The View 38002 December 2018 | January 2019 | Page 5

December 2018 / January 2019 theview .com Page 5 business Help For Back and Neck Pain By David B. Peel, Special to THE VIEW 38002 Just about all my clients had neck and back pain in addition to whatever other injuries sustained in their accident. Pain in the back and neck is one of the most common maladies. Here are some helpful home products, in addition to medical care, therapist and medications, that some of my clients have had success with over the years. Cervical pillows: These tend to have a roll that increases the curve of the neck and a depression for the head to go into. Some also sleep with a rolled-up towel underneath your neck to stretch the spine. Inversion tables: When properly adjusted these gently stretch the entire spine using gravity. Most people do not go entirely upside down, but simply tilt backwards to allow the spine to decompress. Home massagers: there are now heated shiatsu massager’s that can work out knots and spasms. Heating pads: tried and true. Some even have timers to turn themselves off. Heating/cooling rubs and wraps: icy hot, bio-freeze, and similar substances can alternatively cool and heat sore areas. Cervical stretch collars: There are now inflatable cervical collars that stretch the neck in a fully adjustable way. Lumbar supports: Late model cars may have an inflatable lumbar support. But a rolled-up towel or a removable lumbar support can be used anywhere, home office or car. Anything that restores the natural curve to the lumbar area. Advertising in The View 38002 makes good business sense. To learn more about increasing your business by adding print media to your marketing plans, contact Iggy Collazo, Advertising Director, at [email protected] or 901-848-4092 FINANCIAL FOCUS Consolidating Accounts Can Lead to Clear Financial Strategy By Bret Massey, Edward Jones Financial Advisor, Special to THE VIEW 38002 None of us can complete- ly control all the things that happen to us. Yet, when it comes to achiev- ing your long-term finan- cial goals, including a comfortable retirement, you do have a great deal of power – as long as you follow a clear, well-defined financial strategy. And one way to help build and maintain such a strategy is by consoli- dating your financial accounts. Over the course of their lives, many people pick up a variety of financial accounts from multiple sources. They might have a few IRAs from different providers, a couple of old 401(k) plans from past employers, an insurance poli- cy (or two) purchased many years ago, and a scattershot of stocks, bonds, certif- icates of deposit and other investments. If this picture describes your situation, you may want to think about consolidat- ing. For one thing, having a variety of accounts can run up a lot of fees. Fur- thermore, you’ll have lots of paperwork to keep track of all your accounts, in- cluding several different tax statements. Plus, just by having so many accounts, you risk forgetting about some of them – and if you don’t think you’d ever forget about your own money, consider this: Well over $40 billion in unclaimed cash and property, including 401(k)s, pen- sions and IRAs, is awaiting return to the rightful owners, according to the Nation- al Association of Unclaimed Property Administrators. But beyond reducing your possible fees, paperwork and potential for lost assets, consolidating your accounts with one provider can give you a centralized, unifying investment strategy, one that can help you in the following ways: • Diversification – If you own several different financial accounts, including IRAs, 401(k)s and online accounts, you might have many similar investments within them. You might even own a cash-value insurance policy containing investments that closely track the ones you have in the other accounts. This type of duplication can be harmful, because if a market downturn primarily affects one type of asset, and your portfolio is domi- nated by that asset or similar ones, you could take a big hit. But if you have all your investments in the same place, a financial professional can review your holdings and recommend appropriate ways to diversify your investment dol- lars. (Be aware, though, that while diver- sification can reduce the impact of mar- ket volatility on your portfolio, it can’t guarantee profits or protect against all losses. • Staying on track – With all your accounts in one place, you’ll find it easi- er to keep the big picture in mind and make the moves necessary to help you progress toward your financial goals. Two main actions include buying or selling investments and adjusting your portfolio to make it more aggressive or conservative, depending on your situa- tion. • Avoiding mistakes – If you own several separate accounts, you could see a loss in one or more of them and over- react by selling investments that could still be valuable to you. But with a con- solidated investment platform, you can see more clearly that the impact of a loss may be small, relative to the rest of your holdings. As we’ve seen, consolidating your investment accounts with a single pro- vider can have several advantages. So think carefully about bringing everything together – you may find that there’s strength in unity. RIBBON CUTTING Olympic Steak & Pizza Family, Arlington Chamber members, staff, and friends joined owner Harry Sinis on Nov 27th at the opening of the new Olympic Steak & Pizza location at 5183 Airline Road in Arlington. Www.olympicsteak pizza.com