Capital Highlights

Patrick lays out legislative priorities Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick outlined his goals for the upcoming legislative session, calling them “general concepts,” according to the Austin American-Statesman.

The 501:

Birdhouses are good for lots of things. Sometimes, birds even live in them. Tip: If you want to attract a bird family to your birdhouse, build it from weathered wood and leave it unpainted. That advice comes from my husband, who’s been keeping an eye on our three backyard birdhouses for years.

Financial Focus

To achieve your financial security, and that of your family, you will need to create a comprehensive strategy. But for this strategy to succeed, you’ll need to guard it from various challenges – and that means you’ll need to build in different layers of protection.

Financial Focus

Now that it’s the holiday season, gifts are probably on your mind – and you might intend for some of those gifts to go to charities. Although your intentions are good, you could be shortchanging both your recipients and yourself with your method of giving.

The 501: Have a head for key fobs?

You’re getting warmer! Remember when other children would say that when you were getting closer to finding something hidden? If they said “colder” instead, you knew you were headed in the wrong direction. Great times. To recapture the fun, lose your car in a parking lot.

Ponder Points

After 81 years, it remains difficult to forget the atrocities committed by Japanese captors against American soldiers. The Japanese attack at Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941, thrusted the United States into World War II with a sense of foreboding a long and bitter struggle in the Pacific.

Capital Highlights

Changes urged in funding community colleges A report submitted to state leaders ahead of the 88th legislative session’s opening in January urges lawmakers to develop “an innovative new model” to fund community colleges.

COLA is sweet for Social Security recipients

If you receive Social Security, you’ve probably already heard that your checks in 2023 will be bigger – considerably bigger, in fact. How can you make the best use of this extra money? Here’s what’s happening: For 2023, there’s an 8.

Is a Donor-advised fund right for you?

You can find many ways to support charitable organizations. One method that’s gained popularity over the past few years is called a donor- advised fund. Should you consider it? The answer depends on your individual situation, because donor-advised funds are not appropriate for everyone.

Road trip: Best laid plans

In 2019, I made the decision to move everything in storage from Colorado to Texas. A vast amount of planning went into coordinating movers, trucks and expenses to all coincide at one location at a particular time. The key point to it all, the weather and clear roads.