plan Savers: More Investment Flexibility

Call it a holiday gift. Thanks to legislation passed in December, beginning in 2015, owners of 529 accounts will be able to change the investment options on their existing plan contributions twice per calendar year instead of just once. This increased flexibility is a welcome option for parents and grandparents who use 529 plans to save for their children's or grandchildren's college education.

Previously, if an account owner had exhausted his or her once-per-year investment change allowance, the only way to change investment options again on existing contributions in the same year was to change the beneficiary of the account, which may not have been desirable or feasible.

Click here for more details

1346 AD: European Sovereign Debt Default!!!

Front page Headlines in 2012? Guess again: try Florence, Italy, in 1346. The Compagnia de Bardi and the Peruzzi, the two biggest European merchant banks, went bankrupt: the Peruzzi in 1343 and the Bardi in 1346.

These two merchant banks are described as “super-companies” as they were larger than any other medieval banks, including the Medici bank that flourished in the 15^th century. Europe had to wait until the 16^th century for the rise of the Fuggers to see anything approaching their size.¹ The failure of these two banks was catastrophic for the medieval European economy.

Click here to read full article