April 21, 2026  • By Dennis Beaver

There is a time when “tough love” isn’t appropriate. And when a spouse, family member or friend is dealing with the consequences of bladder cancer, that is certainly not what is called for.

While space limits any in-depth description, bladder cancer can go from something that is easily treated, to requiring removal of the bladder (cystectomy). Urine is then emptied in several ways, one of which is an ileal conduit (urostomy) diverting it to an external pouch the patient wears and empties several times a day. That is the basis of today’s story.

“Mr. Beaver, I am a member of a bladder cancer support group — all older, former military, as are many of our wives. Your recent articles on putting off estate planning are so relevant to people like us who suddenly face a world turned upside down, where a power of attorney for health care, and so many of the topics in your columns, are instantly important.

“We appreciate your compassion for the people you write about and would like you to discuss the emotional consequences of losing your bladder, and often other organs, to bladder cancer — and what family members and spouses need to understand.

“There are so many times when ‘tough love’ isn’t what we need. Often, those closest to us do not realize that when ‘accidents’ occur — and we leak or wake up soaked in our own urine — emotionally, we go from adult to a three-year-old in an instant, fighting to hold back tears. Thanks, ‘Teddy,’ Atlanta.”

I phoned Teddy. His story matches that of thousands of men and women, I’ve learned, who, like most of us, were focused on tomorrow — making plans for the future, putting savings to good use on a European cruise long envisioned, studying brochures, watching YouTube videos — when suddenly it all changed.

As Teddy described, “It all began when I stared at the toilet bowl and realized that I was urinating blood, a common first symptom of bladder cancer.”

“This led to the removal of my bladder, the surgeons creating ‘plumbing’ to collect urine,” Teddy told me on a speakerphone call with members of his support group. “It is the most unnatural thing you could ever envision. Suddenly, your life is changed in such a dramatic way.”

Other members of the group described their own grief and distress at losing control over their body:

“When I am alone, I look at myself in the mirror and cry, a hideous red bulge sticking out over which I have to place this pouch, change it twice a week and [use] a night bag in the evening.”

“They removed my prostate, making me less of a man. I am so ashamed of myself, and guilty of what I am putting my wife through. You can’t imagine how it feels when you are watching TV with your wife and feel wet. Anger, frustration — not again! And so you race to the bathroom, take off your clothing, throw everything in the tub, and get the materials ready to replace the pouch. I just hate it!”

I don’t want tough love

What moved me most of all during our lengthy conversation was the emotional disconnect from their wives, so I got in touch with Singapore-based psychotherapist Bernadette Chin, who has worked with bladder cancer patients.

I started our conversation by asking what ostomy and bladder cancer patients need most from their spouses or caregivers during difficult moments.

“The most crucial thing is a compassionate presence as opposed to an analytical, problem-solving presence,” she explained. In moments of shame and grief when an accident occurs, and the person is left soaked and vulnerable, they have an immense need for physical comfort, like a hug. They want help with cleaning up without any fuss, and to be surrounded by empathetic and validating smiles.

Tough love, or comments like, “just get over it,” amplify their shame, while a soft, gentle touch and an empathetic presence reinstates safety.

What other responses from partners feel hurtful or dismissive, even when well intentioned? Hearing, “be a man,” or “there are bigger issues,” can suggest your emotions and grief are being dismissed, Chin said, and can erode the bond of confidence between you as a couple.

One of her clients, a veteran, said that the advice from his wife to “pick yourself up by the bootstraps” was a gut punch — it resonated with the military conditioning that was present, while also being ignorant of the fact that he felt helpless.

We also discussed the dynamic shifts in marriages with military backgrounds or “tough it out” communication styles. “These couples many times thrive on the value of stoicism, yet when it comes to facing the life situation of having undergone a cystectomy, it flips the script,” she told me.

When a “strong” partner becomes dependent, this creates a role reversal that can foster an emotional withdrawal or resentment. Men may hide accidents from their spouses as a way of protection, Chin explained, and this creates secrecy and emotional distance within the relationship.

“In military background couples, the element of being highly independent clashes with their sense of vulnerability. However, with therapy, many are able to reframe this emotional vulnerability so that it becomes a shared strength.”

I am here with you

What else can help those who’ve lost their bodily autonomy? Patients often talk about losing their dignity, Chin said. This loss can often lead to depression, anxiety and withdrawal from intimacy.

But the process of rebuilding their identity can be broken down into simple steps. One of those steps is the use of mindfulness — staying anchored in the “now” rather than dwelling on the past or worrying about the future, she explained. “It is also very important that the spouse demonstrates the same acceptance.”

And how can spouses and partners show up better, even when they don’t know what to say? “Listen and don’t try to fix,” Chin said. “You can do much when you say, ‘I am here with you.’ It could be a calming hand on the shoulder in silence that supports and is a form of consolation more than all the words.”

Bernadette Chin’s website is www.innerchildclinic.com and is well worth spending some time on.

Dennis Beaver Practices law in Bakersfield and welcomes comments and questions from readers,
which may be faxed to (661) 323-7993,
or e-mailed to Lagombeaver1 – at – Gmail.com.

The post We’ve Survived Bladder Cancer, But Live With the Effects of Surgery. Tough Love Isn’t What We Need appeared first on Dennis Beaver.

April 14, 2026  • By Dennis Beaver

For anyone going out on their own to start a small business, having appropriate business insurance is critical. Even more so is knowing the rules of fair competition.

“Mr. Beaver, my husband, Jerry, has learned the landscaping trade since graduating from high school, by working for a landscaping company in town. He plans to open his own business, offer jobs to several of the people he has worked with and then advertise that he now has his own company. Jerry and his boss never signed any type of an employment contract.

“I am worried. Jerry doesn’t care about having business insurance and said it would be too expensive for us now. Would you please do a story on why skipping business insurance can be a huge mistake?

“I think it would wake up my snoring husband, and in addition to obtaining insurance, he needs to discuss his business plans with an attorney. Thanks, ‘Caroline.'”

‘We can’t afford it right now’ often proves to be a false economy

I ran Caroline’s question by veteran insurance agency principal Karl Susman, president of Susman Insurance Agency in California and a regular contributor to Kiplinger’s Adviser Intel.

I asked, “Why does someone like Jerry, who is going out on his own for the first time, need business insurance?”

“Jerry might be a great landscaper,” Susman noted, “but when insurance people hear, ‘We can’t afford it,’ as the reason for not obtaining small-business coverage, especially a new business owner, they know the reality is that anyone in Jerry’s situation can’t afford not to have it.”

He outlined the basic coverages that most small-business owners need. (Later in this article, I cover the risks Jerry faces if he tries to establish his landscaping firm the wrong way.)

Basic small-business insurance coverages

All it takes to seriously damage Jerry’s financial security is a personal injury claim from someone who says they tripped over a hose negligently left in the wrong place, Susman noted. Business insurance would protect Jerry. Without it, he would be facing potentially expensive litigation and medical bills.

Other coverages that protect small-business owners:

General liability insurance covers third-party claims of bodily injury, property damage and personal/advertising injury (such as libel) due to marketing activities.

Commercial property insurance protects rented/owned buildings, equipment, inventory and tools from damage or theft.

Workers’ compensation insurance is required in most states if you have employees. It covers medical expenses and lost wages for work‑related injuries.

If the employer does not have workers’ comp insurance, the employer would be personally liable for medical bills and could face criminal prosecution.

Business income/interruption insurance kicks in when a disaster interrupts operations and leads to lost income. Lacking insurance to cover ongoing expenses can result in permanent closure.

Professional liability insurance (errors and omissions) is extremely important for service‑based businesses and will handle claims of negligence or mistakes made during the performance of professional services.

For example, if Jerry’s employee damages a customer’s irrigation system, resulting in a flood that destroys property, errors and omissions coverage could save Jerry’s business from a costly lawsuit.

Commercial auto insurance is required for vehicles used for business purposes to cover accidents, damage or injuries. Personal vehicles used for business purposes are generally not covered by the owner’s insurance.

Cyber liability insurance is critical for businesses that handle customer data — for example, credit card numbers or driver’s license numbers. It protects in the event of data breaches or cyberattacks.

Why skipping insurance is a false economy

So, why would a business owner not have insurance? Susman said that insurance agents hear the following excuses, “often after it is too late”:

It’s too expensive. This argument is false economy. When you compare the cost of litigation, property damage or employee injury, to list a few, with the expense of business insurance, the insurance premiums would cost far less.

It’s not going to happen to us. That type of thinking is fine, until it isn’t. The cost of not having insurance is almost always higher than the cost of having it.

Legal issues facing anyone in Jerry’s situation

I ran the issue of Jerry competing against a former employer by a friend of this column, Southern California labor and employment attorney Jay Rosenlieb, who “sees these kinds of situations fairly often,” and underscored that, “yes, Jerry is free to open his own landscaping company, but he may not engage in unfair competition.”

Rosenlieb set out what that means:

Even though Jerry has a right to compete in the landscaping field, he may not use his employer’s confidential information — such as a marketing plan, pricing, confidential employee information — customer lists, compensation and benefits information, internal operational guidelines.

While they are still employed by his former employer, Jerry should not recruit coworkers or discuss plans that encourage them to leave, as even casual conversations could be viewed as solicitation if there is a suggestion to “come and work for me at my company.”

Jerry should not use company time, phones or email to plan his business.

After leaving a former employer

Rosenlieb stresses the importance that, once he leaves his employer, “Jerry (should) not give the impression that he is raiding his former employer’s people.” He can, however, “announce his new business with ads, a website and on social media, and then former coworkers can reach out on their own. Directly contacting them could be seen as unfair competition.”

I asked Rosenlieb if Jerry should simply open up and discuss his plans with his employer. What would be the risk of that?

“Dennis, as Jerry has worked since high school for the employer, feelings could be very, very touchy, winding up with Jerry fired on the spot. It is a huge risk.”

The takeaway

To attorney Rosenlieb, “American business thrives on competition — on fair competition. Jerry is one fortunate husband, as his wife sees her husband’s need for business insurance.

“Before doing anything, (he should) arrange a consultation with a business attorney to help save him from costly mistakes that I have, unfortunately, seen impact marriages far too often.”

Dennis Beaver Practices law in Bakersfield and welcomes comments and questions from readers,
which may be faxed to (661) 323-7993,
or e-mailed to Lagombeaver1 – at – Gmail.com.

The post Wake Up, Jerry: Your Wife Wants You to Stop Snoring and Read This Before Launching Your Landscaping Biz appeared first on Dennis Beaver.

April 7, 2026  • By Dennis Beaver

Today, I’m sharing two inspiring stories that I think will help motivate college students looking to have an impact on society as they embark on their careers.

This article is in response to a request I received from Professor Deborah Cours, dean of the College of Business and Public Administration and executive director of the Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation at California State University, Bakersfield, California:

“Mr. Beaver, our students often ask about societally impactful inventions and ventures. You have interviewed many highly successful people. Do you have examples that are specifically relevant to university students looking to make their way in society that I could share with them?”

I’m happy to answer Dean Cours’ question. Over the years of writing this column, I’ve learned what it takes to turn an idea into something that matters, that has real — not hyperbolic, but real — societal impact.

For any entrepreneur, inspiration is important, but it’s only the beginning. Societally impactful ventures face a long process of turning those inspirations into something that people use, rely on and, in some instances, depend on to make better decisions.

I have two examples to share: One is a device you can easily hold in one hand that has the ability to both keep the owner out of jail and save a life at the same time.

The other is a book that can provide students with usable, practical insights into themselves and the world of employment.

So, what sparked the inventor’s and author’s recognition that a societal need existed, the equivalent of seeing someone in a wrestling match with their arms tied behind their back and feeling the need to free them?

‘I can fix this problem’

History has made clear that a common denominator in inventive creativity is the thought, “I can fix this problem. I can help.”

That is what Keith Nothacker, at the time a twentysomething University of Pennsylvania undergrad economics student, thought more than 20 years ago. The device he developed, of which hundreds of thousands have been sold in over 20 countries, has saved countless lives and kept a vast number of its users out of jail.

Most of us know someone who has been pulled over by law enforcement, suspected of driving under the influence of alcohol (DUI). They are asked to blow into a breathalyzer to measure their blood alcohol content (BAC).

If the resulting number is over their state’s limit (most often, .08), typically it’s off to the slammer for a few hours, a fine to rival the size of our national debt and auto insurance rates through the roof for years, not to mention the possibility of losing their driver’s license.

“It seemed so unfair that the general public had no way to measure their own BAC and, knowing that figure, make an informed decision to not drive,” Nothacker told me.

He was asking the key question that led to some of the most meaningful ventures ever started: “Why does this problem exist?”

He wondered why consumers couldn’t purchase a personal breathalyzer, and how he could make that happen.”

Answering those questions, with help from a team of Penn colleagues, led to the development the BACtrack family of personal breathalyzers.

Of the many entrepreneurs I have interviewed over the years, Nothacker stands out as someone who has directly impacted many people, saving lives, marriages and families.

He can help you get and keep a job

Here’s another example of societally impactful innovation I’ve encountered.

Getting hired today and keeping a job is not a given.

Job-related advice is offered everywhere, but the advice provided by William Vanderbloemen, founder and CEO of Vanderbloemen Search Group and author of Be the Unicorn: 12 Data-Driven Habits that Separate the Best Leaders from the Rest, is among the best I’ve seen.

In his book, Vanderbloemen zeros in on life and business personality characteristics that lead to success on the job — even in marriage — and explains how to implement them. He helps readers avoid common pitfalls that lead to being fired and, instead, become the most-sought-after person on their team.

Had I been able to read Be the Unicorn at the time I joined the working world, I would have made fewer dumb mistakes. This book can help Dean Cours’ students avoid the quicksand of their minds and keep clear of what can cause failure on the job.

I can’t overemphasize the value of Be the Unicorn and its companion book, Work How You Are Wired, which avoids the nonsense advice of “follow your passion,” providing a data-backed method for discovering your unique “wiring,” your innate strengths and the roles where you will excel and find purpose.

The takeaway for the dean’s students

Several of their employees told me that Nothacker and Vanderbloemen — as accomplished as they are — remain humble, and success hasn’t gone to their heads.

They recognize in their bosses a deep sense of wanting to help and not being motivated by money. Many noted that these two “brilliant, inspiring men make coming to work a true joy.”

Dennis Beaver Practices law in Bakersfield and welcomes comments and questions from readers,
which may be faxed to (661) 323-7993,
or e-mailed to Lagombeaver1 – at – Gmail.com.

The post These Real-World Examples of Societal Impact Can Inspire College Students for Their Next Chapter appeared first on Dennis Beaver.

April 1, 2026  • By Dennis Beaver

“Mr. Beaver, unlike a lot of older Americans, my parents do not fear retirement, because they realize the physical demands on their bodies from running the family farm are now too much for them,” wrote “Roy” in his email.

“Over the past several months, I’ve given them several so-called ‘bestsellers’ on retirement advice. Books that proclaim, ‘This is the only book you’ll ever need,’ and that overflow with charts, formulas and enough gobbledygook to replace sleeping pills! Mom and Dad didn’t read any of them.

“Do you know of something that is different, that they will enjoy reading and that will actually help them through this next stage of their lives?”

Yes, I do indeed, and a few days before hearing from Roy, I had the pleasure of speaking with the authors of a retirement book that is like no other. No, Your Retirement Sketchbook is something else entirely that folks looking at retirement have needed for a long time.

The authors, Jamie Hopkins and Bonnie Treichel, are not your typical financial writers (they are also Kiplinger.com contributors). Hopkins is a Wall Street Journal bestselling author, attorney and CFP®. Treichel, also an attorney, is a nationally recognized retirement expert and educator.

What I find remarkable is their ability to translate complex concepts into plain English without dumbing anything down — they do this in their book, and they did it during our Zoom interview.

A retirement book that doesn’t lecture or scold readers

Many of the retirement books I’ve read talk at you, often leaving readers feeling overwhelmed, guilty or convinced they’re behind.

Your Retirement Sketchbook is different. It’s visually engaging, easy to navigate and written in a tone that feels more like a conversation than a lecture.

Your Retirement Sketchbook talks with you, in a visual form, as a workbook and not a textbook. Instead of long chapters, there are short, manageable lessons — each only a page or two and designed to trigger thought and evaluation. Readers can avoid feeling the all-too-familiar “Oh my God, we haven’t done this” panic.

The tone is conversational. You feel like you’re sitting with two knowledgeable professionals who are listening to you and who understand that retirement planning is as much emotional as it is financial.

Literally hands-on and thought-provoking

As the title indicates, Your Retirement Sketchbook is a workbook, with prompts, questions, spaces to write and exercises that help you think through what you actually want your life to look like after you stop working. What will your goals be then?

These goals — not investment goals, your life goals — matter more than many people realize. For example:

• Where do you want to live?
• How do you want to spend your time?
• Who do you want to spend your time with?
• What do you want your typical days to look like?

Many retirement books avoid these questions, seeming to assume that if you get the math right, the life part will magically fall into place. But experienced financial planners will tell you that the math is the easy part. The hard part is figuring out what you want your life to be.

That’s where Your Retirement Sketchbook really comes through. In a subtle, at times humorous way, it encourages you to think about the things that actually matter.

The authors walk readers through the emotional transition from a structured work life to an unstructured retirement — something many people underestimate until they’re living it.

What can derail an otherwise sound retirement?

My office has represented many physicians who did not have to retire when they did — despite my urging them not to — and who had nothing waiting for them in the wings.

After months of watching Netflix, several were bored out of their minds and fell into a serious depression. They were proof that the biggest challenges are often psychological.

The authors list these four challenges as among the most serious that derail retirements, not whether someone chose the right mutual fund:

• Loss of identity
• Loss of routine
• Loss of purpose
• Loss of social connections

Many retirement books devote most of their pages to money and little to the emotional side of retirement. Your Retirement Sketchbook views emotional readiness as being as equally important as financial readiness.

The authors stress that retirement is a major life transition requiring introspection, planning and honesty with yourself and your family.

What makes this book so different?

I suspect there is something about the authors — both experienced trial attorneys — that has had a major impact on how this wonderful little book came into existence.

Practicing law is an exercise in discovering the intricacies of the human condition — what makes us tick, and it is a lot more than numbers in an investment account.

The authors recognize that folks looking toward retirement need confidence and a sense of purpose. They help readers design a retirement that reflects their values, dreams and priorities by getting them to devote time to think about these issues and, in sketchbook form, write them down.

If you’re looking for a book that will tell you the percentage of your portfolio that should be in bonds, this isn’t it. But if you want a book that will help you understand yourself, your goals and the kind of life you want to build in retirement, this is one of the best resources available that I have found.

In a world full of retirement books, many of which tend to sound the same, Your Retirement Sketchbook is truly different. Many retirement books make you fear running out of money. Few caution you about running out of purpose.

Dennis Beaver Practices law in Bakersfield and welcomes comments and questions from readers,
which may be faxed to (661) 323-7993,
or e-mailed to Lagombeaver1 – at – Gmail.com.

The post Your Retirement Needs a Sketchbook, Not Just a Spreadsheet: This Book Focuses on Your Life Goals Rather Than the Math appeared first on Dennis Beaver.

March 24, 2026  • By Dennis Beaver

Imagine your spouse or adult child asks, “I am not trying to bother you, but don’t you think it is time to sit down with someone and develop a financial and estate plan?”

Will your reply be one of the following?

• “Things need to settle down first.”
• “Our situation is complicated, so I need to set aside a real block of time.”
• “The business is our retirement plan.”
• “We’re healthy. We have time.”

When I ran these ever-so-common situations by a friend of this column, author and regular Kiplinger contributor Cosmo DeStefano — I recently chatted with him about his book Wealth Your Way — he laughed, only it wasn’t because any of these excuses are truly humorous.

“Things never fully settle down,” he said. “That ‘real block of time’ will never materialize. The complexity becomes the excuse. Yes, the family business can become your retirement plan, but only if it can be sold, transferred or wound down in an orderly way, which requires an estate plan.

“Finally, the unexpected health crisis does not announce itself months ahead of time with a knock on your door and someone saying, ‘You need a durable power of attorney for health care.'”

Meet Rick and Linda

For over two decades, my clients, “Rick and Linda,” both 55, have built one of the most respected disaster remediation franchises in the Western United States.

Flooded basements, smoke-damaged kitchens, mold-infested walls — whatever havoc life inflicts on a home, the high school sweethearts and their crew, most of whom have been with them for years, show up, work fast and are professional and thorough.

They clean up other people’s disasters for a living, treating their employees like members of the family, a testimony to their character.

Their own disaster, however, has been quietly building in the background. They have a million-dollar business, a sizable estate, several adult children and exactly zero estate planning documents in place.

No wills. No buy-sell agreement. No powers of attorney. No life insurance structure.

I have raised these issues with them, and their answer is always the same: “We know, we know. We just haven’t had the time.”

The high cost of ‘we just haven’t had the time’

DeStefano notes that “the cost of delay for a 55-year-old business owner with significant assets and a large family is not abstract. It is specific, measurable and often irreversible.” He gave some examples:

No wills or trust. If you die without a will, your state more or less writes one for you. It will not reflect your wishes, it will not protect your children with special needs or your business partner, and it will likely earn a hefty fee for your attorney because of probate. The court fees could be very high.

Likewise, without a trust, assets aren’t protected, wishes aren’t followed, and your preferred heirs could be disinherited.

No buy-sell agreement. Without a buy-sell agreement, your spouse may become an involuntary business partner with your employees or co-owners. It happens every day, taking a wrecking ball to businesses and families simultaneously.

No life insurance structure. A million-dollar business can trigger significant estate tax exposure. Without proper planning, your heirs could be forced to fire-sell the business to pay the IRS. Often, these kinds of under-pressure sales happen at a fraction of the business’ value and at the worst possible time.

No health care proxy or power of attorney. A sudden illness or accident creates more than a medical crisis. Without these documents, a legal and financial crisis can follow, often requiring court intervention at enormous expense and emotional cost.

The remedy is easier than you think

“The initial meeting with an estate attorney and a financial planner,” DeStefano assures, “is typically two to three hours. That is it. You talk, you share some basic financial information, and the professionals take it from there. They do the heavy lifting.

“You do not need a ‘real block of time.’ You just need an appointment — and to be absolutely candid and open about all of your finances.”

So, how do you find a good financial planner and estate attorney? One way is to ask your CPA or other professionals you already know for a referral.

My approach, with my clients in the office, is to pick up the phone and call people I know, from experience, do a competent job, have compassion and good listening skills and make an appointment right then.

If they protest and say, “Dennis, please, I can call when I am ready,” my reply is, “Yes, I know you can, but you won’t. Now, you have the appointment. Please keep it. Your family and your employees will thank you.

“If you must reschedule, that’s OK. Just don’t waste my colleagues’ time by not showing up and not calling to cancel or reschedule.”

The takeaway

It is easy to see why DeStefano’s Wealth Your Way has become a bestseller. He cares, and he wrapped up our discussion with some down-to-earth commonsense advice:

“Dennis, no one is ever too busy to prevent a disaster. They are just not yet motivated enough to act before one arrives. Rick and Linda have spent 20 years making sure everyone else’s disaster gets cleaned up. Maybe it’s time for them to spend a few hours making sure their own never happens.”

Dennis Beaver Practices law in Bakersfield and welcomes comments and questions from readers,
which may be faxed to (661) 323-7993,
or e-mailed to Lagombeaver1 – at – Gmail.com.

The post Think You’re Too Busy to Do an Estate Plan? In 3 Hours (Seriously), You Could Save Your Heirs Months (or Years) of Stress and Heartache appeared first on Dennis Beaver.

March 16, 2026  • By Dennis Beaver

Once upon a time in a galaxy far, far away, e-mailed invoices became common, and business leaders, CPAs with calculators and company owners rubbed their hands together with glee.

“Just think of all the postage we are going to save. Time to break out the bonuses,” said one recent MBA graduate.

“Not so fast,” said his father. “I foresee real problems.”

And, as is so often true, Father knew best.

‘Before email billing, we never had a problem’

“Mr. Beaver, my wife and I are retired university journalism professors who moved about 100 miles away from the college town where we taught, but remain ‘news junkies’ and subscribe to several newspapers and magazines that are delivered by a third-party delivery service.

“This worked out very well for years — until just a few weeks ago, when we got a rather sarcastic-sounding phone call from a collections office, asking when we planned on paying the many-months-old bill for newspapers,” the email from “Nick” began.

When he called them back, he said he asked, “‘What are you talking about?’ Implying that we are thieves, Miss Friendly said that we had not paid the newspaper delivery service for all of 2026.

“Let me research this, and I will call you right back,” I told her, but she’d already hung up. “We looked for the invoices and could find none for 2026. I called the company, and they said they’d gone to an email-only billing system, though they did not notify customers. We looked in our spam folder, but we saw no bills there.

“I had them mail those bills, which we immediately paid. In talking with neighbors, we learned they also use that delivery service, and several had had the same experience.

“We still receive our utility, credit card, health insurance, life insurance and most other monthly bills the old-fashioned way — by the U.S. Postal Service. Can you explain why so many other merchants and vendors seem to be too cheap to pay for postage and are willing to subject their customers to accusations of trying to avoid paying their bills?

“What can the average person do to prevent this embarrassment and waste of time?”

When did email invoicing become common?

Over the past 15 to 20 years, email has become the way many businesses send customers their bills. This shift began in the mid-2000s as companies moved away from fax machines and snail mail. By the 2010s, most industries relied on emailed PDFs as their primary billing method.

While email invoicing is fast and inexpensive, it also introduces risks that some consumers and small businesses do not fully understand. And to the thousands of folks who are ripped off by invoice scams, this is the very definition of “penny wise and pound foolish.”

Several stages leading to trouble

There were several stages as email became mainstream for many business communications, including billing.

Stage 1 (late 1990s to early 2000s). As PDFs became a universal format, many companies, most commonly tech or cost-conscious businesses, began attaching invoices to emails instead of mailing or faxing them.

Stage 2 (the mid 2000s). Emailing invoices became the norm for many small and midsize businesses. Cloud accounting platforms (QuickBooks Online, FreshBooks, Xero) even made “email invoice” a default selection.

Stage 3 (the 2010s). Most industries had shifted to email invoicing as the standard.

Stage 4 (the 2020s). Many countries now require electronic billing for tax compliance, fraud mitigation, transparency and the reduction of paper use.

Common problems caused by email invoicing

Emailing invoices has, from what I have seen, created far more problems — and ripped off more people — than using the U.S. Post Office ever has. When was the last time that, when opening your email, you did not find a fake bill for something you never ordered?

These are a few of the more common problems caused by emailing invoices:

Spam filtering and lost emails. Invoices often land in folders for spam, promotions or junk mail. Also, some firewalls block attachments entirely, resulting in customers never seeing the bills to begin with.

No proof of delivery or confirmation that the email was opened. Most inboxes provide no proof that the recipient opened or received the invoice. Optional “read receipts” are often disabled. This can create “we sent it” vs “never got it!” payment disputes.

Also, if duplicate invoices are sent, customers could pay the bill twice.

Fraud, spoofing and phishing. Email is a major source of invoice fraud. Customers receive emails that look like they’re from someone they do business with, but if they click on the attachment, their private data can be compromised.

Security and privacy risks. Email is not inherently secure, and sensitive financial data may be exposed if emails are forwarded improperly.

You want the bill mailed? You have that right

Businesses generally have no legal right to insist on emailing your bills unless you previously agreed to electronic-only communication — for example, by signing a service agreement that specifies e-billing.

The billing method is a customer preference, not a legal requirement. You can choose how you want to receive a bill.

Paper billing is still a standard practice for plumbing, HVAC and electrical work.

I must underscore that many automatic e-billing systems have a “deselect e-mail and use the U.S. Postal Service” feature. You just have to look for it.

I would also recommend sending a short, polite request that says something like, “Please send invoices by the U.S. Postal Service only. Do not email billing documents. Also, please update my customer record to reflect this preference and confirm that future billing will be sent by mail only.”

Dennis Beaver Practices law in Bakersfield and welcomes comments and questions from readers,
which may be faxed to (661) 323-7993,
or e-mailed to Lagombeaver1 – at – Gmail.com.

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March 9, 2026  • By Dennis Beaver

If your travels bring you to my town, and you’d like a great cup of espresso and a dose of neighbors acting un-neighborly, please drop by our office.

While I fix the coffee, my wife, Anne, will hand you a box filled with emails, photos, video clips and frustrating correspondence from readers who have begged neighbors to please trim or remove trees that pose an imminent, direct risk of harm.

Fans of Judge Judy will immediately see a parallel: Some dog owners — who left their dogs off leash and someone was bitten — remain in complete denial of all responsibility, despite clear evidence of fault.

They love their dogs and can’t grasp that their well-trained bundle of face-licking joy is still an animal who might not always be a good boy, and possibly, because of his breed, could be excluded from homeowners insurance coverage.

A eucalyptus that is taller than a nearby utility pole and transformer

I have often been asked for help by readers across the country who have tree issues with neighbors, and generally, we have a good outcome — when dealing with reasonable people. And then there are people like “Beth” who have stubborn neighbors.

“Mr. Beaver,” Beth wrote, “all of the old, classic houses on our block have been transformed into professional offices. We are across a narrow alley from ‘Rick.’

“Rick has a giant eucalyptus tree that is taller and less than four feet from a utility power pole with a high-voltage transformer on top. We retained a certified arborist whose report stated, ‘These are fragile trees, and, even without wind, they can often break and fall. If it does — and in the direction of the pole, wires and high-voltage transformer — an explosion and resultant fireball will endanger the neighborhood.’

“We sent Rick a copy of the report in a polite text and offered, at our expense, to trim the tree, but Rick replied, in so many words, ‘Pound sand!’ What can we do?”

She sent me the text chain. Where she was polite and focused on the good of the neighborhood, Rick was just plain nasty. It made me angry, and I wondered how someone becomes so cynical and uncaring about his impact on his neighbors.
So, what can you do when dealing with neighbors who just do not care to protect even themselves?

You begin by proving their negligence

First, we need to eliminate the “act of God” defense insurance companies often raise that goes something like this: “So sorry, but this was an act of God that could not have been predicted, and the insurer is not responsible.”

Until that happens (don’t hold your breath), this is what you can do on your end: Create a paper trail showing that your neighbor was notified about the tree’s dangerous condition. Follow these steps:

1. Speak to your neighbor.

When you speak with them, give them a polite letter that could resolve the issue without further action. It should explain your concerns about the hazard the tree poses to your property and the neighborhood’s safety.

You’ll also want to talk to them outside, where you can point to the specific tree. If possible, ask a family member or friend to video the discussion, unseen, so you have proof that the discussion occurred. (It is legal to do this.)

While you’re talking, adopt the attitude, “If something were to happen, consider that your homeowners insurance will try to deny coverage and say that you, personally, have to pay for the damage, and my letter will show them that you were on notice and not trying to deny being aware of the issue.”

This protects you significantly because you’ll have proof that you let the neighbor know about the hazard, and while they disagreed, they can’t claim ignorance of the issue.

2. Document everything.

Take photos and video that clearly show the tree’s defects — overhanging dead branches, significant lean, visible fungus/decay.

3. Hire a certified arborist.

You should hire someone who has a tree risk assessment qualification (TRAQ) and ask them to do a Tree Risk Assessment Report that identifies the tree as a “hazard.” This is a powerful tool for establishing negligence.

4. Obtain two to three written estimates for the cost of trimming or tree removal.

This will show your neighbor the exact financial scope. Maybe let them know that they will look like miserly cheapskates should the issue wind up in the newspaper or on the local news. (If your neighbor is strapped for cash, offer to help cover the cost of the trimming or removal.)

5. Bring the issue to the attention of local media.

They love stories like these and often enjoy getting involved in a way that resolves an infuriating safety issue like this.

6. Notify county/city code enforcement and your local energy supplier.

Many municipalities have ordinances that require homeowners to manage hazardous conditions on private property. Getting someone to actually do something might be a long shot, but it’s worth a try.

The takeaway: Your best bet is to bring this issue to the attention of your neighbor. That way, the insurance company can’t claim your ignorance as a basis to avoid accepting the claim.

Trees add beauty and value to our homes, and we need to take care of them, especially when they become a danger to our homes and neighbors. After all, a tree that falls onto a transformer and catches fire could wipe out an entire neighborhood, not to mention kill people.

And since I don’t like to end on a negative note, consider this: We owe it to our trees — especially beautiful trees that provide shade in summer — to care for them. We also owe our neighbors protection from anything that could harm them.

Trees, and other beautiful vegetation, existed before mankind and will hopefully remain on this earth long after we’re gone. Give them a chance at survival — inhibit their tendency to lose a limb — and Mother Nature will reward us.

Dennis Beaver Practices law in Bakersfield and welcomes comments and questions from readers,
which may be faxed to (661) 323-7993,
or e-mailed to Lagombeaver1 – at – Gmail.com.

The post What Can You Do When Your Neighbor’s Tree Is a Danger to the Neighborhood? appeared first on Dennis Beaver.

March 3, 2026  • By Dennis Beaver

“Vincent’s” tone of voice sounded urgent: “Mr. Beaver, I run a construction company in the Pacific Northwest, and we are facing a situation that I hope you can help us with.

“I’ve read your column in Kiplinger for years and recall two stories where you pulled rabbits out of a hat, convincing people to do the right thing.

“In one, you persuaded a badly near-sighted carpenter to get a pair of eyeglasses (Can an Employer Fire an Employee for Not Wearing Glasses?), and in the other, a married father with a young daughter refused to wear a motorcycle helmet (Employee Refuses to Wear a Motorcycle Helmet: Can He Be Fired?). You spoke with him, and he actually sold the bike!

“I hope you can work your persuasive magic with ‘Nicole,’ our wonderful-to-work-with 45-year-old crane operator. She has hearing aids but won’t wear them! Adequate hearing is crucial for recognizing warnings, such as horns, sirens and shouted instructions, on noisy job sites.

“Nicole is becoming a risk to other employees who work with her. Her family tells me about serious communication issues at home, and she is the family’s breadwinner, earning over $80,000 a year. Finding a high-paying job like hers, in our area, isn’t easy.

“Maybe you can get through to her — and, by the way, everybody in the office, including Nicole, reads your column, because I print each week’s story and leave it in our break room, so you would not be a stranger to her. You are my last hope.”

I agreed to try, but first I needed to understand the dynamics of someone in Nicole’s shoes and find out how I could enlist her family as a tool for change.

For the record, simply having a hearing impairment is not grounds for termination under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), but that protection is not absolute. An employer could fire a crane operator for refusing to wear hearing aids if it created a “direct threat” to safety that cannot be eliminated through reasonable accommodation.

How do you motivate someone with a hearing problem to get help?

I spoke with Dr. Greta Stamper, a clinical and research audiologist and chair of the Audiology Division at the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Florida.

“How do you begin the conversation with someone who might or might not recognize their hearing problem?” I asked her. “Also, how do you motivate them to get help, or even wear hearing aids if they already have them?”

“The problem needs to be identified before there can be any motivation to do something about it,” she said, and suggested an approach using these or similar questions:

• Have you noticed that you are struggling to hear me or don’t notice when the microwave beeps?

• Remember last week at the meat market when they called your name, but you didn’t respond?

• When we are watching TV, you turn the volume really high and use closed captioning. You never did this before. Why do you think you do it now?

“Once you have their attention,” Stamper said, “if they’ve never had their hearing evaluated, then suggest, ‘This might be a good time for a hearing evaluation.’ If they already have hearing aids, ask, ‘Can you help me understand why you don’t want to wear them?'”

Stamper added, “It is important to discover the why — the obstacle stopping them from addressing their hearing issues. Some people do not see a problem. For others, there is a perceived stigma of aging. Without some internal motivation to move forward, it is unlikely that anything will change.”

Behind the scenes with Nicole’s family

Vincent, the reader who reached out about Nicole’s issue, cares deeply about his employees and their families. He arranged a Zoom session for Nicole’s parents and me the day following my interview with Stamper.

For over an hour, they poured out their hearts about the daughter who is their sole source of support. They clearly love her and are worried about what would happen if she lost her job, but they have no idea why she is refusing to wear hearing aids.

I asked them to describe her demeanor when arguments break out, as they do in every family. “How does Nicole react when this happens? Does she participate? Think of her body language. Is she involved in the argument or discussion? Describe her facial expressions. Do family arguments seem to frighten her?”

“Yes, always. The louder we talk, the more upset it makes her,” Nicole’s mother replied.

They gave me a clue. It was time to speak with Nicole.

Zooming with Nicole — it’s all about the noise

The afternoon of February 25, it was a chilly 40 degrees in much of the Pacific Northwest, where Vincent’s company is located. It was 75 here in Bakersfield, California. Within minutes, some of our Southern California warmth made its way into Vincent’s office, where Nicole was on our Zoom call.

“Vincent wants you to convince me to wear hearing aids, right, Mr. Beaver?” she asked.

“Partially correct, Nicole. Partially. And with your help, we are going to make a whole bunch of people as happy as can be, beginning with you, because I think I know why you don’t want to wear hearing aids. Noise — loud, aimless, jarring sounds drive you up a wall, right?”

“How did you know, Mr. Beaver? It’s true! I hate those hearing aids when my family gets into yelling contests, and when I wear them on job sites, it feel like my head is in a metal trash can and someone is banging on it with a hammer.”

“Nicole, our office has several clients who have recently purchased hearing aids with noise-reducing AI technology, and they just love them. I know for sure that Vincent will buy them for you, so please ask him to join us.”

She found Vincent and brought him back into his office, and I briefed him on what he could do for Nicole, her family and his company. He agreed.

I’ll keep you in the loop on what happens next.

Dennis Beaver Practices law in Bakersfield and welcomes comments and questions from readers,
which may be faxed to (661) 323-7993,
or e-mailed to Lagombeaver1 – at – Gmail.com.

The post How a Simple Clue Unlocked a Workplace Safety Crisis: All We Had to Do Was Listen appeared first on Dennis Beaver.

February 24, 2026  • By Dennis Beaver

When several contract medical professionals at a major West Coast health care center were informed they would be required — and not paid — to attend a six-hour OSHA safety course, plus a one-hour in-house course on email phishing, I heard about it from multiple people. Needless to say, they were not happy, so they complained to management.

But it gets worse. One of the people who reached out to me wrote that after the complaints, “The CFO announced, ‘We figured a way around that. We’ll just have our intermediary log on and take the test(s).’ That’s not only (deceptive), but identity theft! Dennis, can you imagine that?”

Yes, I sure can. It looks like this: “Will the responsible person please raise their hand? Good. Now, go home, grab a toothbrush and kiss your family goodbye, because you might be going away for quite some time.”

This situation is perplexing for another reason: These medical professionals can each easily generate $2 million in revenue yearly, sometimes far more. So requiring them to pay for the required courses leads me to conclude that management was standing behind the door when common sense was handed out.

When your family doctor is owned by private equity

Do you have a family doctor? Probably not in the sense of a doctor who has her own general practice right downtown, is her own boss and makes her own medical decisions about your family’s welfare. It’s likely that a private equity firm, “Big Medicine” (what I’m calling the firm that owns the health care center I’m writing about) purchased her practice, and she now works for, and is beholden to, their bottom line.

It is no secret that the major consolidation of physicians’ offices and regional medical facilities — especially in radiology and cancer treatment — has been linked to patient dissatisfaction and significantly higher rates of unhappiness and burnout among physicians.

Anyone who doubts that should check out the report The Harm from Private Equity’s Takeover of Medical Practices and Hospitals by Andrew Schlafly, general counsel for the Association of American Physicians & Surgeons.

One physician friend compared what is happening to American medicine as “a version of the 1958 movie The Blob, in which a gelatinous alien from a crashed meteor begins consuming everything in its path.” (It’s a great flick, by the way, and free to watch online.)

Mr. CFO, will you please talk to me?

Of course, I wanted to verify what my medical sources were saying, so I phoned the main office where they work and asked to speak with the CFO, but wouldn’t you know it? He was too busy. So, I left my number so he could call me when he had some time to talk, and it has been days with no return call.

Next, I called the headquarters of Big Medicine, reached its equivalent of a media spokesperson’s office and left a polite request for a callback. You can guess how that turned out. Very few corporate employees are going to admit to a journalist, “Yeah, we were going to commit the kind of fraud that could land one of us in the slammer.”

Analysis from a labor and employment attorney

Over the years, several labor and employment attorneys have become friends of this column, providing insight into job-related issues that have greatly helped my readers.

When I ran what I knew by “Kate,” in Dallas, she said, “It is difficult to believe that management would be so reckless to save a few dollars, have an employee fraudulently assume the identities of these physicians and take the tests.

“But stupid, cheapskate decisions by people who should know better pay (attorneys’) bills.” (Kate asked not to be identified so she could speak bluntly.)

I asked her, “Does it make a difference if the medical professionals were actual employees or working as independent contractors and their employment agreement specified they were responsible for the cost of all required government tests or continuing medical educational expenses?”

She had a commonsense answer. “What their contract specified is not the issue,” she replied. “Trying to commit fraud on OSHA and assuming the identities of the physicians — that is the essence of what could boomerang down hard on whoever came up with that idiotic idea.”

What the employers face

If the people at this business actually carry out this fraudulent plan, they might want to know that submitting false documentation to OSHA regarding employee safety training constitutes a willful violation that can lead to criminal prosecution, up to five years in prison and substantial fines of more than $156,000 per violation. Knowingly falsifying records regarding training is a federal crime.

Whistleblower protections for reporting fake OSHA compliance

You would be surprised at the number of business owners we have briefly had as clients who were little more than crooks with a city business license, where providing safety equipment or being truthful on CAL-OSHA filings was seen as merely optional.

When employees discover these shenanigans, they feel torn between protecting their own jobs and reporting violations, which often include:

• Creating records of safety inspections or training classes that never occurred

• Falsely dating maintenance logs to mask missed servicing

• Hiding workplace illness or injury reports to conceal accidents

So, what can employees, like my readers, do?

First, gather evidence — copies of fake reports and photos — and store them in the cloud, under your own control rather than on a company-issued cellphone.

Report this to OSHA or your state’s version of OSHA. Both offer protection for whistleblowers.

Your employer would love for you to first speak with Human Resources or the compliance office where you work. However, most employment attorneys I know recommend against that to avoid retaliation, which happens even though it is illegal.

It is also a good idea to speak with an employment lawyer before making these reports, but you’ve got to be careful. Research the firm and individual lawyer(s) to see what other kinds of cases they handle.

You’ll want to avoid any personal injury mills across the country that advertise “We’ll fight for you,” even if they claim to specialize in employer-retaliation suits.

I would also highly recommend you check out my article Beyond the Bar: Your 5-Step Guide to Discovering Whether a Lawyer Is Shady.

Dennis Beaver Practices law in Bakersfield and welcomes comments and questions from readers,
which may be faxed to (661) 323-7993,
or e-mailed to Lagombeaver1 – at – Gmail.com.

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February 16, 2026  • By Dennis Beaver

“Mr. Beaver, I am terrified that our four grandsons, all in their late teens and early 20s, are so out of touch with economic reality that the time bomb of financial irresponsibility they’ve built will explode when they go out on their own and wind up flat broke.

“I am 80 and remember like it was yesterday that in high school, we all took a class called On Your Own that taught financial and independent-living skills. This included lessons about budgeting, renting an apartment, co-signing and getting loans, banking, using credit cards, food preparation and so much more. It was part of the Home Economics Department. But schools have dropped all those valuable, real-world tools.

“As our grandkids are clueless about so much that people of my generation learned in high school, the past couple of years, we have given them some of the more popular books on money management, but they tell us, ‘These make us feel talked down to,’ so they never finish reading a single one.

“Do you know of something out there on personal finance that is practical, doesn’t talk at or down, but to readers and isn’t boring? Thanks, ‘Barbara.'”

An antidote to a monumental educational failure

Barbara is right. Those classes vanished in the 1970s and ’80s when “everyone should go to college” became the flawed mantra. Educators failed to visualize the consequences of losing these practical classes, but fortunately, many states today are bringing those very subjects back to high school.

Remember the “new math” disaster that no one could understand? (I’ll stop before I make myself angrier.)

Yes, indeed, there is a new — and great — read, filled with real-life examples that are so accessible and relevant, regardless of your age and especially for teenagers, young adults and their parents.

That book is Wealth Your Way: A Simple Path to Financial Freedom by Cosmo DeStefano, a financial strategist and retired CPA and also a fellow contributor to Kiplinger.com’s Adviser Intel.

Wealth Your Way is a pure joy to read. The author makes it seem as if the reader is sitting across the table from him for a chat over a cup of coffee. That’s how I felt during our interview, even though it was on the phone.

The central idea of DeStefano’s book is that financial freedom is achievable through simple, consistent habits — not high income alone. Building wealth and staying out of financial trouble result when we maintain these habits — these behaviors — instead of chasing after get-rich schemes.

Financial freedom — a vastly improved quality of life at home — comes from discipline and long-term thinking.

Encourages conversation, not conflict

A real challenge that many parents and spouses often face is how to start a conversation about money. “Financial discussions are often seen as criticism, even when no one has done anything wrong — it is such a sensitive area,” DeStefano said during our interview.

To get the ball rolling, Wealth Your Way contributes a helpful voice that explains how to build a foundation of sound financial behavior.

For this column that I have written for many years, I’ve read more personal financial advice books than you can imagine that bark orders and make readers feel like they’ve missed the boat.

Instead, DeStefano understands these fears and doesn’t go there. He respects our intelligence while gently challenging common assumptions, such as “I’ll start investing once things settle down here politically.”

“The reality,” he noted, “is that things never settle down, and waiting for certainty is often the most expensive decision of all, as delaying action shrinks the impact of compounding.”

This is a valid, commonsense answer to a strongly held belief that gives readers something solid to consider, matching his emphasis on practicality and long-term thinking rather than one-size-fits-all rules that don’t actually fit all.

Written for everyone and timely

Wealth Your Way really is a standout book and is so accessible, in large part, because DeStefano avoids using technical financial jargon that plagues many other authors. He does not require readers to follow a rigid structure that may clash with how they live.

A great storyteller, he also illustrates how his recommendations work in the real world.

Wealth Your Way is especially timely as more and more employees who have little, if any, investment knowledge must provide for their own retirements. It is sad that nothing like it existed in 1981 when the rug was pulled out from workers who had been promised retirement pensions but then were forced to transition to 401(k)s.

The move hung an albatross around the necks of American workers, shifting the burden of safeguarding their retirement to their shoulders while employers saved big money by no longer having to fund pensions.

Traditional pensions are proven to prevent poverty. According to a 2023 UC Berkeley Labor Center report, retirees with pension income are significantly more likely to live above 200% of the federal poverty level compared to those without.

Economists and sociologists agree that the decline of traditional defined-benefit pensions has greatly contributed to increased poverty as workers transition to self-managed retirement accounts. And to self-manage these accounts requires the how-to provided in Wealth Your Way.

DeStefano’s book, especially if it’s read at a fairly early age (and, of course, if his advice is followed), could have a lasting, positive impact on many lives.

Think of Wealth Your Way as a partial substitute for that On Your Own high school class you would have taken before those classes were discontinued, or consider passing it on to a family member if you suspect they lack solid financial literacy.

Dennis Beaver Practices law in Bakersfield and welcomes comments and questions from readers,
which may be faxed to (661) 323-7993,
or e-mailed to Lagombeaver1 – at – Gmail.com.

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