Jeffery Campbell - November 2020

Jeffery Campbell - November 2020

www.MayfieldHeightsCPA.com (440) 720-0959

November 2020

Have You Achieved Financial Awareness? We’ve Got Some Great Tips to Get Started

We’ve seen it happen more times that we can count: The economy takes a strange turn or a deep dive, and that’s when people finally decide to start educating themselves on their finances. We always tell our clients that this kind of vital education is better late than never, but if you can accomplish personal financial awareness before things outside your control force you to do so, you’ll set yourself up for more financial success in your lifetime, whether times are good or bad. RECOGNIZE YOUR HABITS You can’t develop better money habits if you have no idea what your current habits are. If you’re new to the world of financial literacy, start by tracking all of your spending, down to the penny, for an entire month. Go classic with a notebook or upgrade to a spreadsheet, but either way, make sure you’re diligent about knowing where all your money is going every month. You might even find that your relationship with money starts changing during this process. LEARN BASIC FINANCIAL CONCEPTS It’s necessary to learn some lingo when it comes to finances, because if you don’t understand the information you’re discovering, then you can’t do much with it. You don’t have to get complicated with your self-education though — just take to Google and start perusing financial terms that are unfamiliar to you, no matter how simple they might seem. For example, do you completely understand how a bank loan works? What about interest rates? And what does IRA even stand for? UNDERSTAND YOUR DEBT One of the most essential financial concepts to understand is the difference between good debt and bad debt. The word “debt” often has a negative connotation, so many of our clients assume it’s all bad, but this isn’t the case. For example, a credit card with a large balance to pay off is considered “bad debt.” However, an investment that will grow in value or generate long-term income, like a home mortgage, is considered good debt. Know the difference and understand that one big, bad spending decision can haunt your finances for a long time. START SAVING AND INVESTING If you ever want to stop living paycheck to paycheck or putting every purchase on credit cards, saving and investing are key. The reality is that having income doesn’t make anyone rich — their savings and investments do. And having both is easier than you might think. First, understand that there’s actually no clear divide between savings and

investments. Bonds are often called savings, and stocks are called investments, but both require putting money into an account and leaving it alone for an extended period of time. The two go together, and that’s the first step to understanding how they work. SEEK PROFESSIONAL GUIDANCE Achieving financial awareness can feel like a very personal journey that you need to tackle on your own, but no one who is completely financially literate got where they are without seeking the advice of others. Financial planning includes such a vast array of topics, each with their own nuances, that even if you know the essentials like the back of your hand, you’ll likely never be an expert on topics as diverse as life insurance, retirement, and stock options. But there are people out there who are experts, so reach out to them if you want to take your financial awareness a step further. Financial savviness isn’t everyone’s forté, but it can and should be. It just takes a little bit of willingness to understand where your finances are and motivation to get them where you’d like them to be. And when it comes time to talk with financial experts who can help you learn even more, don’t hesitate to give us a call. — Jeffery Campbell

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The 11th Hour of the 11th Day of the 11th Month Why Veterans Day and the Number 11 Go Hand in Hand

Veterans Day comes every Nov. 11. It’s a national holiday that recognizes veterans who served in the United States Armed Forces and honors those both living and deceased. Historically, the day marks Armistice Day and the end of the Great War: World War I. But what is the significance of the number 11? The armistice was signed at 5:45 a.m. in France, but it took effect at 11 a.m. that same morning — which happened to be Nov. 11, 1918. The armistice originally lasted 36 days but was extended month after month. This led to the signing of the Treaty of Versailles on June 28, 1919, when peace was officially declared.

Later that year, President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed that Nov. 11 would be known as Armistice Day to honor those who fought in the Great War. This lasted until 1954, when President Dwight Eisenhower signed a proclamation turning Armistice Day into Veterans Day. The change was made in order to recognize all veterans who had honorably served their country. By 1954, the U.S. had fought in more wars — specifically World War II and the Korean War — and hundreds of thousands more Americans had served. Unsurprisingly, there was some political drama surrounding the day. In 1968, Congress made Veterans Day a federal holiday under the Uniform Holiday Bill. The idea was to increase the number of three-day weekends in the year. Veterans Day became a holiday that would fall on the fourth Monday of October, a far cry from Nov. 11.

However, in 1978, Veterans Day was restored to its original Nov. 11 date. But why?

The answer is simple. It’s a number that sticks with you. When the clock strikes 11:11, you always take notice. By that same notion, we all remember the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month. Because of this, we’ll never forget the end of the Great War, nor will we forget those who served.

The Polls and Your Portfolio How Does the Election Affect My Portfolio?

As Americans head to the polls to exercise their right to vote in the presidential election, they bring many issues and beliefs with them. For some voters, these include questions about their portfolio and how the winner of the election could impact their savings, retirement, and ultimately, their future.

The answer, many financial analysts say, is not much.

Analysts have found that the market has remained stagnant in the year leading up to an election for the past 100 years. Although there hasn’t been any significant change to warrant concern, voter concern over uncertainty tends to be reflected in the market. After the ballots are counted and a president-elect is chosen, the market may see a downward trend if a new president (not the incumbent) takes office. Again, this is likely due to uncertainty and concern. Still, the market always ebbs and flows, and most presidents leave office with normal markets. However, congressional elections, which decide who our lawmakers are, may be what impact your portfolio more. Law creation, divided government, and responses to those laws influence portfolio performance more than most presidential elections. Remember, the market responds to reaction, and whom we elect to Congress and how they legislate more directly impacts our lives than the president.

The pandemic that has rocked 2020 has given us plenty of lessons on market volatility. As COVID-19 swept across the U.S., many residents had to shelter in place while industries shut down for an unprecedented hiatus. Financial planners and analysts encouraged patience to allow this storm to pass while they tried to identify long- term change. As we’re still recovering from this pandemic, so is the market, which could have an influence on the correlation between the election and the stock market. That said, if the past 100 years are any indication, you have little to worry about. Whoever occupies the Oval Office in 2021 will have very little influence on your portfolio. Your best financial strategy is to do the same thing you’ve been doing throughout the pandemic: Remain patient.

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TAKE A BREAK

No Shave November

If you’re a man who’s made it through these last eight months of quarantine without succumbing to the lazy scraggle of an unkempt beard, you’ve got some willpower. But November is here, which means No Shave November is underway. If you decide to participate, you’ll finally have a worthy excuse to stop the upkeep. The goal of No Shave November is to increase cancer awareness by embracing hair — which many cancer patients lose — and by letting it grow wild for the entire month. Men are encouraged to donate the money they would typically spend on shaving and grooming to those causes that provide cancer prevention education and aid those fighting it. The cause has since blossomed into a yearly fashion trend among men and even women who want to participate by letting their leg hair grow free for the month. It’s a popular trend for celebrities to follow too, as their influence can help raise even more awareness than the average Joe’s beard would. Beard-growing has become an increasingly popular trend in the world of male celebrities, encouraging many to follow their lead. This is an especially admirable trend when it comes to November, and we can expect the usual uptick in beard growth. Every effort that supports the cause is meaningful, but it’ll be hard to beat the current champion of Hollywood’s favorite celebrity beards: Ryan Reynolds. Just as Reynolds’ career has blossomed from raunchy rom-coms to hilariously inappropriate superheroes, his face has matured from approachably clean-shaven cheeks to a full and grizzled jawline. It’s a look that fans can’t get enough of and proves that growing an eye- catching beard doesn’t need a ton of maintenance. We’re excited to see how far Reynolds lets it fly this year. But when it comes to No Shave November, it’s not the look of the beard that counts — it’s the awareness the beard raises that should take the spotlight. Whether you aim for a beard as enticing as a celebrity’s or just want to grow one for a meaningful cause, your hair helps. So don’t trim it, no matter how itchy it might get. Can You Outgrow the Best Beard in Hollywood?

How a Thanksgiving Dinner Mix-Up Led to the TV Dinner

The year was 1953. That fall, the frozen food company C.A. Swanson & Sons drastically overestimated how many Americans would want a turkey as the centerpiece of their Thanksgiving spread, leaving them with about 260 tons of extra turkey packed into 10 refrigerated railroad cars. Swanson salesman Gerry Thomas had a winning idea. He suggested they package up the remaining turkey with a few sides as frozen dinners that would be ready to eat after being thawed. The twist? They would be served in compartmentalized aluminum trays, much like airplane meals, which were the inspiration for Thomas’ idea. Additionally, they would be marketed as “TV dinners,” with their packaging designed to look like a television set. As the TV rose in prominence in American living rooms, the TV dinner’s popularity increased exponentially. Swanson sold nearly 10 million of them during the first year of production. By 1959, Americans spent half a billion dollars gobbling up TV dinners.

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INSIDE THIS ISSUE 6110 Mayfield Road Mayfield Heights, OH 44124 www.MayfieldHeightsCPA.com (440) 720-0959

5 Ways to Work Toward Financial Awareness

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A Number of Importance The Surprising Non-Link Between an Election and Your Portfolio

How a Thanksgiving Dinner Mix-Up Led to the TV Dinner Celebrity Beards Are Ready for No Shave November The Stories Behind 2 Iconic Animal Heroes in Video Games

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The Stories Behind 2 Iconic Animal Heroes in Video Games

companion. However, the limitations of the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) stalled that idea until Nintendo released Super Mario World for the Super NES. The inspiration for Yoshi traces back to the 1984 video game Devil World, which featured green lizards that hatch from eggs, eat enemies with large mouths, and emit the very same signature Yoshi giggle when they hatch. Yoshi has received a positive reception since its introduction, making it Japan’s third-favorite video game character in 2008. A few fun facts: Yoshi is often referred to as male, but its gender remains unconfirmed. Also, Yoshi and K.K. Slider (from Animal Crossing) have the same voice actor! SONIC You could say that random New Yorkers chose Sonic’s ultimate design. When Sega

sought to create a flagship series to rival Nintendo’s Mario, Naoto Ohshima took character designs with him on a trip to New York. He asked random passersby in Central Park to choose a design, and the spiky blue hedgehog won. That wasn’t the end of Sonic’s design alterations, though. He had a rock band phase! Initially, Sonic had fangs, was in a band, and had a human girlfriend named Madonna. The team at Sega of America, led by Madeline Schroeder (who calls herself “Sonic’s mother”), removed those elements to “soften” the character for American audiences. While this led to heated internal debates, Sonic game designer Yuji Naka admitted it was for the best. These famous characters make our video games more energetic and fun, and their origin stories are just as unique!

Your family might have had the chance to play more video games lately and interact with some of the most famous animal heroes in video game history, like Yoshi or Sonic. But have you ever wondered about their real-world backstories?

YOSHI Or should we say, T. Yoshisaur

Munchakoopas? That’s Yoshi’s full name according to Nintendo’s official character guide published in 1993. Ever since the first release of Super Mario Bros, Nintendo wanted Mario to have a dinosaur

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Published by The Newsletter Pro | www.TheNewsletterPro.com