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Candle Safety

Candle Safety

Calling all candle lovers! The holidays have passed and most likely you’ve received an abundance of your favorite candles. Before lighting a candle, be sure to follow these 4 important safety tips:

Don’t touch your candle while hot! Never touch or move while lit; wait until the wax has hardened.

Keep an eye on your candles. Always burn candles where you can see them (no longer than 3-4 hours at a time) and never near anything that can catch fire. Candles will burn slower and more evenly when kept in draft-free areas. Extinguish the flames before you leave a room. Never extinguish the flame with water.

Keep your candles clean. Trim wicks to ¼ inch before you light them (every time).

Keep candles out of reach. If you have pets, or young children, be sure to keep your candles in an area where they cannot reach them.

Enjoy your candles safely!

 

Breaking Bad Habits in the New Year

Breaking Bad Habits in the New Year

With the New Year right around the corner, many people will be setting their New Year Resolutions. Is kicking bad habits to the curb on your list for 2017? If so, here are some helpful tips and strategies to help you stay on track of your goals.

Make the commitment – making a commitment to your goal is number one. Whether your goal is to lose weight, start eating heathy or quit smoking; make sure you are 100% committed.

Create a roadmap – create reasonable monthly goals. Not only will these goals help you stay motivated and on track, but you will feel accomplished after reaching them.

Identify your triggers – we are all humans. We all have urges and weaknesses. Be sure to identify them before the start on your goals. Avoiding temptations will help you stay on track.

Evaluate When You Fall off Track – we all make mistakes. Maybe you just had to have that double bacon cheeseburger or just one cigarette while you were out with some friends. Evaluate when you come off track and be sure to get back on track.

Use these four strategies when achieving your goals this New Year. We wish you the best of luck for a prosperous new year.

 

The Gift of Life Insurance

The Gift of Life Insurance

The holidays are here and tis’ the season for gift giving. Many people think of gift giving as exchanging cookies, baked goods, toys or clothing.

What about the gift of life insurance? To some, it may sound confusing and to others it makes perfect sense.

Truth is, giving the gift of a life insurance policy does make perfect sense. When you give the gift of life insurance, you’re giving the gift of financial stability for the future.

If you’re tgingerbreadhinking about giving the gift of life insurance to someone you know this holiday season, here are some important factors to consider when making your decision:

Think about who you are buying for. Giving life insurance to children or grandchildren is ideal. When an individual is in good health, life insurance will cost considerably less. Therefore, making it an affordable gift.

Select the right type of life insurance. Policies that include a cash value feature, such as whole life or universal life gives the most flexibility for the future, and the opportunity to establish a foundation.

Purchase an appropriate amount of coverage. Depending on your recipient, it is important to calculate how much that person will need in life insurance. For younger children a policy with a smaller cash value is sufficient. However, if you are purchasing for someone older, consider the following:
Funeral expenses
Medical expenses, in the event the recipient faces an illness or accident.
Income protection
Retirement investment availability

Know when life insurance doesn’t make sense as a gift. If the person you are considering purchasing a policy for is sick, elder, or uses tobacco, it could increase the price of the policy. In this situation, you can use your best judgment to choose if the money is better spent elsewhere.
For more information on life insurance or if you are interested in giving the gift of life insurance this holiday season, please give our office a call at (516) 249-5200 or visit our website at www.chedwards.net.

We wish you a very happy holiday season from the management and staff at C.H. Edwards, Inc.

Written by: Denise Visco

Winterizing Your Vehicle

Winterizing Your Vehicle

Winter is almost here, and it’s time to endure the cold, snowy weather that New York brings. Before we know it, we will be digging our cars out of the snow. That’s why it is important to get a head start today on winterizing your car.

Taking these steps to prepare your car will ensure a safe winter for all.

  1. Get an oil change. If you are approaching the time for an oil change, do not procrastinate. Get it done now. Make sure your oil’s viscosity is right. Oil tends to thicken as it gets colder. If it is too thick it won’t do the best job of keeping your engine lubricated.
  2. Make sure you can see. Be sure to replace your old wiper blades with fresh new ones. Along with changing your blades, be sure to refill your windshield washer fluid and make sure that the defrost setting in your car is working properly.
  3. Give your battery a little TLC. Check your battery and make sure there is no corrosion and that it can hold a charge. You don’t want to be stuck on the side of the road with a dead battery in the dead of winter.
  4. Check your tire pressure. Make sure your tires are properly inflated to ensure you will have the best traction.
  5. If you have a four wheel drive, be sure to check that your system is working properly. Especially if you do not use your four wheel drive during the summer months.
  6. Last but not least, be sure to prepare an emergency kit. Store supplies in your trunk in case you are ever stuck. Emergency items such as:
    1. Blankets
    2. Extra boots and gloves
    3. Ice scraper
    4. Small shovel
    5. Flashlight
    6. Flares
    7. Tool kit
    8. First aid kit
    9. Paper towels
    10. Canned food
    11. Bottled water

Travel safely this winter and don’t get caught in the cold!

 

National America Recycles Day 2016

National America Recycles Day 2016

November 15th is National America Recycles Day. Today is a day dedicated to encourage Americans to recycle and buy recycled products. The America Recycles movement was started in 1997 and since then has helped people everywhere learn the importance of recycling. In honor of today, here are some helpful tips to follow when going green and helping the environment.

Save energy to save money:

 

  • Install compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs) when your older incandescent bulbs burn out.
  • Unplug appliances when you are not using them. Even if they are plugged in and not in use, energy is still being drawn to them.

Save water to save money:

 

  • Take shorter showers to reduce water use. This will also lower your water and heating bills.
  • Wash clothes in cold water whenever possible. 85% of energy used to machine wash clothes goes to heating your water.

Less Gas = more money:

 

  • If you are traveling a short distance, consider walking or riding your bike instead of driving. Not only will this help the environment but it is better for your health also.

Recycle all plastic/glass bottles and papers:

 

  • It may be a pain but be sure to recycle all of your used bottles and newspapers. Set up a separate recycle can outside by your garbage pails to help make sorting your trash easier.

Help make the earth a better place to live in today! Don’t forget to reduce, reuse and recycle.

 

October is National Cyber Security Awareness Month

October is National Cyber Security Awareness Month

October is National Cyber Security Awareness month. We live in a world that is more connected than ever before. The Internet touches almost all aspects of everybody’s lives. In fact, most of us depend on it for everyday living.

Whether it is online shopping, paying bills, or even just browsing the web, your personal information is out there. That’s why every year NCSAM strives to educate the public and raise awareness about cybersecurity.

Here are some helpful tips to follow when it comes to protecting yourself online:

• Don’t ever say “It won’t happen to me”. Every time you log into the internet you are an attractive target for hackers.

• When setting up passwords, make sure to use a strong mix of characters, numbers and symbols.

• Never share your passwords with others.

• Never leave your devices unattended. If you need to leave your computer, phone or tablet, be sure to set up a lock for the device until you return.

• Be careful when clicking on attachments or links in email. These links can be spam.

• Sensitive browsing, such as banking or shopping, should only be done on a device that belongs to you, on a network that you trust. If you are doing any of these on a friend’s computer, public computer or a restaurants free WiFi, your data could be copied and stolen.

• Be sure that your devices are protected with anti-virus software.

• Watch what you share on social networks. Criminals can befriend you and easily gain access to a shocking amount of personal information.

• Always monitor your accounts for any suspicious activity. As soon as you see something strange, it could be a sign that you may have been hacked.

Stay safe while surfing the web. You never know when you could be the next target for a hacker.