THE SAUGUS ADVOCATE – FriDAy, SEpTEmbEr 1, 2023 Page 13 THE SOUNDS | FROM PAGE 12 helped make Saugus a community that residents expect and love. If you go to Founders Day, embrace the essence of what the day is about. See you near the steps of Saugus Town Hall at noon on Sept. 9. Food Pantry notes: The Saugus United Parish Food Pantry is open today (Friday, Sept. 1) from 9:30-11 a.m.). Town Election Watch In a normal biennial Town Election year, the most competitive political races would be for the fi ve-member Board of Selectmen and the fi ve-member School Committee. But with Board of Selectmen Chair Anthony Cogliano leading the charge on a campaign to change the form of Saugus government, the selectmen and School Committee seats don’t seem as competitive at this point as the nine Charter Commission seats that will be on the Nov. 7 town election ballot. As of Wednesday (Aug. 30), twice as many potential candidates (22) had pulled out nomination papers for the Charter Commission’s nine seats as the Board of Selectmen (six) and the School Committee (fi ve) combined. As a rule of thumb, a local election isn’t much of an election unless you have at least two candidates running for one seat. Nine more town residents pulled papers for the Town Charter Commission over the past week to make it a potential 22 running for the nine seats. The latest candidates to express an interest in serving on a panel to study potential changes in Saugus governance are Finance Committee Chair Kenneth DePatto, Town Moderator Stephen Doherty, Precinct 3 Town Meeting Member Richard Thompson, Gary Sund, John O’Brien, Precinct 1 Town Meeting Member Sue Palomba, Precinct 10 Town Meeting Member Peter Manoogian, Matthew Parlante and Selectman Michael Serino. That’s quite a bit of institutional expertise and knowledge about Saugus government in the latest batch of candidates for the Charter Commission seats. And by the time the Nov. election ballot comes out, there could be three to four dozen people wanting to serve, which could make for some spirited political debate during September and October. In the signature race, Selectmen Corinne Riley and Jeff rey Cicolini pulled out papers for what would seem like a run for another two-year term on the board. Cogliano is the only one who hasn’t pulled out papers yet, but he’s already said he intends to run for a third consecutive two-year term. School Committee Member Ryan Fisher and Stephanie Mastrocola pulled papers for School Committee. Nothing is offi cial yet. Each of these candidates may run or decide not to. They have a little more than two weeks – up until 5 p.m. Sept. 19 – to submit nomination papers to the Town Clerk’s Offi ce for certifi cation of signatures. Fifty certifi ed signatures of registered voters are required for the Board of Selectmen, School Committee, the Housing Authority and the nine-member Charter Commission. Only 10 certifi ed signatures of registered voters are required for Town Meeting, but each of the signatures must be from registered voters in the candidate’s precinct. Sept. 15 is the fi nal day to obtain nomination papers – just four days before the fi ling deadline. Stay tuned. Special “Shout Outs” Janice Jarosz nominated two people for special “Shout Outs” this week.: “Shout out to Candy Jarosz “Several weeks ago, Candy attended a cookout with about 20 friends and families. The weather was beautiful, and everyone was enjoying the event. It was when the desserts were being served that Candy, and many others, noticed one woman seemed to be having trouble breathing and was beginning to look pale. “The guests all gathered around her - not knowing what to do. It was then that the CPR training course Candy took many years ago took over. “It was like all of a sudden it clicked in and without any actual fi rsthand experience, I, and two others, placed her on the ground, put a pillow under her head and at this point, she was not breathing at all. I began giving her mouth-to-mouth resuscitation for approximately 10 – 12 minutes before she was able to start breathing on her own.” “Candy explained that this was the fi rst time using her CPR training. “I urge everyone to take a CPR class, the procedure has changed today, but I was so grateful to have been able to put what I had learned years ago into good use today. We never know when any of us might be called on to save someone’s life. “A ‘Shout Out’ to Kathy Giannetta. “A member of the Cliftondale Congregational Church recently lost her treasured and very sentimental charm bracelet. After checking and retracing her steps, her eff orts to locate it failed. “She was discouraged but on a ‘last ditch eff ort’ she called Kathy Giannetta, a member of the MEG Foundation and told her of her loss. Kathy went out to the MEG parking lot, and, lo and behold, found the treasure that was ‘hiding’ beneath a few leaves. “Kathy returned it to Pastor Joe for safekeeping until the owner came to retrieve it. “Thank you Kathy for a ‘job’ well done!!!!” Want to “Shout Out” a fellow Saugonian? This is an opportunity for our paper’s readers to single out – in a brief mention – remarkable acts or achievements by Saugus residents or an act of kindness or a nice gesture. Just send an email (mvoge@comcast.net) with a mention in the subject line of “An Extra Shout Out.” No more than a paragraph; anything longer might lend itself to a story and/or a photo. We have a winner! Congratulations to Joe Johnson, whose name was drawn in last Friday’s Sketch of the Week Contest. Joe was one of several readers who guessed correctly. But there can only be one winner of the $10 gift certifi cate. Now here is the answer – provided by the Saugus resident who goes by the nickname of “The Sketch Artist”: “The answer to last week’s sketch is the Inspirational Memoir Author of ‘Walking is Overrated,’ Michael Maruzzi and his beautiful wife Arlene! I now leave you in Mr. Michael Maruzzi’s care as he continues in his own words …’Michael, you will never walk again.’ That was the fi rst thing the doctors told me after I broke my neck more than 3 decades ago. “After the first night in the hospital, not only had I lost control of my legs I lost control of my entire body. My wheelchair allows me freedom of movement and a measure of independence. As days turned to weeks and ultimately months and years, I have come to realize many life lessons. Despite not having control of my body, I have still been able to live a happy, purposeful life. “I enjoyed a career teaching mathematics at Saugus High School. Through teaching, I had an opportunity to be a positive infl uence on my students, at a time when so many of them struggle searching for their purpose. I took great pride in this responsibility. I also know that my students had as much of a THE SOUNDS | SEE PAGE 14 Sav Sa Sa n or Savvy Seniori r avvy Senior by Jim Miller Retirement Planning Tips for Single Women Dear Savvy Senior, What retirement planning tips can you recommend to single women? I’m a divorced 58-year-old women with a teenaged son and have very little saved for retirement. Financially Vulnerable Dear Vulnerable, It’s an unfortunate reality, but many single women – whether they’re divorced, widowed or never married – face much greater fi nancial challenges in retirement than men. The reasons behind this are because women tend to earn less money – about 82 cents for every dollar that men make, on average, and they have shorter working careers than men due to raising children and/or caring for aging parents. And less money earned usually translates into less money saved and a lower Social Security benefi t when you retire. In addition, women live an average of fi ve years longer than men, which requires their retirement income to stretch farther for living expenses and healthcare costs. And, according to some studies, women tend to have less confi dence about financial issues than men, which means they don’t always manage their money as well as they should. Because of these issues, it’s very important that women educate themselves on fi nancial matters and learn how to save more eff ectively. Here are some tips and resources that may help. Start Saving Aggressively If your employer off ers a retirement plan, such as a 401K, you should contribute enough to at least capitalize on a company match, if available. And if you can swing it, contribute even more. In 2023, you can save as much as $22,500 in a 401(k), or $30,000 to those 50 and older, due to the catchup rule. If you don’t have a workplace plan, consider opening a Traditional or Roth IRA. Both are powerful tax-advantaged retirement savings accounts that let you contribute up to $6,500 annually, or $7,500 when you’re over 50. And if you’re self-employed, consider a SEP-IRA, SIMPLE-IRA and/ or a solo 401(k), all of which can help reduce your taxable income while putting money away for retirement. Also, if you have a high-deductible health insurance policy (at least $1,500 for self-only coverage or $3,000 for family coverage), you should consider opening a health savings account (HSA). This is a triple tax advantage tool that can be used to sock away funds pretax, which will lower your taxable income; the money in the account grows tax-free; and if you use the money for eligible medical expenses, the withdrawals are tax-free too. Pay Off Debts If you have debt, you need to get it under control. If you need help with this, consider a nonprofi t credit-counseling agency that provides free or low-cost advice and solutions, and can help you set up a debt management plan. To locate a credible agency in your area, use the National Foundation for Credit Counseling website at NFCC.org (800-388-2227), or the or the Financial Counseling Association of America FCAA.org (800-450-1794). Find Help To help you educate yourself on fi nancial matters like retirement planning, saving and investing, health care, annuities and more, a top resource is the Women’s Institute for a Secure Retirement at WiserWomen.org. And to help you get up to speed on Social Security, visit SSA.gov/people/women. This web page, dedicated to women, provides helpful publications like “What Every Woman Should Know,” along with links to benefi t calculators and your personal Social Security account to help you fi gure out your future earnings at diff erent retirement ages. You should also consider getting a fi nancial assessment with a fee-only fi nancial advisor. Costs for these services will vary from around $150 to $300 per hour, but this can be very benefi cial to help you setup a retirement plan you can follow. See NAPFA.org or GarrettPlanningNetwork.com to locate an advisor in your area. Send your senior questions to: Savvy Senior, P.O. Box 5443, Norman, OK 73070, or visit SavvySenior.org. Jim Miller is a contributor to the NBC Today show and author of “The Savvy Senior” book.
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