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THE SAUGUS ADVOCATE – WEDnESDAy, nOVEmbEr 22, 2023 Page 17 ADVOCATE | FROM PAGE 9 more? Pastor Hoyle: There’s a little bit of a cushion built in, but not much. That’s why we have people preregister: for the costs and logistics of storing the food and to make sure we have enough. Q: I understand you may be the most veteran volunteer involved in the Food Pantry’s Thanksgiving food drive? Mitch Boyer, 63, who has lived in Saugus since he was three years old. He joined the Cliftondale Congregational Church in 1978: I started in 1995 and have been doing this for 28 years – and right through the COVID years without a break. Q: How did you get involved? Boyer: I came in here every Friday morning to make the coff ee, and I eventually got recruited. I’ve spent most of my life in this town and I graduated from Saugus High in 1980. Q: What keeps you doing this? What do you get out of it? Boyer: I feel like I’m helping people and giving back to the community for people who helped me. I’m on subsidized rent. I’ve had people who have given me clothes. The main reason I continue doing it is that somewhere along the line, somebody who I’m helping is going to pick up on it and help somebody else. Q: How long have you been doing this? David Odgers, 45, from Lynn, who has been a member of the Cliftondale Congregational Church since 2013: I’ve been doing Thanksgiving [food drive] since 2014. Q: And what do you get out of it? Odgers: I get a lot of satisfaction from this. I love helping people, and the people I help appreciate what I do. It’s my chance to give back to the community for the people who helped me out. Q: Please tell me about yourself and what you get out of volunteering here today. Sandy Milano, 84, a U.S Army veteran who is retired from the Soldiers’ Home at Chelsea. She worked as a clerk typist in Washington, D.C. She moved to Saugus 38 years ago. Her late husband was a Marine who passed away in 2016. She’s been volunteering at the Food Pantry for about nine years and also volunteers at the veterans’ food bank at the Saugus Senior Center: I feel pleased that I can offer my services here and say hello to people and help them. You got to smile a lot, you know. A smile goes a long way. And I love to help people who need help. Q: What do you get out of being here today? Madi Femino, a Saugus High School senior, and a captain on the girls’ soccer team: I’ve been doing this since the eighth grade. It’s been awesome and I love doing it. I just love helping people and seeing how happy they are and how grateful they are for what we’re doing for them. It’s nice to see people happy during the holiday season. I know when I’m off to college, this is something that I want to come back and do to help people out. Q: Please tell me a little bit about what this event means for you and your team, coach. Saugus High School Football Head Coach Steve Cummings: This is something we’ve been doing every year since I’ve been here, and we’ve been doing it before. And I think the kids like doing this. It’s an opportunity for them to give back to the community. Students can get community service credit for participating in this, but I think a majority of the kids we have here today have already completed their community service. I think it’s important for kids to come down and help out on something like this so they can understand what it’s like for people who are less fortunate. Being able to help out families like this is a good lesson learned. When I was younger, I was part of a family that needed help. I lived in Brockton till I was 12 and moved to Marshfield, where I lived with my dad and my brother. We lived in a summer house year round and we had clothes from The Salvation Army. My father had a paper route that he got up at two in the morning to do before he went to work. So, for my players to come down here and help out is a good thing for the kids. Q: What do you get out of being here today? Braden Faiella, 18, Saugus High football captain, offensive guard and middle linebacker: This is my fi fth year doing this. And it’s just great to help out some people who are less fortunate and need the help. I help to carry out the turkeys, boxes and bags of food to the cars outside. It makes me feel good just to help out people by doing something like this. And everybody we help is very grateful. Q: What do you get out of being here today? Tommy Desimone, Saugus High football captain, running back and safety: This is my third year. This town has done so much for me my entire life that I just like to give back to the community. Being a senior, I want to leave a legacy behind. This has become a tradition for us. We take tradition to heart and we want to carry it on as long as possible. Every time I bring the food to somebody’s car, it’s always a wholesome moment. You see people smiling and thanking you. Helping people in need has been one of my favorite things to do as a football player. Q: What do you get out of being here today? Aaron Crawford, 42, of Concord, N.H., who became music director at Cliftondale Congregational Church in July: It’s about a 70 mile-drive from Concord to Saugus, but I’m just here to show the love of Jesus by doing something good for the community. Q: How do you think things went today? Debbie Hoyle, wife of Pastor Hoyle: We’re very thankful to everyone who came to us on this rainy day. We’re always encouraged by how many people who off er to volunteer and come together to help out. So many people have helped out this year. The Belmonte Fifth Grade Class did an awesome job with their food drive. A lot of people have been generous this year. Say nr Sa a y Senior Seni by Jim Miller How an Incentive Trust Can Infl uence Your Heirs Dear Savvy Senior, What can you tell me about creating an incentive trust? I have an adult son and daughter that are both fi nancially inept. Before I die, I want to put some type of requirements in place that they will need to follow in order to receive their portion of my estate. Frustrated Father Dear Frustrated, If you want to infl uence your heirs even after you’re gone, an incentive trust is definitely an option to consider, but be careful how you construct it because it can cause unintended, unfair consequences. Here’s how it works, along with some tips to help you create one. Incentive Trusts Basics An incentive trust is an estate-planning tool designed to help encourage your heirs in a direction you desire when you’re no longer around. With an incentive trust, some or all of your assets are passed to your trust when you die rather than directly to your heirs. Your trustee is empowered to distribute funds from the trust only if and when your benefi ciaries do whatever it is you have specifi ed in the trust. For example, an incentive trust might encourage a benefi ciary to graduate from college, enter a particular profession, get married or even have children. They could also reward beneficiaries who do charitable work or supplement the incomes of those who choose low paying, yet meaningful careers like teaching or social work. Or they could penalize benefi ciaries who don’t work by cutting off or decreasing distributions or placing restrictions on heirs with addictions by requiring that payments go directly to rehab centers. But be aware that these types of trusts can also have drawbacks. A poorly constructed incentive trust can have a high risk of unintended consequences. For example, if your trust provides a fi - nancial incentive for your children to be employed full-time, but one of them gets sick or seriously injured in a car accident and can’t work, they would be punished unfairly. You also need to know that incentive trusts aren’t cheap. You can expect to pay an attorney $2,500 to $5,000 to draft one. There are also legal limits on what you can do with an incentive trust. While state laws vary, incentive trusts that encourage a benefi ciary to join or leave a particular religion, or leave a spouse or not marry at all, can be challenged in court and possibly struck down. How to Create One To create a solid incentive trust that accomplishes what you envision, you need to hire an estate-planning attorney who will include precise instructions that clearly spells out your wishes. You’ll also want to include language granting your trustee the right to use his or her discretion and that the trustee’s decisions should be fi nal and binding. This allows your trustee to make common sense rulings, which will reduce or eliminate the chances of unintended and unfair consequences. It also makes it very diffi cult for benefi ciaries to successfully challenge the trust or trustee in court. When a trust grants fi nal decision-making authority to its trustee, it becomes almost impossible for benefi ciaries to successfully argue that this trustee is not correctly implementing the trust’s terms. The key is to select a trustee who’s smart enough to interpret your intent and has sufficient backbone to stand up to benefi - ciaries when necessary. You also need to select a successor trustee too if your fi rst choice can no longer serve. Fees paid to a trustee vary widely depending on the state’s fee schedules, the size and complexity of the trust, and conditions laid out in the trust. To fi nd an experienced attorney in your area to help you create an incentive trust, see the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys (naela.org) and the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel (actec.org). 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. Part-time Cook for small kitchen in Everett 20-25 Hours per week (617) 592-6726 nior nior

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