Mountain Views News, Combined Edition Saturday, March 5, 2022

Mountain View News Saturday, March 5, 2022 

SUPER CHEAP SMARTPHONE PLANS FOR 
SCRIMPING SENIORS 

Dear Savvy Senior:
Can you direct me to some really cheap wireless smartphone plans for seniors who don’t use much 
data? I use my smartphone primarily for texting and talking but need some data for checking my email 
and a few other things when I’m away from Wi-Fi. Right now, I pay $30 per month but am looking for 
a better deal. Senior Scrimper 

Dear Scrimper:
There are several super cheap wirelesses providers 
I can recommend for older smartphone users who 
are looking to save money by paring down their 
cell phone plan. Here are three of the cheapest options 
available that you can switch to without sacrificing 
the quality of your service. 


Cheapest Wireless Plans 

For extremely light smartphone data users, the very cheapest wireless plan available today is through 
Tello (Tello.com), which lets you build your own plan based on your needs or budget. For as little as 
$6 per month you can get unlimited texting, 100 minutes of talk time and 500 megabytes (MB) of 
high-speed data. Increases in talk time or data can be added in $1 increments. 

Tello uses the T-Mobile network and gives you the option to bring your existing phone or purchase 
a new device, while keeping your same phone number if you wish. If you want to keep your phone, 
it must be unlocked. Just enter your phone’s ID (press *#06# on your keypad to get it) on Tello’s 
website to make sure that it’s compatible with the network. 

Another super cheap plan to consider is the annual prepaid plan offered through Boost Mobile 
(BoostMobile.com). For only $100 per year (or $8.33 per month) this plan provides unlimited talk, 
text and 1 gigabyte (GB) of 5G or 4G data each month. If you need more data, their $150 annual 
plan (or $12.50/month) gets you 5 GB. 

Boost Mobile uses the T-Mobile and AT&T networks and lets you use your existing phone (if compatible) 
or buy a new one. 

And a third option to look into is Mint Mobile (MintMobile.com), which is recommended by 
Consumer Reports and has one of the best values for a cheap plan. Mint offers a $15 per month 
plan (plus taxes & fees) that provides unlimited talk and text, and 4 GB of 5G/4G data each month. 
They too use the T-Mobile network and will let you use your existing phone (if compatible) or buy 
a new one. 

Lifeline Program 

If your income is low enough, another option you should check into is the Lifeline Assistance Program. 
This is a federal program that provides a $9.25 monthly subsidy that could go towards your 
phone or internet service. 

To qualify, you’ll need to show that you’re receiving certain types of government benefits such as 
Medicaid, SNAP (food stamps), SSI, public housing assistance, veterans’ pension and survivors’ 
benefit, or live on federally recognized Tribal lands. Or, if your annual household income is at or 
below 135 percent of the Federal Poverty Guidelines – $17,388 for one person, or $23,517 for two 

– you’re also eligible. 
To check your eligibility or apply, visit LifelineSupport.org. If you do qualify, contact a wireless 
provider in your area that participates in the Lifeline program and sign up for service with them. 
You can also ask your current company to apply your Lifeline benefit to a service you are already 
getting, if it offers the benefit. 

Send your senior questions to: Savvy Senior, P.O. Box 5443, Norman, OK 73070, or visit SavvySenior.
org. Jim Miller is a contributor to the NBC Today show and author of “The Savvy Senior” book. 


FAMILY MATTERS

 By Marc Garlett 

WHAT TO EXPECT FROM YOUR INITIAL MEETING 
WITH AN ESTATE PLANNING LAWYER 

Whether you’ve met with an estate planning lawyer before or it’s your first 

time, it’s important to know what to expect. Estate planning is one of the most 

important things you’ll do for yourself and your loved ones, so take some time 
to set out your expectations before you get started. 

Your main goal is to get clear on what your family needs you to have in place, so you don’t leave behind 
a mess if you become incapacitated or when you die. You’re looking for an attorney to help you make the 
wisest, most affordable, most effective, time-saving plan for yourself and the people you love. 

What Shouldn’t Happen

In a typical “initial consultation” you meet with a lawyer who, without knowing much about you, describes 
the various legal documents they’ll put in place for you and quotes you a fee to provide those 
documents. 

In those types of meetings, it will likely be quite difficult for you to know exactly what you need for 
your unique family situation, assets, and how to make the right decision, outside of simply considering 
whether the cost of these documents fits within your budget. And deciding what you need based solely 
on the cost of documents will likely lead to you receiving a set of documents that won’t serve and protect 
your family or your assets when they need the most support. 

Unfortunately, it happens all too often: You have the best of intentions to do the right thing and get a will 
or trust in place, but you either never get around to it, get started but never finish, or you work with a lawyer 
who puts a template plan in place which provides little more than what you could do yourself through 
an online legal document service. And when you become incapacitated or die, your family is left with 
a mess. They don’t know who to turn to, your documents are out-of-date, your assets aren’t adequately 
protected, and your loved ones are stressed, confused, and grieving all at once. 

You don’t want that to happen. 

What Should Happen

You should meet with an attorney who has a process designed to support you to make the best legal decisions 
during your lifetime, for yourself and your family, and to leave a legacy of support and love to the 
people you care about most. 

In service to that, your initial meeting should be more of a working session. You should educate the attorney 
on everything you own and all your family dynamics, and the attorney should then educate you on 
how the law would specifically apply to you, your assets, and your family in the event of your incapacity 
or death. Next, together you should create a plan for how to structure your affairs, how you’d like to have 
your family supported, and how to fully protect your assets, so your family never feels lost, confused, or 
alone during a time of grief. And by the time the session’s over, you should feel relieved, cared for, and 
clearer than you’ve ever been about how to make legal choices in alignment with the legacy you desire to 
leave, whether as a parent, as a business owner or professional, or simply as the CEO of your life. 

Approaching estate planning in this manner from the outset will save your family countless hours of 
heartache and work down the road, while also keeping your loved ones out of conflict and out of court. 
Death is unavoidable. But you can make it far easier on the people you love by the choices you make now. 
And facing the reality of this fact allows you to make choices that will let you enjoy your current life even 
more. 

That is how you want it to happen. 

Life, Legacy & Estate Planning

You see, the best estate planning is about far more than planning for death and passing on your assets 
to your loved ones—it’s about designing and living a life you love while creating and preserving a legacy 
worth leaving, all by the choices you make today. 

You should expect an attorney who approaches estate planning in this manner and who wants to educate, 
empower, and support you to make the best decisions for your life and for the people you love. Furthermore, 
because your plan will be designed to provide for your loved ones in the event of your death or 
incapacity, your attorney shouldn’t just serve you transactionally—he or she should serve you relationally. 

In the end, your estate plan goes far beyond simply creating documents and then never seeing your attorney 
again. You want someone who will develop an ongoing relationship with you and your family which 
lasts not only for your lifetime but for the lifetime of your children and their children if that’s your wish. 

It all starts with that first meeting. Don’t settle for anything less. 

SENIOR HAPPENINGS 


HAPPY BIRTHDAY! …March Birthdays* 

Cathy Flammer, Clare Marquardt, Karen Blachly, Carla Duplex, Ella 
Guttman, Viky Tchatlian, Mary Cooper, Sun Liu, Helen Wallis, Joan 
Crow, Nancy Fox, Martha Cassara, Rita Johnson, Sharon Murphy, Heather 
Sheets, Mercedes Campos, Dorothy Webster,Terri Elder, Carol Cerrina, 
Amy Putnam, Sally Contreras 
* To add your name to this distinguished list, please call the paper at626.355.2737. YEAR of birth not required 


OUT TO PASTOR 

A Weekly Religion Column by Rev. James Snyder 

ONE MOUTH TOO MANY WORDS 


I read somewhere where 

the average woman speaks 

20,000 words a day, and the 

average man speaks 7,000 
words a day. I’m not sure if that’s true because 
I never believe everything I read, particularly 
on my computer, unless I write it. 

If this is true, who came up with it and how 
did they get to this conclusion? 

I can’t remember any day in my life when I 
spoke 7,000 words. At least out loud. I probably 
thought that many words, but they didn’t 
all touch my tongue.
I 
The Gracious Mistress of the Parsonage is a 
different story. As long as we have been married, 
I have never tried to count how many 
words she spoke on any single day. So keeping 
up is very difficult for someone like me. 
In its use. 

Usually, when she has something to say she 
says it and it turns out to be true. 

A friend of mine once told me that in his 
church many years ago, he had a woman he 
described as someone who never entertained 
an unspoken thought. I’m sure she was a delight 
to be around. I might know some people 
just like that. 

If I, for example, spoke 7,000 words on any 
given day, I would be exhausted by the end 
of that day. So what in the world would I use 
those 7,000 words to say? And, to whom? 

If I spoke 7,000 words a day, that would be 
about five words a minute for 24 hours. I’m 
not sure that’s something I could ever do. 

Most people have a lot to say, but what they 
say doesn’t really mean a lot. And, not just 
politicians. 

My maternal grandfather was very selective 
when it came to speaking. It took him quite 
a while to get a sentence out, and he never 
used a word that wasn’t necessary. I sometimes 
couldn’t understand what he was saying, 
but he would never repeat himself. But 
when I asked him to repeat himself, he would 
just look at me and smile one of his grandfatherly 
smiles. 

Having something to say is very important. 
The trouble is most of what people have to 
say isn’t important. 

There’s the other side to this: sometimes what 
I say gets me into trouble. I may be meaning 
one thing, but the person listening may understand 
it entirely differently. This has been 
my trouble throughout the years. 

When I’m silent, I rarely get into trouble. 
When I open my mouth and start speaking, 
I get into trouble. Sometimes speaking is automatic, 
and I don’t realize what I’m saying 
out loud. Keeping my thoughts to myself has 
been a hard discipline for me throughout the 
years. 

Recently, The Gracious Mistress of the Par


sonage was coughing a little bit, and finally 
said to me, “My throat is very sore today.” 

Not realizing that my mouth was open and 
expelling words, I said, “That’s strange because 
my ears are sore today.” 

Looking at me, I realized I had said that out 
loud. I said it out loud so that she could hear 
it, but I didn’t want her to hear it. Her stare 
taught me a valuable lesson at that time. 

I was now in trouble, and it was because of 
the words I said out loud. 

After being married for over 50 years, you 
would think I would have mastered the skill 
of thinking but not speaking. I’m still working 
on that. 

There is also the situation where you don’t get 
enough words out. 

The Pennsylvania Dutch have a saying, 
“Throw Papa down the stairs…” then they 
pause for a moment and finish it by saying, 
“… his hat.” 

If you don’t get the last part of that sentence, 
you may end up throwing Papa down the 
stairs, which is not what that sentence is all 
about. I have trouble hearing the whole sentence 
at times, and because of that, I can’t remember 
how many Papa’s I’ve thrown down 
the stairs. (Sorry about that, Papa.) 

I have noticed there doesn’t seem to be a direct 
connection between my thoughts and 
my tongue. If only they could get together 
and stay on the same subject, I would not get 
into so much trouble. 

So, when The Gracious Mistress of the Parsonage 
is exercising her 20,000 words per 
day, I can only process 7,000 of those words. 
So the problem I face is, which words am I 
going to process? 

I have trouble with my 7,000 words a day. I 
can’t imagine how anybody of the opposite 
gender can manage 20,000 words a day every 
day of the week. 

To choose the right words, I have to listen to 
the words that have been coming my way. I 
don’t always get it right. I try, and I’m getting 
better at it, but I still fail. 

While thinking about this I was reminded of 
a very important passage of Scripture. “27 He 
that hath knowledge spareth his words: and a 
man of understanding is of an excellent spirit. 
28 Even a fool, when he holdeth his peace, 
is counted wise: and he that shutteth his lips 
is esteemed a man of understanding” (Proverbs 
17:27-28). 

According to this, the more a person knows 
the less he speaks. This has been rather an 
important assessment of people. It’s the people 
who are silent most of the time that probably 
no more than the people that are talking 
most of the time. 

Dr. James L. Snyder lives in Ocala, FL E-mail 
jamessnyder51@gmail.com. 

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