Greetings Friends, Happy New Year!
Inflation is still painfully high, and the stock market took a 2022 battering, but we have alternative options. For Smart Women Smart Money, I spoke with Veronica Dagher, Wall Street Journal personal finance reporter and author of the WSJ ebook, Resilience. How 20 Ambitious Women Used Obstacles to Fuel Their Success. Veronica highlighted government-backed Series I savings bonds, a conservative, safe investment that rises and falls with inflation. Right now, Series I bonds are outperforming the best high-yield savings accounts and certificates of deposit. Veronica told me: “If you have some extra cash lying around and aren’t sure of where to invest it, know that countless people poured some of their money into I-Bonds this year. These inflation-adjusted U.S. savings bonds will earn a 6.89% annual rate for six months, starting Nov. 1, 2022. The interest rate on I Bonds is recalculated every six months. You buy them directly from TreasuryDirect.gov and can generally invest up to $10,000 a year. There’s a 12-month lock up period so if you’ll need to be comfortable with that.”
On another frontier, I joined CNN to discuss fallout from the Georgia special U.S. Senate election last month. The disappointing results showed how Republicans are asleep at the wheel when it comes to mastering voting rules in a post-COVID era.
We also discussed the U.S. Supreme Court’s opening hearing of the case 303 Creative LLC v. Elenis. In this dispute about public accommodations vs. the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, it’s clear that ruling on the side of free speech is the right approach.
For Daily Caller, I wrote about a disheartening move by the Associated Press, which blocks journalists from using the phrase “heartbeat bills” when writing about abortion. The AP is now telling reporters: "Use the term cardiac activity instead." This dehumanizing, polarizing approach by the AP embraces the pro-abortion messaging of a Democrat-donating OBGYN organization, in contrast with a pro-life OBGYN group which takes a different viewpoint.
Last year, for NBC Opinion about GETTR, a rising social media platform now with 7 million users. I had fun winning the “GETTR's Got Talent” holiday talent show last month, playing my favorite Christmas song, “O, Holy Night.” You can watch a violin snippet here.
In the spirit of the holidays, I wrote also for Daily Caller about what Jesus means for the world, for Christians and non-Christians alike: How we shape 2023 depends on our worldview. If we view others as Jesus taught, the world will be a more honest, loving, compassionate and peaceful place. We’ll look at others, no matter their broken circumstances, with compassion and clarity.
For those suffering, we won’t hold back ways to rejuvenate their souls. If we enter 2023 lowly bending before God in a posture of humility, we’ll freely give and receive the grace and mercy Jesus taught.
Wishing every blessing to you and yours in 2023!
-Carrie Sheffield