Neil Armstrong - Legacy Lives On!

By By Robert Z. Pearlman, collectSPACE.com                                             

 

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — NASA on Monday (July 21) paid tribute to the first man to walk on the moon by naming a building at its Florida spaceport where work is being advanced to send astronauts to Mars.

The "Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building" at NASA's Kennedy Space Center added the late astronaut's name to the historic facility where he, his crew mates and their Apollo 11 spacecraft were readied for a launch to the moon 45 years ago this past week. Today, the building is being used to ready Orion, NASA's next-generation space capsule being developed to send astronauts beyond Earth orbit for the first time since the Apollo lunar landings.

"It is altogether fitting that we rename this facility," NASA Administrator Charles Bolden said during a ceremony held inside the Operations and Checkout (O&C) building, where hundreds of space workers gathered. "Armstrong was not only the first man to set foot on the moon... he challenged all of us to expand the boundaries of the possible."

"He, along with his crew Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins, are a bridge from NASA's historic journey to the moon 45 years ago, to our path to Mars today."

Bolden was joined at the ceremony by Aldrin and Collins, as well as Armstrong's backup commander, James Lovell, and Armstrong's sons Rick and Mark. During the event, Bolden presented Kennedy Space Center director Robert Cabana with an Apollo 11 patch that the astronauts carried to the moon in 1969 and then inscribed for the first crew to fly to Mars.

"We present this patch because it's here where the Mars 1 crew will lift off on America's next bold mission," Bolden stated. "We salute Neil Armstrong and his crewmates for blazing a path that is leading us all the way from the first footprints on the moon to, very soon, the first footprints on Mars."

                                                        

 

Armstrong, who famously declared his first small step on the moon a "giant leap for all mankind," died in 2012 at the age of 82.

"Neil's spirit lives on in these halls, in our hearts, and now his name will be a constant reminder of where we've been and that in his words 'our opportunities are unlimited,'" Cabana said.

In addition to updating the signs identifying the facility, a plaque and a spacesuit display in the building's lobby also pay tribute to the O&C's new namesake. Mark Armstrong also presented the center with a painting of his father from his days as an astronaut.

"On behalf of the Armstrong family, I would like to thank you for this tremendous honor," Armstrong's youngest son Mark said. "It's our hope the name that graces this facility will inspire those who work here for many years to come."

The five-story-tall O&C building, which was originally titled the Manned Spacecraft Operations Building at its opening in 1964, housed the quarters where the astronauts stayed while at the Kennedy Space Center prior to their launch.

"Since 1965, the Operations and Checkout building has been the final stop for America's astronauts before they embarked on their space journeys," Cabana said. "Like all the others, the crew of Apollo 11 left their mark, not only on the moon, but here in this building."

The building also included the high bay where the Apollo command, service and lunar modules were tested for flight before being stacked atop the Saturn V rocket.

The O&C's crew quarters were used throughout the Apollo program and for the subsequent Skylab, Apollo-Soyuz and space shuttle flights. In the early 1980s, the facility's high bay was used to support the European Spacelab modules that flew on the shuttle.

The Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building is in use today to assemble NASA's Orion spacecraft as the space agency prepares to embark on its "next giant leap" in space exploration, sending astronauts out to an asteroid and Mars. The facility is, at present, assembling the Orion capsule that will launch this December on the Exploration Flight Test-1 (EFT-1).

"I very much like that [Armstrong's] name will be on this building," Collins remarked. "He wouldn't have sought this honor, that was not his style, but I think he would be proud to have his name so closely associated with the heart and the sole of the space business."

"On Neil's behalf, thank you for what you do every day."

Follow collectSPACE.com on Facebook and on Twitter at @collectSPACE. Copyright 2014 collectSPACE.com. All rights reserved.

Learn from other's money mistakes!

Just because one may be good at making money doesn’t mean he or she necessarily has the savvy to save, invest and grow that money. The financial failures of some celebrities amplify what can go wrong when you mismanage your dollars and cents. 

              

Here are five famous faces, their financial faux pas and the lessons they learned.—Farnoosh Torabi, DailyWorth.com.

 

Katy Perry

After a year of marriage, the top-earning pop singer divorced comedian and actor Russell Brand. She stood to lose half her fortune as a result, since she had no prenuptial agreement. According to Forbes, Perry raked in $44 million while married to Brand and without a contract overwriting California’s 50/50 divorce laws, her ex stood to inherit half of that sum or some $20 million. Very fortunately for Perry, Brand decided not to pursue his share and the couple settled “amicably.” But was failing to sign a prenup really worth the risk?

A prenuptial or postnuptial agreement is not romantic, but it can save you agony and time in the event of a divorce, especially if you disagree with your state’s divorce procedures. For example, in California, a “community property” state, sans prenup the divorce laws require couples to equally divide assets including savings, property and even debt acquired during the marriage. (There are nine community property states in all.)

Most states proceed with an “equitable distribution” where a judge considers various criteria—including each spouse’s income and whether one spouse was a stay-at-home parent—to rule who receives what and how much. In 2011, 73% of divorce attorneys cited an increase in pre-nups over a five-year period. And as women earn more, they are asking for them in record numbers.

 

Kristen Bell

The “House of Lies” actress may not be able to qualify for credit anytime soon. Kristen Bell’s Los Angeles 2.5-acre property fell into foreclosure in early 2012 and was auctioned off for a reported $500,000 less than what she paid for it. While the busy actress doesn’t appear to be struggling for cash these days, a foreclosure isn’t an easy stain to wipe off your credit files and could prevent her from obtaining a loan in the near future. In fact, according to FICO, a foreclosure will remain on your credit report for seven years.

The lesson: Don’t buy more house than you can afford (try to keep monthly payments to no more than 28% of your income). And be even more conservative if you have fluctuating income as a freelancer, entrepreneur or, in this case, Hollywood actress.

 

Toni Braxton

Spending money that isn’t technically yours, an appetite for extravagance and some bad luck is what largely led the Grammy Award winning R&B singer to bankruptcy court — twice. While Toni Braxton seems to be making a financial comeback, she has had cataclysmic problems with overspending and debt. 

In 1998, she filed for bankruptcy due to what she says was lavishly living off the millions of dollars given to her as an advance from her music label. The catch was that she had to refund the record label all related expenses from clothing to travel to music videos and was left with very little in the end. Braxton told ABC News, “What happens is they give you advancement on the next record and then the next record…So you kind of stay in debt, in a sense.” While her worldwide sales totaled $170 million, Braxton said she took home a mere $1,972 from her first recording contract.

Her financial problems didn’t go away. In 2010 Braxton claimed she was $50 million in the red, prompting her to file bankruptcy again. This time she cited a life-threatening medical diagnosis that left her unable to perform and follow through with her self-financed concert series. (One reason to get disability insurance.) In the end, however, she was able to settle her case by paying just $150,000.

Moral of the story? A life built on credit is vulnerable to collapse. And a disability related to medical problems can sometimes be enough to obliterate your financial life if you don’t have sufficient coverage.

 

Leona Helmsley

No matter how wealthy you become, you’re never above the law. And certainly not when it comes to paying your taxes. Yet, hotel empress and businesswoman Leona Helmsley managed to avoid paying Uncle Sam for years until she was finally charged and sent to prison. According to the New York Times, a judge sentenced Helmsley to four years in prison, of which she served 18 months. She was also required to pay a $7 million penalty, in addition to $1.7 million in back taxes.

Tax evasion is not uncommon in the celebrity world. Actors Wesley Snipes and Nicholas Cage, along with domestic doyenne Martha Stewart, among others, have reportedly had to pay penalties for failing to pay sufficient taxes.

Deidre Hall

Lending money to family and friends can turn into an ugly scenario, especially if it’s money you, as the lender, can’t afford to lose. Once upon a time “Days of Our Lives” soap actress Deidre Hall lent her wardrobe consultant and her family some $800,000 to help them get through rough times. Hall claimed she tapped her pension plan to come up with some of the money and when her friend failed to pay her back in full she took them to court. The two parties reached a compromise in the mid ‘90s.

Let this be a reminder that loans to loved ones don’t usually get paid back in full. Best to think of the loan as a “gift” you may never get back. If you do decide to go down the path of lending to a friend or family member, implement a simple written contract to lay out the terms of the agreement, including both your names, the amount borrowed and details of when and how the loan must be repaid.
              

(Farnoosh Torabi is a personal finance expert, author, TV personality, and sought-after speaker whose mission is to help people take control of their finances so they can live their richest, happiest lives. Her latest book is entitled “When She Makes More: 10 Rules for Breadwinning Women.” Sign up for her free newsletter and receive Farnoosh’s latest money advice and the first chapter of her book, “Psych Yourself Rich for free.”)

 

Are YOU Happy?

University of California professor Sonja Lyubomirsky details the things research shows the happiest people have in common.

1. They devote a great amount of time to their family and friends, nurturing and enjoying those relationships.

2. They are comfortable expressing gratitude for all they have.

3. They are often the first to offer helping hands to coworkers and passersby.

4. They practice optimism when imagining their futures.

5. They savor life's pleasures and try to live in the present moment.

6. They make physical exercise a weekly and even daily habit.

7. They are deeply committed to lifelong goals and ambitions (e.g., fighting fraud, building cabinets, or teaching their children their deeply held values).

8. Last but not least, the happiest people do have their share of stresses, crises, and even tragedies. They may become just as distressed and emotional in such circumstances as you or I, but their secret weapon is the poise and strength they show in coping in the face of challenge. [The How of Happiness]

The internet has become a firehose of ideas we never implement, tricks we forget to use.
Reading a list of things is easy. Implementing them in your life can be hard. But it doesn't have to be. Let's get down to business.

"Happiness Subscriptions"

Here's an interesting fact about happiness: frequency beats intensity. What's that mean?
Lots of little good things make you happier than a handful of big things.
Research shows that going to church and exercising both bring people a disproportionate amount of happiness. Why?
They give us frequent, regular boosts.
Stanford professor Jennifer Aaker says it's really that simple: the things that make you happy, do them more often.
We have designated work hours. We schedule doctor appointments. Heck, we even schedule hair appointments. We say happiness is the most important thing but fail to consistently include it in our calendars.

Research shows 40 percent of happiness is due to intentional activity. You can change your happiness by up to 40 percent by what you choose to do every day.
And much of what you do, you do on autopilot. Forty percent of what you do every day isn't the result of decisions, it's due to habits.

One paper published by a Duke University researcher in 2006 found that more than 40 percent of the actions people performed each day weren't actual decisions, but habits. [The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business]

Happy things need to be a habit. Part of your routine. Part of your schedule. Stop waiting for random happy events: you need a "happiness subscription."
So how do we take that list and make them things we actually do every day instead of more forgotten trivia? Let's get started.

1) Wake up and say ARG!
It's an acronym that stands for:

1. Anticipation
2. Recollection
3. Gratitude

I've written about the importance of a morning ritual and how research shows your mood in the morning affects your entire day. So start right.
Anticipation is a powerful happiness booster. It's two for the price of one: You get the good thing and you get happy in anticipation of the good thing.
So think about what you're looking forward to. Got nothing you're looking forward to? Schedule something.
Recollecting great moments has a related effect. Memories allow us to relive the good times and kill stress.

People prone to joyful anticipation, skilled at obtaining pleasure from looking forward and imagining future happy events, are especially likely to be optimistic and to experience intense emotions. In contrast, those proficient at reminiscing about the past — looking back on happy times, rekindling joy from happy memories — are best able to buffer stress. [The How of Happiness]

And gratitude is arguably the king of happiness. What's the research say? Can't be more clear than this:

…the more a person is inclined to gratitude, the less likely he or she is to be depressed, anxious, lonely, envious, or neurotic. [The How of Happiness]

And the combo often leads to optimism. Another powerful predictor of happiness.
So, corny as it may be, wake up and say ARG! And then do a quick bit of anticipation, recollection, and gratitude.
All that's fine and dandy. But what do you do once you're out of bed?

2) Savor your morning coffee

 

Take a moment and really enjoy it. Smell it. Taste it. Appreciate it. Corny? Maybe.
But other research shows savoring — appreciating the good moments – is what separates the happiest people from the average Joe.
I imagine some of you are saying, "Well, I don't drink coffee." And please imagine me saying, "That's not the point."
It can be anything you do every morning.
And embedding savoring in our little daily rituals is powerful because studies show rituals matter.

So what other habit can we build into our schedule that boosts joy? How about one that can make you as happy as sex does?

3) Sweat your way to joy
When you study people to see what makes them happiest you get three answers: sex, socializing, and exercise.

Their findings confirm what had been found previously: happiness is high during sex, exercise, or socializing, or while the mind is focused on the here and now, and low during commuting or while the mind is wandering. [Engineering Happiness: A New Approach for Building a Joyful Life]

People who exercise are, across the board, mentally healthier: less depression, anger, stress, and distrust.

A massive Dutch study of 19,288 twins and their families published in 2006 showed that exercisers are less anxious, less depressed, less neurotic, and also more socially outgoing. A Finnish study of 3,403 people in 1999 showed that those who exercise at least two to three times a week experience significantly less depression, anger, stress, and "cynical distrust" than those who exercise less or not at all. [Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain]

Don't like exercise? Then you're doing the wrong kind.
Running, lifting weights, playing any sport… Find something you enjoy that gets you moving.

Okay, time to head to work. What's the best thing to do when you start the day? It's not about you — but it will make you happier.

4) The five minute favor
Who lives to a ripe old age? Not those who get the most help, ironically it's those who give the most help.

And a great way to do that without taking up too much time is Adam Rifkin's "5 Minute Favor":

Every day, do something selfless for someone else that takes under five minutes. The essence of this thing you do should be that it makes a big difference to the person receiving the gift. Usually these favors take the form of an introduction, reference, feedback, or broadcast on social media.

So take five minutes to do something that is minor for you but would provide a big benefit to someone else. It's good karma — and science shows that, in some ways, karma is quite real.
Yes, some who do a lot for others get taken advantage of. But as Adam Grant of Wharton has shown, givers also succeed more:

Then I looked at the other end of the spectrum and said if Givers are at the bottom, who's at the top? Actually, I was really surprised to discover, it's the Givers again. The people who consistently are looking for ways to help others are over-represented not only at the bottom, but also at the top of most success metrics.

Alright, you have to start work for the day. Ugh. But there are ways that work can make you happier too.

5) Life is a game, and so is work
Like the research shows, the happiest people have goals.

In his studies, the psychologist Jonathan Freedman claimed that people with the ability to set objectives for themselves — both short-term and long-term — are happier. The University of Wisconsin neuroscientist Richard Davidson has found that working hard toward a goal and making progress to the point of expecting a goal to be realized don't just activate positive feelings — they also suppress negative emotions such as fear and depression. [Engineering Happiness: A New Approach for Building a Joyful Life]

Many of us feel like work can be boring or annoying but the research shows many of us are actually happier at work than at home. Why?
Challenges. And we reach that state of "flow" only when a challenge presents itself. So how can work make us happier?
Three research-backed things to try:

1. To the degree you can, do things you're good at. We're happier when we exercise our strengths.
2. Make note of your progress. Nothing is more motivating than progress.
3. Make sure to see the results of your work. This gives meaning to most any activity.

Enough work. You've got some free time. But what's the happiest way to use your free time?

6) Friends get appointments too

 

You have mandatory meetings in your schedule but not mandatory time with friends? Absurd.
One study says that as much as 70 percent of happiness comes from your relationships with other people.

Contrary to the belief that happiness is hard to explain, or that it depends on having great wealth, researchers have identified the core factors in a happy life. The primary components are number of friends, closeness of friends, closeness of family, and relationships with co-workers and neighbors. Together these features explain about 70 percent of personal happiness. – Murray and Peacock 1996 [The 100 Simple Secrets of Happy People]

Why does church make people so happy? Studies show it has nothing to do with religion — it's about the socializing. It's scheduled friend time.

After examining studies of more than three thousand adults, Chaeyoon Lin and Robert Putnam found that what religion you practice or however close you feel to God makes no difference in your overall life satisfaction. What matters is the number of friends you have in your religious community. Ten is the magic number; if you have that many, you'll be happier. Religious people, in other words, are happier because they feel connected to a community of like-minded people. [The Secrets of Happy Families: Improve Your Mornings, Rethink Family Dinner, Fight Smarter, Go Out and Play, and Much More]

And if you have the cash, pay for dinner with a friend. Money definitely can make you happier — when you spend it on other people.

By the end of the day, individuals who spent money on others were measurably happier than those who spent money on themselves — even though there were no differences between the groups at the beginning of the day. And it turns out that the amount of money people found in their envelopes — $5 or $20 — had no effect on their happiness at the end of the day. How people spent the money mattered much more than how much of it they got. [Happy Money: The Science of Smarter Spending]

What's the final thing happy people have in common? They cope with adversity. So what should we do when life gets tough?

7) Find meaning in hard times
Research shows that a happy life and a meaningful life are not necessarily the same thing.
It's hard to be happy when tragedy strikes. But who lives longer and fares better after problems? Those who find benefit in their struggles.

For example, in one study researchers interviewed men who had had heart attacks between the ages of 30 and 60. Those who perceived benefits in the event seven weeks after it happened — for example, believing that they had grown and matured as a result, or revalued home life, or resolved to create less hectic schedules for themselves — were less likely to have recurrences and more likely to be healthy eight years later. In contrast, those who blamed their heart attacks on other people or on their own emotions (e.g., having been too stressed) were now in poorer health. [The How of Happiness]

In many cases, Nietzsche was right: what does not kill us can make us stronger.

A substantial number of people also show intense depression and anxiety after extreme adversity, often to the level of PTSD, but then they grow. In the long run, they arrive at a higher level of psychological functioning than before… In a month, 1,700 people reported at least one of these awful events, and they took our well-being tests as well. To our surprise, individuals who'd experienced one awful event had more intense strengths (and therefore higher well-being) than individuals who had none. Individuals who'd been through two awful events were stronger than individuals who had one, and individuals who had three— raped, tortured, and held captive for example — were stronger than those who had two. [Flourish: A Visionary New Understanding of Happiness and Well-being]

So when you face adversity, always ask what you can learn from it.

See that? I took the eight things happy people do and squeezed them into just seven habits. You can thank me later.
Now how do we tie all of these happiness boosters together?

SUM UP
If you want every day to be happier try including these seven things in your schedule:

1. Wake up and say ARG!
2. Savor your morning coffee
3. Sweat your way to joy
4. Do a five minute favor
5. Make work a game
6. Friends get appointments too
7. Find meaning in hard times

We're all quick to say happiness is the most important thing… and then we schedule everything but the things that make us happiest. Huh?
So what's going to make you happy today? Have you thought about it? Is it on your calendar?
Reading happiness information is useless trivia unless you use it and you won't use it unless it's part of your routine.
If happiness is the most important thing then make it the most important thing.

Celebrate .. it's National Ice Cream Day!!

It's National Ice Cream Day!

Here's how to 'healthy up' your favorite frozen treat - Just because it's dessert, doesn't mean it has to be unhealthy. Check out these nutritious additions that are perfect for summer.

 

 

 

Add fresh fruit: If you start with a more neutral base — chocolate, vanilla, strawberry, mint chip or pistachio are all great — you can add fresh fruit, which is now at the height of flavor in mid-summer. Adding fresh strawberries to your strawberry cone, or a cascade of berries to chocolate or vanilla ice cream is obvious (and adds few calories, tons of taste, and lots of vitamins and antioxidants to your dessert).

But don't stop there. Try throwing some peaches, nectarines or black plums on the grill once dinner's done and letting them cool a bit before tossing them on top of some vanilla, or adding quickly braised orange chunks to mint chip (chocolate, mint and orange are a super-yum, but not totally obvious combo).

Go nuts: You can turn a bowl of ice cream into a meal if you add nuts and fruit. But even if you just add nuts, you've got a truly nutritious snack. You can try mixing nuts — peanuts and cashews, for example, or swirling nut butters through slightly softened ice cream.

Macadamia nut butter swirled through chocolate ice cream with some blueberries on top? Or how about some crunchy peanut butter scooped into a vanilla caramel swirl? Either way, you're getting the health benefits of nuts — packed with protein and minerals — along with satisfying your sweet tooth.  You could easily make your own with flax, hemp or sesame seeds, which triples the health benefits, bringing omegas and even more protein, as well as additional antioxidants from the seeds.

Double the chocolate: As a dark chocolate aficionado, I rarely go a day without the good stuff, which is filled with antioxidants, isn't highly sugary, and has been shown by a ream of scientific studies to have very real heart-health benefits.

You can melt dark chocolate in a double boiler and pour over your favorite ice cream for a much healthier chocolate sauce (the commercial jarred versions are filled with preservatives, unhealthy oils and other additives), or just break a piece up over whatever flavor you've got on-hand.

Or, do what I do: break off a chunk of chocolate, cover one end with a bit of foil, and use it as your spoon! The coldness of the ice cream means you just get a bit of chocolate with each bite, which means you really get to savor the flavor.

The State of Estate Taxes

Strategies to Help Preserve Assets for your Heirs

For the time being, only the wealthiest Americans are likely to be concerned about federal estate taxes.  In 2014, a 40% tax rate applies to taxable estate assets exceeding $5.45 million exemption amount (indexed annually for inflation).

However, 19 states and the District of Columbia currently have their own estate or inheritance taxes and some of them have far smaller exemptions than the federal government.  About 30% of the U.S. population lives in states with estate or inheritance taxes, in which case families with substantial retirement portfolios – or those who own valuable property or businesses – may want to find ways to help limit their exposure, even if they don’t think of themselves as “rich.”

Some people might choose to relocate to a state with more beneficial tax laws after they retire.  Otherwise, a few of the same strategies that have long provided some relief from federal estate taxes could also be used to help alleviate estate taxes imposed by states.

 

Tax Traps

Currently, only Delaware and Hawaii track the federal life time exemption ($5.34 million in 2014).  Six states have inheritance taxes with exemptions ranging from zero to $2 million.  The remaining jurisdictions have estate tax exemptions between $675,000 and $4 million.  Two states, Maryland and New Jersey, have both.  Top tax rates range from 9.5% to 20%.

 

Gift Transfers

Most states don’t levy gift taxes, and the federal exemption amounts are relatively generous.  Thus, giving away assets removes them from the estate and can be an efficient way to head of death duties.

In 2014, individual scan give up to $14,000 ($28,000 per couple) in cash or assets (such as stocks and bonds) as many people as they wish, without any gift tax liability.  A total lifetime exemption of $5.34 million applies to the federal gift tax and estate tax combines.  This means that any amount applied to exempt a gift from the tax during a person’s lifetime would reduce the exemption available for the estate.

Keep in mind that the original cost basis of a gifted asset carries over to the recipient, who may owe capital gains taxes when the asset is sold.  Inherited assets, on the other hand, benefit from a “step-up in basis.”  When an asset is inherited, the value adjusts to the fair market value at the date of death, so a surviving spouse might be able to gift highly appreciated assets to family members with fewer tax consequences.

Gifts to qualified charities and payments of tuition or medical expenses that are made directly to an educational institution or medical provider on behalf of someone are tax-free, and they don’t count against the annual gift tax exclusion or the lifetime exemption.

 

Portability vs. Bypass Trust

Another feature of federal tax law is “portability,” which may allow a surviving spouse to claim the deceased’s unused exemption.  At this time, Hawaii is the only state with portability rules.  Though the federal government and all states allow assets to pass to a surviving spouse tax-free 9if the spouse is a U.S. citizen), a bypass trust may be needed to take advantage of each spouse’s full exemption and shelter more assets from estate taxes. 

There are costs and expenses associated with the creation of a trust.  The use of trusts involves a complex web of tax rules and regulations.  You should consider the counsel of an experienced estate planning professional and your legal and tax advisors before implementing such strategies.

The Wall Street Journal 10/25/13

 

 

Sustainable and Responsible Investing

Evaluating strategies that reflect Personal Values

Growing investor interest has helped move sustainable and responsible investments (SRIs) into the mainstream.  Assets invested according to SRI strategies grew to $3.74 trillion in 2012 – up 22% from 1020 – and SRIs represented about 11.3% of professionally managed U.S. Assets.

Today there is a broader interpretation of “sustainable” and “socially responsible” investing.  Typically, it comprises approaches that integrate environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors with more traditional financial analysis methods.  There is also wider recognition that social environmental policies can affect a corporation’s bottom line.

Put simply, more investors seem to be actively seeking companies that do well and perform well over the long term.

Data-Driven Decisions

Many SRIs exclude investments in the Sudan, or they might avoid companies or industries that profit from certain products or services (e.g. Tobacco, alcohol, weapons, nuclear power, gambling).  It’s important to keep in mind that different criteria may be used by SRI companies. 

Many corporations have started to collect and report ESG information and various services that provide research and ratings for investment analysis are beginning to verify this type of data and make it available to the public.  Examples of common ESG concerns include, but are not limited to, pollution control, natural resource conservation, energy efficiency, employee relations, respect for human rights, health and safety, regulatory compliance, and public disclosure.

More transparency regarding corporate sustainability issues may give investors the ability to compare how businesses in the same industry have adapted their strategies and practices to meet social and environmental challenges, and possibly provide some insight into which companies may have a competitive advantage.  In some instances, good corporate citizenship may help create value.

 

Common Practices

Most SRI strategies use one or more of the following methods.

Screening: invoices selecting or avoiding investments in companies based on whether they help protect or cause harm to the environment or society.

Shareholder activism: describes the efforts to influence a company’s management to adopt policies or cause harm to the environment or society. 

Shareholder activism: describes efforts to influence a company’s management to adopt policies that help benefit workers, the community or the planet.

Community investing: provides capital directly to organizations for purposes such as lending funds to business enterprises in underserved communities and supporting economic development.

 

Notes of Caution

Socially responsible investments entail risk, could lose money, and may underperform similar investments not constrained by social policies.  There is no guarantee that a SFRI will achieve its investment objectives.

Many SRIs are broad-based and diversified.  Others, however, may focus on a narrow theme such as clean energy; therefore, they can be more volatile and carry risks that may not be suitable for all investors.

As with any investment strategy, SRI methods may limit the total universe of available investments, and investors who want to diversify their portfolios may not find a SRI that fits every sub-asset class.  Of course, individual investors may have different opinions about which policies and practices they believe have a positive or negative impact on society.

As the number of SRI options continues to expand, so does the opportunity to build a portfolio that aligns with your personal values as well as your asset allocation, risk tolerance, and time horizon.

Creative Ingredient Substitutions

Nothings more frustrating than starting to cook or bake and only later realizing you don’t have the correct (or enough) ingredients to finish what you’ve started.  Here are a few creative ingredient substitutions to try next time you’re in a pinch.

Replace 1 cup of mayonnaise with 1 cup sour cream or plain yogurt

Replace 1 tsp of baking powder with  ½ tsp of backing soda plus ½ tsp of cream of tartar.  You can also use ¼ tsp of baking soda plus ½ cup of buttermilk – then decrease the liquid in the recipe by ½ cup.

Replace 1 tsp of allspice with  ½ tsp of cinnamon, ¼ tsp of ginger and ¼ tsp cloves.

Replace 1 cup of brown sugar with 1 cup of white sugar plus ¼ cup of molasses  (decrease the liquid in the recipe by ¼ cup), or 1-1/4 cups of confectioners sugar.

Replace 1 cup of beer with 1 cup of chicken broth

Replace 1 cup of ketchup with 1 cup of tomato sauce plus 1 tsp of vinegar and 1 tbsp of sugar

 

Replace 1 cup of buttermilk with 1 cup of plain yogurt, or mix 1 tbsp of lemon juice or vinegar with enough milk to make 1 cup.

 

Replace 1 can of condensed cream of mushroom soup with 1 can of condensed cream of celery, or cream of chicken or golden mushroom soup. 

 

Replace 1 cup of corn syrup with 1 cup of honey or 1-1/4 cups of white sugar plus 1/3 cup of water.

 

Mash 1/2 of a banana with 1/2 tsp of baking powder to replace 1 egg.

 

Replace 1 cup of evaporated milk with 1 cup of light cream.

 

Replace 1 tsp of hot pepper sauce with 3/4 tsp of cayenne pepper plus 1 tsp of vinegar.

 

Replace 1 tsp of lemon juice with 1/2 tsp of vinegar, 1 tsp of white wine or 1 tsp of lime juice.

 

Replace 1 cup of molasses with a mixture of 3/4 cup of brown sugar and 1 tsp of cream of tartar

 

Replace 1 cup of vegetable oil (in baking) with 1 cup of applesauce.

6 Things your Hair Says About Your Health

Changes in the health of your hair and scalp can be a red flag for various health conditions.  Here are a few examples:

While over-drying, styling and coloring can cause hair to become dry and brittle, a significant change in hair texture (such as hair that feels limp or finer) can be a symptom of an underactive thyroid.

Psoriasis (such as scaly patches on the scalp) can be a sign of more serious conditions such as Crohn's disease, rheumatoid arthritis, and lupus. 

Check for tiny white bumps at the roots of thinning hair.  These may suggest that the hair loss is temporary rather than permanent.

Overly brittle hair and flaky, dry skin can often signify that your diet is lacking in omega-3 fatty acids (found in salmon, fish oil, nuts and flaxseed).

For diabetics, sudden hair thinning or hair loss could be an early warning sign that your diabetes may be affecting your hormone levels.

Hair loss by the handful for women may be a symptom of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS).  Other signs are stubborn belly fat, facial hair, acne and irregular periods.