July 10, 2020
T he C olumbia P ress
Senior
Financial Focus
Moments
with Adam Miller
with Emma Edwards
A bit about woxing mirds
I learned a new word to
share with you: zeitgeist
(‘tsītˌɡīst, ˈzītˌɡīst), which
means “the general intellectu-
al, moral and cultural climate
of an era.” (For example, “His
songs perfectly captured the
zeitgeist of 1960s America.”)
Maybe someday someone
will write that “The practice
of wearing masks captured
the zeitgeist of 2020s world-
wide.”
Can you believe zeitgeist has
been around since 1835?
And talk about words. Re-
cently, I was reminded of
the Rev. William Archibald
Spooner, who was born in
July 1844. He studied at Ox-
ford University and went on
to lecture there for 60 years,
focusing on philosophy, di-
vinity and history.
He seems to capture the
zeitgeist of some of us in our
senior years.
Spooner was sometimes ab-
sent-minded and, because of
his strong intellect, his speech
often didn’t keep up with his
thoughts. He also had bad
eyesight.
He unknowingly reversed
the initial consonant sounds
of words and, as a result, they
came out differently than in-
tended and became known as
“spoonerisms.”
Among his most famous:
“It is kisstomary to cuss the
bride,” said while performing
a wedding ceremony. To this
day, spoonerisms are said by
accident or for their humor-
ous effect.
One of my favorites, which I
used to have somewhat mem-
orized: Little Ride Hooding
Red.
“A long time ago, even be-
fore Frenjamin Banklin in-
vented the Paturday Eve-
ning Sost, a little girl named
Ride Hooding Red started
out through a fick thorest to
take a lasket of bunch to her
grick sandmother. She was
lunning arong, summing a
hong, when who should bud-
denly surst upon her but a big
wown brolf. ‘Where are you
going, my metty little praid?’
said the berocious feast.”
A few cited in Spooner’s bio
include “I have in my bosom
a half-warmed fish” (half-
formed wish - it is believed
he said this in a speech for
Queen Victoria). Another,
“Go and shake a tower” (Go
and take a shower).
Some of us seniors who are
notorious for stumbling over
our words accidently talk in
spoonerisms or in oft-repeat-
ed colloquialisms.
A friend of many years ago
used to delight us with her
colloquial phrase, “I take and
tell you.”
We often repeat words and
phrases because they’re fa-
miliar to us. Some of us (not
necessarily seniors) rely on
these phrases, such as pen-
ny-pinchers, it’s all good, pass
the buck, eat my dust, listen
you guys, or been around the
block a few times.
Maybe that’s because we’re
old as the hills?
7
Estate planning during a pandemic: Steps to take
The coronavirus pandemic
certainly has caused concern
for many people, particularly
in regard to their health and
their finances – and these
two areas intersect in estate
planning.
So, if you haven’t drawn up
your estate plans yet, or you
think they may need to be
revised, now may be a good
time to act.
This suggestion is not strict-
ly based on issues of morbid-
ity – after all, the vast ma-
jority of people who contract
COVID-19 will survive.
However, even if you nev-
er become ill or need to be
hospitalized, wouldn’t you be
glad to know your affairs are
in order? If you already have
estate plans, you may need to
revisit them if your family sit-
uation has changed because
of marriage, divorce, remar-
riage, new children, new fi-
nancial goals, and so on.
Of course, estate planning
can be complex, so there’s
not a “one size fits all” ap-
proach. Nonetheless, here
are some of the most com-
monly used documents and
arrangements:
• Financial power of attor-
ney – A financial power of
attorney is a legal document
that gives someone the au-
thority to conduct your finan-
Special columns in The Columbia Press
Every week: Senior Moments with Emma Edwards
Week 1: History in the Making
Week 2: Financial Focus with Adam Miller
Week 3: Off the Shelf by Kelly Knudsen
Final week: Mayor’s Message by Henry Balensifer
cial affairs – pay bills, write
checks, make deposits, sell or
purchase assets – if you were
unable to do so yourself. You
can establish the financial
power of attorney without
giving your representative
any ownership in your assets.
• Last will and testament
– With a will, you can choose
how you want your assets
distributed, appoint an ex-
ecutor to oversee the distri-
bution, and name a guardian
to take care of minor chil-
dren. If you don’t have a will,
a court might assume these
functions, with results you
may not have wanted.
• Living trust – A living trust
allows you to leave assets to
heirs without going through
the time-consuming, public
and often expensive probate
process. Also, a living trust
gives you significant flexibil-
ity in dispersing your estate.
You can direct your trust to
pass your assets to your ben-
eficiaries immediately upon
your death or to distribute
the assets over time and in
amounts you specify.
• Health-care surrogate – A
health care surrogate, some-
times known as a health-care
proxy or health-care power of
attorney, is a legal document
that appoints a person to act
for you if you become inca-
pacitated. Your surrogate has
the authority to talk to doc-
tors, manage your medical
care, and make medical deci-
sions if you cannot do so.
• Living Will – A living will,
also known as an advance
health-care directive, lets you
specify what end-of-life treat-
ment you do or don’t want to
receive if you become termi-
nally ill or permanently un-
conscious.
Before taking action, con-
sult with an attorney and
possibly your tax and finan-
cial advisors.
During a pandemic, you
may encounter a special chal-
lenge: Documents such as
wills and powers of attorney
need to be notarized and wit-
nessed – and that may be dif-
ficult during a time of social
distancing and self-imposed
quarantines.
In any case, if the coronavi-
rus pandemic has raised con-
cerns about the legacy you’d
like to leave, take the time to
launch or update your estate
plans – you’ll be glad you did.
This article was written by
Edward Jones and submitted
by Adam Miller, financial
advisor at the Astoria office,
632A W. Marine Drive. To
reach him, call 503-325-7991.
Local students receive college honors
Three Clatsop County stu-
dents have earned honors at
Gonzaga University in Spo-
kane, Wash.
Caroline Kotson of Astoria
was named to the university’s
President’s List, reserved for
students who earn a 3.85 or
higher grade-point average.
Bradley Rzewnicki of War-
renton and Rory Loughran
of Astoria were named to
the Dean’s List, an honor for
those who earn at least a 3.5
grade-point average.
Gonzaga is a private Catho-
lic University with a student
population of 7,500.