Opinions

Paul Rhodes | Publisher & Editor I lost a beloved member of my family this past weekend. His name was simply “Mr.

Savvy Senior Dear Savvy Senior, Can my kids inherit my debt after I die? I have taken on a lot of credit card debt over the past 10 years or so, and I’m worried that my son and daughter will get stuck with it when I die. Indebted Senior Dear Indebted, In most cases when a person with debt dies, it’s their estate, not their kids, that is legally responsible.

Random Thoughts Dear Santa, As Christmas Day pulls closer and kids from 1 to 92 think about what they'll find in their stockings and underneath the tree, my holiday wish list is pretty simple. All I want is a healthy ankle.

Random Thoughts Last week's fatal shooting of an insurance company CEO in New York elicited very strong reactions online, and from what I saw, a huge majority of people commenting online were in support of the shooter. The suspect was a mystery man for days and became an online hero of sorts – like mobsters and bank robbers during the Great Depression – although he is now in custody and probably will spend the rest of his life in prison.

Paul Rhodes | Publisher & Editor I've been having trouble getting to sleep lately, and my fiance Kim says the answer is that I'm too excited waiting for Santa to get here. If that's the case, I'm in real trouble.

Insight This season’s first calf arrived a little over four weeks early this year. For humans this may not seem that impossible, but calves born more than four weeks early rarely live past a day or two.

Insight My father-in-law called me on a recent Friday night to let me know the first three lambs of the season had arrived. The triplets were born in the pasture and would need to be brought up to the barn and kept in the nursery pens to make sure all three lambs would be claimed by the mother and that they’d all get plenty of milk in their first few days.

Savvy Senior Dear Savvy Senior, I know there will be a small 2.5 percent costof- living increase in Social Security benefits next year, but what about Medicare? What will the Medicare Part B monthly premiums be in 2025, and when do the surcharges kick in for higher income beneficiaries? Medicare Beneficiary Dear Beneficiary, The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services recently announced their cost adjustments for 2025 and the increases for premiums and out-ofpocket costs for most beneficiaries will be moderate. But if you’re a high earner, you’ll pay significantly more.

From the Editor’s Files I know there's something wrong with me because I enjoy putting myself into situations that other people would go to great lengths to avoid. It's got something to do with people watching, a hobby I've had most of my life.