Canyon Creek Insurance

How to Keep Your Information Safe This Holiday Season by Wilson Allen - Owner

It’s the most wonderful time of the year 1. Keep it a secret: When shopping online, provide the minimum – and for a lot of us, that means holiday amount of information necessary to complete your order and shopping. But how careful are you be wary of questions that seem unrelated to your purchase. when you’re entering personal information Maintaining privacy is the best way to ensure fraud protection. online to purchase gifts for your loved ones? 2. Don’t click to win: If an email or social media post seems Today’s technological landscape allows and requires us to share more suspicious, delete it or mark it as spam. Some have malware of our personal information online, whether we’re updating our social embedded within them set to attack your computer files. Exit media profiles or shopping. Sensitive data is freely exchanged and out of new windows and turn on your browser’s pop-up blocker. can be found in many different places across the Internet, so it is 3. Avoid public Wi-Fi: Wi-Fi hotspots are unsecured networks crucial that families learn how to protect their identity and integrity. that criminals use to distribute malware. If you are hopping online

According to recent reports, experts predict that consumers will for gifts, it’s best to make sure you do so from a secure network spend $89 billion online this gift-giving season (Forrester). The ease of rather than transmitting your sensitive data over public Wi-Fi. purchasing last-minute gifts online or making quick bank transactions 4. Read privacy policies: As tedious as it seems to read the over public Wi-Fi may make your life easier, but it could also lead to fine print on a website, it’s a smart idea to make sure that your the unwanted exposure of your financial information or even identity information won’t be sold to third-party marketers. theft. To keep your data safe, it’s a good idea to routinely change your 5. Get protected: many personal data protection services are passwords and stay away from using your birthdate, your name or available today - they can help monitor and block suspicious even your pet’s name, as this information can be easily discovered on transactions. the Internet. Other crucial cyber security tips:

10 Reasons to Add Life Insurance to Your Christmas List by Michael Shay - Life Insurance Sales Representative

You can’t drive it around the block. You can’t wear it for an an unexpected death. Survivors can use those funds to cover evening out. You can’t watch anything on it. And chances are credit cards, car loans and even mortgage payments. it won’t elicit squeals of delight when opened. But of the many 7. It may help pay for college. Leaving a legacy for your gifts you can give, life insurance might make the biggest difference to children or spouse through the gift of education might be one those you love. Here’s why: of the more meaningful ways benefits could be used. Your gift could open doors for them to build a solid financial future for 1. It’s a generous thing to do. Purchasing an insurance policy themselves through a life-long career. isn’t about you at all, because you won’t be around to benefit. 8. It may help provide for retirement. Depending on the financial It will, however, benefit your family, loved ones, and even circumstances of your loved ones, life insurance benefits can organizations that are important to you. be invested in different ways to provide for retirement. 2. Freedom from worry. Knowing that your family is prepared 9. Leaves a legacy. Life insurance benefits can help more than financially if you’re no longer around can provide an incredible sense family members or loved ones. You can use the benefits to of reassurance. It can help provide your loved ones a measure of donate to charities or causes you care about and leave a legacy security when everything else in their life is being shaken. of generosity. 3. It’s a cornerstone of a sound financial strategy. People 10. It demonstrates you care about your loved ones. With each often underestimate the extent to which a premature death bill that is paid, with each gift to charities that were important to affects a family’s income and assets. you, with each act of financial generosity, those you loved will 4. It sets a good example. Being financially prepared for an be reminded of the care you took to help ensure they were left unknown future can speak volumes to those around you - and with a healthy financial future. as the old saying goes, actions speak louder than words. 5. It may assist with paying final expenses. It’s easy to There are endless possibilities of gifts you could put under the underestimate the amount of money needed to pay for a funeral Christmas tree this season. And if someone depends on you and other final burdens left behind. financially, you sure need life insurance. It’s that simple. So with the 6. It may help pay off debt. Funds from a life insurance policy gifts all wrapped up, consider adding life insurance as one that could can alleviate debt that might be hard to pay off in the event of wind up being far more meaningful than any others.

Athlete of the Month Brandon Stephens

Canyon Creek Life had the pleasure of spending a Saturday afternoon with Plano football star Brandon Stephens and family at their home in The Crown. This wasn’t your typical high school athlete or family. They are a very tight-knit family that not only share the success on the football field, but also off the field with their academics.

For a quick reference, Brandon, a Stanford signee, started as a sophomore for the Plano Wildcats at tailback. His three-year varsity career netted 3,654 rushing yards and 43 touchdowns. His junior year, which saw 1,268 rushing yards and 21 touchdowns, turned the heads of many recruiters across the country, followed by buckets of mail from every university across the country. Brandon followed his stellar junior year with a senior season of 1,389 yards and 15 touchdowns.

Most high school kids would be able to regurgitate their stats and tell you how great they are. Not Brandon. He’s very family-oriented and is quick to tell you about his older sister, Chelsea, she graduated from Xavier University with a BS in Biology / Premed and is now at MD studying molecular genetics technology. He is also proud of his younger brother, Deshawn, who is at Wilson Middle School in 6th grade, straight A student and is a year round player of basketball. Not to mention the relationship he has with his mom, Charlotte, who has helped him navigate through the recruiting process. Canyon Creek Area Schools: Plano Senior High School.

Sports: Football and track (basketball in junior high).

Favorite Sports Moment: Beating Plano West the last two years. “I had a run on the last series and got a first down to help put the game away.”

Pet: Snookie, a Cocker Spaniel.

Favorite little league team: 3rd Grade Chargers. Coach G was very instrumental in my life!

People would be surprised if they knew: I’m a good chef (pancakes), and I like to play the saxophone (only around the house).

Favorite Canyon Creek Memory: All the support that I’ve received from the people in the neighborhood and hanging out with friends at Canyon Creek Country Club.

My favorite place to eat in Canyon Creek is: A steak at Marcus Café.

The Noahs

Husband. Father. Mayor. Judge. Grandfather. Friend. Neighbor. There are many words that can be used to describe Raymond Noah—but iconic is probably the best. Ray is most certainly an iconic figure in Richardson and, more specifically, in Canyon Creek.

Ray, originally from West Texas, and Cynthia, who hails from El Paso, met while attending Texas Western College in El Paso (now known as University of Texas-El Paso), both graduating in 1957. After graduation, the lovebirds married and, after a short stint in Albuquerque, moved to Dallas for Ray’s job, building a home on Waterview Circle. Ray worked at Texas Instruments during the day and attended SMU Law School in the evenings. During this busy time in their lives, they welcomed a son, Douglas, and a daughter, Rebecca. After graduating from law school, Ray began practicing law with a friend on Sherman Street.

In 1967, Ray was elected to the Richardson City Council. The following year, Ray was elected as Mayor of Richardson, a position in which he served for 15 years. During his tenure as mayor, Ray was instrumental in bringing the DART to Richardson, planning and building SH 190, and helping UTD be annexed into Richardson from Dallas, just to name of a few of his many accomplishments.

The family of four built and moved into their home on Overcreek in 1970, and the Noah family called this place home for 45 years!

While their kids were growing up, Cynthia stayed home with her children and was very involved in the community. She served as president of the Richland Park YWCA and was instrumental in bringing the first YWCA to Richardson. She also volunteered with the Friends of the Library and was a big supporter of the Richardson Symphony. Over the last three years, she has served on the board of Richardson Methodist Hospital Foundation.

Ray’s career, meanwhile, continued to grow and expand. In 1993, he became the presiding judge for the Richardson Municipal Court.

The Noahs children, Douglas and Rebecca, both attended Prairie Creek Elementary, North Junior High, and JJ Pearce High School. Douglas is married to Tina, and they have three children—Christina, Faith, and Douglas IV. Rebecca is married to Ron Poynter and they live in Richardson.

There is no doubt that Ray and Cynthia have left a substantial mark on Richardson in their many years of helping shape and mold this great community of ours. And, luckily for us, they are still Canyon Creek residents after all of these years, having recently built a new home in II Creeks.

What an accomplished and amazing Golden Couple we are sure lucky to have in our community! When you see them around the ‘hood, be sure to say hi!