Prices in the West region, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), were up 0.5 percent in January 2018, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Over the last 12 months, the CPI-U rose 3.1 percent in the West.
The January 2018 West region Consumer Price Index (CPI) news release is available online at https://www.bls.gov/regions/west/news-release/consumerpriceindex_west.htm. If you have any questions or would like to discuss the data, please contact an economist in the Mountain-Plains Economic Analysis and Information office at 816-285-7000, or feel free to email us at BLSInfoKansasCity@bls.gov.
Jacqueline Michael-Midkiff
Regional Economist
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Economic Information and Analysis
Kansas City, Missouri
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"I feel that are another five within reach."
That was what the No. 2 Senate Democrat Dick Durbin told reporters yesterday as he explained his plan to grant amnesty to millions of illegal immigrants. We need "11 Republican names," Durbin said. "We believe we have five or six strongly moving in our direction, and I feel that are another five within reach."
In January, the Trump administration said the Durbin proposal "would exacerbate the worst features of our immigration system by increasing illegal immigration and increasing chain migration." Make no mistake, the Senate is debating amnesty for millions of illegal immigrants, and Durbin would have us repeat the mistakes of 1986 all over again. And a handful of Republican Senators could make all the difference.
Every single member of Congress needs to know the Durbin proposal is a non-starter because it:
Call your senators now to make sure they know Dick Durbin's amnesty scheme is unacceptable.
Thank you for standing up for the rule of law, common sense, and our Constitution.
Dan
Dan Holler
Vice President
Heritage Action for America
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Does Today’s Economy Make
Retirement Impossible?
Life in retirement, which once conjured images of golf and sunsets at the beach, took on a drearier edge in recent years as more people realize they are unprepared financially to stop working.
The Washington Post has called it “the new reality of old age” and quoted one 74-year-old man saying he will need to work until he dies. For those who have retired, a Fidelity study found that 55 percent are at risk of running out of money before their lives end. Think of this statistic—more than half of those surveyed aren’t prepared. Are you?
“When the stock market was falling in 2008, I had prospective clients share with me they had lost tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars, and some even shared how many years of work they had lost,” says Troy Bender, president and CEO of Asset Retention Services Inc. (www.asset-retention.com). “They wanted the losses to stop, and they were desperately looking for help.”
In addition to the recession, several other factors contributed to their retirement woes. Most businesses no longer offer pensions, so retirees must rely more on their savings. People also need to rely more on Social Security, but Social Security replaces usually only 40 percent of a person’s pre-retirement earnings. In addition, according to Social Security, they have shared on their website that they may end up paying 75 cents on the dollar in 2033.
All of this raises the question: Is it even possible to retire in today’s economy?
The answer is “yes,” Bender says, but even those who planned well and saved plenty need to be careful as they near, and enter retirement. With many clients in their 80’s and some in their 90’s—we all have to plan to live a lot longer. A few tips to help retirees and pre-retirees protect and grow their money include:
• Know when to take Social Security. If you don’t choose the most advantageous time to start drawing Social Security, you could leave a lot of money on the table. Several factors can come into play here depending on your personal situation, so it’s best to seek professional advice. Employees at your local Social Security office generally aren’t equipped to give you that kind of advice.
• Live by the “Rule of 100.” This is critically important. In the investing world, the “Rule of 100” says that the percentage of a person’s portfolio that should be in stocks should be equal to 100 minus their age. So, for example, someone who is 60 should have 40 percent of their portfolio in stocks and the other 60 percent should be in bonds or other lower-risk investments. “If you aren’t living by the ‘Rule of 100,’ you should be, especially if you are 50 or older,” Bender says.
• Plan for long-term care. A person who turns 65 today has nearly a 70 percent chance of needing some type of long-term care services at some point, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The cost can be devastating, so it’s important to plan financially for this likely eventuality. One option is long-term care insurance. “Sometimes people expect a family member to take care of them in these situations, but I encourage people not to be a burden to someone else,” Bender says.
“The stock market is on a high right now, but we all know from experience that this situation is not going to last forever,” Bender says. “The closer you are to retirement--or are currently in retirement--the less time you have to recover from a downturn in the market. No one wants to be forced to continue working in retirement or to change their lifestyle because they experienced major erosion in their retirement portfolio due to circumstances beyond their control.”
About Troy Bender
Troy Bender, President and CEO at Asset Retention Insurance Services Inc., can be found at (www.asset-retention.com), and has more than 30 years of experience in the insurance and annuity industry. He started his career in the financial services industry as a bond and stockbroker with Merrill Lynch and then moved to Prudential Securities. In 1999, he started Asset Retention Insurance Services Inc. Bender also co-authored the book “The Ultimate Success Guide” with best-selling author Brian Tracy, and Troy has been featured on ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox affiliates around the country, and has been in Newsweek, Designing Wealth magazine, the Wall Street Journal and Forbes. Helping clients around the country, the best number to call is Toll Free-1-877-707-4409. Call today to help protect your retirement. Ca. License # OD73702.
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3 Signs It’s Time To Seek Alternative
Treatments For Overly Medicated Kids
Parents of children suffering from ADD, ADHD or other brain-based disorders can grow frustrated and even desperate as they seek to stem the difficulties they and their children face daily.
Often, medicating the children becomes not just a last resort, but a first resort.
“Parents will try whatever they can to help their child, and that includes turning to prescription drugs,” says Dr. Ed Carlton, founder of the Carlton Neurofeedback Center (www.carltonneurofeedbackcenter.com) and author of the book The Answer.
“While these can prove effective, they have a long list of potential side effects. They don’t correct the underlying cause of the ADD or ADHD symptoms, and they must be taken daily.”
Carlton says there are plenty of reasons why parents would want to get their children off medications, but just a few signs that it’s time to make that move include:
• The child doesn’t like the way the drugs make them feel. Prescription drugs such as Ritalin and Adderall have a number of side effects. They can cause a teenager or child to have trouble sleeping. They can lead to dry mouth, headaches, dizziness, irritability and anxiety.
• The child is losing weight. One additional side effect of Ritalin and Adderall is a loss of appetite. Some children start to lose weight at an unhealthy rate. For some, the weight loss might be a minor thing, but for others it can be a significant and swift drop in weight, and that’s naturally going to be alarming to parents, Carlton says.
• Cost is becoming too much. When drugs take care of the symptoms, but not the underlying causes of a problem, their use becomes never ending. “To be effective, drugs like Ritalin and Adderall must be taken daily,” Carlton says. “Over time, parents end up spending a lot of money and their children aren’t seeing permanent results.”
Carlton knows from personal experience what it’s like to seek drug-free treatments for brain-based disorders. Years ago, he suffered from bipolar disorder and felt as if he “spent half my life in line at the pharmacy” until he discovered neurofeedback training.
Already a health professional, he evolved over time from neurofeedback patient to practitioner.
Carlton refers to neurofeedback as “fitness training for the brain.” It uses "operant conditioning," a term that refers to the brain’s natural ability to learn from experience, which in turn can help it heal.
Here’s how it works: The process begins with a brain map, which locates the specific areas that need help to function more efficiently. Once these areas are identified, neurofeedback training can improve their function. The technology uses computers to monitor brain-wave patterns while the patient relaxes and watches a movie or video. The visual and audio inputs are varied, providing feedback based on the training goals from the brain map. The results are lasting and there are no side effects, Carlton says.
ADD and ADHD are far from the only conditions Carlton treats. His patients include adults and children suffering from a multitude of disorders, including depression, autism, seizures, traumatic brain injuries and post-traumatic-stress disorder.
But finding alternatives to prescription drugs for young people has become a rallying cry for him.
“What are we teaching kids by handing them drugs to solve their problems?” he asks. “We’re teaching them the answer to their problems is in that bottle.”
About Dr. Ed Carlton
Dr. Ed Carlton is founder of the Carlton Neurofeedback Center (www.carltonneurofeedbackcenter.com) and author of the book The Answer. He is a chiropractor, but prior to that worked for nine years as an engineer. Carlton’s interest in his current profession came about because of his own experience with bipolar disorder. "My first degree is engineering. Neurofeedback is a cross between medicine and engineering, using the best of both to provide relief for my patients. The Answer explains how neurofeedback stopped my bipolar symptoms, and how it can help others do the same.”
