Mountain Views News, Combined Edition Saturday, August 28, 2021

12 Mountain View News Saturday, August 28, 2021 12 Mountain View News Saturday, August 28, 2021 
OUT TO PASTOR 

A Weekly Religion Column by Rev. James Snyder 

IS BEING SANE TOO MUCH TO ASK? 

When young, I remember my grandfather often saying to me, "the world 
wasn't like this when I was your age." Then he would go on a long rant 
about how things were much different when he was my age. Finally, he 
would conclude by saying, "It's an insane world out there, son."

I can't remember all he said, but one thing was when he was young, people were rather sane 
and the things they did. He explained it to me to the best of his ability, and I listen to the best 
of my ability. But then, sane to one person can be insanity to another.

 Recently, I caught myself saying the same things to one of my grandchildren, and then it 
dawned on me, "Have I become my grandfather?"
Pondering this a little bit, I thought, is this generation just as insane as my generation? Or, 
where did this generation inherit their insanity?

Looking at the culture around us, it's hard to see anything with any sense of sanity. Trying 
to listen to contemporary music is crazy. Not only can I hardly understand the lyrics, but 
they don't make sense.

 Wanting to do some research on this, I went to the shopping mall, sat in the middle with 
some coffee, and watched people pass by.

 It's been a long time since I've been out in public like this, and I'm not sure I'm going to 
do it anytime soon. Watching these people, however, got me thinking a bit of what actual 
sanity is.

 So many people walked by wearing such clothes that it was rather embarrassing.
Young ladies were wearing trousers full of holes and rips and tears. It looked like they got 
them out of some trashcan.

 Someone told me, I have no idea it is true, but those trousers start at $100 each. The more 
rips and tears, the more expensive they are. 
When I was young, nobody wore trousers like that, at least in public. But what was sane 
yesterday is now insane.

 If only I would've known this back then, I could have saved my trousers and sell them 
today for my retirement fund.
When I thought I saw everything there walked past me about a half dozen young men, I 
think they were young, whose trousers were down almost to their knees. How they could 
walk around like that without tripping was beyond the level of my sanity.
For a moment, I wanted to walk up and say, "Excuse me, but your pants are dropping off."
Where does something like that come from? Who in the world said that was "the thing" to 
do? 
I would like to see them outside trying to run away from a barking dog.
As I sat there trying to wag my head and clear the clutter, I saw something that scared me 
at first. 
Looking down one lane, I saw three young ladies coming, and I did not know what to do. It 
looked like they had painted their clothing on. I've never seen anything so crazy in all mylife. I didn't know what to do. I didn't know if I should run. Should I just sit there and close 
my eyes?
As they walked by, I noticed that they did have clothes on. But, for the life of me, I don't 
know how they got those clothes on, and I could not imagine how they would take them off.
Seeing these young ladies with their painted-on clothes, I could appreciate the ladies wearing 
rag-gedy torn trousers. I'm not sure which is worse, but I think at the time I would have 
voted for the terrible trousers. 
It’s good I had a cup of coffee with me because as I sat there, I was trying to calm myself 
down. If this world is not insane, then I am.
I noticed a young guy coming down, talking like he was on the radio. He talked and laughed 
and talked and laughed, and I thought maybe this guy had had a little too much "whatchamacallit" 
to drink. 
I noticed an attachment to his ears with something coming down the side of his chin. As he 
walked by, he continued talking. It was then I noticed something rather strange. This young 
man was talk-ing on the telephone.
At least, that's what I called it. But, of course, I don't know what you call telephones today, 
and I don't know how they work. But this young man seemed to know how it worked and 
was working it to the end.
Oh, if only my grandpa could be sitting with me right now and saw what I saw, he would 
have had quite a few words to say about what he saw.
I finished my coffee and then got up to leave and go out to my vehicle. As I drove home, I 
thought about what sanity and insanity is all about. What is right in one generation doesn't 
seem to be right in the next.
A favorite verse of Scripture came to my mind as I was driving. "The thing that hath been,
it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no 
new thing under the sun" (Ecclesiastes 1:9).
If anybody knew anything about this, it was King Solomon, the wisest man that ever lived. 
We may think what we're doing is new, but in all sanity, nothing is new.

Dr. James L. Snyder is pastor of the Family of God Fellowship, Ocala, FL 34472, where he lives 
with his wife. Call him at 352-216-3025 or e-mail jamessnyder2@att.net. The church web site 
is www.whatafellowship.com. 

SENIOR HAPPENINGS 


HAPPY BIRTHDAY! …August Birthdays*

Nancy Beckham, Karlene Englert, Juanita Fernandez, Jeanette Francis, Joseph Kiss,
Jacquie Pergola, Pat Miranda, Jerry Burnett, Margaret Aroyan, Phyllis Burg, BeverlyClifton, Rosemary Morabito, Susan Poulsen, Joy Barry, Marcia Bent, Joan Spears,
Ruth Torres, Jane Zamanzadeh. Helen Stapenhorst, Chandy Shair, Heidi Hartman, 
Erma Gutierrez, Margaret Switzer

 * To add your name to this distinguished list, please call the paper at 626.355.2737. 
YEAR of birth not required 
SENIOR ACTIVITIES IN SIERRA MADRE 

CHAIR YOGA 

Every Monday and Wednesday, 10-10:45 amChair yoga with Paul is coming back! Class be held in the Covered Pavilion in Memorial 
Park in front of the Senior Center. Please join us for some gentle stretching, yoga, balance exercise and overall 
relaxation. Classes will maintain a distance of 6 ft between participants. ALL participants must be wearing 
masks for the duration of the class. All equipment used will be sanitized after each use before it is stored. Each 
participant is responsible for providing their own water, masks and needed equipment or supplies for each class. 
Class size is limited so please call 264-8923 to reserve your spot. 

TEA AND TALK, SENIOR BOOK CLUB—2nd and 4th Wednesday at 9:00 am Staff has launched 
a new book club series, Tea and Talk, that will meet twice a month to discuss the fun, suspense, intrigue, 
love and so much more that each selection will have in store! This month we will be reading IWas Anastasia, Ariel Lawhon’s historical novel, Anna Anderson defends her attempt to prove herself 
to be Anastasia Romanov, a member of the last imperial family to rule in Russia. If you are interested 
in participating please call Lawren Heinz at 626-355-7394 or send an email to lheinz@cityofsierramadre.
com. 

IDEAS

 Do you have any ideas for programming? Is there a class 
or club you would like to see in our Senior Community?
Please call or email Lawren Heinz with ideas or questions. 
626-355-5278 x 704 lheinz@cityofsierramadre.com

 City staff are monitoring email communication daily, and 
although employees are minimizing direct engagement 
and interfacing less with the community, please note that 
voice messages, emails, and social media responses are being 
addressed in the most efficient and timely manner. If 
at any time additional information is needed, please contact 
City Hall Administrative Services at (626) 355-7135,
Monday-Thursday from 7:30a – 5:30p, as they are taking 
messages and e-mailing the appropriate per-son. For messages 
that may trickle in otherwise, please note our team 
is remotely checking voicemail daily at the CommunityServices Department, (626) 355-5278 x702. 


PPOOSSTTPPOONNEEDDHelp Lawren inmaking a colorful and artistic pieceto brightenup theHart 
Park House! We will have fun with tissue paper, coffee filters and foodcoloring. All supplies will beprovided for you and we will meet in the Hart 
Park House. Please wear clothes you don’t mind getting messy.
To reserve your spot or ask questions please callLawren Heinz at

(626) 355-7394 or email at lheinz@cityofsierramadre.com.
HOW TO HANDLE YOUR MEDICARE COVERAGE IF YOU MOVE 


Dear Savvy Senior:
My husband and I are moving to a different area of 
the country to be near our daughter. Will this affect 
our Medicare benefits? Will we need to adjust our 
cover-age or re-enroll in a new plan? Moving Away 

Dear Moving:
Moving can indeed affect your Medicare benefits 
depending on the type of cov-erage you have and 
where you move to.

 If you and your husband are enrolled in “original 
Medicare” Part A and Part B, you’ll be happy 
to know that you won’t need to change your plans 
when you move because they’re the same throughout 
the U.S. You will, however, need to notify the 
Social Security Administration of your change of 
address, which you can do at SSA.gov/myaccount/
change-of-address.html or by calling 800-772-1213.

But, if you’re enrolled in a Medicare (Part D) 
prescription drug plan, or a Medi-care (Part C)
Advantage plan and you move out of your plan’s 
service area, you’ll need to choose a new plan that 
serves your new area. Here’s a breakdown of what 
you’ll need to do depending on the type of coverage 
you have.

 If you have a Part D plan: If you’re in rolled in 
original Medicare and have a stand-alone Medicare 
Part D prescription drug plan, you’ll need to contact 
your Part D plan to find out if it will work in 
the area you’re moving to. If it doesn’t, you’ll need 
to enroll in a new plan that provides coverage in 
your new location.

 You can make this switch the month before you 
move and up to two months af-ter the move.
Otherwise, you’ll need to wait until the next open 
enrollment (in the fall) and could be penalized for 
having no acceptable prescription drug coverage.

 If you have a Medicare Advantage plan: If you’re 
enrolled in a Medicare Ad-vantage plan, again, 
contact your plan to find out if it will serve your 
new area. If it doesn’t, you’ll need to enroll in a new 
plan that does. To shop for new Ad-vantage and/or 
Part D prescription drug plans in your new location, 
see Medicare.gov/plan-compare.

You can switch Advantage plans the month before 

you move and up to two months after you move.

 But be aware that if you relocate out of your Medicare 
Advantage plan’s service area and fail to enroll 
in a new plan in your new area, you’ll automaticallybe switched to original Medicare. This will happen 
when your old Medicare Ad-vantage plan is forced 
to disenroll you because you don’t live within its 
service area anymore.

 If you have a Medigap policy: If you’re enrolled 
in original Medicare and have a supplemental (Medigap) 
policy, you’ll need to notify your provider 
that you’re moving, but you should not need to 
change insurance companies or plans. (Note: there 
also are Medicare Select plans, which are Medigap 
plans that are network-based and are available in a 
few states. These plans may require you to change.)

Medigap plans are standardized across the country; 
for example, Medigap Plan F offers the same 
coverage in one state as it does in another state 
(Massachusetts, Minnesota, and Wisconsin have 
waivers from the federal government allowing 
them to standardize Medigap plans differently, so 
plan designs are different in those three states).

But be aware that Medigap costs vary by location, 
so your monthly Medigap pol-icy premium may be 
higher or lower depending on the cost of medical 
care in your new area. 

Call your provider and tell them the new ZIP code, 
and they’ll let you know the cost. Sometimes you’ll 
be pleasantly surprised that it’s lower. 

If it’s not, you could look for a cheaper policy. However, 
you may have to under-go medical underwriting. 
Medigap policies come with their own rules for 
enrol-ling, and some states have different enrollment 
standards than others. 

FAMILY MATTERSBy Marc Garlett 


NEW DEVELOPMENTS TRANSFORM THE ROLE 
LIFE INSURANCE PLAYS IN YOUR ESTATE AND 

FINANCIAL PLANNING 

Within the past year, a combination of 
new legislation and the recent changeof leadership in the White Houseand Congress stands to dramaticallyincrease the taxes your loved ones willhave to pay on inherited retirementaccounts as well as increasing the taxesyou owe on your taxable investments.
However, purchasing life insurance mayoffer you the opportunity to minimizethe effect of these developments. 

To this end, if you hold assets in aretirement account, you need to review 
your financial plan and estate plan 
as soon as possible to determine ifinvesting in life insurance or some otherstrategy may offer tax-saving benefitsfor you and your family. To help you 
with this process, here we’ll discuss howthese new developments might affectthe taxes owed by you and your heirs,
and how investing in life insurance mayhelp offset the tax impact of these newchanges. 

The SECURE Act 
At the start of 2020, the SettingEvery Community Up for RetirementEnhancement Act (SECURE Act) wentinto effect, and the new law effectively 
put an end to the so-called “stretch 
IRA.” Under prior law, beneficiaries ofyour retirement account could choose tostretch out distributions of an inherited 
retirement account over their own life 
expectancy to minimize the incometaxes owed on those distributions. 

Under the new law, however, mostdesignated beneficiaries of inheritedIRAs and similar tax-deferred qualifiedretirement accounts are now requiredto withdraw all of the assets from the 
inherited account—and pay income 
taxes on those withdrawals—within 
10 years of the account owner’s death.
Those who fail to withdraw funds 
within the 10-year window face a 50% 
tax penalty on the assets remaining in 

the account. 

The recent election of Joe Biden as 
President and subsequent Democratictakeover of the Senate will likely resultin the passage of new tax legislation thatcould have a significant impact on your 
family’s financial and estate planning 
considerations. 

Specifically, it’s likely that within thenext two years Democrats will passlegislation aimed at eliminating manyof the tax cuts enacted through the2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. As partof this legislation, we’re expected to see 
significantly lower federal estate tax 
exemptions, the elimination of the step-
up in cost basis on inherited assets, aswell as an increase in the top personalincome and capital-gains tax rates. 

One way you may be able to minimizethe new taxes on both your tax-deferredretirement accounts and taxable 
investments is by investing in cash-valuelife insurance. Let’s break down exactlywhat this strategy might look like. 

The New Role of Life Insurance in Your 
Estate and Financial PlanningGiven the new distribution 
requirements for inherited IRAs, youshould consider whether it makes sense 
to withdraw funds from your retirementaccount now, pay the tax, and investthe remainder in cash-value life 
insurance. From there, you can accessthe accumulated cash-surrender value 
of the life insurance policy income-taxfree during your lifetime via tax-freewithdrawals and/or loans. And upon 
your death, the payout of your life 
insurance policy would be income-tax 
free for your heirs. 

By annually investing what youwould otherwise put into tax-deferredretirement accounts into a cash-value 
life insurance contract, or by takingtaxable withdrawals from your tax-
deferred retirement accounts over time 
and reinvesting them in cash-value lifeinsurance, you can effectively movethese funds into a tax-free, rather thantax-deferred, investment vehicle. 

This strategy could not only minimizethe income taxes you pay over yourlifetime, but it could also significantly 
reduce the tax bill imposed on yourdesignated beneficiaries after yourdeath, since life insurance proceeds areincome-tax free. 

Additionally, by investing a portion of 
your investable assets in cash-value lifeinsurance, you can offset the effects ofthe proposed loss of income tax basisstep-up upon your death, which we’relikely to see enacted through Democrat-
backed legislation. What’s more, this 
strategy would also minimize your 
current income taxes on what otherwise 
would have been taxable income 
from your investments, as growth oninvestments inside a life insurance 
policy are not subject to income tax,
including any capital gains. 

Finally, if you stand to be affected by 
the proposed decrease of the federalestate-tax exemption, which is currentlyset at $11.7 million, by placing the lifeinsurance policy inside an irrevocable 
life insurance trust, you can removethe death benefit paid out to yourbeneficiaries from your taxable estate.
In doing so, you would still be able to 
access the cash value of the insurance 
policy during your lifetime, either via 
a so-called “spousal access trust,” if 
you are married, or via a traditional 
irrevocable life insurance trust, if you 
are not married. 

Rethink Your PlanningAlthough the SECURE Act and theproposed new legislation stands to have 
an adverse effect on the tax consequencesfor your retirement and estate planning,
investing in life insurance may offer youa valuable tax-saving opportunity. Thatsaid, you can only take advantage ofthis opportunity if you plan for it. 

A local attorney and father, MarcGarlett is on a mission to help parentsprotect what they love most. Schedule 
an appointment to sit down and talkabout ensuring a legacy of love andfinancial security for your family bycalling 626.355.4000 or visit www. 
CaliLaw.com for more information. 

Mountain Views News 80 W Sierra Madre Blvd. No. 327 Sierra Madre, Ca. 91024 Office: 626.355.2737 Fax: 626.609.3285 Email: editor@mtnviewsnews.com Website: www.mtnviewsnews.com