Voluntary benefits have become an essential way to create or enhance your current employee benefits package. They are a unique and important asset to your company. What are Voluntary Benefits? Voluntary benefits are employee benefits that employees can purchase from their employer. Notably, this is usually done at little or no cost to the employer. Offering these benefits through the employer is a win-win that provides opportunities for tax benefits to employees, reduced premiums through … [Read more...] about Voluntary Benefits: The Competitive Advantage for Your Business
Columnists
Diversifying with Real Estate
With many saying the stock market is overheated, prudent investors are constantly looking for long-term investment strategies to diversify their holdings and keep their nest eggs safe. The taxable income in a retirement account, whether it’s an IRA/401K or Simplified Employee Pension plan, or SEP-IRA grow tax deferred until withdrawals are taken out. If the account is a Roth IRA, the gains accumulate tax-free and withdrawals are tax-free. Why not diversify into real estate? Section 408 of the … [Read more...] about Diversifying with Real Estate
Working Together for Common Goals
As we start a new academic year, I can’t help but reflect on the last few months. We are emerging from a historic summer in Northern Arizona, which includes celebrating the contributions of hundreds of thousands of innovative and creative people who helped send Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin to the Moon. Though it took place 50 years ago and a quarter million miles away from Earth, the Moon landing is woven into the history of Northern Arizona and NAU. Astronauts trained at Meteor and Sunset … [Read more...] about Working Together for Common Goals
Healthy Skin Requires Care
Your skin is constantly changing and the only way to keep up the toll of aging and the effects of the sun and elements is constant care – from a daily regime of cleansing, moisturizing and sun protection to weekly soothing masks to monthly facials and more. And, good skin care isn’t only for women. Men of all ages and professions can and should benefit from daily to advanced skin care. After all, the damaging sun rays and weather don’t discriminate between men and women. There are various … [Read more...] about Healthy Skin Requires Care
Prescott DermaLift Rejuvenating Sun-Damaged Skin
Although the sun isn’t the only thing that emits UV radiation, it does account for more than 70 percent of a person’s yearly exposure, which causes a plethora of skin-related abnormalities, including wrinkles, aging-related disorders, skin cancer and diminished immunity to infection. unlight has a profound effect on the skin that can result in premature aging, skin cancer and a host of other skin-related conditions. Exposure to UV light accounts for around 90 percent of all symptoms of skin … [Read more...] about Prescott DermaLift Rejuvenating Sun-Damaged Skin
Finding Reputable Contractors
Welcome to “At Home with Tom and Sandy.” Sit back, relax and enjoy. Tom: Hello, Sandy, our community YCCA gal! As always, it is a joy to be with you again this month and to share our column with the community. As usual, I am holding on to see what we are going to chitchat about. Sandy: Hello back at ya, Tom. All is well in the wonderful world of YCCA. We have had some terrific contractor outreach meetings, the weather has been glorious, new virtual inspection processes with the City of … [Read more...] about Finding Reputable Contractors
Creating Privacy with Head-High Hedges
Privacy and hedgerows are not top-of-mind until your neighbor dumps his leftover construction material for all to enjoy at the next backyard BBQ. My favorite is the super-sized motor home parked within feet of the property line that is now a chrome-covered albatross sitting between yards. We spend a lot of time outdoors in Arizona and a little privacy is essential. An unfortunate mistake so many homeowners make is planting a hedge that becomes massive within several years, overgrowing its … [Read more...] about Creating Privacy with Head-High Hedges
Preparing for Senior Sun Safety
As a child, you may have spent numerous hours outdoors during the summer. Now that you’re an adult, you may find the summer months to be far less enjoyable because of the heat. This is normal. As you age, the body’s mechanisms that help regulate internal temperature become less efficient. This means that you lose some of your ability to adapt to heat, leaving you with a lower tolerance and making you more susceptible to heat-related illnesses. This is caused by a few different reasons – … [Read more...] about Preparing for Senior Sun Safety
Healthy End-of-Summer Tips and Tzatziki Sauce from the Garden
This summer has been a journey. As someone with a busy lifestyle and a proud member of the community, I wanted to share some helpful suggestions to all as we transition into the end of summer. Both personally and professionally, I have grown this summer in our garden environment. We believe that every life well-lived begins in the garden. Our company has catered to the James 4H Mingus Springs Camp and has provided fresh meals for approximately 913 campers from all over Arizona and neighboring … [Read more...] about Healthy End-of-Summer Tips and Tzatziki Sauce from the Garden
Understanding the Customer, Home
When I visit a home to find out how we can help someone with cleaning needs, I will usually ask, “How can we help you?” I may need to change my approach because often the response is, “Well, I want my house cleaned.” As simple and obvious as it may sound, there are actually a lot of variations in types of cleanings, houses, people and their specific needs. For example, a single gentleman living alone with no pets may want the very basics and with little frequency. “Just do my floors and clean … [Read more...] about Understanding the Customer, Home