Treasurer’s Note Newsletter

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What Keeps Us Up Can Also Move Us Forward

When you have a problem, people often tell you to “sleep on it.” But what happens when an inability to sleep is the problem? The last few decades, I have suffered from frequent bouts of insomnia. Like many people who have trouble sleeping, I worry about my children, my parents as they get older, and challenges at work. When this happens, rather than getting worried about a lack of sleep, I have learned to accept that my mind will be active, and to direct it to creative thoughts. It’s not…

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You Can’t Predict Their Path. You Can Prepare For It.

Our twins have always loved going to the park: playing on the jungle gym, swinging, or swishing down slides. Recently, they have found an open path where they love running races.     They will race each other, Mom, or Dad. Although they are identical twins, they have very different running styles. Max will pump his arms and legs in a way that makes me think he very well could be a sprinter someday. Theo has a more free-spirited way  of running. After completing a 25-yard dash, Max is ready…

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Green corn leaves in a field with an overcast sky above. Photo is titled Corn Rows.

When Farmers Need Help Weathering the Storm

This summer, I was awakened by a tremendous storm in the middle of the night. My first thought was how much I don’t like the rain. I didn’t always feel this way. As a kid, I loved playing in the rain. I think my attitude started to change when baseball games were rained out. I also distinctly remember my first job detasseling corn really turned me against the rain. By the time I got through the field, my shoes were covered in 5 to 10 pounds of mud, my clothes…

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Treasurer Frerichs and a construction worker, both wearing hard hats and yellow vests, looking at the Chicago skyline. Overlaying text says: Investing in Illinois workers. A map of Illinois also is visible.

A Lifetime of Work Deserves a Better Retirement

Last weekend, I marched in a couple of Labor Day parades. It’s important to celebrate the accomplishments of working people. Maybe you gathered with friends and family to grill and eat outdoors. Maybe you took the chance to get on the water one last time this summer. Or maybe you watched your favorite team play a game. Those are also worthwhile ways to mark the holiday. Not everyone should live to work. We work so that we can live better. And we have those options because people fought for things like…

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Two men walk along a dirt lot where wood framing for a house is being built

Investing in the Place We Call Home

It can be hard to leave a house you’ve lived in for more than a quarter century. We make a lot of memories in our homes, but I think it’s even more difficult when you built the house yourself. I can’t say for certain because I don’t have the skills to build a house, unlike my older brother, James. Last spring, he sold the house that he built nearly 30 years ago. James has gone through two union apprenticeship programs. He has been trained as an operating engineer and as…

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