SALT at EAC

04/11/2025

They call us "The Elderly"
We were born in the 40-50-60’s.
We grew up in the 50-60-70's.
We studied in the 60-70-80's.
We were dating in the 70-80-90's.
We got married and discovered the world in the 70-80-90's.
We venture into the 80-90’s.
We stabilize in the 2000’s.
We got wiser in the 2010’s.
And we are going firmly through and beyond 2020.
Turns out we've lived through EIGHT different decades...
TWO different centuries...
TWO different millennia...
We have gone from the telephone with an operator for long–distance calls to video calls to anywhere in the world.
We have gone from slides to YouTube, from vinyl records to online music, from handwritten letters to email and Whats App.
From live matches on the radio, to black and white TV, colour TV and then to 3D HD TV.
We went to the Video store and now we watch Netflix.
We got to know the first computers, punch cards, floppy disks and now we have gigabytes and megabytes on our smartphones.
We wore shorts throughout our childhood and then long trousers, Oxfords, flares, shell suits & blue jeans.
We dodged infantile paralysis, meningitis, polio, tuberculosis, swine flu and now COVID-19.
We rode skates, tricycles, bicycles, mopeds, petrol or diesel cars and now we drive hybrids or electric.
Yes, we've been through a lot but what a great life we've had!
They could describe us as "exennials," people who were born in that world of the fifties, who had an analog childhood and a digital adulthood.
We've kind of "Seen-It-All"!
Our generation has literally lived through and witnessed more than any other in every dimension of life.
It is our generation that has literally adapted to "CHANGE."
A big round of applause to all the members of a very special generation, which will be UNIQUE!
🙏
Class dismissed 🥂

11/03/2024

Required Minimum Distributions – by Phil Smith

For those of us who have reached that period in our life called retirement, we are forced to consider making adjustments in our budgets to accommodate the new reality of a fixed income. In doing so, many of us want to continue our support for our favorite charities even though our incomes might be less.

One way we were able to continue this support was by reducing our tax obligation by a more focused management of our IRA Mandatory Retirement Distributions. Very simply, we started to use our IRA as the source of income to support our gifts and tithes. In doing so, we lowered our Adjusted Gross Income which kept us in a lower tax bracket. We also were able to maximize the use of our standard deduction on federal income taxes, without filing a Schedule A. Since we do not have a lot of eligible deductions for our Schedule A, this enabled us to use the full standard deduction while maintaining our support of our favorite charities.

This approach may not work for everyone, but if you are retired and drawing funds from your IRA, check with your financial and tax advisors to see if this is a viable option. You might be pleasantly surprised about how you can maintain your level of giving while living on a reduced retirement income. And it is very easy to do by simply issuing instructions to the manager of your IRA.

EdenRidge is a missionary-focused retreat and vacation destination located on the Cumberland Plateau in East Tennessee.

05/31/2024

Iconic foods from the year you were born (1940-2000)

From Cheerios to Sour Patch Kids, we're sharing decades of food innovation!

05/26/2024

01/25/2024

Glad all our snowbird friends are back

12/24/2023

As many gather in churches around the world, may we remember the true meaning of Christmas.