Coastal Breeze News

INVESTMENT INSIGHTS Darcie Guerin [email protected] “Chance favors the informed mind.”                                       -Winston Churchill   uestion: Will I outlive my money? Answer: This is a common concern of retirees and for those who are preparing for retirement. At the risk of sounding like a wise guy, the answer is “it depends” — on a number of things. Here’s an example of what I mean; a client with a great sense of humor scheduled his annual physical right before a portfolio review meeting. He told his doctor that he was seeing me later that day and said he needed to ... Read More »

Donna Fiala [email protected] My friend (a friend to all of us, actually) Arlene Coff, mentioned the other day at the Marco Island Kiwanis Club’s Stone Crab Claw Dinner that she had a great idea for the old K-Mart store. So many people hope something moves in there soon, so I was eager to hear her idea. She said “A Bowling Alley”! What a great idea! There is no place around this end of the county to bowl, and lots of people miss it. So – to that special someone out there who is enterprising and looking for a way to ... Read More »

BEYOND THE COAST Tarik Ayasun [email protected] People, young and old, are packed on both sides of the road at the finish line of the Boston Marathon. It is a public holiday in Boston and the perfect day for a marathon. Two young men carrying black backpacks walk amongst the crowd stop and drop off their deadly loads on the curb, in plain sight. They walk away and disappear into the back streets. No one notices the black bags placed right in front of them. No one thinks twice about asking the person sitting or standing next to them if the ... Read More »

By Roy Eaton During the next month, over four million students will be graduating from various schools, colleges, and universities across our land. As you listen to your commencement speakers’ addresses, I’m sure some of you will be focused more on receiving your diploma and the summer freedom that awaits, than on the advice that will be given. I’m sure many of you are curious about what you will hear. Will the speaker hold your attention and will the message make a difference in how you govern your future? I thought of the numerous graduation ceremonies I was forced to ... Read More »

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By Monte Lazarus [email protected] I’m an addict and there’s no 12 Point Program to help me. It’s bad. I’m a user and a supplier, and spend hours plotting my next caper. My addiction began thanks to two beloved friends who took me under their wings as “consultants.” Oh, yes, they spent a huge amount of time and effort teaching me how to play the E-Bay Game. The problem is that they did not teach me how to deal with addiction. Every day, every hour, every minute of every day I’m now looking at the mass of junk we’ve accumulated trying ... Read More »

Donna Fiala [email protected] Well Folks, our winter residents are going home, and that means so is our marvelous volunteer work force; the backbone of our community. Now is the time for all those who have been wanting to try their hand at helping out to think about places they would love to serve. Of course, there is the library and the museum, really fun places to work. And now we have a new pick awaiting us: The Physicians Regional Marco Island Walk-In Clinic in the Shops of Marco on San Marco Road. My friend Shirlee already volunteers there and has ... Read More »

By Monte Lazarus [email protected] io is beautiful in many ways. Mountains surround the city on several sides and the ocean caresses the magnificent beaches (Copacabana, Ipanema and Leblon) to the east. It is magnificent. And, there’s more than just “The Girl From Ipanema”… there are at least several thousand prime beauties. If straying from well-known neighborhoods, it’s a good idea to leave behind jewelry and more than minimal money (“Reals”). Many of the shantytowns (cavelas) are gone and the city glows at sunset. At some places they even applaud that sunset. I wonder whether they get the famous “green flash” ... Read More »

By Ben A. Wolfe One very hot day I was sitting on my front step here on Marco Island. It was almost 12PM when the mail carrier stopped in front of my mailbox, shutting off the engine of his little vehicle because he had a box to deliver that was too large to put in our mailbox. After putting the box on the front porch, we chatted for a few minutes about the sad state of the current business climate in our country, both public and private. The mail carrier returned to his vehicle. (Let’s call him Jim.) Jim, upon ... Read More »

“Let our advance worrying become advance thinking and planning.” - Winston Churchill By Darcie Guerin - [email protected] The coffee maker didn’t work, that’s why your coffee isn’t ready.” I had to laugh as I heard those words fall out of my mouth one morning when Pete returned from walking the dogs. The truth was that I had been watching “Downtown Abbey” on Netflix the night before and had forgotten to set the timer on the coffee maker. For better or for worse, I took responsibility for my actions– regardless of external circumstances–and prepared his coffee, no excuses. This same premise applies to financial ... Read More »

By Donna Fiala [email protected] Some of you have taken one or more of my County Government tours to acquaint yourself with what goes on behind the scenes in county government such as the landfill and gas to energy plant, water and wastewater treatment plants, parks, museums, the jail, etc. I am in the planning stages for next year’s tours and wanted to mention them to you, as well as ask if any of you have any special requests you would like to submit to my office. We continue to have requests each year for the Landfill (we could even include ... Read More »

Rio de Janeiro in January and February tends to be steamy… sorry, gentlemen, this refers to the weather, not the girls. More about them later. My splendid daughter invited me to escort her to Rio, since her husband works about 80 hours a week and prefers traveling to Europe anyway. I went out of my way and did her the favor of being her guest. The Norte Americana tourista should be well prepared for a different world.  January and February (Carnival time) are hotter and more humid than New Orleans, Houston, or Orlando – combined – in mid-summer. But, that’s ... Read More »

It is getting increasingly difficult to focus on events taking place around the world. It seems like a new story pops up every day in a different part of our troubled globe. Today things are much different from the “good old days” when the world was neatly divided up by the two super powers: USA and the Soviet Union. Whenever trouble started anywhere around the world, one of the two super powers reacted depending on whose sphere of influence covered the country where trouble had started. Things were neatly patched up after harsh words were exchanged, threats were made and ... Read More »

“Old age is like everything else. To make a success of it you’ve got to start young.” Fred Astaire By Darcie Guerin – [email protected] Question: What financial planning and career advice would you give our “twenty-something” year-old children? Answer: Parents’ attitudes and behaviors influence children enormously. First, strive to be a powerful and positive example when it comes to your financial life. For many of us, childhood memories set the tone for our fiscal futures. Here are a few of the important concepts passed along by my parents and several things we encourage in our family. Most of these will ... Read More »

by Darcie Guerin “Old age is like everything else. To make a success of it you’ve got to start young.”     Fred Astaire. Ask the CFP® Question: What financial planning and career advice would you give our “twenty-something” year-old children? Answer: Parents’ attitudes and behaviors influence children enormously. First, strive to be a powerful and positive example when it comes to your financial life. For many of us, childhood memories set the tone for our fiscal futures. Here are a few of the important concepts passed along by my parents and several things we encourage in our family. Most of ... Read More »

Final Summary By Roy Eaton America is the greatest nation, but we have temporarily lost our way, for we have strayed from the inherent qualities that have made us the envy of most other countries. We lack empathy for our fellow man, civility in our actions, restraint from entering conflict, and the will and resourcefulness to solve complex problems through negotiation. In addition, our complacency, lack of self-discipline, inability to compromise, and propensity for greed have decimated our economy and tainted our image as the indisputable guiding light of democracy and capitalism. We must correct our present course by reorganizing ... Read More »

By Donna Fiala [email protected] What a fun filled month February was! There were so many things to do on Marco Island there was hardly a minute to spare! Coming up is the St.Paddy’s Day Parade at 1PM on Sunday, March 10th. Our wonderful Father Tim will be the Parade’s Grand Marshal. As always, our Irish “princess” Kathleen Reynolds is organizing the parade sponsored by the Sons & Daughters of Erin. Kathleen has so much dedication and enthusiasm over everything Irish that it makes this German/Hungarian woman (that’s me) want to be part Irish! The party actually starts on Saturday at ... Read More »

By Monte Lazarus - [email protected] I recently had an unusual visitor. It just dropped by to see me and, using powers of deduction I developed by reading all of the Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, I concluded that it was from another planet. The fact that it was green and that it had only three fingers on each hand like a cartoon character were hints.  What confirmed that it was otherworldly was it was wearing a double knit “leisure suit” with a shirt collar hanging over the lapels. “Aha,” I thought, “Only someone from outer space would still wear one of those outfits.” ... Read More »

Suggested Economic Reforms By Roy Eaton There is no doubt that our immigration policy has been a complete disaster. It is estimated that over the last several decades, between 7 and 20 million immigrants have entered our country illegally, although 10 million is the most widely accepted estimate. Ironically, several of the most vocal among us, who express utter contempt for their presence and wish to immediately expel undocumented individuals from our shores, are often the same ones who looked away when immigrants crossed our borders, because they were in need of their services. Neither political party can escape blame ... Read More »

Growing up in Istanbul in the 50’s and the 60’s the “other side” meant either the Asian side or the European side of the City depending on which side you lived on. The Bosphorus Straits, a waterway which divides the city into two distinct parts and carries the cold waters of the Black Sea in Northern Turkey towards the warmer Sea of Marmara and from there through the Dardanelle straits into the Aegean Sea and eventually into the Mediterranean. It is 20 miles long from end to end. Its width varies from 1640 feet up to 2 miles with an ... Read More »