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Weekly Digests

Weekly Digest – November 26 2021- Happy Thanksgiving, Happy Holiday

In honor of the Thanksgiving Holiday this week, we are keeping this short and sweet.

Thanksgiving, Feast
Pumpkin Pie for Thanksgiving

I am so grateful my family can be together this thanksgiving holiday.  Yesterday morning my husband David and I flew into Detroit (DTW) minutes before my daughter Jessie’s flight from Atlanta landed a few gates away.

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DTW

We all headed for the pick-up area where my daughter Emily and her husband Jeff picked us up.  Before heading to Jeff’s dad’s house for thanksgiving prep, we took advantage of the small crowds and early hours to sign up for CLEAR.  An opportunity I suggest you investigate as you head for the airport for upcoming trips.  One benefit is that we were able to upload our vaccination cards into their app. Their system should help alleviate some of the long lines that may start to form as more people start to travel as well as show proof of vaccination as we attend conferences and frequent restaurants when we head back to NYC.

I am feeling particularly grateful this holiday season and have asked friends, family and staff to share their thoughts, here is the complication:

I am grateful for…

  • Being able to be together with family and friends this holiday season,
  • That my children are happy, doing well, and finally back in school in person,
  • To be among the living to enjoy the good, get through the bad, and look forward to the next
  • For a great group of people to work with, a boss who appreciates me, staff who are loyal and take good care of our clients, customers, and patients, and those clients, patients and customers who appreciate our efforts on their behalf,
  • That when I work remotely my husband makes me an amazing cup of coffee to help start my day right,
  • Even though my wife doesnt cook for me, she buys me my favorite dinner, Haggen Daz Vanilla Ice Cream

There were so many more, and I hope you are all feeling grateful and happy this holiday season.

Black, Friday
Black Friday

Today, Black Friday, has traditionally been one of the biggest shopping days of the year. Many have saved up and made lists of holiday gifts, others have taken to the spirit of the holiday season and joined Buy Nothing groups that connect people who need things with people who want to give those things away. Items in these groups include food, furniture, children’s toys, phone chargers, and household décor. One of the largest of these groups, the Buy Nothing Project, has been around since 2013 and hit 4.27 million members in August with the intention of reducing household waste. People in these groups post items they want to give away or lend to others as well as items they want. Selling, trading, and bartering are not allowed. While searching in these groups is time-consuming, and the timing may not always work out, these groups can be a great way to circumvent inflation and supply chain issues.

THE AMERICAN RECOVERY PLAN ACT (ARPA)

Monthly Child Tax Credit Payments

The expansion of the child tax credit, including the monthly advance payments, is set to expire at the end of 2021. However, President Biden and Congressional Democrats are pushing to extend this  credit for another year as one of the components of the Build Back Better Act currently being debated. The 2022 extension has some changes from the 2021 version. For example, when the 2022 tax return is filed in 2023, a family may be able to calculate the amount they receive to be based on either their 2021 or 2022 income. In addition, if their 2022 income is within the phase-out limits, the amount of advance payments they receive which they would not have to repay will increase. However, none of these changes are guaranteed until or unless these provisions are signed into law.

As a reminder, if you want to opt out of the December payment, you must opt out by November 29. Check out the IRS FAQs where you’ll find everything you need to know about opting out in Section J.

TAX MATTERS

According to a November 19, 2021 update from the IRS on its operations, the agency is now opening mail withing normal timeframes. Any tax returns received by April 2021 that had no errors have been processed. However, the IRS still has 5.9 million unprocessed individual returns. The IRS may require 90 to 120 days to issue refunds for tax returns that require review or that contain errors. If you’re still waiting for your refund, you can check the IRS Where’s My Refund tool. Amended returns may take more than 20 weeks to process instead of the usual 16 weeks.

THE GREAT REASSESSMENT

If you’re one of the millions of people who recently switched jobs or is considering switching jobs, make sure you don’t leave retirement savings behind in a company pension plan. You have several options to make sure you don’t lose those funds. You may be able to keep the funds there. You can also roll those funds into a new plan with your new employer, or you can roll those funds over to an individual retirement account (IRA). Rollovers must be performed through the plan administrators or you may be hit with penalties and additional taxes.

REMOTE WORK OPTIONS

In 2015, Lazlo Bock wrote the book Work Rules!, which laid out a set of best practices for creating workplace culture. He has now updated those for the remote work world. In brief, his five rules for the remote world are as follows:

  • Make work purpose driven.
  • Trust your people more than feels comfortable.
  • Learn in the small moments. Send people – and yourself – small nudges.
  • Provide clarity. Be more decisive than feels comfortable.
  • Include everyone. Take a long hard look in the mirror.

According to a new survey of American workers, 83% say a shorter work-week would help with the burnout that more than half of them are feeling. Several companies in the US are joining others around the world in a six-month pilot program to test a four-day-workweek. A key to success is to empower employees to develop their own solutions to getting the same amount of work done in fewer days.  Sounds interesting, it has been said that productivity decreases with long hours and that a shorter work-day with work breaks enables productivity.

GENERAL RESOURCES

We sincerely hope that you and your family are well and remain well. If you have any questions or concerns, don’t hesitate to reach out to us. We are all in this together!

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