It seems like the headlines are full of stories of hazing, bullying, and abuse in our nation’s schools. Every once in a while we do hear a story that reminds us that the youth in our country, by and large, are good people. Last year, Dublin High School in Dublin, California collectively showed us that this is true.

Dublin students recently crowned Rachel Cooperstein, a beautiful senior and varsity cheerleader, as homecoming queen. The PA announcer introduced Rachel and the other nominees during halftime of their homecoming game. After walking down a red carpet on the arm of a handsome young man, the nominees each received a box of roses; one white rose for all of the nominees except for the queen who receives two red roses. This sounds like a very typical occurrence, but there is nothing typical about it. Rachel was born with Down syndrome.

Rachel heard the cheerleading coach was holding open tryouts for the squad. Rachel, who had always loved to perform and dance, was interested in trying out, but her mother, based on sad experience, had low expectations. At tryouts, Rachel learned a short routine and performed it for the coaches. After performing their routine, she asked if she could perform one of her own. The coaches were impressed with her energy and enthusiasm and invited her to join the team. Rachel’s mother was pleasantly surprised with the results. What she soon learned is that Dublin’s new cheerleading coach gives every student, who is willing to put in the necessary work, a spot on the team.

Rachel began to make friends with the members of the cheer squad, and the student body in general. This process is difficult for students with special needs because they typically only attend the classes in the special needs program. Dublin has been proactive about breaking this mold; they have been gradually integrating their special needs students in to classes where they can participate with their peers, like cooking classes, band, and choir.

Along with Rachel’s coronation as homecoming queen, Dublin honored another young man with special needs by asking him to be their drum major, and lead their marching band during the local St. Patrick’s Day parade. After this year’s cheer tryouts, three more students with special needs have joined the squad. This new approach has had dramatic effects throughout the school, and the entire community. It has become a favorite tradition of the cheer squad to link arms, form a circle, and let Rachel do a solo routine during each game. More and more, students with special needs are taking new subjects, and making new friends. Everyone involved is becoming better because of it.

There are many lessons that we can learn from this story. The one I want to share with you is this: When we allow ourselves to open our hearts and minds to new opportunities, entire communities can improve.

Sincerely,

Bryan Ulatowski

Also, check out these links about Rachel as well.

http://espn.go.com/espnw/news-opinion/6594902/an-unforgettable-night-unforgettable-girl
http://onedublin.org/2010/10/16/congratulations-rachel-cooperstein-dublin-high-homecoming-queen-2010/

It had been some time since Jack had seen the old man. College, girls, career, and life itself got in the way. In fact, Jack moved clear across the country in pursuit of his dreams. There, in the rush of his busy life, Jack had little time to think about the past and often no time to spend with his wife and son.. He was working on his future, and nothing could stop him.

Over the phone, his mother told him, “Mr. Belser died last night. The funeral is Wednesday.” Memories flashed through his mind like an old newsreel as he sat quietly remembering his childhood days.

“Jack, did you hear me?”

“Oh, sorry, Mom. Yes, I heard you.. It’s been so long since I thought of him. I’m sorry, but I honestly thought he died years ago,” Jack said

“Well, he didn’t forget you. Every time I saw him he’d ask how you were doing. He’d reminisce about the many days you spent over ‘his side of the fence’ as he put it,” Mom told him.

“I loved that old house he lived in,” Jack said.

“You know, Jack, after your father died, Mr. Belser stepped in to make sure you had a man’s influence in your life,” she said

“He’s the one who taught me carpentry,” he said. “I wouldn’t be in this business if it weren’t for him… He spent a lot of time teaching me things he thought were important…Mom, I’ll be there for the funeral,” Jack said..

As busy as he was, he kept his word.. Jack caught the next flight to his hometown. Mr. Belser’s funeral was small and uneventful. He had no children of his own, and most of his relatives had passed away..

The night before he had to return home, Jack and his Mom stopped by to see the old house next door one more time.

Standing in the doorway, Jack paused for a moment. It was like crossing over into another dimension, a leap through space and time The house was exactly as he remembered. Every step held memories. Every picture, every piece of furniture…… Jack stopped suddenly.

“What’s wrong, Jack?” his Mom asked.

“The box is gone,” he said

“What box?” Mom asked..

“There was a small gold box that he kept locked on top of his desk. I must have asked him a thousand times what was inside.. All he’d ever tell me was ‘the thing I value most,’” Jack said.

It was gone. Everything about the house was exactly how Jack remembered it, except for the box. He figured someone from the Belser family had taken it.

“Now I’ll never know what was so valuable to him,” Jack said. “I better get some sleep. I have an early flight home, Mom.”

It had been about two weeks since Mr. Belser died Returning home from work one day Jack discovered a note in his mailbox. “Signature required on a package.. No one at home. Please stop by the main post office within the next three days,” the note read.

Early the next day Jack retrieved the package. The small box was old and looked like it had been mailed a hundred years ago. The handwriting was difficult to read, but the return address caught his attention. “Mr. Harold Belser” it read.. Jack took the box out to his car and ripped open the package. There inside was the gold box and an envelope. Jack’s hands shook as he read the note inside.

“Upon my death, please forward this box and its contents to Jack Bennett. It’s the thing I valued most in my life.” A small key was taped to the letter. His heart racing, as tears filling his eyes, Jack carefully unlocked the box.. There inside he found a beautiful gold pocket watch..

Running his fingers slowly over the finely etched casing, he unlatched the cover.. Inside he found these words engraved:

“Jack, Thanks for your time! -Harold Belser.”

“The thing he valued most was…my time”

Jack held the watch for a few minutes, then called his office and cleared his appointments for the next two days. “Why?” Janet, his assistant asked.

“I need some time to spend with my son,” he said..

“Oh, by the way, Janet, thanks for your time!”

Think about this. You may not realize it, but it’s 100% true.

1. At least 2 people in this world love you so much they would die for you.

2. At least 15 people in this world love you in some way.

3. A smile from you can bring happiness to anyone, even if they don’t like you.

4. Every night, SOMEONE thinks about you before they go to sleep.

5. You mean the world to someone.

6. If not for you, someone may not be living..

7. You are special and unique.

8. When you think you have no chance of getting what you want, you probably won’t get it, but if you trust God to do what’s best, and wait on His time, sooner or later, you will get it or something better..

9.. When you make the biggest mistake ever, something good can still come from it.

10. When you think the world has turned its back on you, take a look: you most likely turned your back on the world.

11. Someone that you don’t even know exists loves you.

12. Always remember the compliments you received. Forget about the rude remarks.

13 . Always tell someone how you feel about them; you will feel much better when they know and you’ll both be happy.

14. If you have a great friend, take the time to let them know that they are great.

To everyone I send this
“Thanks for your time”

The Annuity Puzzle

By RICHARD H. THALER
Published: June 4, 2011

IMAGINE a set of 65-year-old identical twins who plan to retire this summer after long careers. We’ll call them Dave and Ron. They have worked for different employers and have accumulated retirement benefits worth the same amount in dollars, but the benefits won’t be paid out the same way.

Dave can count on a traditional pension, paying $4,000 a month for the rest of his life. Ron, on the other hand, will receive his benefits in a lump sum that he must manage himself. Ron has a lot of choices, but all have consequences. For example, he could put the money into a conservative bond portfolio and by spending the interest and drawing down the principal he could also spend $4,000 a month. If Ron does that, though, he can expect to run out of money sometime around the age of 85, which the actuarial tables tell him he has a 30 percent chance of reaching. Or he could draw down only $3,000 a month. He wouldn’t have as much to live on each month, but his money should last until he reached 100.

Who is likely to be happier right now? Dave or Ron?

If this question seems a no-brainer, welcome to the club. Nearly everyone seems to prefer the certainty of Dave’s pension to Ron’s complex options.

But here’s the rub: Although people like Dave who have them tend to love them, old-fashioned “defined benefit” pensions are a vanishing breed. On the other hand, people like Ron — with defined-contribution plans like 401(k)s — can transform their uncertainty into a guaranteed monthly income stream that mirrors the payouts of a traditional pension plan. They can do so by buying an annuity — but when offered the chance, nearly everyone declines.

Economists call this the “annuity puzzle.” Using standard assumptions, economists have shown that buyers of annuities are assured more annual income for the rest of their lives, compared with people who self-manage their portfolios. One reason is that those who buy annuities and die early end up subsidizing those who die later.

So, why don’t more people buy annuities with their 401(k) dollars?

Here’s one part of the answer: Some people think that buying an annuity is in some way a bad deal for their heirs. But that need not be true. First of all, a retiree can decide to set aside some portion of a retirement nest egg for bequests, either immediately or at a later date. Second, if a retiree chooses to manage his or her own money, the heirs may face the following possibilities: Either they get financially “lucky” and the parent dies young, leaving a bequest, or they are financially “unlucky,” meaning that the parent lives a long life, and the heirs take on the burden of support. If you have aging parents, you might ask yourself how much you’d be willing to pay to insure that you will never have to figure out how to explain to your spouse, or whomever you may be living with, that your mother is moving in.

There are other explanations for the unpopularity of annuities, but I think two are especially important. The first is that buying one can be scary and complicated. Workers have become accustomed to having their employers narrow their set of choices to a manageable few, whether in their 401(k) plans or in their choice of health and life insurance providers. By contrast, very few 401(k)’s offer a specific annuity option that has been blessed by the company’s human resources department. Shopping for an annuity with hundreds of thousands of dollars at stake can be daunting, even for an economist.

The second problem is more psychological. Rather than viewing an annuity as providing insurance in the event that one lives past 85 or 90, most people seem to consider buying an annuity as a gamble, in which one has to live a certain number of years just to break even. But, as the example of Dave and Ron shows, it’s is the decision to self-manage your retirement wealth that is the risky one.

The most complex and unknowable part of that risk is in predicting how long you will live. Even if there are no medical advances in the coming years, according to the Social Security Administration, a man turning 65 now has almost a 20 percent chance of living to 90, and a woman at this age has nearly a one-third chance. This means that a husband who retires when his wife is 65 ought to include in his plans a one-third chance that his wife will live for 25 more years. (A “joint and survivor” annuity that pays until both members of a couple die is the only way I know for those who are not wealthy to confidently solve this problem.)

An annuity can also help people with another important decision: when to retire. It’s hard to have any idea of how much money is enough to finance an appropriate lifestyle in retirement. But if a lump sum is translated into a monthly income, it’s much easier to determine whether you have enough put away to afford to stop working. If you decide, for example, that you can get by on 70 percent of preretirement income, you can just keep working until you have accrued that level of benefits.

IN the absence of annuities, there is reason to worry that many workers are having trouble with this decision. Over the last 60 years, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that the average age at which Americans retire has trended downward by more than five years, from 66.9 to 61.6. Of course, there is nothing wrong with choosing to retire a bit earlier, but over the same period, live expectancy has risen by four years and will likely continue to climb, meaning that retirees have to fund at least an additional nine years of retirement. Those who manage their own retirement assets can only hope that they have saved enough.

Annuities may make some of these issues easier to solve, but few Americans actually choose to buy them. Whether the cause is a possibly rational fear of the viability of insurance companies, or misconceptions about whether annuities increase rather than decrease risk, the market hasn’t figured out how to sell these products successfully. Might there be a role for government? Tune in next time for some thoughts on that question.

Richard H. Thaler is a professor of economics and behavioral science at the Booth School of Business at the University of Chicago. He is also an academic adviser to the Allianz Global Investors Center for Behavioral Finance, a part of Allianz, which sells financial products including annuities. The company was not consulted for this column.

A version of this article appeared in print on June 5, 2011, on page BU5 of the New York edition with the headline: Annuities And the Puzzle Of Income.

This Is What We Give, What Are You Getting?

                     It is all too often that I come across people/prospects that say that they have not heard from their financial professional in several months, and in some cases, years! As a working individual since the ripe old age of 16, I find this absolutely absurd! Most people work their entire lives to have the funds that they invest with their advisor, why shouldn’t your advisor work as hard for your money as you did? The answer, they should.

 As your financial professional I would like you to know what you receive from my office on an annual basis:

•      12 Monthly Letter
•       4 Phone Calls
•      2 Meetings (one basic review, and one annual portfolio review)       
•      1 Client Event

                    That’s a grand total of 19 times a year that you will speak with myself, my office staff, or receive a letter from us! I know that sometimes it could get a little excessive, but honestly we would rather keep in touch as much as possible to let you know we are continuously doing our very best to look after your investments.

                   The only thing we do ask is that maybe our clients have one of the semi-annual meetings at our office in St. Clair. The Wellington is continually changing as we try to expand our corporation, and would like you to see what we have accomplished in the past year as well. So come on out, see our office, and enjoy the free coffee and cookies!  Ofcourse, there will always be those times where you cannot make it here, in which case I will come to you.

                    As always, if you have any questions please call our office at: (810) 329-5220. If for some reason I am unavailable feel free to speak with my assistant, Kendall, and she would be happy to help you as well.

Sincerely,

Bryan

It’s tax time again!  As we race towards the April 15th deadline, I want to make you aware of some important facts.

Recently, I’ve been proud to be associated with one of the finest Certified Public Accountants in the St. Clair area, Kathy Nemer-Kaiser.  This professional strives to be the best in her chosen field.  She does not have ulterior motives or hidden agendas.  Nor does she dilute her pro­fes­sional com­mit­ment by promoting areas outside her expertise, even though that might increase her income at the expense of the best service to Kathy’s clients

If you want me to refer you to Kathy for your tax preparation, please call me at (810) 329-5220 and I would be happy to put you in touch with her. Also, as you prepare your return, remember two things:  Some contri­butions to your retirement accounts may be tax-advantaged.  And unlike the filing deadline, the deadline for those contributions cannot be extended; everything must be postmarked by April 15, 2011.

Sincerely,

Bryan

I would like to take the time to thank everyone who attended and donated to our TESPA Star Parents, Inc. bowling fundraiser held on November 21st. It means a lot to have such great family, friends, and clients who care enough to help others out in their time of need. The Voyageur Restaurant was packed! And it is all because of you that these children will continue to be able to express themselves through the art of dance. Once again, I would like to thank you all and I know the children will appreciate your compassion and generosity as well.

Sincerely,

Bryan

As we get swept away into the busy holiday season, let’s take a minute to reflect on the real meaning of Thanksgiving.

Football and turkey, laughing with family and friends, and a house full of excited children are reason enough to be thankful.  You look into the kitchen and see all of the dinnertime adornments and begin to understand how turkey, cranberries and stuffing all work together for you, and you’re thankful.

While we mourn a loss of innocence and confront a world that’s not always to our liking, it is still important to focus on things that have not changed for which we are profoundly grateful.

Our flag is still here.

Our freedom is intact.

Ordinary Americans have shown, yet again, that they are true heroes.

The bounty of our harvest is unparalleled.

It is certainly a day in which we pause to give thanks.

This Thanksgiving, think of your freedom, the ones you love and all of the people who made you who you are.  Remember the joys of your youth – flying kites, jumping in leaves, tire swings, climbing in trees, riding your bike, long family drives – these are the things Thanksgiving is made of.

We wish you and your family a wonderful Thanksgiving celebration.

Sincerely,

Bryan Ulatowski

Dear Friends:

There is an expression called “paying it forward”. This expression refers to repaying the good deeds one has received by doing good things for other unrelated people.  Unfortunately, in today’s society many people understand the definition of paying it forward, but never seem to practice it.

            You may have received a letter from me not too long ago mentioning a non-profit group, TESPA Star Parents, Inc., that I am co-sponsoring in a bowling fundraiser on November 21, 2010. These hardworking parents are dedicated to help making every child’s dream come true through the art of dance, voice, and theater lessons. They are all about self-expression and believing that every child should have that right whether their family’s lifestyle enables them to or not.

Any donations to this organization would be greatly appreciated, or you could take a look at the attached flyer and attend our charity bowling event, which would be even better! I know that the parents of TESPA along with the children you are helping would be sincerely greatful for the compassion you are showing them, and for paying it forward!

            If you need any more details you can contact my assistant, Kendall, at (810) 329-5220. She will  be happy to get in touch with the president of TESPA any get any answers you would need.

Sincerely,

Bryan

Click the following link to view our TESPA Fundraiser Flyer: http://thewellingtoncorp.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/bowling-fundraiser.pdf

My Sales Assistant, Mary, who has been an invaluable asset the past year, has moved on. Since you have worked with Mary, you know how much she will be missed. She was always courteous, pleasant, and knowledgeable. Whenever I needed help in communicating with you and my other clients, she was there, doing it right.

In my business, losing a good assistant is usually like losing an arm or worse. There’s usually a period where you have to hire and train someone new.

But I must be doing something right, because I was able to hire Samantha as my new Sales Assistant. Like Mary, she is extremely competent. I’m sure you’ll find her very friendly and helpful and that you will enjoy hearing from her.

If you haven’t heard from her yet, she will be calling you in the next few weeks just to say “hello” and introduce herself.

Sincerely,

Bryan