YOUR FINANCES Use Your Varied Financial Sources If you think that you save enough of your earnings to comfortably retire at age 65, consider this: A 45-year-old with an annual in come of $83,000, who lives in an inflation-free environment, would need more than Si million in finan cial assets at age 65 to maintain his current standard of living for 15 years. Inflation, life span and standard of living may change that figure slightly. To build up an adequate fi nancial cushion for retirement, start planning by age 40. Your retirement plan should in clude Social Security, company pension, personal savings and in vestments, and may includc work after retirement. A professional fi nancial advisor can help you orga nize these sources into a plan dc signed for your financial needs. By ihc year 2029, when all ihc Baby Boomers have hit 65, the ra tio of retirees to workers will have increased from 2-to-l to 3-to-l. Given this strain on Social Secur ity's income pool, you should con sider these benefits only as a floor of incomc protection. Don't rely solely on your compa ny pension. The average company pension covers only 40 percent of your pre-retirement incomc and the more you change jobs, the less your retirement benefits will be. Oilier ways to help supplement these outside sources arc working after retirement and buying life in surance policies. Today's life insur ance policies offer investment op tions that can be as risk-oriented or as conservative as you want or need. Talk with a professional life Correct Diagnosis Can Be Difficult Reports The Arthritis Foundation Gelling a corrcct diagnosis of arthritis can be a long and some times difficult proccss, reports the Arthritis Foundation. This difficulty in diagnosis can result from many factors including: the large number of arthritis dis eases; overlapping symptoms com mon to many forms of arthritis; misleading laboratory tests; and the possibility of a person having mul tiple types of arthritis. The Arthritis Foundation recom mends seeing a physician if you ex perience the following symptoms for more than two weeks: pain; swelling; stiffness; or problems moving one or more joints. Giving your physician complete informa tion can help you get an accurate diagnosis. This information, along with a physical exam and laborato ry tests, will help your doctors de termine what is wrong. The questions your doctor will ask may include: ?What joints hurt? ?Have you noticed swelling or hotness in your joints? ?How long have you had the pain? When is the pain at its worst? ?Is there anything that makes your joints feel better or worse? ?Do you have fever, fatigue, weight loss or oilier physical symp toms? ?Docs anyone in your family have arthritis? For a free brochure giving basic facts about arthritis, call the Arth ritis Foundation Information Line at l-8(X)-283- 78(X) (Monday - Fri day, 9 am. - 7 pm. Eastern Time). Steady Aerobic Exercise Helps People With Arthritis For years some people with arthritis have found that vigorous exercise helps them feel bet ter. New evidence is mounting that for some people with arthritis, a program of steady aer obic exercise can be safe and beneficial, reports the Arthritis Foundation. Scientists studying exercise and arthritis have to take into account a multitude of factors. There arc more than 1(X) forms of arthritis?some very differ ent from others; there arc vary ing degrees of disease severity; and each individual reacts to ex ercise differently. In the past, arthritis exercise pro grams focused on increasing strength and range of motion. But new studies arc examining the ben efits of dancing, cycling, walking and other aerobic activities for peo ple with arthritis. Two helpful cxcrcisc programs for people willi moderate lo severe arthritis arc offered by the 1 Arthritis Foundation? PACE (People with Arthritis Can Exercise) and the Arthritis Foundation/ YMCA Aquatic ? Program. J Few more information about L these programs or a free copy of B the foundation's exercise f brochure, check the phone direc k tory for your local Arthritis k Foundation chapter or call the f toll-free Arthritis Foundation Information Line at l-8(X)-283 I 78(X) (Monday - Friday, 9 a.m. - 7 p.m.). The Arthritis Foundation is the source of help and hope for an esti mated 37 million Americans who have arthritis. The foundation sup ports research to find ways to cure and prevent artliritis and seeks to improve the quality of life for those affected by arthritis. insurance agent to determine the best policies for your financial fu ture. Local Property Tax Rates Tax rates for Brunswick County and its 17 municipalities range from a low of 5 ccnts to 68 ccnts per $100 of property, with the levy based on 100 percent of the valuation. Residents of cities and towns pay county as well as mu nicipal property taxes. Local Government Tax Rate Calabash 9.50 Sunset Beach 16.7c Ocean Isle Beach 20.0c Shallotte 47.0c Holden Beach 15.OC Varnamtown 5.0C Bolivia 25.00 Boiling Spring Lakes..40.0C Southport 58.0C Long Beach 41.OC Yaupon Beach 33.0c Caswell Beach 18.0C Bald Head Village 58.0C Sandy Creek N/A Belville 15.0C Leiand 5.0c Navassa 25.0c Brunswick County 68.0C Charles W. Smith, C.P.C.U. CWS Insurance Agency, Inc. (919)579-7977 AFFORDABLE COMPREHENSIVE PROTECTION TO SUPPLEMENT MEDICARE Health care costs continue to increase. Medicare can help...But today, more than ever before, you need Medicare Supplement protec tion. For more information about our Americare? Medicare Supplement Insurance policies, call me today. Your request will be handled by a qualified agent. Available in most stales American Republic is not affiliated with or endorsed by Social Security. Medicare or any other governmental agency. American Republic Insurance Company National Headquarters Des Moines. Iowa 50334 iSAmencare is a service trademark o' American RepubiiC Insurance Company registered Attn tne Patent Office ol the Un.ted States of America Is Preparing Your Taxes Driving You Crazy? Let Us Help. ?25 years experience ?Staff of well-qualified tax preparers ?Fast, reliable service ?Electronic filing with direct deposit ?Starting rate $20 ?Refund Anticipation Loan 2 LOCATIONS Holden Beach Rd. 'A mile from Wal-Mart PO Box 384 Shallotte, NC 28459 Beach Dr. SW & River View Rd. 500 ft. east of stoplight PO Box 44023 Calabash, NC 28467 DIANA'S INCOME TAX SERVICE 8:30 am-6:30 pm ? Open ail year Shallotte Calabash 754-8979 579-8485 fi?yn tht nnt QrAf WELL CARE & NURSING SERVICES, INC. Reliable Compassionate Nursing StaJJ Serving Southeastern North Carolina ?Bonded and Insured Staff ?Home 'Hospital ?Accredited 'Licensed 'Nursing Home ?24 Hour Service 'Medicaid Personal ?Sitters, NA's, LPN's. RN's Care Services "CALL FOR A FREE CONSULTATION" Hwy. 17 754-9700 1316 S. 16th St. Supply, NC 1-800-868-9355 Wilmington, NC C1*?3 TMF BHUNSWICK B* ACON

Page Text

This is the computer-generated OCR text representation of this newspaper page. It may be empty, if no text could be automatically recognized. This data is also available in Plain Text and XML formats.

Return to page view