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THE SAUGUS ADVOCATE – FRIDAY, JANUARY 5, 2024 Page 21 OBITUARY Evelyn M. (Broughton) Gurney O f Saugus, was called home to Heaven on Friday, December 29th, at the age of 93. Evelyn died peacefully in her home, surrounded by family. Born in Lynn, Mrs. Gurney spent her childhood in Marblehead with her parents and three siblings, before they moved to Saugus around 1940. In her youth, she loved to dance and made sure to teach her youngest brother, so she would always have a partner. She graduated from Saugus High School in 1948. That same year, on September 10th, she married her husBEACON HILL ROLL | FROM PAGE 20 to enable them to make critical decisions regarding personal fi nances. All students in grades 9-12 would be required to take the course. The components of the curriculum would include the understanding of loans, borrowing money, interest, credit card debt and online commerce; the rights and responsibilities of renting or buying a home; saving, investing and planning for retirement; banking and fi - nancial services; balancing a checkbook; state and federal taxes; charitable giving; preventing identity theft; avoiding online scams; and learning a basic understanding of cryptocurrencies. “I fi led [the bill] because I’ve seen fi rsthand the gap in personal fi nancial literacy education for students across Massachusetts,” says sponsor Rep. Ryan Hamilton (D-Methuen). “While some students may learn helpful money practices at home, too many of our young people are thrust into life after high school with minimal understanding of key topics such as building credit, managing a budget or investing for one’s future. Failing to teach the next generaband of 50 years, the late Austin A. Gurney. Evelyn was a faithful member of the Gospel Hall of Saugus, and lived her life rooted in her faith. She and Austin often visited various Gospel Halls across the United States. She greatly enjoyed their travels and held dear all the friends they made along the way. Later in life, Evelyn shared her love of traveling with her granddaughter, taking many memorable trips throughout the country with her. Professionally, Evelyn put her innate ability for math to use as a bookkeeper for many years. In later years she transitioned into a customer service role in the Fine China department at Macy’s in Saugus, where she loved engaging with her customers, with whom she built many strong relationships, and remembered fondly in her final days. Her greatest role, however, was being her family’s matriarch. Evelyn was a loving and involved mother, Nana, and “Great Nina” to her children, grandchildren and great grandchiltion these critical skills while they are still in school misses an important opportunity to not only set up our students for success as young adults, but to help our educators, parents and caretakers learn more about subjects they too may have missed while in school.” REQUIRE AIRWAY CLEARANCE DEVICES IN SCHOOLS (H 4207) – Would require all public and private schools to have a portable airway clearance device onsite. The bill defi nes portable airway clearance device as an FDA-approved medical device that uses manually created suction to remove blockage from the airway during a choking emergency. The popular brand name of the device is Life-Vac. The bill requires each school nurse and cafeteria worker to be trained in the use of the devices and mandates that the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education in consultation with Department of Public Health establish guidelines and regulations for the implementation, training, support and supervision of this new requirement. “The placement of a … device in each of our schools is but another measure to ensure safety and protect children and dren. She was also a firstclass hostess, and enjoyed serving family dinner every Sunday, often welcoming guests from Gospel Halls across the country, as well as her many friends from around the world. Mrs. Gurney is survived by her beloved family including her three daughters and two sons-in-law; seven grandchildren; nine great grandchildren; her brother and sister-in-law; and her sister; as well as many dear nieces, nephews and friends. She was preceded in death by her oldest brother. Relatives and friends were invited to attend visiting hours in the Bisbee-Porcella Funeral Home, 549 Lincoln Ave., Saugus on Thursday, January 4. A funeral service will be held in the funeral home on Friday at 11 a.m. followed by interment in Puritan Lawn Memorial Park in Peabody. Oneita E. (Newell) D’Andrea O f Saugus. Died on Saturday, December 30th at the age of 90.She was the wife students while in school,” said sponsor Rep. Rodney Elliott (D-Lowell). “This is a minimal investment that would help to further ensure the health and safety of the commonwealth’s students. We know choking can cause irreversible brain damage or death after four to six minutes. So even the simplest technology such as a LifeVac device, that has been approved by the FDA, can help save lives.” QUOTABLE QUOTES – By the Numbers Edition: An analysis of USDA data compiled by “A Hunger Free America” concluded that food insecurity in the United State is on the rise due to the expiration of federal benefi ts that were subsidizing nutrition programs during the COVID-19 pandemic. Here are some of the numbers: 363,433. ---Number of Massachusetts residents living in food insecure households between September 2021 and October 2021 535,920. ---Number of Massachusetts residents living in food insecure households between September 2023 and October 2023. A 47.5 percent increase over 2021. BEACON HILL ROLL | SEE PAGE22 Kyanize Paint. Mrs. D’Andrea is survived by her son, Philip Canale of PA; one granddaughter, Paige Canale of Saugus; and one brother, Edward Baxter of MN. She was predeceased by her daughter, Joy LaPorte, 1 brother and 2 sisters. Relatives and friends of the late Peter J. D’Andrea. Born in Boston and a resident of Saugus for the past 48 years, Mrs. D’Andrea was the daughter of the late Hazel (Penney) Newell. She was a former computer operator for Verizon and had also formerly worked at were invited to visitation in the Bisbee-Porcella Funeral Home, Saugus on Thursday January 4 followed by a funeral service in the funeral home. Interment in Woodlawn Cemetery in Everett. In lieu of flowers, donations in Oneita’s name may be made to the Alzheimer’s Association of Massachusetts at alz. org/manh. MEDICARE PREMIUM SURCHARGES Medicare Part A premiums are free for most retirees. This is for hospital coverage. Medicare Part B is not free. This is for outpatient coverage. Medicare Part D is for prescription coverage and involves a premium as in Part B coverage. Many taxpayers are surprised when they receive a letter from Social Security stating that their Medicare Part B and Part D coverage will be increasing dramatically for the upcoming calendar year. They refer to this as IRMAA (the Income-Related Monthly Adjustment Amount). This would apply, for example, if you sold an investment property at a substantial capital gain in calendar year 2022. Your income tax return would not be fi led until the early part of calendar year 2023. Therefore, your IRMAA adjustment would not be applicable until calendar year 2024. If this was a one- time capital gain, then for 2025 your Medicare premiums would drop down back to normal as your 2024 Form 1040 would not include that substantial capital gain income. There are other instances where an IRMAA adjustment would be applicable. For example, you withdrew $100,000 from your Traditional IRA account which was all taxable, or a signifi cant capital gain realized from the sale of stock. For calendar year 2024, if you are single. You will pay an IRMAA surcharge if your modifi ed adjusted gross income (MAGI) is over $103,000. For a married fi ling joint tax return, the fi gure is $206,000. Even your non-taxable Social Security benefi ts are included as part of the total income fi gure. Many people don’t realize that your Medicare Part D prescription coverage premium will increase as well, even though you are making monthly payments to a private insurance company such as Blue Cross Blue Shield. Often times, if one spouse dies, the surviving spouse might end up being assessed the IRMAA surcharge going forward. For example, if the married couple’s MAGI was $175,000 when they filed a joint income tax return, that fi gure is below the threshold of $203,000 before the IRMAA surcharge would become applicable. If the surviving spouse’s MAGI end’s up being $140,000 in the year after the deceased spouse’s death, that figure is above the $103,000 level for a single person and the surcharge would then be applicable. As a further note, none of your itemized deductions, such as real estate taxes, state income taxes, or mortgage interest help to reduce the IRMAA surcharge. These deductions are not taken into consideration when calculating MAGI. Joseph D. Cataldo is an estate planning/elder law attorney, Certifi ed Public Accountant, Certifi ed Financial Planner, AICPA Personal Financial Specialist and holds a masters degree in taxation.

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