Opinion

I have been appeased; I finally was exposed to snow last Wednesday night. Lovely big fat flakes of fluffy snow glided down for a few minutes to delight the eye but quickly disappeared. It was enough to delight my need for the beauty of nature to overwhelm, so now I can wait for next winter for more. Snow! The memory raced through my mind of standing in a snowstorm with tongue extended to catch those beautiful bits of ice crystals as the flakes floated gracefully down. Better still, the memory of eating snow ice cream that my mother concocted from that white stuff- pure joy by the spoonful! Kids remember the “fun” stuff and have little concern about possible problems, but with age comes the realization that snow can cause slips and falls- not a good scenario for older adults! So, be extremely careful if you must get out during inclement weather. Viewing a beautiful winterscene is best done through your window from within the warm, toasty house.

If you’re a certain age, you’ll need to withdraw money from some of your retirement accounts each year. But in 2022, the amount you must take out may be changing more than in other years – and that could affect your retirement income strategy. Here’s some background: Once you turn 72, you generally must start taking withdrawals, called required minimum distributions, or RMDs, from some of your retirement accounts, such as your traditional IRA and your 401(k) or similar employer-sponsored plan. Each year, your RMDs are determined by your age and account balances. This year, the life expectancy tables used by the IRS are being updated to reflect longer lifespans; This may result in lower annual RMDs than you’d have to take if this adjustment hadn’t been made.

Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and 14 senators filed an amicus brief in the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals in support of the State’s Motion for Rehearing, for the court to reconsider its decision to strip the legislature of its constitutional authority to delegate prosecutorial power to the Attorney General to enforce election-related laws. Upon filing the amicus brief, Lt. Gov. Patrick issued the following statement: “Election integrity is one of the most important tenets of our government, and we need checks at the state level to ensure that our electionsare fair. Nearly 70 years ago, the legislature determined that the power to prosecute election-related crimes should not be left solely in the hands of local elected officials. I ask that the Court of Criminal Appeals rehear the case at issue and uphold decades of precedent that allowed the legislature to delegate prosecutorial power to the Attorney General to enforce election laws.