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Send an e-mail
regarding any article you read on
www.makingbreadmagazine.com
, or in
MAKING BREAD MAGAZINE,
to
gail@makingbreadmagazine.com, and we’ll
post your comments here.
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6-14-05—I was just introduced to your magazine and wanted to tell
you how much I enjoy the content, and, as a 20-plus-year veteran
personal financial adviser and author of several books and numerous
articles on the topic, that is not a minor compliment.
—Brooke Stephens
www.brookestephens.com
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2-16-05—Re
Elizabeth Lewin’s interesting article "Where Can I Find Financial Aid to
Help Me Pay for My Kids‚ College?": It had a
lot of great information, which my husband and I were able to use. We
live in Durham, North Carolina, and we were speaking to friends of ours
about this terrific article and how much the information had helped us
out. This couple mentioned to us that they were in the same situation
concerning financial aid and how to afford college for their kids. They
told us about a great Web site that helped us, and I highly recommend
it. It is
www.nationalcollegefunding.com.
Tom and I are both average to above average income individuals, so we
knew that receiving financial aid was probably not going to happen. The
plan NCFS designed specifically for our family helped us fund our
daughter’s education without doing loans, plus they showed us how to pay
off our home in 10 years.
Thanks for letting me share this with your readers. Keep up the great
work!
—Kimberly Minshall
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10-19-04—As
a male, I am dumb-founded, thunderstruck, agog, stunned, startled and
dismayed that you think I do not need dough (as in the paramount
constituent of bread AND Great British pounds sterling).
—Andrew Armstrong
Wilthew-Wood
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10-18-04—Re
“Clear the Table and Pull Out the Calculator—Women Are Splitting the
Restaurant Bill”:
I enjoyed your article. I have a couple of friends that I meet with on a
weekly basis. When we go out to eat, we are up front with the waitress,
asking her for separate bills. That makes her life—and ours—easier.
One of the women may order alcoholic drinks; another may
want dessert—and their bills would be higher. I usually don't even get
anything to drink other than water (not to save money, but to avoid
caffeine, and it's what I prefer!). If after ordering, one of us is
feeling flush, we can then say, "I'll pick up the tab tonight!" No
resentment is built up. We feel this is the best solution.
—Judy
—Howard Betz
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10-14-04—Re
“Vote Your Pocketbook” in your Sept-Oct issue:
We as Americans had better start voting for what is right and true and
just. Our Nation was founded on these principles, and if we do not
return to them, it won't matter what kind of economy we have. The more
we get the more we need. I am aware of the statistics; I am aware of the
poverty level. I fit into it pretty good myself. But my heart breaks for
the Nation we have become . . . money is nice but it can't and shouldn't
ever be our savior, our image, social status or symbol of success. Only
if we strive for what is true and right and just will we see this Nation
be all that is was meant to be.
Maggie Taylor
Newport, Oregon
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8-9-04—Thank
you so much for responding to my query and for providing some links. I
have passed the information on to my friend. It is publications like
yours that help keep women informed and help guide them on their quests to
make the best decisions possible. Thanks again.
— Sarojni Mehta-Lissak
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5-13-04—I
just read the
MAKING BREAD
Financial Makeover article in your May/June issue, “It Started with
a Cry for Hope—and Now She’s Finding Money Everywhere,” and I love it.
I hope a lot of
women read it and get started making "small" changes in the way they
think. I used
to think I didn't have much to invest, so it would never add up to enough
to matter. Now I am trying to find ways to turn $20 into $50. I'm also
thinking that the $1.85 I spend for coffee each morning could be better
spent. I can make coffee at home and save that $1.85 each day, until I
have enough to do something nice for myself or maybe take my grandchildren
to a movie. I know I should be saving it, but making memories for my
grandchildren is important, too. I won't be here forever.”
—Margaret Willis
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3-12-04—Margorie
Engel, president and CEO of the Stepfamily Association of America (www.saafamilies.org)
provided the following clarifications to my article about blending
finances and families in the March/April issue of MAKING BREAD, “Stepmoms
Reveal: Things ‘The Brady Bunch’ Never Mentioned”:
“When you are
legally married, you are automatically financially connected when it comes
to liabilities, but not to assets. Beneficiary status is a choice made by
the person with the asset (pension, stock, IRA, insurance, trust,
property, i.e. house, auto, valuable collections, etc.) and that person
may choose the beneficiary he or she wants for those assets [therefore,
the second wife may find that the first wife or children from a prior
relationship are listed as a beneficiary of those assets]. The only
exception is a pension benefit; in the case of pension benefits, a spouse
must designate the other spouse as the recipient of those benefits.
However, as stated in the article, a second wife does not automatically
become the beneficiary of her husband’s pension benefits. It is an active
process; the husband must sign documents, changing the designated
beneficiary from his first to his second wife for her to be able to claim
the pension. (In special circumstances, it is possible for the second
wife to waive her legal right to beneficiary status for the pension by
signing a specific document indicating awareness of her rights and her
informed decision to waive them.)
“The reason the beneficiary status must be proactively
changed is that not all states recognize divorce as a trigger for
declaring previous beneficiary documents (not only retirement benefits,
but also the beneficiary status of wills and life insurance, medical
directives, powers of attorney, etc.) null and void. To cover this gap,
the Federal government requires that the change be specifically made in
retirement-plan documents. It simply makes life easier for the
pension-benefits plan managers. The ultimate outcome would be the same,
eventually. But if the documents were not updated properly, a former
spouse could claim to have retained the rights (or not indicate that a
divorce took place) and payment could be made erroneously, leading to an
expensive and time-consuming court case, in order for the legal spouse to
claim her/his rights.
“Social Security benefits (another form of retirement
security) are a whole different issue, where multiple spouses are
concerned. Social Security can be paid to multiple spouses, upon
reaching certain eligibility requirements, and each spouse (former or
current) can receive a full payment, just as if there were no other
spouses in the picture. (In another wrinkle, however, the equivalent
retirement funds paid to government workers and railroad workers are
handled differently. In the first, it's the spouse (former or current)
who meets the eligibility requirements first who "takes all." In the
second, the benefit is split among the spouses.)”
—Lisa Cohn
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9-4-03—I
have been a subscriber to your magazine since I saw an article about it in
the Philadelphia Business Journal. I am the owner of Bookkeeping
Solutions, LLC, a business that does bookkeeping for small businesses. I
have been in business for three years. I left a very good job at a law
firm in Center City Philadelphia, because I moved to central Bucks County
and could no longer deal with a long commute twice a day. My business is
a home-based business, because I wanted to be home with my two little
boys. Although at the time this business was hard to start, looking back,
I had a really easy time making it grow.
I am
writing to you because I like your magazine. I have many of your
money-saving tips posted in my office and kitchen to help me save money
and resist the urge to buy junk. I also love the articles about other
women-owned businesses—especially the ones everyone said would never work.
That's what I was told when I started. But no matter what, the human
spirit does not allow someone who takes a chance to fail. So thank you for
your inspiring magazine. I look forward to reading it every other month.
—Lisa
McGinnis
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3-31-03
— Re: You
Asked, We Answered... "My father is 67, and he has a condition
requiring round-the-clock care, which we can't provide because my husband
and I both work. We must admit him into a nursing home. He owns his own
house and has mutual funds valued at $250,000. Is there anything we can do
to protect his assets—and my inheritance?"
Medicaid is financial
aid for the poor. To suggest that a man who owns his house and has
$250,000 in mutual funds deserves Medicaid so that he can leave an
inheritance for his children is outright wrong. These same "children"
probably bemoan our "welfare state" for working mothers. Why should the
taxpayer have to take on this 75-year-old man who wouldn't pay the premium
for long-term care insurance, when we cannot provide adequately for women
and children on public assistance? Some woman's magazine!!!!! No, I am
not on aid. I am a financial planner and I would tell these people to take
a hike.
—Anonymous
Go to story
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2-21-03 – Re:
Why Must We Still
Choose Between Money and Motherhood?
I am astonished, enraged and infuriated that you would hold
up Andrea Yates as an example of a stay-at-home mother. Outrageous! …
It's obvious that your own lack of interest in having children has
prejudiced you against women who devote themselves to their children. That
is very sad and unfair. Most mothers do not murder their children. How
sensible can you be and how serious can you be taken if you choose Carly
Fiorina and Andrea Yates as examples of career women and mothers
Respectively? Absurd! NEITHER is typical of anything. Shame!
—Anonymous
Go to story
[Editor’s
Note: Thank you for your comments in response to my article "Why Must We
Still Choose Between Money and Motherhood?" My intent was to celebrate the
millions of women who work so hard against great odds, juggling both a
career and a family, and to point out the need for social change (more
affordable day care, more flexible family-leave policies) to make their
lives easier and the choices they have to make less difficult.
By citing Andrea Yates as an extreme example of what can happen when
a woman feels it necessary to choose between motherhood and career, I
certainly never meant to imply that all stay-at-home moms are potential
"murderers." Ms. Yates regrettably suffered from severe postpartum
depression and apparently didn't receive the help that she needed. I have
the highest regard for all mothers, whether they stay at home or work
outside the home, and feel that raising children well is the most
important work that anyone can do.]
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11/22/02 -
Re:
Report from the Trenches of Corporate
America:
Life at WorldCom Before—and After—the Bankruptcy:
The
layoff article by the anonymous WorldCom employee,
“Report from the Trenches of Corporate
America: Life at WorldCom
Before—and After—the Bankruptcy: A Survivor of
Several Rounds of Layoffs Offers Savvy Advice on Dealing with Survivor
Guilt and the Stress of Increased Workloads,” was beautifully
written. I can identify with most of what the author said, as I, too,
have been "lucky enough" (so far) to have survived the layoffs.
The
company I worked for was bought by WorldCom just a few years before MCI
was purchased. As soon as we were bought, we were effectively told that
we no longer counted, that "we'll let you know when and if we need you."
I was immediately laid off, as WorldCom wiped out my entire department;
but, fortunately, I was recruited into another position (in those days
there actually were some "other" positions!) and have been there ever
since. I, too, hope to stay, if for no other reason than having been
present for the company's demise, I sure would now like to be part of the
future success that I truly believe will happen.
. . . I hope
that we both have WCOM jobs in the future, that the company soon sees fit
to offer equal benefits and opportunities to all employees (regardless of
“legacy” company); and that the "clique" mentality disappears so that we
are successful as one big team.
—Another
anonymous WorldCom employee
Go to story
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9/10/02 -
Re:
“Why Must We Still Choose Between Money and
Motherhood?”
This
article took the words right out of my mouth. I believe that the women of
today are a direct result of us asserting ourselves in the workforce when
the door swung open. We became educated, independent and marched ahead to
claim our seat in corporate America. Well, we soon realized that society
was applauding us as powerful women who are climbing the corporate ladder
. . . BUT OOPS! Who was taking care of the children? Daycare? Yes, the
number of daycare centers was increasing. They opened at 6 AM and closed
at 7 PM, and where were our children? They are there at 6 AM and left
between 6 PM and 7 PM, and we got home too tired and grumpy.
Those children
are now teenagers, and we haven't been in their rooms to know what's going
on and we are not there between the crucial hours of 3 to 6 in the
afternoon to help with homework, etc. It is frustrating to make ends meet
with one income in these times. As this article suggests, many women are
finding ways to bring in extra income and still be close to home.
As women who
chose to have children, our first and most important job is to raise our
children. I am not suggesting that fathers aren't responsible in this
process, but we can never change who we are as women. We are nurturers,
mothers, women. Not men. God told Adam that by the sweat of he brow he
will reap the benefits, and that Eve would have pain during childbirth.
That hasn't changed.
—Arlene McCoy
Powder Springs, GA
Go to story
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8/29/02 -
Re: “VISA
for Trouble,” by Laurie Lesser
This article
was so "on target." Ms. Lesser not only articulates the plight of so many
young people who aspire to begin the life they have not yet achieved, but
that of those who have abandoned any effort at living within their means.
Her clever, unapologetic report says much about how our society views
immediate gratification, debt and competition. I wonder whether her wry
perspective, like her spending habits, was similarly genetic.
—Barry Scheinberg
Simsbury, Ct.
Go to story
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