FEATURES Community Profiles • Local History • Nightlife • Food Reviews • Neighborhood Events And Memories by Noah Zuss Two screenings at the Bushwick Film Festival, held Oct 2-5 in spaces throughout the neighborhood, highlighted independent films and told a story that traced a nearly 30-year-old murder—and the effort to clear a man the film claims was wrongly imprisoned for the crime. The award-winning feature titled “Samuel’s Game,” a gritty psychological thriller was shot almost entirely in the neighborhood, and another, the powerful story of David McCallum traced his journey as a 16-year-old convicted of a brutal kidnapping and murder in the mid 1980’s, to the multi-pronged efforts to get him cleared of the crime. Filmmaker Ray Klonsky, his father, Ken and pro-bono attorney Oscar Michelen have been working on the effort to get the case reviewed and McCallum released for several years. Nearly seven years in the making, aside from the friendship he had begun with McCallum while he has been incarcerated, Klonsky said he made the film because the subject matter fascinated him. “His story was the most fascinating I have ever come across and still is,” Klonsky told the Times Newsweekly Monday. His father Ken was a high school teacher, and has devoted himself to McCallum’s case and those of the wrongfully convicted, the documentary noted. Times Newsweekly 19 • TIMES, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 9, 2014 Films Light Up Bushwick FFoouurr--DDaayy MMoovviiee FFeessttiivvaall HHiigghhlliigghhttss LLooccaall DDiirreeccttoorrss “David And Me” filmmaker Ray Klonsky, left, David McCallum’s attorney Oscar Michelen, center and McCallum’s Sister Mattie answered questions about the effort to bring awareness to his case following the screening at the Bushwick Film Festival Saturday, Oct. 5. -SEE FILMS ON PG. 57- Preparing For The Golden Years In Ridgewood Financial planner Michael Terry (center) is flanked by Ridgewood Property Owners and Civic Association President Charles Ober (at left) and the group’s counsel and former president, Paul Kerzner. (photo: Kelly Marie Mancuso) by Kelly Marie Mancuso The Ridgewood Property Owners and Civic Association (RPOCA) discussed financial issues along with retirement and estate planning during their monthly meeting at the Ridgewood Older Adult Center last Thursday, Oct. 2. RPOCA President Charles Ober opened the meeting with some troubling facts. According to Ober, nearly half of all American workers have no money set aside for retirement, and no retirement plans provided by their employers. “Almost 60 percent of American workers do not believe they have enough money to retire,” Ober explained, citing a recent Gallup poll on the subject. For Ober, the main issue is not about the money itself, but rather what people aim to do in retirement and how they wish to live. The average life expectancy has risen due in part to advances in medicine and positive lifestyle changes. “Now that people are living longer lives,” Ober said, “how can they make sure they will be comfortable financially later in life?” Certified financial planner Michael Terry was on hand to address these questions and concerns regarding investing for retirement. Terry’s financial knowledge and experience is extensive, having served as an editor of Money magazine as well as the former president of the Maspeth Chamber of Commerce. He cited three main components of retirement planning: income, savings and spending. For most retirees, income is often comprised of payments from pension plans, annuities and Social Security benefits. These sources of income, however, are often not enough for most retirees to live on or fulfill certain retirement goals such as travel and hobbies. Pension plans, a type of annuity, pay a monthly lump sum for the rest of the beneficiary’s life. However, these annuities do not increase in value according to inflation. Because annuities do not provide for cost of living increases, Terry cautions that they should only be one part of a retirement plan and not the whole nest egg. It is for this reason that other two components of saving and spending are crucial. Savings consist of retirement investments, such as funds set aside in IRA, Roth IRA and 401K accounts. Real estate assets, such as a privately owned home or income producing properties, are -SEE RPOCA ON PG. 56- David McCallum’s family, from left, sister Mattie, Mother Ernestine, his nephew and nice attended the screening of David And Me at the Bushwick Film Festival Saturday, Oct. 4. They were joined by attorney, Oscar Michelen and Filmmaker Ray Klonsky, at right. (photos: Giorgio Savona) SSeemmiinnaarr FFooccuusseess OOnn RReettiirreemmeenntt AAnndd HHeeaalltthh CCaarree PPllaannnniinngg
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