Mountain Views News, Combined Edition Saturday, April 25, 2020

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Mountain View News Saturday, April 25, 2020 

HOW THE CORONAVIRUS 
RELIEF LAW 
HELPS RETIREMENT 
SAVERS AND RETIREES

Dear Savvy Senior:

What can you tell me about the retirement account changes that Congress recently passed in 
response to the coronavirus crisis? Seeking Answers

Dear Seeking:

Tucked into the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, or CARES Act, that 
President Trump signed into law in late March were a series of changes that can help retirement 
savers in need of cash, as well as help preserve the retirement savings accounts of 
current retirees while the stock market is down. Here’s a rundown to how three provisions 
in the CARES Act might help you, or someone you know.

Hardship Withdrawals

Normally, if you took money out of an employer-sponsored retirement plan or IRA before 
59 ., you’d be hit with taxes and a 10 percent tax penalty on that amount. But the CARES 
Act waives the early distribution penalty on up to $100,000 of such distributions in 2020 
for what the law calls “affected individuals.” You are, however, still on the hook for income 
taxes on any amounts withdrawn, but the new law allows you to pay them over three years.

To qualify for this penalty-free hardship withdrawal, you must either have been diagnosed 
with coronavirus (COVID-19), have a spouse or dependent diagnosed with it or experienced 
adverse financial consequences as a result of being quarantined, furloughed, laid 
off, having work hours reduced, being unable to work due to a lack of child care due to 
COVID-19, or closing or reducing hours of a business you owned or operated if you had 
COVID-19.

Bigger Loans

The CARES Act will also allow you to take larger loans against the money you’ve saved in 
your 401(k) or 403(b) during the six-month period after the law was implemented, which 
was March 27. IRAs do not allow loans.

Normally, you can borrow only up to $50,000 or 50 percent of your vested account balance, 
whichever is less. The CARES Act will double that: up to $100,000 against the amount 
you’ve saved in your plan.

Borrowers typically have five years to repay a loan or the amount will be treated as a distribution 
and taxed. But you also need to know that if you leave or lose your job, you may 
be required to pay back the balance early, or owe taxes and, possibly, an early-withdrawal 
penalty.

This prevision also helps those with an existing 401(k) loan by allowing them to delay repayments 
that are due in 2020 for one year.

Suspended RMDs

Starting in 2020, individuals who turn 72 are required to take annual mandatory distributions 
from their tax-deferred 401(k)s and IRAs. In prior years, this requirement kicked in 
after savers turned 70. years of age.

This is known as the required minimum distribution or RMDs.

The CARES Act suspends RMDs for 2020, including those for inherited IRAs, which means 
you can skip taking your required distributions this year if you wish.

The one-year waiver of RMDs will help retirees, who would otherwise have been forced to 
base their minimum withdrawals for 2020 on their account balances as of Dec. 31, 2019, 
when the stock market was near record levels. It will also give the market time to recover 
before resuming distributions in 2021.

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.


SENIOR HAPPENINGS

HAPPY BIRTHDAY! …APRIL Birthdays*

Howard Rubin, Anita Hardy, Hattie Harris, Wendy Senou, Mary Harley, Bette 
White, Dorothy White, Doris Behrens, Freda Bernard, Beth Copti, Terri Cummings, 
Marilyn Diaz, Virginia Elliott, Elma Flores, Betty Jo Gregg, Barbara Lampman, 
Betty Mackie, Elizabeth Rassmusen, Maria Reyes, Marian DeMars, Anne Schryver, 
Chrisine Bachwansky, Colleen McKernan, Sandy Swanson, Hank Landsberg, Ken 
Anhalt, Shannon Vandevelde * To add your name to this distinguished list, please 
call the paper at 626.355.2737. YEAR of birth not required 


OUT TO PASTOR 

A Weekly Religion Column by Rev. James Snyder


NOT EVERYTHING IS AS IT SEEMS

For the last five days, I have 
not been able to sleep nor close 
my eyes at night. It’s been a 
nightmare.

During the last four weeks, the Gracious Mistress 
of the Parsonage and Yours Truly have been sequestered 
in our home and loving it.

I cannot remember a time in our marriage that 
we have spent so much time together with no serious 
obligations needing attention. It is marvelous 
to spend 24/7 together. If this is what senior 
retirement is like, I'm giving it some earnest consideration. 
Nobody ever told me this could be so 
wonderful.

Spending time together is great; my wife spends 
time in her craft room, doing what she does in that 
craft room. For obvious reasons, I am not allowed 
in that room, which is okay with me. She has been 
making all sorts of things and loving it. I think she 
made a bunch of masks and then some signs that 
said, Faith/Fear to give to some friends.

I have been catching up on some reading and writing 
projects that I was behind on. I did not realize 
how much I had to do until I sat down to do it. 
From the time I sat down to do it, I was exhausted 
and had to take a nap.

Never in my life have I been able to take a nap 
whenever I want to, and nobody harasses me. I do 
not even feel guilty about taking a nap in the afternoon. 
Where in the world did this come from?

One great blessing of all this time together is our 
eating schedule. My wife is a marvelous cook, and 
I am a marvelous eater. We make a beautiful pair, 
and it looks like we were made for each other.

Spending time together has been very therapeutic 
for both of us. Too often, we're busy doing this and 
that to help this person or that person. We don’t 
mind doing that, but sometimes we can get all 
caught up just doing.

Now, all we have is each other.

Then, much to my surprise, something changed.

We were watching the news and some newscasters, 
supposedly from their home, had not shaved 
in quite a while, which was noticeable.

I turned to my wife and said, “I know how I can 
save a lot of money!”

“How’s that?” She asked.

“I can save money,” I said as seriously as I could 
muster at the time, “by not purchasing any toiletry 
items like aftershave and shaving cream.”

She just looked at me as though I was a little bit crazy, 
but I think she thought I was a whole lot crazier.

"In fact," I said with a sarcastic attitude, "I don't have 
to shave, I'll just grow a beard." Then I laughed.

I glanced over at my wife, and she was smiling one 
of those smiles I have not seen in a long time. I 
could not quite figure out the nature of that smile, 
but I knew it was not one of her best smiles.

“Would you care to repeat that?” She asked.

With her strange smile and question, I was completely 
knocked off my guard. I did not know how 
to interpret this.

“I don’t need to shave,” I repeated, “I’ll just grow a 
beard like everybody else.”

As I was saying that, I was giggling and having a 
wonderful time. I did not know at that time that I 
might be in trouble. That is the problem with husbands. 
They never know when they are in trouble.

They may be in trouble when the wife is scowling 
or when she is smiling. There is no way to tell the 
difference. I was in that position.

“So,” she said rather slowly, “you’re not going to 
shave? Is that what I’m hearing?”

I knew I was joking, but I did not know if she knew 
that I was joking, and therefore I did not know if I 
was joking.

I was backed in a corner and needed to play this 
forward. "Yes, I'm not going to shave until all of 
this is over. I'll grow a nice beard." Then I let out a 
hearty laugh.

She then laughed. "This is how it will go," she explained, 
"if you don't shave during the day, I will 
shave you at night when you're sleeping."

In the middle of one of my laughs, I stopped and 
started to process what she said.

I looked at her, she looked at me, and I did not 
know what in the world to think. Would she shave 
me while I was sleeping?

All she did was smile one of “those smiles,” and 
started back watching TV.

I have lived long enough to know that there are 
many things I do not know, and I was in a position 
where I did not know if what she was telling me 
was what she was going to do.

In the following silence, I could not help but think 
of two Bible verses by King Solomon. “Give not 
sleep to thine eyes, nor slumber to thine eyelids” 
(Proverbs 6:4). And, “Love not sleep, lest thou 
come to poverty; open thine eyes, and thou shalt 
be satisfied with bread” (Proverbs 20:13).

One thing I have learned in life is never take anything 
for granted. When you do, things never seem 
to come out right.

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


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