(NewsUSA) - Making sense of your personal finances can feel overwhelming for anyone, but for LGBTQ+ couples, financial planning can be particularly complex. A patchwork of state and federal policies can make it difficult for couples to understand all the benefits and challenges the law presents for them. Many LGBTQ+ couples also invest considerable time and resources toward  ensuring that their assets are secure, and their families are protected, should the political landscape change.     

Here are five strategies that LGBTQ+ couples can use to help manage their money and reach their financial goals:     

1. Reimagine your retirement plan. LGBTQ+ couples can work together to fund their retirement in ways you might not have considered. For example, for married couples, a spouse with eligible compensation could make an IRA contribution on behalf of their nonworking spouse. Couples should also make sure their spouse, partner or loved one is named as the beneficiary on their retirement plan.     

2. Make your partnership official. The legalization of same-sex marriage means LGBTQ+ couples might gain financial benefits from getting married, such as federal protection for certain asset types. If you decide not to get married, you may want to consider creating a domestic partnership agreement that incorporates financial planning strategies to protect your assets and your loved one.     

3. Plan for your future family. If you’re interested in having children, you may need to save more and budget for adoption agency fees or fertility treatments, as well as increased health coverage for your growing family.       

4. Create an estate plan. This is particularly important if you own significant assets, such as multiple retirement accounts or real estate. You may want to establish an irrevocable trust for some or all these assets to ensure seamless wealth transfer to your loved ones. Your financial planner will walk you through estate planning to ensure your loved ones are protected. In addition to living wills, LGBTQ+ couples should have documents such as health care proxies and medical powers of attorney in place to support end-of-life decision-making.     

5. Meet with a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER professional. CFP® professionals have the education and experience to help LGBTQ+ couples navigate their unique and complex financial situations. Working with a CFP® professional can help you focus on your financial goals and priorities, whether you want to create a holistic financial plan or just want some financial guidance on a specific topic.     

For more financial planning resources and to find a CFP® professional near you, visit LetsMakeAPlan.org. Use the LGBTQ+ Individuals/Couples filter to narrow your search to CFP® professionals who are allies or members of the LGBTQ+ community.     

By exploring your financial situation together and mapping out a path to follow, you and your loved one will feel more confident about your financial choices.

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“For the Love of Buddy”
by Dyanna Morrison       

“For the Love of Buddy” is a whimsical and heartfelt, true tale that highlights the journey of a girl and her cat, from the East Coast to the West Coast and from asthma to diabetes. It will serve as a touching and frequently humorous reminder of how our pets experience the same medical ailments that we, as humans, face over the course of our lifetimes. It is a poignant story of love and remembrance, even when confronted with the inevitable pain of loss.  

The book will bring a smile to your face and a tear to your eye, and will be embraced by children and readers of all ages, as you recount and celebrate memories from your lifelong journeys with members of your own furry families.

Purchase at https://amzn.to/3JEMf3u.

“The Friendship Pact”
by Jill Shalvis  

New York Times best-selling author Jill Shalvis returns to Sunrise Cove with a powerful, moving story about a young woman on a quest to find the truth about her father who learns the meaning of true love along the way. Alone in the world, Tae Holmes and her mother April pretty much raised each other, but as Tae starts asking questions about the father she’s never met, April goes silent.  

Then Tae finds herself face-to-face with Riggs Copeland, whom she hasn’t seen since their high school fling, but who comes to her aid to help track down her father. On a hunt to unlock the past, the two of them learn a shocking truth, while also reluctantly bonding in a way neither had seen coming.

Purchase at https://amzn.to/3jHkf4V.

“Riding the Executive Roller Coaster: Medical Staffing Cases”
by Kelli Christina  

The author creatively uses real-life events and court cases unnoticed by the public eye over a decade and fictionalizes them in a compelling story of the tribulations of professional offices at their highest and lowest moments.  

Handling business or professional issues improperly or illegally has consequences that can escalate and destroy lives along the way. Too often, bosses and employees learn the hard way about employment laws that were designed to help businesses. And when business goes wrong, you can expect to find yourself in attorneys’ offices and court proceedings.  

This book is geared to help business leaders learn employment laws as well as necessary life lessons that can affect our well-being, families, friends, relationships, and love life.

Purchase at https://bit.ly/37P2SfB.

“Living and Leaving My Legacy”
by Merle Saferstein  

A serious journal writer, the author has filled more than 380 journals since 1974 and undertook a legacy journal project. She sorted through thousands and thousands of pages and found meaningful excerpts to share with others. Somewhere along the way, this morphed “Living and Leaving My Legacy (Volumes 1 and 2).”  

When she began, she chose 70 relevant topics, eventually narrowing it down to 22. After careful editing, she chose to include the excerpts that best capture her thoughts, feelings, conversations, encounters, memories, dreams, travel adventures, and more. She has been teaching a course, “Living and Leaving Your Legacy,” since 2012. She has taught 61 classes and speaks on the subject of legacy to a wide range of audiences locally, nationally, and internationally. Learn more at https://merlersaferstein.com.

Purchase at https://amzn.to/3MFpzTj.

NOTE: BookBites is presented by BookTrib.com.

(NewsUSA) - Most people think of Marine Toys for Tots as the flagship Children’s Christmastime charity, but it is much more. The organization continues to seek more ways to support children in need throughout the year.     

“Toys for Tots distributed three million toys, games and books to COVID-19-impacted families through its DoGoodNow campaign over the past two years. Our support was desperately needed and so well received that we want to continue to do more --  at Christmastime and beyond. For the third year in a row, we’ll be partnering with our friends at Good360 and will expand upon our DoGoodNow initiative by distributing another one million toys, books and games to families with children in need,” says LtGen Jim Laster, President & CEO of the Marine Toys for Tots Foundation.     

He continues, “Our support doesn’t stop there. We want to be able to reach even more underprivileged children through other avenues. This summer, Marine Toys for Tots expands the DoGoodNow campaign with Summer of Smiles. One way Toys for Tots delivers summertime smiles is by providing support to children in the foster care system.”     

On June 3rd, staff members from the Marine Toys for Tots Foundation teamed with Wendy Chadwell, local Coordinator for Middle Georgia, to distribute educational gifts and bring hope to children in Georgia’s foster care system. The Foundation provided educational toys, books, games, and school supplies, and volunteers filled 476 brand-new backpacks to the brim to provide to local foster care children! The gifts were received by the local District Foster Care Coordinators who represented eleven surrounding counties and will be given directly to children in the local foster care program.     

This initiative is just one of many that allows the Marine Toys for Tots Foundation to provide support to underprivileged children beyond the holiday season.     

“It is Marine Toys for Tots’ mission to bring hope and joy to more children in need every year -- even beyond the holidays,” explains LtGen Laster. “That is why we distributed educational toys, books, games,school supplies and backpacks to the local District Foster Care Coordinators in Middle Georgia. This initiative was our first step in supporting children in foster care,” LtGen Laster adds.     

“These children leave their homes with only a small plastic bag of their belongings. Marine Toys for Tots wants to give foster care children not only something tangible to take with them as they move, but also some tools and hope for a brighter tomorrow.”   

Visit toysfortots.org for more information on how to help Toys for Tots support children year-round. Follow Marine Toys for Tots on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn to learn about the year-round impact you’re making for our Nation’s children in greatest need.

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“Iris in the Dark”
by Elissa Grossell Dickey       

A single mother faces her worst fear -- the past -- in a provocative novel of suspense by the author of “The Speed of Light.” Iris Jenkins knows that bad things happen. She’s tried to escape these things for years.  So when she is entrusted to house-sit at a lodge on the South Dakota prairie, she thinks she’s prepared for anything.  

But one surprise is Sawyer Jones, the property’s neighbor and caretaker, and a caring, reassuring presence. Then late one night, Iris hears a chilling cry for help coming from a walkie-talkie buried in a box of toys. As the calls get more desperate, personal and menacing, Iris realizes the person on the other end isn’t reaching out for help, but to terrorize her. Purchase at https://amzn.to/37PteOI.

“Monkey Business”
by Carleton Eastlake  

When TV writer William Fox is dragged by his show’s toxic producers to a “gentleman’s club,” he meets Nicole, a mysterious dancer who claims to be an anthropologist searching for signs of rational life on Earth.   Enchanted by her playful and serious ideas, Will falls in love -- and his ever-more troubled, love-struck behavior and the acidly destructive battles during the production of his show begin to illustrate Nicole’s theories.  

Nothing about Nicole seems authentic. After she warns she’ll soon leave and his producers are humbled by an uncanny encounter with the police, Will begins to wonder whether Nicole is staging real world events with him and the producers as her experimental subjects? And if so, can he learn the lessons she’s trying to teach and earn her love? Purchase at https://amzn.to/3ruWDoh.

“Crazy to Leave You”
by Marilyn Simon Rothstein  

From the author of “Husbands and Other Sharp Objects” comes a witty, big-hearted novel about the happy accidents that lead to love and second chances.  

Forty-one years old, the last of her friends to marry, and down to a size 12, Lauren Leo is in her gown and about to tie the knot. There’s just one thing missing: the groom. With one blindsiding text, Lauren is unceremoniously dumped at the altar.  

Picking her heart up off the floor, Lauren turns to her work and plans her next step, finding a second chance in the most unexpected place. “A heartfelt, delicious story,” says Fiona Davis, New York Times bestselling author of The Magnolia Palace. Purchase at https://amzn.to/3Eeeg0S.

“A Letter in the Wall”
by Eileen Brill  

It’s 1971, and Joan Dumann fears her former business partner wants her dead. As she constructs a letter about her predicament, she revisits her past.   Born into a prominent Philadelphia Quaker family in 1915 and raised with privilege, Joan wrestles with her turbulent thoughts and unfulfilled desires. When she attempts to push against the norms for women of her time to forge her own identity, she is met with resistance.  

Inspired by a letter written by the real Joan, found hidden in the wall of a Pennsylvania home more than half a century later, this is a fictionalized imagining of who she was and what motivated her. Moving through several decades, the book examines the factors that influence one woman’s journey toward independence and empowerment.

Purchase at https://amzn.to/3vkCUZN.

NOTE: BookBites is presented by BookTrib.com.

(NewsUSA) - The ongoing pandemic has highlighted the importance of keeping your immune system strong and healthy, according to Leonard A. Farber, MD, a healthcare executive and expert in emerging technologies and their impact on public health.     

A weak immune system increases your risk not only for developing illness, but for a more severe case if you do become ill with something such as COVID-19, says Dr. Farber, who also serves as a spokesperson for nutritional supplement manufacturer Quadramune.     

Fortunately, there are many ways the average person can strengthen his or her immune system. In many cases, following the obvious and well-known advice to get enough sleep, eat a healthy diet, and exercise regularly can help boost your immune system. Other factors include avoiding smoking and excessive alcohol consumption, and incorporating ways to relieve stress, such as with yoga, tai chi, or other mindfulness-related activities.     

In addition, the right nutritional supplements can play an important role in reducing inflammation in the body and supporting a healthy immune system, says Dr. Farber. “At early stages, our bodies’ inflammatory response can fight off infection as well as play an integral role in injury repair. When inflammatory cells reach an unhealthy level such as in chronic inflammation, they can trigger your body’s immune system to attack healthy tissues and organs,” Dr. Farber explains.     

Nutritional supplements, such as those developed by Quadramune, are designed to help keep the immune system in balance. Anti-inflammatory foods such as salmon, tofu, walnuts, grapes, and olive oil can have a positive effect on the immune system, and many of the active ingredients in these foods are actually found in Quadramune supplements.     

The Quadramune supplements provide the benefits of infection-fighting power and protection against chronic inflammation, according to the company website. Several key ingredients in Quadramune supplements include:     

• Pterostilbene. A natural dietary compound that has shown antioxidant activity and inflammatory properties.     
• Epigallocatechin gallate. This powerful antioxidant plant compound boasts antioxidant properties and potential ability to help protect the lungs and promote healthy T cell activity.     
• Sulphoraphane. This natural plant compound has been shown to help reduce inflammation, which may help protect your lungs and reduce your vulnerability to respiratory infections.     
• Thymoquinone: phytochemical compound found in the plant Nigella sativa.  This active ingredient is chemically related to hydroxychloroquine, but with no prescription needed. It has demonstrated to stimulate natural killer (NK) cells which are antiviral, and is a potential antiviral itself based on its mechanistic effects on cells.     

This combination of ingredients “can be immune stimulating or boosting and preventative of an unhealthy immune response,” says Dr. Farber. “This allows the body a better chance not only to fight the onset of an infection or inflammatory reaction but also to lessen the severity of certain illnesses, especially those that are inflammatory-based in nature,” he adds.     

For more information, visit buyquadramune.com. 

(NewsUSA) - Colorectal cancer remains the third most common non-skin cancer in American adults, according to the American Cancer Society. Regular screening is essential to identifying colorectal cancer early, so it can be effectively treated. If colorectal cancer is caught early, five-year survival rates are as high as 90 percent. However, many people do not seek routine screening, and don’t experience symptoms until their cancers are advanced and harder to treat.     

The American Cancer Society recommends that adults at average risk for colorectal cancer should be screened every five years starting at age 45. Unfortunately, the disparities that persist in many areas of health care continue to affect colorectal cancer screening.     

For example, according to the Ohio Department of Health, colorectal cancer is diagnosed in more than 5,200 Ohioans each year, and the state’s colorectal cancer mortality rate among Blacks from 2012 to 2016 was 20% higher than that of whites.     

Strategies to reduce these disparities include offering more options for screening.     

“I believe that it is important to not pressure people to use one particular screening approach. It is up to them and their doctor to determine the method and frequency that is best in their case,” says AmeriHealth Caritas Ohio Market Chief Medical Officer Steven Spalding, M.D. “The important thing is that everyone get regularly screened.”     

Screening methods, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC’s) recommended frequency for those at average risk, include:     

• Every Year: A fecal occult blood test or fecal immunochemical test (FIT). Both check for blood in your stools. These tests can be done in your own home, and require no advance preparation or dietary restrictions.     

• Every 1-3 Years: A FIT-DNA test, which combines FIT with a test that looks for altered DNA in the stool. This test also can be done at home without advance preparation.     

• Every 5 Years: A flexible sigmoidoscopy, in which a doctor puts a short, thin, flexible tube into your rectum and the lower third of the colon. The device allows the doctor to remove most polyps and take biopsies.     

• Every 10 Years: A colonoscopy, which is similar to a flexible sigmoidoscopy but examines the entire colon. Your doctor also will conduct a colonoscopy if any of the other screening methods reveal anything unusual.     

AmeriHealth Caritas Ohio, a Medicaid managed care organization that is slated to begin serving Ohio Medicaid enrollees later this year, will cover the costs of colorectal cancer screening tests on the CDC’s schedule from ages 45 to 75, and earlier and/or more frequently for members considered to be higher risk. However, other Medicaid plans can have different policies, so be sure to check with your health plan.   

 For more information about AmeriHealth Caritas Ohio, visit www.amerihealthcaritasoh.com.