Bob Norton Consulting - March 2021

Bob Norton Consulting - March 2021

NortonAccountingServices.com 985-640-6072 [email protected] MARCH 2021 NORTON NEWSLETTER EASE OF MIND • AVAILABILITY • FLEXIBILITY • INDIVIDUAL APPROACH • EXPERIENCE • TAX SAVINGS OPPORTUNITIES THE REAL ESTATE TAX PRO ™

Honoring Mom and Pop Business Owners Day Proud to Be an Entrepreneur

With all the named storms that hit the Gulf Coast this year, a lot of you have been dealing with insurance companies and adjusters. I’ve had several conversations with clients about how little the insurance companies paid. Aside from the “named storm” deductible we all have on our policies, many of you may also have “Actual Cash Value (ACV)” coverage on your house. These policies are less expensive than “Replacement Cost” coverage, but not by much. With an ACV policy, the insurance company only covers the actual cash value of your home. To arrive at this amount, they subtract depreciation from the replacement cost of the damage. Then, they subtract your deductible from the ACV amount and pay you too little to fix the damage. If your home (or rental property) burned down, you would not have enough insurance proceeds to rebuild it, or probably even pay off the mortgage. I have replacement coverage on all of my properties, because I learned this the hard way. An insurance agent thought he was “saving” me money by selling me an ACV policy. I fired that agent when I found out that replacement cost coverage only cost $200 more per year! FROM THE DESK OF Bob Norton

America was built on the backs of small-business owners. Every day that entrepreneurs wake up, work hard, and grow their businesses, they have an impact on the community and the people they employ. And I’m not just blowing smoke. According to the Family Owned Business Institute in Michigan, family-owned businesses account for 78% of job creation in the U.S. and employ 63% of the workforce. Entrepreneurs, business owners, and families with a dream are changing lives just by putting in the hard work! At this time last year, our work got really hard. It wasn’t easy to navigate business ownership in the middle of a pandemic, but by working together and adapting, we were able to grow. March 29 is Mom and Pop Business Owners Day, and I want to encourage you to celebrate yourself

a little bit — even if your mom-and-pop shop has grown to be much larger. This month, I want to celebrate all that we have accomplished and offer further motivation to fellow business leaders who are feeling tired, burnt out, and stressed. Here’s a great story from Mower County, Minnesota, that proves small businesses are what push our country forward. Mower County boasts about 40,000 residents, but what it lacks in size, it makes up for in heart. An alliance of small- business owners and residents make up a group the county calls Pay It Forward, which is dedicated to helping those in need in both big and small ways. When an elderly gentleman’s snowblower was stolen, Pay It Forward donated a new one. When a little girl in the community

–Bob Norton

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... continued from Cover was born with brittle bone disease, Pay It Forward donated $2,000 to help the family cover medical expenses. When an elderly couple needed dozens of trees removed from their lawn, a local tree service in Pay It Forward volunteered to do it at no cost. The group has also donated funds for an adaptive bike and helped families update their homes to be more accessible, sometimes at a cost of over $65,000. With each action, Pay It Forward is doing more than giving back to its community — it’s creating a legacy and a foundation of people who step up to help their neighbors when times are tough. The group’s impact has been so widespread that it earned Mower County a spot on the annual “Nicest Places in America” list by Reader’s Digest, and I think that’s a worthy title. I believe the work Pay It Forward does in its community is powerful and worth celebrating. I know the residents and citizens who participate in Pay It Forward wouldn’t want much credit for the work they do, but they’re creating ripples in Mower County and setting a precedent that being a community member doesn’t mean you just live and work there. It means you help improve the lives of those around you. As small-business owners, we have a unique opportunity to do just that. I hope you’re as inspired by the small businesses of Mower County as I am, and I hope you will join me this Mom and Pop Business Owners Day and toast the hard work entrepreneurs do every day.

Corn Dogs and Basketball

AN AMERICAN TRADITION

It’s no coincidence that National Corn Dog Day is March 20 — the third Saturday of the month. This day is traditionally the first Saturday of March Madness, otherwise known as the NCAA Men’s Division I Basketball Championship. But wait. What do corn dogs and a basketball tournament have to do with one another?

The corn dog, like basketball, is an American creation. In the 1920s, the creators toyed around with the idea of fried foods on a stick. They battered and fried everything from cheese to bananas, but it was the battered sausages that really stood out, and the corn dog was born. By the 1940s, the convenient creation had popped up at state fairs and drive-in restaurants all over the country. In 2012, in honor of the original Corn Dog Day, the then-governor of Oregon issued an official proclamation naming March 17 National Corn Dog Day in the state. Several companies jumped on the bandwagon as well, including Foster Farms (a maker of frozen corn dogs, among many other meat products) and the Pabst Brewing Company. While it’s not an “official” national day recognized by the U.S. Congress, it’s celebrated with thousands of events every March. And it’s grown beyond its U.S. roots. An article printed in The Oregonian in 2009 revealed that National Corn Dog Day parties have been celebrated on nearly every continent — including Antarctica!

Turns out, National Corn Dog Day has everything to do with March Madness. The “holiday” began in March 1992 when two Corvallis, Oregon, high school students needed a snack while watching a basketball game. They got some corn dogs and called it good. But somehow, this simple snack and sport pairing turned into something huge. In fact, eating corn dogs while watching March Madness caught on like wildfire — and the teens didn’t even have Instagram to promote it! Though it’s not clear how, it spread across Oregon and eventually the rest of the country. It’s likely that people just heard about it from friends and family and thought it was a great idea.

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Field trips are always an exciting time for kids. It changes a monotonous school day into a learning adventure. Unfortunately, the COVID-19 pandemic has put field trips on hold for the time being. Luckily, there are ways kids can still enjoy field trips from the safety of their homes through virtual field trips! Check out some great virtual field trips below. Field Trip Day, Right From the Living Room 4 Virtual Adventures to Take With Your Kids

Visit the National Gallery of Art The National Gallery of Art provides 10 digital educational resources for children and adults to explore. These resources include video tours, educational PDFs, and even a few lessons and activities. Children can become engrossed in art, expand their knowledge of the arts, and practice some creativity of their own. Find out more and get exploring at NGA.gov. Learn about farming with BrightFarms BrightFarms’ virtual tours let viewers explore indoor farming, specifically how leafy greens are grown, harvested, packaged, and delivered to grocery stores. The growers narrate the videos

in an easy-to-follow tour that is perfect for kids and adults alike. Find these tours at their website at BrightFarms.com or Vimeo.com. See Buckingham Palace In this virtual tour, your kids can explore Buckingham Palace’s throne room, grand staircase, and white drawing room. Each room has a 360-degree view to look around each room, and, by clicking on the information icons, you can learn about certain aspects of each room. This is a wonderful chance to bring your kids into a completely different world right from your living room by heading to Royal.UK/virtual- tours-buckingham-palace.

Fly to Mars and the Moon By heading to AccessMars.WithGoogle. com, you and your kids can embark on an exploration of Mars with narrator Katie Stack Morgan, a NASA planetary geologist on the Mars Science Laboratory mission, and the rover Curiosity. Morgan takes viewers through certain points of Curiosity’s adventures on the real surface of Mars. NASA also has a virtual tour of the moon’s surface at Moon.NASA. gov, providing viewers with information gathered since 2009.

Inspired by AmbitiousKitchen.com Green Goddess Smoothie

Take a Break!

Ingredients

• 1 1/4 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk • 1 organic apple, peeled and chopped • 1 medium frozen banana • 1 1/2 cups fresh organic spinach • 1 tbsp chia seeds • 1/2 medium avocado

Directions

1. In a large, high-powered blender, add in all ingredients. 2. Blend on high for 1–2 minutes, or until all ingredients are well combined. 3. If necessary, add in more almond milk to thin the smoothie. 4. Serve immediately and enjoy!

AQUAMARINE BASKETBALL BUTTERFLY CLOVER

DAFFODIL GREEN IDES LEPRECHAUN

MADNESS SPRING TANGERINE WOMEN

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INSIDE THIS ISSUE From the Desk of Bob PAGE 1 Thank You, Fellow Small-Business Owners! PAGE 1 A Match Made in Cornmeal Batter Heaven PAGE 2 It’s Time for a Virtual Field Trip! PAGE 3 Take a Break PAGE 3 Green Goddess Smoothie PAGE 3 3 Irish Travel Destinations for Your Bucket List PAGE 4

3 Irish Travel Destinations for Your Bucket List Don’t Miss These Historic Spots!

Traveling to Ireland might not be an option for you right now, but like a leprechaun hoarding gold, you can still fill up your bucket list with all of the pubs, rolling hills, and lucky sites you’d love to see. This month when you’re planning your trip to Dublin, Galway, or Cork, add these spots to your itinerary.

already survived the bubonic plague and the Spanish flu, odds are good that it will make it through this, too! Soon, you’ll be able to raise a glass in the same rooms where the noblemen of nearby Athlone Castle shared drinks in the 12th century. Find more historical tidbits at SeansBar.ie.

bloody history. Read more about its haunted priest’s house, murder hole room, and bloody chapel at LeapCastle.net and meet the many ghosts that haunt its halls.

A Famous Smugglers’ Shortcut Newcastle, County Down

Get ready to tie up your hiking boots! This roughly 2-mile hike, called Hare’s Gap, is one of the most famous and beautiful routes in Ireland. When you climb through this pass in the Mourne Mountains, you’ll be rewarded with views of glacial cliffs, boulder fields, and ancient-looking stone walls. Legend has it that the pass was part of the Brandy Pad smuggling route, used to ferry goods like soap, leather, spices, and coffee.

Ireland’s Spookiest Castle Coolderry, County Offaly

The Oldest Bar in theWorld Athlone, CountyWestmeath

If you’re a fan of thrillers and true crime podcasts, you won’t want to leave Ireland without visiting Leap Castle. This 16th- century haunt was built by the fierce O’Bannon clan, who famously ordered two brothers to throw themselves off a rocky cliff as a test of strength. The survivor was named clan chief, and later Leap Castle was built on that very site — beginning its long and

When Sean’s Bar closed because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the entire country of Ireland groaned. The pub is famous for its Irish whiskey, music, and history, which stretches back to 900 A.D., far enough to earn it the title of “Oldest Bar in the World.” As of this writing, Sean’s is slated to reopen when it’s safe again, and considering it has

Safe travels, and ádh mór (good luck)!

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