AUG. 5—Jessica Lee and Pittsburgh Gateway Corp. will host “Entrepreneurial Thursdays” from 5:30-8 p.m. at Little E’s, 949 Liberty Ave., Downtown. The theme is “Family Business Entrepreneurs.” This is a professional networking event with live jazz/R&B music. There is a $5 fee. Business casual is the attire. No jeans or tennis shoes. For more information, call Sandy Marshall at 412-802-6780 or visit www.jessicaleesong.com.

This spring, while away at college, my son racked up $278 in bank overdraft fees on his debit card account. The actual charges were relatively small, $10 here, $20 there and before he knew it, he had a financial train wreck on his hands. The bank charged $39 for each overdraft that it paid and an additional $39 for each day the account was overdrawn. We suspended the account and because we had a relationship with the bank, the total fees were reduced. We then wired his monthly spending money to him through Walmart.

Whoever coined the phrase “life isn’t fair” was probably having a bad day.

The truth of the matter is “life is fair.” The road of life is paved with hurdles, obstacles, speed bumps, potholes and detours for everyone walking the face of the earth.

We look at other people who appear to have what we desire in life, be it money, wisdom, skill, physical shape or relationships and form the opinion that they had it easier than we have it. They had more resources, more time, more opportunity, and more cooperation than what we had to work with. We think to ourselves, if I had what they had, I’d be just as successful. We play the hand that we were dealt and strive to do our best. We experience success here and there but feel we’re working way too hard. We perceive other people to have it easier. There has to be an easier way! This leads us on the journey to seek out the “magic pill”—that thing that’s going to allow us to quickly solve our problems or quickly achieve our goals with minimum effort.

by LeeAnn Stuever

Question: When will I get my automatic Social Security Statement?

Answer: If you are at least 25 years old and not yet receiving benefits, you should receive your annual Social Security statement about three months before your birthday. If your automatic statement has not arrived and you are within one month before the month of your birth or if you need a statement sooner, you can request one at any time by going to www.socialsecurity.gov/statement. You can learn more about the Social Security Statement and how to use it at www.socialsecurity.gov/mystatement.