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December

January

Christmas Party

Dec. 7 New Year's Day

Newsletter Deadline for Jan. Dec. 22 January Board Meeting

Christmas Day

Dec. 25 January Chapter Meeting

Jan. 1 Jan. 2 Jan. 4

December 2017 Volume 18 Issue 08

site/chapter1713

Newsletter NARFE Chapter 1713

President's

Note

As we approach the Christmas holidays I am reminded of the saying "time flies when you're having fun." It's a clich? but often repeated. I hope you all had a happy and blessed Thanksgiving. Despite everything going on, we in this country have much to be thankful for. Three major items came to my attention recently: 1. In the October issue of NARFE, on page 50, there is a national voting timetable. This is important because every member is allowed to vote for every national candidate and even run for national office if the member chooses to do so. Therefore, as you read this, you have until December 15 to submit your name for national or regional office. A headshot photo must accompany your statement

Legislative Report ... Ron Cibolski

At this time it appears that federal retirees have dodged the bullet concerning the proposed income tax cut that has been making its way through the House and Senate. It appears likely at this point that the tax cut will become reality. There is a concern about congress passing a budget to avoid a government shutdown but that also appears unlikely at this point. This is not the time to sit back and watch, we should be ever vigilant in protecting our earned benefits. Our local congressmen are accessible via email and telephone. We are on target for a 2.0 COLA in January for federal retirees, social security recipients and military retirees. This is good news indeed as our health insurance premiums are increasing, however, this is the first COLA in years and at least we should be able to cover the increases with the COLA . Have a very merry Christmas, we'll see you all in January.

Service Officer Report ... John Ventura

Retirement Services (RS) wants to ensure you are receiving all of the latest retirement related announcements. We encourage you to log in to your Services Online account ( servicesonline.) and check to make sure your contact information is up to date. After you've logged into Services Online, why not opt in to receive your annual mailer and 1099R electronically. This safe and secure method will ensure this important information is available to you in a timely manner. RS wants to remind you of some things you can do to safeguard your retirement Information. You should always:

* Keep your retirement claim number in a safe place. * Keep your Services Online password in a secure place just as you would with any of your banking information. Finally, with the holiday season just around the corner, be aware of scammers calling and trying to get personal information. This information could potentially be used to redirect annuity payments to a different account. OPM is committed to protecting your Personally Identifiable Information (PII) and your Federal retirement account. Please be aware OPM will never call you and request your retirement claim number, unless you have recently contacted us and we are responding to your inquiry. Note: If you call our toll free number, 1-888-767-6738, for information regarding your OPM retirement account, we will always ask security verifiers prior to making any changes. Retirement Services

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Program Notes - Terry Cline Treasurer's Report Chapter #1713 Officers

I hope you had a nice Thanksgiving, and I hope you all will enjoy the Christmas party. I know that Jean Bell and the elves have done a great job planning it. December's program will be our Annual Christmas Party, "Let There Be Peace on Earth". We will also install our Chapter 1713 officers for 2018. January's speaker will be Terry Zidic, a NARFE Representative. February's speaker will be Dr. Shapley, local Dentist. In March our speakers will be Sean Viara, Detective Retired, and Monica Zander from Neighborhood Watch.

by Tom Nicholson

Balance as of November 27, 2017

$3,444.08

Income:

$641.96

Expeses: $1034.00

Christmas Fund: $770.74

Alzheimer's Fund: $55.95

All phone number are (941) President: Arpad Szatori 629-6789 1st Vice, Programing: Theresa Cline 423-1140 2nd Vice, Membership: Jean Bell 240-6127 S e c r e t a ry/ Tr e a s u r e r : Tom Nicholson 888-2980 Service Officer: John Ventura 423-7475

Membership Report - Our Membership Stands at 95

Salvation Army

Newcomers Day

THANK YOU TO .....

They wish NARFE Chapter 1713 a very Merry Christmas &

THANK us for our continued support!!!!!

We have a potential to get 3 to 5 new members from the last Newcomers Day. We had plenty of interest and feel hopeful for new members. TIME WILL TELL!!!! But we will continue to

"follow up" on them.

Please say a BIG "Thank You" to: Jean Bell, Jo Cibolski, Theresa

Cline, Marilyn Hickman and Ellen Nicholson for the nice Christmas Party that you planned this year.

How Festive! Thank you, Ladies!

President's Note (Continued)

of candidacy. The NARFE internet voting site will be active May 10, 2018 and ballots will be published in the June issue of NARFE. I do not know how long the ballots will be but I am sure the first event will be memorable. 2. The November issue of NARFE has a list of insurance costs for 2018. At this point, we only have a few days to make our selection. I do encourage everyone to at least look at the possibilities and pick an insurance program that meets your needs. The web site is health-insurance/open-season. In any event I hope we have all at least thought about what insurance we want. 3. We will receive a 2% COLA increase in January. Half of my increase will go toward paying my insurance premium increase.

The December issue of NARFE has an article about House bill 3031, a modernization of TSP by increasing withdrawal flexibility. The bill must now go to the Senate.

The last thing I want to write about is more personal in nature. A few weeks ago someone came to my door about 7PM and asked for assistance with a flat tire. Our October guest had warned us about "travelling thieves" and to be on the lookout for scams and ne'er do wells in general. So naturally, I hesitated. I did not want to be a victim. As it turned out, I did not need to worry. Everything was fine and we helped the person get their tire fixed. The point? With all the stuff going on and with the officer's speech in my mind I hesitated. I shouldn't have. We should always be willing to lend a hand. There are more good people out there than bad. Especially with the holiday season approaching, let us be true neighbors and humanitarians.

Hope to see you all at the Christmas party.

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