Magazine Archive
Magazine Archive
The Enduring Value of Asset Protection Trusts
Considering that almost half of marriages end in divorce, worrying over the possibility of an adult child's divorce is common for many parents. If you are a parent of two married children, there's about a 50 percent chance one of your children will get divorced. If you have three or more children, the possibility becomes even more likely. Statistics aside, if your parental instinct says that your child's marriage is in trouble, it probably is. While you can’t prevent a child’s heartbreak, you can utilize your estate plan to ensure financial turmoil doesn’t compound the anguish of a foiled “happily ever after.”
Laurie & Bill: Meet the Hatch Family
In the same way that the board game Monopoly features famous streets, Longmeadow’s Hatch family has direct descendant of the Bliss, Longfellow, Colton, Chandler, Williams families who settled in Longmeadow and have streets named after them. For Laurie Hatch, the Longmeadow is a massive part of her past and her family's future.
Candace and Raye Birk are Here for Family and the Theatre
Instructions for living a life:
Pay attention
Be astonished
Tell about it
- Mary Oliver
The scene played out so naturally, I felt like I was at the theatre. As I stood with the lifelong actors on their deck in late November, they were on a stage of sorts, responding to cues from our photographer so she could capture our next cover. Candace and Raye Birk leaned against the rail of their patio with their hands in their pockets; it was chilly, and the sun was on its way down.
Financial Resolutions that Stick
Like millions of Americans, you may have made a New Year’s resolution to get a handle on money – whether that’s saving more, tackling your debt, or planning to purchase a new car or home. When you are optimistic about a new year, it’s easy to have grand visions of how you will cut out every cup of coffee, cook at home every day, and break out a ledger or leverage a budgeting app on a weekly basis. By funneling this energy into a few hours of work, you won’t need to sustain that excitement for the rest of the year. Here are a few examples to help you meet your financial goals.
Here's to a New Year at Home
This is Northampton Living's fourth holiday season, and we are deeply thankful to the residents and businesses that have supported our mission: to put the community and residents on our covers, and to fill our pages with your stories.
We have a wonderful problem and would love your help with the solution. The response from the community has been overwhelming. To accommodate more of our uniquely uplifting content, we have already expanded our page count. To expand again, we need more business sponsors who believe in a positive, family-focused publication dedicated to Northampton.
The Magical World of Snowflakes Math with Mathnasium
Did you know that math is everywhere - even in the snowflakes that make up the magic of winter?!? At Mathnasium, our tutors build a love and appreciation for math, and can help your students start the new year off right with math!
Turning Learning into Leisure
Most people like to learn—our species wouldn’t be where it is today if curiosity wasn’t hardwired into us on at least some level. There is an indescribable feeling of satisfaction when something finally clicks into place that just can’t quite be reproduced through any other means.
Mischa Roy Believes in Magic
“Everyone has a connection to folk magic: It’s in your bones.”
Mischa Roy felt at home in the darkroom. Her parents’ photography studio had a built-in playroom, but she and her brother wanted to work. They need me, her brother would plead – anything to get his hands on prints. She watched her father manifest magic. She began to channel her own.
40+ Years, 3 Generations: Meet the Ryczek Family
Since 1978, the Ryczek family has called Longmeadow home, and while much has changed in the last nearly half-century, for the Ryczek family, it’s always been about family.
Advantages Selling Real Estate During the Holidays
Six reasons to sell your home during the holiday season
LED: The Energy-Efficient Holiday Light Solution for Bright Nights Everywhere
Bright Nights is an annual holiday event in Springfield that enchants visitors from all over New England with its dazzling light displays.
Have you ever wondered how much electricity it takes to power this event?
The Best Tech Gift Ideas for a Frustration-Free Holiday Season
The holiday season is here, and with it, the challenge of gift buying. Technology and gadgets are popular choices, offering an enhanced lifestyle and, hopefully, fun! But gifting tech can bring unexpected challenges.
But fear not! Whether you're a tech-savvy shopper or someone just looking to impress a loved one with a nifty device, this guide will help you navigate some of the most common tech frustrations and introduce you to gadgets that will leave your loved ones smiling.
The Best Tech Gift Ideas for a Frustration-Free Holiday Season
The holiday season is here, and with it, the challenge of gift buying. Technology and gadgets are popular choices, offering an enhanced lifestyle and, hopefully, fun! But gifting tech can bring unexpected challenges.
But fear not! Whether you're a tech-savvy shopper or someone just looking to impress a loved one with a nifty device, this guide will help you navigate some of the most common tech frustrations and introduce you to gadgets that will leave your loved ones smiling.
Winter Wellness
We spoke with Dr. Jonathan Bayuk, president of Allergy & Immunology Associates of New England, about how to stay healthy this winter. As we head into the holidays, here are some tips.
Grow Food Northampton Offers Community, Agency and Hope
At 10 a.m. on a cloudless fall day, Ruth von Goeler and Juju Carpenter open the market. A card table – long enough for 4 people to shop comfortably – showcases today’s bounty, which includes peppers, carrots, lettuce, raspberries, eggs, sausage and tofu, all grown and produced on local farms. Ears of corn gleam in their husks, available with or without a recipe card in English or Spanish, for a corn and cherry tomato salad.
Within the next half hour, about 50 patrons will line up behind the Walter Salvo House, a low-income housing development for elderly and disabled Northampton residents. Many are on a first-name basis with the food access assistants from Grow Food Northampton (GFN), who replenish the stock, again and again, from cardboard boxes stacked underneath the table. The nonprofit’s goal is to build a just and sustainable local food system, and this is their mission in action.
All Smiles: Meet the Reiff Family
As COVID-19 was upending life as we know it, the Reiff family decided to add to the chaos by moving to Longmeadow - and now that they are moved in and comfortable - they know they made the right choice.
Your Estate Plan and the Gift of Education
The Pioneer Valley, home to the Five Colleges, could be branded “Education Valley” because its history and values are deeply rooted in the pursuit of knowledge.
When our clients desire to fund education for their children and grandchildren, here are some legal techniques we deploy:
Trusts
Married with Kids? Now, Not So Much
As her parents listened from the other room, five-year-old Nancy chattered to her family of dolls: Mommy and Daddy, little Clara, and Clara’s younger brother David.
Several decades later, they hear something quite different from their daughter. Nancy, 35, has lived happily with her boyfriend of 5 years. Neither wants to tie the knot. Now she mentions that they don’t want kids. So much for Clara and David.
When we launched our financial planning firm in 2002, few of our clients had stories like this. They hoped for a comfortable retirement, for family support they could count on in old age, and to someday pass on what remained of their wealth to the next generation.
Take Advantage of the Real Estate Market
November greetings!
Much like other small communities, our local real estate market has been impacted by a confluence of factors stemming from the global pandemic and predictable demographic shifts. Simply put, in the last few years the number of buyers has exceeded the number of sellers, even with higher interest rates and higher prices. One of the most striking features of the current market is the shrinking inventory. Buyers are encountering a limited supply of available homes. The number of homes sold in the second quarter (Q2) this year is about 20% lower than Q2 2022. The number of homes sold in Northampton is 33% lower than last year.