Easy Hikes near Mt Washington in the White Mountains

3 Ways to Remove Bathroom Mold

Content originally published and Shared from http://perfectbath.com

Knowing how to get rid of mold in showers, and keep it from returning, can save you both time and money. Here are 3 simple ways to remove bathroom mold.  Read on!

Image Source: Flickr

Scrub Away
To properly care for your bathroom and remove the mold from tile grout, you will need a good scrub brush and baking soda. To effectively scrub the mold away, treat the grout between tiles and the caulking with a paste made of water and baking soda. Leave on for as long as you need to—for example, very dirty grout can use an hour or two. Spray the tiles with water and use a scrub brush to clean the grout with a brisk back and forth motion. Rinse well and buff dry. Once you have scrubbed the grout, you can prolong your mold-removing efforts so that you do not have to use as much elbow grease next time! If your bathroom is not properly maintained between cleanings, it does not take long for mold to come back. In fact, think of mold prevention like oral care—we have to maintain our teeth to keep plaque away. Source: NaturallySavvy

Vinegar
Put mild white vinegar in a spray bottle without diluting it. Vinegar has a mild acidity, making anywhere you spray it very inhospitable for mold. Do not dilute the vinegar when placing it into the spray bottle; you want to use it at full-strength, not watered-down.
Spray the vinegar onto moldy surfaces and wait for an hour. If possible, let the bathroom air out during this time.
After an hour, wipe the area clean with hot water and dry the surface with a towel. Damp surfaces encourage mold growth, so be sure to wipe the area clean fully. After you have wiped the vinegar away, it should not smell anymore.
Use vinegar to prevent outbreaks of mold before they happen. Vinegar is reported to kill 82% of mold species, making it an exceptionally effective solution for preventing mold from inhabiting your bathroom like it owns the place. Plus, vinegar does not have any toxic fumes (like bleach) and is all-natural.

• Simply spray a bit of vinegar onto a mold-prone surface and leave it. If you do this regularly, mold will have a tough time growing, and you will not have to remove it in the first place. Source: wikiHow

Hot Water and Baking Soda
You’ll need one teaspoon of washing up liquid, one cup of baking soda, and a few drops of something fragrant (we recommend lavender or citrus oil). Then add water and mix until the solution becomes a viscous paste and you’re done – a natural black mould remover. Source: Cleanipedia

Contact:
Perfect Bath
Phone: Toll Free 1-866-843-1641
Calgary, Alberta
Email: info@perfectbath.com

The post 3 Ways to Remove Bathroom Mold appeared first on Perfect Bath Canada.

from Perfect Bath Canada http://ift.tt/2ca1pPM

September Market Update: Is The Vancouver Housing Market Slowing?

Hello again! I hope you’ve had a wonderful summer so far!! I am providing you with an update as we head into the final stretch of summer. Recent media reports about the Vancouver housing market are suggesting that our bubble is beginning to burst. While it’s true that sales volumes have slowed since July and […]

The post September Market Update: Is The Vancouver Housing Market Slowing? appeared first on Invis Team RRP.

from Invis Team RRP http://ift.tt/2c1MI4i

New Property Transfer Tax in Vancouver BC

New legislation in the province of British Columbia will add a 15% property transfer tax for foreign buyers purchasing property in Vancouver. After several weeks of number crunching and data collection, the decision has been finalized. Though not perfect, the new tax is an effort to curb foreign buyers from purchasing a large proportion of […]

The post New Property Transfer Tax in Vancouver BC appeared first on Invis Team RRP.

from Invis Team RRP http://ift.tt/2bVWsvJ

How to Save Money on Taxes By Retiring Early

Early retirement offers many benefits. The obvious benefit, of course, is . . . well, retiring early. But perhaps a less obvious benefit would be the tax advantages available to early retirees. The advantages are often hidden behind the complexity of the tax code.

A quick Google search claims that the U.S. tax code is a whopping 70,000 pages long. A tax attorney writing for Slate fact-checked this. He found that it is actually only “about 2,600 pages.” Even this was an estimate, though, because the book “starts at page 100, and then skips 500 pages in its numbering.” Confusing enough?

Luckily, we don’t have to know everything in the tax code (or even its true number of pages) to develop an effective tax plan. There are only two key principles that you need to understand if you want to retire early:

First, tax deferral allows you to pay considerably less taxes in your working years. You can then recognize your income over many years at lower rates, potentially as low as 0%.

Second, investment income is taxed much more favorably than earned income. This is also a huge advantage to early retirees who will live primarily off of investments for the majority of their lives. This basic understanding of tax law can allow you to retire far earlier than you may have thought possible.

These principles can best be demonstrated with an example.  Let’s consider a couple earning $160,000/year who submit their taxes as married filing jointly.  They choose not to live up to their means. Instead, they elect to have a very high savings rate.  They live a comfortable, but not extravagant lifestyle on about $40,000/year. This allows them to save well over half of their income, even after taxes. This would allow them to achieve financial independence in about 10-15 years.

Resource: This calculator estimates when you can retire early based on your savings rate

(Note: These numbers were chosen for simplicity of demonstration. The principles and not the exact numbers are important. The principles work regardless of income. For further simplicity, we will ignore inflation and use 2016 values throughout the example.)

Principle 1. Tax Deferral Is Your Friend

Many people are confused as to why you would use tax deferred investment accounts such as a 401(k) or IRA. You may ask, won’t I just owe taxes later? The answer to that question is yes… unless you don’t.

To understand this concept, one first must understand the difference between marginal and effective tax rates.  Your marginal tax rate is the rate paid on the last dollar that you earn in a given year. It is the highest rate you pay on any of your income. Your effective rate is determined by dividing actual tax paid by total income.  The numbers are quite different. Let’s break it down:

In 2016, the standard deduction for a married couple is $12,600.  Everyone is then entitled to a personal exemption of $4,050. For two people this is $8,100.  Therefore, their first $20,700 (12,600+4,050+4,050) is free of federal income tax.  The remaining $139,300 is taxed as follows:

• The first $18,500 is taxed at 10%, equaling $1,850.00
• The next $56,750 is taxed at 15%, equaling $8,512.50
• The last $64,050 is taxed at 25%, equaling $16,012.50

This couple’s total federal income tax bill is $26,375. Their marginal tax rate is 25% and their effective federal income tax rate is 16.48% ($26,375/$160,000), if they pay all taxes in the year they are earned.

However, they can choose to defer some taxes. By maxing out two 401(k) contributions at $18,000 each, the couple can defer taxes on the last $36,000 they earned. All $36,000 would have been taxed at the marginal rate of 25%. Thus only $28,050 (64,050-36,000) is now subject to the 25% tax.

This reduces taxes by $9,000 from $26,375 to $17,375.  Their effective tax rate is reduced from 16.5% to 10.85%. They now have the extra $9,000, plus all of the compounded dividends and interest, working for them in investment accounts for years.

Read About 3 Money Rules That Will Guarantee an Early Retirement

When it comes time to spend their tax deferred money in retirement, the couple will owe federal income tax on this money. There are multiple ways to access money from retirement funds early. Because they live on $40,000/year their tax bill would look like this:

• The first $20,700 falls into the standard deduction/personal exemption and is tax free
• The next $18,500 is taxed at 10%, totaling $1,850
• Only the last $800 is taxed at 15%, totaling $120

The total tax on $40,000 in retirement is $1,970. Their income was shifted from a 25% marginal tax rate to a 15% marginal tax rate. More importantly, the effective tax rate on these dollars, the amount they actually pay, is reduced from 25% to only 4.9% ($1,970/$40,000).

That is a pretty impressive savings. However, I mentioned above that an early retiree may pay no taxes at all on this deferred money. To understand this, we must next understand the second principle.

Principle 2. Not All Income Is Taxed Equally

Our example couple had a very high savings rate. Even after maxing out tax deferred accounts, they were still able to save substantial amounts in Roth IRAs and taxable accounts in their working years.

Any money contributed to a 401(k) or Traditional IRA is taxed as ordinary income when taken from the account, because the tax was never paid at the time it was earned. However, any money contributed to a Roth IRA or taxable investment account already was subjected to income taxes. Therefore they are not taxed as ordinary income a second time.

Learn More: Leveraging Both a 401(k) and a Roth IRA for Retirement

In retirement, money can be taken from Roth IRAs free of any further taxation. Money contributed to taxable investment accounts (cost basis) is also free from further taxation, because it was already taxed.  You will owe capital gains taxes on increases in the value of your investments when you sell them.

Currently, capital gains are taxed very favorably for those with low incomes (i.e. most early retirees). According to IRS Topic 409: “The tax rate on most net capital gain is no higher than 15% for most taxpayers. Some or all net capital gain may be taxed at 0% if you are in the 10% or 15% ordinary income tax brackets.”

Related: The Pros and Cons of After-Tax 401(k) Contributions

Taxable income for a married couple filing jointly could reach $96,000 before they would be pushed above the 15% marginal tax rate. As you can see from our example couple above, they easily fall into the 15% marginal tax bracket living off of $40,000/year. This gives them 5 options to pay no federal income tax in retirement.

1. They can take their first $20,700 (standard deduction + personal exemptions) in income from tax deferred money tax-free.  Then, they can take the other $19,300 from Roth IRAs tax-free.
2. They could use money from tax deferred accounts as above tax-free. Then, they could utilize taxable accounts. This taxable money would consist of a combination of tax-free basis and taxed long-term capital gains. Since long-term capital gains for those in the 15% marginal tax bracket is taxed at 0%, it is also tax-free.
3. All $40,000 could be taken from Roth IRA accounts tax-free.
4. All $40,000 could be taken from taxable accounts. Since this money would be taxed at 0% due to their low income, it would essentially function as a Roth IRA.
5. They could use any combination of the tax-free options.

Why Early Retirement Offers Such Tremendous Advantages

There are a three key factors that make the tax advantages so great for early retirees. The first factor is developing a high savings rate as required to build wealth for early retirement. This allows using a timing strategy, shifting income from years when it is earned but not needed to years when it is needed and taxed at far lower rates. If you spend every dollar that you earn, you lose this ability to defer money or control when, and at what rates, it is taxed.

The second factor is having a long time period over which to recognize this income. Spreading the income over many years allows it to be recognized in the lowest tax brackets. Those with a traditional retirement have a shorter time frame to recognize tax deferred income. During the majority of a traditional retirement, the retiree will receive social security and be subject to required minimum distributions. This income can push the income into the higher tax brackets and negate much of the advantage of the tax deferred saving.

The final factor is the relatively low cost lifestyle that allows saving large amounts of money enabling early retirement. This low cost lifestyle also allows people to pay very little tax in retirement. The sweet spot is to keep living expenses in retirement low enough to stay in the 15% marginal tax bracket. This allows money in tax deferred investments to be recognized at low tax rates and investment income to be tax free.

Putting It All Together

Early retirement requires living below your means during your working years. The relatively low cost lifestyle required to retire early also allows for tremendous tax advantages in retirement. This gives early retirees several excellent and completely legal options to greatly reduce taxes in their working years and then further limit or even eliminate taxes in retirement.

The post How to Save Money on Taxes By Retiring Early appeared first on The Dough Roller.

from The Dough Roller http://ift.tt/2cqGQTN

Hiking Mt Washington Gear List

Train like a Spartan with our Newest FitLife Class!

Join FitLife Trainer Luis De La Vega for Spartan SGX Training. SGX training will benefit you on the race course or on the soccer field, at the box or at the yoga studio, on the track or on the trail, at work and at home, and in how you feel every day. Our coach Luis will train you in four domains: Athleticism, Endurance, Strength, and Mind. In addition, Luis can advise on obstacle race strategy, including techniques for overcoming Spartan obstacles. Luis will integrate weight-bearing movements and back-to-basics equipment, from kettlebells to pull-up bars to sandbags. Even if you never run a Spartan Race, you will still benefit. After all, given the incredible demands of an obstacle race, a Spartan needs to be an ultimate athlete.

Mondays & Thursdays, 5-5:55pm
Oct 3 – Dec 1
$95 students /$114 Rec Card Holder / $133 Community
Register in-person at any of our facilities or online now!

 

from UCSD Recreation http://ift.tt/2bA6dS4

It’s Not What You Know: Building Your Office Network

Networking occasionally gets a bad rap. To some of us, it just sounds like schmoozing. Maybe following people around who are on your ‘hit list,’ until they notice you. But it doesn’t have to be like that.

Good networking is not creepy, and it’s not professionally-legitimized stalking. It is a process of building mutually beneficial relationships. It shouldn’t be any different, really, than making a new connection at the gym or saying hello to an acquaintance in a bar.

Your network can help you out when you need advice, or point you in the right direction when you’re looking for a new position. You can assist colleagues with their own ideas or questions, and everyone grows together. You might even make some friends!

Clear your mind, and set out to make some new office network connections.

Where to Network

If you’re lacking confidence when it comes to networking, then even knowing where to start can be a challenge. You don’t have to go far, though — start small with some of these ideas, and you will soon be making waves.

Look in your own office

Don’t overlook the people who are already nearby. How well do you know your coworkers and the more senior members of your organization?

With people in your close team, or who are on the same organizational level, networking should be simple and informal. Identify the people with whom you would like to make a deeper connection. Take breaks with them, grab coffee, or go to lunch together. There is no pressure here; you are simply trying to learn more about them.

With more senior members, or those in different teams than you, you might have to adopt a different approach. One effective tactic could be to simply request a bit of their time, perhaps to discuss a specific question. You might ask for an informational interview about their part of the business, or see if a more senior manager would consider being your mentor and supporting you with some aspect of your personal development. Although dropping that initial email might feel daunting, you’ll never know if you don’t ask!

Use your existing connections

If you are looking to grow your network, then start with the people you know already. Many of these will want to help give you a foot up. Friends, family, previous colleagues, and bosses are great sources. Any of these might also be able to put you in contact with the next person who can give you the advice and support you seek.

To make this work, you must be clear on what you want from a new connection. Are you looking for insight into a particular professional field? Some information about a company or business area? Or perhaps you would like some development advice from an experienced (but independent) manager?

Land a Great New Job? How to Resign Without Burning Bridges

Once you know what you need, start asking around. You never know who might be able to point you in the right direction, or provide the right introduction.

Online

Naturally, most networking happens online these days. And with the world at your fingertips, there is no excuse not to get out there.

LinkedIn is the ultimate professional networking playground. Set yourself up with a smart and relevant profile page, and dive in. You can join professional groups related to your interests, and grow your network by sharing, liking, and commenting on the posts of others you know.

For More Ideas: Cultivating a Professional Online Footprint

Out in the ‘real world’

Finally, don’t forget ‘old fashioned’ networking, such as going to professional seminars and conferences. Look for relevant Meetups in your area, as a different way to find people with the same interests as you. Take a deep breath, step away from the buffet table, and see who you meet.

How to Network

So, now you have some ideas on where to find like-minded people to start your networking journey. But now how do you get started?

For some people, networking comes naturally. If you are more of an introvert, then try these tips to get the conversation off to a flying start.

Understand your value

To network effectively, you should both understand and be able to articulate your value. By opening conversations with new people, you can guarantee that you’re going to be asked about yourself. Invest time beforehand to brainstorm your answers. You have a great opportunity to make a good impression, show what you do, and explain your impact in your chosen field.

Have an ‘elevator pitch’

Networking conversations tend to be off-the-cuff and short. Having figured out how to articulate the value you add professionally, you should also learn to phrase this very succinctly. This is often referred to as an elevator pitch.

Why? It should be brief and commanding enough to make a lasting impression were you to end up on an elevator ride with, say, your dream boss.

This pithy and persuasive monologue is your way of explaining who you are, what you do, and what you are looking for now — whether that’s a new role, new clients, or simply new connections.

Think about what you can offer in exchange

Finding ways to make a relationship mutually beneficial is key to networking effectively. While you may have identified people that would enhance your network and provide useful ideas or support, it is important to figure out what you can do for them, too.

Give-and-take is as important in business as in any other relationship. Start a conversation with that in mind, and you will be sure to hit it off.

Ask interesting questions

If there’s one thing everyone enjoys, it’s talking about themselves. However, make sure you don’t overrun the conversation with self-serving topics. Have a few interesting questions up your sleeve to get others involved and talking, too.

Try asking new contacts about their role, their career journey, or maybe the culture in their company. These leave it open for the conversation to develop naturally, helping you to form a connection.

Be Prepared: How to Create a Flexible Career Plan

Start small when you’re trying to network. Choose an event or an online group, and challenge yourself to connect with at least one new person. As you grow more comfortable, and your network expands naturally, you will become more adept at ‘working a room.’ Before you know it, you’ll be gathering new and interesting connections.

Focus on what you can give to them (as opposed to only what you can gain), and you will find that networking becomes easy. It can even be quite fun!

How do you view networking for your career: simple fun or stressful? What are your best tips to people just starting to grow their professional networks?

The post It’s Not What You Know: Building Your Office Network appeared first on The Dough Roller.

from The Dough Roller http://ift.tt/2bOVCS4

Great Hikes: Mt Washington, the Huntington Ravine Trail, and a Boot Spur Loop

We’ve Got A New Job Opening: Mortgage Broker Administrative Assistant in Vancouver

As a top Vancouver mortgage brokerage office, we’re seeking to add another member to our administrative team. Being licensed in BC as a mortgage broker would be an asset, but for the right candidate it’s not mandatory. The qualified applicant will be expected to obtain mortgage brokerage license within 4 months of beginning employment. Our […]

The post We’ve Got A New Job Opening: Mortgage Broker Administrative Assistant in Vancouver appeared first on Invis Team RRP.

from Invis Team RRP http://ift.tt/2bxvA6Y

How to Keep One-Off Expenses from Breaking the Budget

Even if you’re a budgeting machine who has it all together, you may still get surprised once in awhile. Usually, you’ll be caught off guard by one-off expenses. These are items that you should technically expect, but they tend to sneak up on many of us. After all, it can be hard to remember expenses that only pop up once a year, or even less.

So how do you work these costs into your budget, and what’s the best way to deal with them? Here are five steps to help you list and plan for these one-off expenses:

1. Go back through your spending and find them

First, you need to actually identify these less-memorable items. The easiest way to do so is to go back through last year’s budget.

Why use a calendar year? Because some of these expenses are tied to a certain month or season. For instance, you may pay for an HVAC tune-up every spring, or the license and registration fees on your vehicle are due each October.

Looking through all those bank records will take time, but this is the most accurate way to find your one-off expenses. Look for things like dental cleaning fees, annual checkups for your pets, HOA and other association dues, car insurance premiums, vehicle registrations, and seasonal home maintenance.

Once you’ve written down each of last year’s items, do some digging to see if payments will remain the same or even rise for the coming year. Then, make a list of all the one-off expenses, how much they’ll cost, and when you expect to pay them.

2. Brainstorm additional costs you might add in the future

Don’t stop at simply looking through last year’s expenses, though. Think about how your circumstances may have changed recently, and then add in any potential new costs for the coming year.

For instance, maybe you just got a puppy. Do some research about how much you’ll expect to pay for that puppy’s vaccines and annual check-ups, then add those to your list. Or if you recently bought a house, there are a number of homeowners’ expenses you’ll now be responsible for, that you didn’t need to worry about as a renter. Plan for them.

Read More: 30 Items to Budget for When You Buy a Home

3. Add up the total expense, and divide it by twelve.

Once you have a list compiled — including due dates and amounts — add up the total expenses and divide by 12. This will tell you how much money you’ll need to save on a monthly basis in order to ensure you can meet your one-off expenses as they arise.

4. Save for them each month

Now, the fun part. You need to set money aside to cover these expenses. You can do this in a variety of ways.

For instance, the YNAB software allows you to work these costs into your monthly budget. If you’re great about sticking to a budget on the page, then just add this monthly amount to your budget.

If, however, you tend to spend extra money when it’s sitting in your checking account, you’ll need to take a different approach. One option is to find a bank or credit union that will let you open multiple fee-free savings accounts (they do still exist!), or use a bank that allows for simple sub-accounts (like Capital One 360 or USAA).

Each month, you’ll need to set aside extra money (1/12th of that annual sum), which will go towards your one-off expenses. Make a habit of transferring this money into your savings account at the beginning of each month, and only use it for those items that are on your list of one-off expenses.

Remember, this money is not an emergency fund. It’s set aside for specific payments you’ll encounter each year, which can generally be predicted and calculated. For unexpected expenses, you’ll need to build a separate, emergency cash stash.

Learn the Difference: How to Decide If It’s Emergency Fund-Worthy

Also note that if you have one of these big expenses due soon, you may need to scramble to front-load the account now. Say you start using this method in August, for instance, to cover $600 — a year’s worth of your one-off expenses. You plan to save $50 per month to cover all of these projected costs. Easy enough, right?

But in October, you have a $400 annual car insurance premium due. You’ll only have $150 in your dedicated savings account by this time. So, you’ll need to figure out how to cover the deficit from your budget in September or October.

Then, go right back to saving that $50 per month. If you stay at it for several months (and if you’ve done your math right!), you should have enough saved for any upcoming one-off expenses by the time they roll around.

5. Add the due dates to your budget or calendar

One-off expenses like these are some of the easiest to forget, since you encounter them so rarely. So it’s best to write the due dates into your budget or put them on your calendar.

Some types of budgeting software will let you assign a due date to occasional expenses like these. Mint, for example, will allow you to budget for an expense that occurs on a certain date each year. It will even go ahead and divide out the monthly amount you should save for that particular expense.

If your budgeting software makes it difficult to add these expenses, you can just list them in your planner. Whether your calendar is paper-based or electronic, adding these expenses will help ensure that you don’t miss them.

A note on other expenses

We’ve just talked about unavoidable expenses, such as medical or dental checkups and must-pay bills. These are expenses that need to be part of your budget on a monthly basis, even if you only encounter them once or twice a year.

But what about other costs that aren’t mandatory? Things like Christmas gifts, replacing your furniture, or new winter coats for the kids?

You can treat some of these the same as other one-off expenses. Setting money aside for Christmas throughout the year can help ensure that you have enough cash available in November and December to make that Christmas magic happen. And that it doesn’t break the bank all at once.

Keep in mind, though, that you need to fund your must-pay expenses first. If you’re in a tight situation, it’s okay to forego putting $50 in the Christmas account in order to put $50 in the one-off expenses account. You can always shift your holiday spending, but those bills have to be paid on time!

As long as you keep your priorities straight, saving for both types of expenses throughout the year is an excellent budgeting strategy.

How do you handle your annual expenses? Do you plan and budget throughout the year, or just take the hits as they come?

The post How to Keep One-Off Expenses from Breaking the Budget appeared first on The Dough Roller.

from The Dough Roller http://ift.tt/2c34CkJ

Six Moon Designs Fusion 50 Backpack Review

Job Hunting in the Social Media Age: Why Your Online Footprint Matters

It used to be that your well-crafted resume and a pithy cover letter formed the ‘window’ through which prospective employers viewed your suitability as a candidate. Then, as technology expanded, recruiters got more resourceful. They grew wise to the fact that they could quickly seek out the skeletons in candidates’ closets with a mere internet search. Often times, this has been to the dismay of those who, minutes before, seemed quite promising on paper.

Power has subtly shifted. Whereas before, the candidate chose how to present themselves, the recruiter now treasure hunts the depths of the web, seeking out lurking issues. It can end up feeling like the recruiter is rooting though the candidate’s dirty linen.

Learn More: What Style of Resume is Right For You?

But it doesn’t have to be this way. Your online footprint matters when you’re looking for a new job — and luckily, you can control it. Here’s how:

Understand your current footprint

To get started, you need to know what recruiters see when they Google your name. As narcissistic as it may seem, you need to spend a bit of time searching for yourself online to understand your current footprint.

Start with a simple Google search of your name, looking at both text references and images. You’re likely to pull up any social media channels you use, so have a look for these as well as any references to your name elsewhere. It can help to first log out of your social media accounts, such as Facebook. This way, you can get a more accurate idea of what can be seen by others, according to your privacy settings.

Obviously, the more unusual your name, the easier it is to track you down. If you have a more common name, then add in some of the keywords an employer might use to find you. Start with the obvious ones, such as your location or job title.

Look at where your name pops up, then consider the potential impact on an employer. Positive attention, such as college reports detailing your sports or academic successes are good. Court reports, less so.

If there are damaging references online, chances are that you will not be able to remove them. However, simply knowing that they might show up allows you to better manage the situation. Have a plan for how to address it, if a recruiter raises the issue.

Be Prepared: 10 Tricky Interview Questions and How to Answer Them

Manage your brand

So now you know what your online footprint looks like. It’s time to start managing your brand, with a quick review and ‘clean up.’

Usually, a good place to start is with social media, a crucial tool in today’s job search. Look at the security and sharing settings on Facebook, and also on any defunct accounts bearing your name. Unless you use your Facebook account for professional relationships, keep your sharing to a minimum. Make sure that any visible profile pictures are appropriate and professional.

Spring clean your Twitter feed if there are any posts you might regret (or if you’ve ever been hacked). Deleting posts is actually quite easy — check out this article for an explanation.

From a professional perspective, the most important social media channel is LinkedIn. Make sure your profile is up to date, and your picture appropriate.

Taking these steps, at a bare minimum, should result in a recruiter finding a healthy enough online footprint, with no cause for alarm. However, if you really want to make an impact, you need to go further.

Build a relevant online professional history

Clearing up your web trail should mean that there is nothing on the internet that can work against you. But if you want your footprint to actively work for your benefit, you need to make sure your online history covers the right professional bases.

Try these approaches to build the best professional online history:

• Share, like, and comment on relevant professional articles, such as those on LinkedIn and Twitter.
• Join LinkedIn groups that are related to your field of work. Not only is this good networking, but your interviewer might also be active in the group.
• Find and follow industry commentators on Twitter or with their own blogs. Become involved in the discussion, and offer personal and insightful ideas through your comments.
• Write for industry publications or blogs — or even start your own relevant blog platform if you are particularly fond of writing. You could write opinion pieces, or offer to cover conferences or seminars you attend as a guest writer.
• Share your work if permitted to do so using SlideShare. This makes your opinion immediately searchable, with no extra effort needed.
• Create your own website to host your resume, portfolio, and work history. Make sure it echoes your personal brand and is professionally designed.

Your online history matters in job hunting. It is your opportunity to take the initiative, and positively influence the version of ‘you’ that the recruiting manager sees. If you are struggling to get traction in your job search and cannot figure out why, maybe it is time to address your web footprint. Make sure it shows your best professional self.

Start with these simple ideas to give your job hunt the boost it needs!

Over to you — how has your online footprint helped (or hindered) your job search? What actions have you taken to make your online history work in your favor?

The post Job Hunting in the Social Media Age: Why Your Online Footprint Matters appeared first on The Dough Roller.

from The Dough Roller http://ift.tt/2bkZKG3

Plantar Fasciitis and Compression Socks

Compression socks can be used to relieve the pain of Plantar Fasciitis without giving up hiking.

As many of you know, I’ve been struggling with Plantar Fasciitis this summer, an overuse injury of the foot that associated with heel pain and severe foot cramping.  The pain is caused by the inflammation of the ligament that connects your heel bone to the ball of your foot.

I’ve tried a number of different strategies to promote the healing process:

• Switching to Superfeet Carbon Insoles, which fit into the low volume trail runners I use for hiking and backpacking.
• Stretching the ligament that runs under my foot arch in the morning and when it cramps up later in the day. I pull on it with a strap or use my hands.
• Stretching my calf muscles
• Taking Ibuprofen to reduce inflammation when the pain flares up

All of these have definitely helped and there’s been a noticeable reduction in the intensity of the symptoms and associated pain over the past two months.

But my recovery accelerated dramatically when I started using a Compression Sock designed for Plantar Fasciitis. It’s basically a sock without toes, that applies strong compression under the ligament under my arch, raising it, and preventing it from cramping up. This helps to immobilize the ligament so the tears in it can heal faster and provides a significant amount pain relief.

I was amazed at how quickly my heel pain disappeared when I first tried it. It took about a day for the effect to kick in, but my Plantar Fasciitis level has been greatly diminished, so much that I’m symptom free most of the day when I’m wearing the compression sock.

You can try to replicate this “lift effect” using kinesio tape, by running a piece of tape perpendicular to your arch and pulling it up tight before you press the ends of the tape against your skin to lock it in place. But there’s less of a therapeutic arch lift than using a compression sock. My wife, who’s always used kinesio tape to treat her Plantar Fasciitis, borrowed one of my compression socks and switched to them immediately because they provide noticeably more lift to keep the ligament from cramping.

The compression sock is tight, so I wear it under my normal hiking socks. It’s very thin though and I don’t notice it inside the low volume trail runners I wear for hiking and exercise. I wear the compression sock for 8 hour periods and take it off during the evening and night. While it is tight, it’d designed not to interfere with range of motion or blood flow, still I like to give me feet a rest and rinse out the sock every evening since it does accumulate sweat from my socks. Hand wash it using a gentle soap like Woolite and air dry. I put them on damp when backpacking and it’s no big deal.

It is important to get a snug fit, so don’t buy a larger size than you need. At about $16/pair, these Plantar Fasciitis therapeutic socks (made by Bitly) hold their compression very well over time and I haven’t noticed any loosening of the support they provide. When putting them on, make sure you avoid any folds in the fabric so that the sock is flush with your skin. You’ll quickly forget that they’re there, but the amount of pain relief you’ll experience if you have Plantar Fasciitis is quite noticeable.

Disclosure: Philip Werner purchased this product with his own funds. This post contains affiliate links which help to support this website. 

           

from Sectionhiker.com http://ift.tt/2bkCNs7

How to Value Your Non-Cash Donations Come Tax Time

Clutter can be overwhelming. It’s easy to let outgrown and unused things pile up over the years, especially if you’re not sure what to do with them. One way to clean out your closets, give back, and save money on your taxes is to donate non-cash items to charity.

Whether you’re cleaning out your kids’ old toys or giving college books to the Salvation Army, the non-cash items you donate have a value. When you itemize your taxes, you may be able to write off the value of those items, ultimately saving you some money.

Here’s everything you need to know about deducting non-cash donations to charity.

The Basics

First, you should know that in order to deduct the value of donations on your taxes, you need to itemize your taxes. There are two ways to take deductions on your taxes: the standard deduction and itemized deductions.

The standard deduction is an annual, set amount that every taxpayer is entitled to take on his or her tax return. When you itemize, though, you can include a variety of deductible expenses, including real estate taxes, mortgage and student loan interest, cash and non-cash contributions to charities, job-related expenses, union dues, and more.

Whether it’s better to itemize or take the standard deduction depends on your tax situation. But the bottom line is that you should take whichever option gives you the bigger write-off.

When you itemize, you’ll do so using Form 1040 Schedule A. It includes slots for all of the different items that you can write off on your taxes as a deduction.

Unless you know for sure that you won’t be able to list many itemizations on your taxes, you should at least do the math to decide which deduction will work best for you. If you use a tax-preparation software or hire a reputable tax-preparer, they’ll likely tell you which option will work best for your needs.

If it’s to your advantage to itemize your deductions, though, you should be as specific as you can, and make sure you don’t forget anything. Even a few old pairs of jeans from your kids’ closet could save you some money on your taxes!

Cash vs. Non-Cash Donations

If you give cash donations to a charity or church, regularly or on a one-off basis, the nonprofit should send you a receipt at the end of the year detailing your giving. Some are better about this than others, though, so be sure to keep track of all your cash donations.

These are easy to include when itemizing your taxes. Simply total up how much you’ve given in the tax year, and put it in the appropriate Schedule A line. If you donated or tithed by check, record-keeping for the year is even simpler. Just be sure to save those receipts or check records in case the IRS ever questions your deduction.

Non-cash donations, on the other hand, can get a little squirrely. Donations of items like clothing, cars, or household goods are assessed at the “fair market value,” or FMV, which is about how much you could get if you sold the items directly to a willing seller.

However, as with all things IRS-related, you need to be able to back up your claims about how much items were worth at the time of donation. This means that you need to keep good records pertaining to any non-cash items you may have donated.

Many times, when you donate items to a well-known nonprofit like Goodwill or the Salvation Army, they’ll offer to give you a receipt for your items. However, the receipt will allow you, the donor, to fill in the value of those items. It’s to your benefit to include as many details as possible about the items you’ve donated, including the number of items and descriptions of the items’ conditions.This will help you avoid FMV issues.

Then, you can use a handy online tool like the Salvation Army’s Donation Value Guide to see how much your items might be worth. The Salvation Army’s list isn’t all-inclusive, and it gives you a low and high resale value for a variety of generic items. It’s up to you to decide how much your items are ultimately worth, and to value them accordingly for tax purposes.

You can actually deduct quite a bit for some items, including clothing and kids’ toys. However, it’s best to be honest when it comes to your valuations, rather than taking the highest value for everything you donate.

Other Information to Record

Besides a description of each item donated and the items’ value, you’ll want to record the name and address of the organization to which you donated the items. You should also include the date and location of the contribution, and what resources you used to determine the value of the property.

If, for instance, the nonprofit gave you the resale value of a big-ticket item, cite that in your records. Or if you just got a list of items from the nonprofit and then used the Salvation Army’s Donation Value Guide to value them, cite that.

Also, if you received anything in return for your donation, you’ll need to record that, too. This is one place things can get a little confusing.

Say, for instance, that you donate an old vehicle worth $2,000 to a local charity. In return, the charity gives you a pair of tickets to a local concert, worth $100. In this case, you can only claim the difference between the tickets’ value and the value of the vehicle on your taxes, so $1,900.

Total Property Values

If you donate a stack of clothes to Goodwill, chances are you’ll wind up valuing the total donation at less than $250. In this case, you just need the above-noted information to make sure that the donation is legitimate. You can put the valuation of the non-cash donation directly into your Schedule A and be done with it.

But if you’re donating property worth more than $250, things get a little trickier.

If you’re donating items valued between $250 and $499, you’ll need to be more detailed with your description. You’ll also need to write down the tax year for which you intend to take the deduction, and a statement about whether or not you received anything in return for your donation.

Non-cash donations valued in excess of $500 will need to include information about how you received the property: whether you bought it yourself, inherited it, or whatever the circumstance may be. And you’ll need more detailed information about the actual value of the property. This could include information about when you received the property, so that the IRS can determine if the valuation is fair.

So, what if you’re donating items that are even more valuable? Say, a car that is worth more than $5,000.

In this case, you’ll need to get an appraisal of the item to include with your tax records. Some charities that accept large non-cash donations like this will help you with the process. Otherwise, you may just need to have an appraisal done on your own, and keep the resulting paperwork with your other tax-related documents.

Learn More: Publication 561: Determining the Value of Donated Property

If you do contribute more than $500 worth of non-cash donations in a tax year, you’ll need to fill out Form 8283. This form requires you to put more information about your non-tax donations together. So, if there’s a chance that you’ll donate $500+ worth of items to charity in a tax year, check out this form. See what it requires, and then keep your records with this specific form in mind.

Donating to charity is a great way to give back to your community and get rid of the extra stuff you have lying around. But before you drop off those items at Goodwill or have Salvation Army grab them off your porch, be sure you know what you need for your records. It’s important to be as accurate as possible if you want to successfully claim their value as a tax deduction.

The post How to Value Your Non-Cash Donations Come Tax Time appeared first on The Dough Roller.

from The Dough Roller http://ift.tt/2biAwrx

Enter for a Chance to Win a FREE LL Bean Microlight UL 1-Person Tent

LL Bean Microlight UL 1 Person Tent

The LL Bean Microlight UL-1 (MSRP $299) is a single person double-walled tent that weighs 1 pounds and 14 ounces, including an inner mesh tent, aluminum poles, and exterior rain fly (but no stuff sack bags or tent stakes). It is easy to squeeze into narrow or small campsites, making it a good option if you camp in heavily forested terrain where there aren’t a lot of good places to pitch a tent.

To Enter

To enter this random raffle fora chance to win an LL Bean Microlight UL 1 Person Tent(MSRP $299), answer the following questions in a comment below. Please note, that incomplete answers will be disqualified. 

1. Do you carry on day hikes and backpacking trips:

• (A) a store-bought first-aid kit?
• (B) a store-bought first-aid kit that you’ve modified by adding or removing items?
• (C) a first-aid kit that you’ve assembled by yourself?
• (D) no first-aid kit?

2. If you answered (A) or (B) above, what’s the name of the first-aid kit manufacturer?

3. If you answered (B) above, what items did you add or remove from the first-aid kit?

Example responses

I carry (A) a store-bought first aid kit made by Adventure Medical.

I bring a store-bought first aid kit, but I’ve added a SAM splint to it and more bendryl in case someone has an allergic reaction in our group.

I don’t carry a first aid kit. My hikes aren’t long enough to need one. But I’m interested in see what other people do. 

I’ve found that commercial first aid kits are rip-offs. I assembled my own using stuff around the house and in our bathroom cabinet.

Deadline to Enter

The deadline to enter this raffle is Tuesday, August 30, 2016, at midnight EST.

• All raffle entrants will have one chance to win.
• A winner will be selected randomly from all valid entries.
• Please keep everything rated G.
• The prize winner can live anywhere that has postal service (including international.)
• If you have any questions, leave a comment.

Leave a Comment to Enter

1. Do you carry on day hikes and backpacking trips:

• (A) a store-bought first-aid kit?
• (B) a store-bought first-aid kit that you’ve modified by adding or removing items?
• (C) a first-aid kit that you’ve assembled by yourself?
• (D) no first-aid kit?

2. If you answered (A) or (B) above, what’s the name of the first-aid kit manufacturer?

3. If you answered (B) above, what items did you add or remove from the first-aid kit?

           

from Sectionhiker.com http://ift.tt/2bjLLof

Chicago’s New Cloud Tax: Should Small Businesses Be Concerned?

Over the past few years, cloud based technology is something that has moved beyond entertainment-centric services such as Netflix, permeating the business world in a number of big ways. Taking this into account, the city of Chicago has recently implemented … Continue reading →

The post Chicago’s New Cloud Tax: Should Small Businesses Be Concerned? appeared first on Chicago Accountant.

from Chicago Accountant http://ift.tt/2bOWUKy

How to Determine Your 401(k) Fees

You are probably already figuring out how much money to contribute to your 401(k) plan every year. More than likely, you also spend time learning how best to invest the money. One thing many people neglect, however, are 401(k) fees. Small fee changes each year can make big differences in the performance of your plan over the course of many years. In this article we’ll look at 401(k) fees and how you can determine how much your 401(k) is costing you.

How Much Do 401(k) Fees Matter?

Though it may sound like splitting hairs, even small differences in fees can matter. Every fee you are paying in connection with your 401(k) plan can have an impact on your investment performance over the long-term. The difference of just half a percentage point can be incredibly significant.

For example, let’s say you currently have $100,000 in your 401(k) plan, and you’re 30 years away from retirement. Lowering your fees by 0.50% can improve your investment performance from, say, 7.50% to 8.00% effectively. Over three decades, that will make a shocking difference:

— If you continue with your current fee structure, and accept the 7.50% return, your $100,000 401(k) plan will grow to $875,495 after 30 years.

— If you lower the annual fees by 0.50%, and earn 8.00% on your $100,000 401(k) plan, the plan will grow to $1,006,246 after 30 years.

That’s a difference of over $130,000, just for lowering your fees by half a percent! The advantage will be even more impressive if you can reduce fees by a full percentage point or more.

Now you can see why 401(k) fees really do matter.

Types of Fees Typically Found in a 401(k) Plan

It’s important to have a good idea as to what the fees are that may be associated with your 401(k) plan. Since there are potentially quite a few, it can complicate the job of calculating exactly how much you are paying each year. In turn, this makes it hard to know how much that reduces the rate of return on your plan.

Here are the more common fees:

Plan Administrative Fees. Since 401(k) plans are typically administered by third-party trustees, there is often an administrative fee. This is a fee that is charged by the trustee to pay for day-to-day expenses, such as accounting, compliance, and record-keeping. The fee is often small, perhaps as low as $50 (though they can be much higher), and is sometimes paid by the employer. If it isn’t, it will be deducted from your plan.

Investment advisory fees. If the plan is managed by an investment advisor, there might be an investment advisory fee. It is typically a percentage of the total portfolio value, say 1%. Of course, this can vary. Like plan administrative fees, investment advisory fees are annual charges.

Commissions. These typically don’t apply if the 401(k) plan is held with a mutual fund family. But if the account is held within an investment brokerage, there will usually be a commission charge on any trades involving stocks, exchange traded funds, or even mutual funds.

The commission is usually a flat fee, ranging $5 to $10 per trade, whether buying or selling a security for fund position. Though commissions may not be a significant fee on a large account that is traded infrequently, it can become a major expense if you are an active trader.

Mutual fund loads. These are something akin to commissions, however they are paid to a mutual fund. They are a percentage of the mutual fund position you are buying or selling, and generally range between 1% and 3%. Fund loads can be charged on purchase (“front-end load”), or on the sale of the mutual fund position (“back-end load”, but also referred to as either “redemption fees” or “deferred sales charges”). And on some mutual funds, they can be charged at both ends, such as 1% at purchase and 1% on sale.

Loads are not typically charged on exchange traded funds (ETFs), so you might favor these investments if they are included in your plan.

Learn More About Exchange Traded Funds (EFTs)

12(b)-1 fees. These are fees that are charged within a mutual fund. You’ll never actually see the fees being deducted. Mutual funds charge these fees to pay for commissions paid to brokers, advertising costs, and any other charges involved in the marketing of the fund. They can range between 0.25% and 1.00% of the net asset value of the fund per year.

12(b)-1 fees will not be as obvious as loads, but you can find out what they are for a given mutual fund either by checking the general information on the fund listed on the fund family’s website. You can also learn about them by getting a copy of the fund prospectus.

Target Date Funds. These are fees unique to target date funds. As target date funds become more popular, though, they are being seen more often. Target date funds are sometimes referred to as a “fund of funds” because they can be comprised of several different underlying funds.

For example, a target date fund may invest in funds that are based on the S&P 500 index, technology stocks, international stocks, and a bond fund. Each of those funds will have its associated fees, but the target date fund may have its own additional fees. Despite their rising popularity, target date funds do tend to be more fee-intense than other investment types.

Account fees. If your 401(k) plan is held through a fund family, there may be an account fee charged. This is similar to the administrative fee paid to the trustee of the plan. And it will be used to cover the various administrative fees involved in running the plan.

That’s a lot of fees coming from different directions, so how can you possibly keep it all straight? There are actually some popular free services out there, and they can help you do just that.

Personal Capital Fee Analyzer

You can use a free service like Personal Capital that also includes a Fee Analyzer. The tool enables you to determine fees being charged both in your 401(k) plan itself and the individual mutual funds.

In fact, this is an important part of the overall service that Personal Capital provides. They maintain that investment fees can cost your retirement portfolio hundreds of thousands of dollars over a lifetime. (Of course, we saw this in the example given earlier.)

As mentioned, Personal Capital has a free version, which includes use of the Fee Analyzer. They also enable you to calculate your net worth, set a budget, manage investment accounts, and plan for retirement — all for free. But if you want more, like professional investment management, Personal Capital does charge a small fee.

FeeX

FeeX specializes in analyzing fees associated with retirement plans. They provide an analysis of your 401(k) plan, as well as 403(b) plans, 457 plans, and IRA accounts.  Their FeeX Concierge can even analyze taxable investment brokerage accounts.

FeeX describes themselves as “The Robin Hood of Fees,” interestingly enough. That is their way of explaining how they level the playing field between investors and the big investment concerns. They consider themselves to be an investment fee reducer.

They accomplish this by analyzing your account, making you aware of the fees that you are actually paying. They’ll even make recommendations as to how to rearrange your plan to reduce those fees.

FeeX works with hundreds of investment brokers, such as Charles Schwab, Fidelity Investments, and TD Ameritrade. Once FeeX syncs up your accounts, they will scan them for exact expense ratios, plan fees, advisory fees, transaction fees, and any other fees that apply to your plan.

And like the Personal Capital Fee Analyzer, you can use FeeX’s service free of charge. All you do is sign up, and you will get the rundown on incurred fees in a matter of minutes. FeeX will then recommend either replacing high fee mutual funds or ETF’s with lower-cost ones, or even recommend alternative investment firms, if that option is available.

FINRA Fund Analyzer

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, better known as FINRA, is an independent, not-for-profit organization. They have been authorized by Congress to protect investors by making sure that the securities industry operates fairly and honestly. It is not a part of the US government, but it has considerable authority.

This includes writing and enforcing rules governing the activities of nearly 4,000 securities firms with over 600,000 brokers. They also provide examinations of those firms to ensure compliance with the rules, promote market transparency, and provide investor education.

As part of that education, FINRA provides a FINRA Fund Analyzer. This can conduct an analysis of more than 18,000 mutual funds, ETF’s, and exchange traded notes (ETNs). It provides an estimate of the fees and expenses that are charged within each of those funds.

The service is restricted to fund analysis, and not retirement portfolios. But like the other tools listed above, FINRA’s Fund Analyzer is free to use.

In Summary

Now you have a number of tools that you can use to determine the fees that you’re being charged in your 401(k) plan, as well as the funds that make up a plan. As you get a good idea as to what you are really paying, you can attempt to make any necessary changes that might lower those fees, and improve your long-term return on investment in your plan.

The post How to Determine Your 401(k) Fees appeared first on The Dough Roller.

from The Dough Roller http://ift.tt/2bhLTj7

Great Hikes: Climbing Mt Madison by the Pine Link Trail

Mt Madison from the Pine Link Trail

When I want inspiration, I head above treeline in New Hampshire’s White Mountains. There’s something about the big views and the physical exertion of climbing a mountain that lifts my spirits and lets them soar.

The rocky summit cone of Mt Madison

For this trip, I hiked up to the top of Mt Madison (5367′) before dropping down a few hundred feet and walking around its perimeter, following two talus-choked trails that loop around the summit cone. The fourth highest peak in the Whites, Madison is in the Northern Presidentials, by far the toughest mountain range to climb in the White Mountains.

Treeline Warning Sign, posted at about 4500′

I hiked up Madison on the Pine Link Trail, which climbs 3,450 feet in 3.5 miles to the Watson Path, which climbs the final 400 feet to the summit in 0.3 miles. The above-treeline segment of the trip, which starts at about 4500′ in the Northern Presidentials and indicated by the warning sign above, requires hiking across boulder fields baked by the sun. One false step and you can break a trekking pole or worse.

The climb up the Pine Link Trail was strenuous, but no more so than the other trails that climb to treeline in the Northern Presidentials. The Pine Link Trail approaches Madison from the east from a trail head off a dirt road called Pinkham B Road. This dirt and gravel forest service road provides a shortcut from the Dolly Copp Campground off Rt 16 to the Randolph East trailhead off Rt 2. Pinkham B Road also provides access to Pine Mountain Road and the Ledge Trail, leading to the Horton Center on Pine Mountain. Pinkham B is a pretty rough road, so take your time driving on it.

I arrived at the Pine Link Trailhead at 7:00 AM because I knew we were in for a very hot day and humid day, with temperatures expected in the high nineties in the valley. Winds at the summit were forecast to be 25-30 mph with stratus clouds, so acceptable conditions for an above-treeline hike. I’m very cautious to avoid above-treeline hikes on days when thunderstorms are expected: too many close calls. People who are struck by lightning are never quite the same afterwards.

Howks on the Howker Ridge Trail

The climb started immediately, but the Pine Link Trail doesn’t require a lot of boulder scrambling. There’s actually dirt on the ground for much of the route up, which made the climb easier because it doesn’t require a lot of big leg muscle moves.

After 2.4 miles, the Pink Link Trail coincides with the Howker Ridge Trail for 0.3 mile, before the two spilt again. The Howker Ridge Trail is another great trail to climb Mt Madison: it follows a ridge of subsidiary peaklets called Howks, which provide great views of Madison and Carter Notch on the other side of Rt 16.

Moss covered Pink Link Trail

At 2.7 miles, the trails spit again with the Pine Link heading around the north side of Madison. The trail passes over bog bridges at about 4600′ before climbing up a wet moss-covered trail. I suspect this section is usually underwater, when not in drought, as it is now.

I soon popped out above treeline and followed the white-topped cairns to the Watson Path, which leads to the summit. It is very hard to follow, since it runs over talus boulders to the summit. I had to carefully locate the cairns and follow them to the top of Madison.

Summit Cairn on Mt Madison – Mt Adams looms nearby, the next peak on the ridge

Once at the top, I rested at the summit, sheltering behind a large cairn to get out of the wind. I ate some smashed up potato chips to replenish the salt I’d lost sweating, ate a pack of cookies, and gulped down more water. I then dropped down the Osgood Trail to Osgood Junction, in order to get on the Parapet Trail, another talus covered trail that loops around the south side of Madison’s cone. The Osgood Trail is part of the New Hampshire Appalachian trail and I met a SOBO thru-hiker named Otter on the way down.

The Osgood Trail drops down the southern side of Mt Madison

By now I was running out of water, so I was eager to get to the Madison Hut and resupply. But the going on the Parapet Trail was pretty rough and I was forced to gingerly pick my way through a maze of boulders, all the while glancing down into the maw of Madison Gulf. The trail entered krumholz (dwarf sized trees) and began to moderate, still concentration was required maintain a constant pace. I sipped my last water as I passed the trailhead to the Madison Gulf Trail, which drops 2.6 miles down the front of Madison to the bottom the Great Gulf, the giant glacial valley below Madison, Adams, Jefferson, and Washington.

Above treeline trails are mostly boulders with cairns marking the trail. Shown here, the Parapet Trail which loops around the southern side of the Madison summit cone

I passed the Parapet, the rocky prow that overlooks Madison Gulf, situated just south of Star Lake, a small Alpine Tarn between Mt Adams and Mount Madison. The Madison Hut (and water) were just 0.2 miles away. I wondered if the kitchen would be selling snacks to passing hikers, a welcome custom that I like to indulge in when I visit the hut.

Madison Gulf below The Parapet

Indeed they were. There were free leftover eggs and oatmeal, along with cinnamon cookies and walnut browies. But I spied a plate of leftover cinnamon buns and chose the largest one for a snack, dropping two bucks into the kitty in thanks. I quaffed a few cups of cold lemonade, also for sale, and refilled my water bottles, eager to get below treeline again.

You see, I’d also checked the forecast, which is prominently displayed in all the AMC huts, and saw that there was a chance of afternoon thunderstorms. It was still early in the day, just about noon, but the stratus clouds I’d seen in the morning were giving way to towering anvil clouds, a warning of things to come.

I finished my snack and departed, hiking around the north side of Madison and back down the Pine Link Trail the way I’d come that morning. It still took me three hours to descend and  I was grateful to get down without any sign of thunder.

Despite the heat and humidity, I’d still had a glorious time above-treeline and felt my mood soar. From there, I headed to my campsite for a handheld shower and a cold brew before dinner and bed.

Mt Madison via Pine Link Tr and the Parapet Tr (click for interactive map on Caltopo.)

Total Distance: 9.5 miles with 4500′ of elevation gain.

           

from Sectionhiker.com http://ift.tt/2bUjxk3