The Survive and Thrive Boomer Guide

Facts and figures for Mother’s Day this year

The driving force behind Mother's Day was Anna Jarvis, who organized observances in Grafton, W.Va., and Philadelphia on May 10, 1908.

As the annual celebration became popular around the country, Jarvis asked members of Congress to set aside a day to honor mothers. She succeeded in 1914, when Congress designated the second Sunday in May as Mother's Day.

What’s happening for Mother’s Day this year?

Consumers will spend an average of $168.94 on mom, up 11 percent from last year’s $152.52, according to a survey by the National Retail Federation. Total spending is expected to reach $20.7 billion.

While traditional gifts such as flowers, clothing, and gift cards will still be popular, many consumers will stretch their budget this year and treat mom to a tablet, smartphone, or necklace she’s had her eye on.

The survey found 14 percent – the highest in the survey’s history – of shoppers this Mother’s Day will spend more than $2.3 billion on electronics, up from $1.6 billion last year. More than one-third of gift givers will buy jewelry, spending a total of $4.2 billion, up from $3.7 billion last year.

In addition, gift givers will spend money on a special outing, such as brunch or dinner, $3.5 billion; flowers, $2.3 billion; gift cards, $2 billion; clothing or clothing accessories, $1.7 billion; and personal service gifts, such as a day at the spa, $1.5 billion.

Here are facts and figures from the U.S. Census Bureau on moms for Mother’s Day this year:

How many mothers

4.1 million

Number of women between the ages of 15 and 50 who gave birth in the past 12 months.

53%

Percentage of 15- to 44-year-old women who were mothers in 2010.

81%

Percentage of women who had become mothers by age 40 to 44 as of 2010. In 1976, 90 percent of women in that age group had given birth.

2,449

The fertility rate or estimated number births per 1,000 women in Utah in 2010, which led the nation. The state with the lowest fertility rate is Rhode Island, with 1,630.5 births per 1,000 women.

20%

Percentage of all women age 15 to 44 who have had two children. About 47 percent had no children, 17 percent had one, 10 percent had three, and about 5 percent had four or more.

89.7%

Percentage of all children who lived with their biological mothers in 2012. About 1.2 percent of all children lived with a stepmother.

Recent births

3.954 million

Number of births registered in the United States in 2011. Of these, 329,797 were to teens 15 to 19 and 7,651 to women age 45 to 49.

25.4

Average age of women in 2010 when they gave birth for the first time, up from 25.2 years in 2009.

29.2%

The percentage of mothers who had given birth in the past 12 months who had a bachelor's degree or higher and 84 percent of mothers have at least a high school diploma.

Jacob and Sophia

The most popular baby names for boys and girls in 2011.

Stay-at-home moms

5 million

Number of stay-at-home moms in 2012 – about the same for 2009, 2010, and 2011 – down from 5.3 million in 2008. In 2012, 24 percent of married-couples with children under 15 had a stay-at-home mother, up from 21 percent in 2000. In 2007, before the recession, stay-at-home mothers were found in 24 percent of married-couples with children under 15 households, about the same for 2012.

Employed moms

62.1%

Percentage of women age 16 to 50 who had a birth in the past 12 months who were in the labor force.

Single moms

10.3 million

The number of single mothers living with children younger than 18 in 2012, up from 3.4 million in 1970.

5.9 million

Number of custodial mothers who were owed child support in 2009.

36%

Percentage of births in the past 12 months that were to women age 15 to 50 who were unmarried, including divorced, widowed, and never married women.

In 2011, 407,873 mothers who had a birth in the past 12 months were living with a cohabiting partner.

So best wishes to moms everywhere on this important holiday. There’s no job more difficult or rewarding than being a mom. What mom’s do every day in caring for their children contributes to the health and wellbeing of our society.

Copyright 2013, Rita R. Robison, Consumer Specialist

Paying off my mortgage is my best consumer experience this week, while low-quality customer service from Comcast disappoints, again

Saying goodbye to my mortgage is making me very happy. However, I’m extremely frustrated with the customer service I had from.

My best consumer experience: Making my last mortgage payment

I’m elated that my mortgage is paid off. It’s quite a milestone.

I’m going to have a party to celebrate.

My worst customer experience: Trying to get straight answers from Comcast

I’ve written before about terrible customer service from Comcast.

This week, I experienced it again.

My sister, who hasn’t had a computer before, decided to buy an iPad. She selected Comcast to provide her Internet service.

She was quoted several different prices for the service, with the first customer service representative saying it would cost $19.99 a month for six months. Others said $34.

Then she got different stories about whether Comcast would provide a router with her modem. I called and was told, “No,” Comcast doesn’t provide routers. She called again and was told that Comcast does offer a modem-router device.

The appointment is tomorrow. We’ll see what the service technician brings.

I asked on one of my calls where the service representative was located. The Philippines was the answer.

When I looked at my Comcast bill, I saw a charge for $5.95 a month for Signature Service, support for wireless home services and connecting devices. Since I never asked for the service, which began Sept. 17, I had it canceled.

Comcast’s billing department is in Mexico. I asked a service representative to connect me. I waited on the phone a half hour. I finally hung up.

Amazingly, when I called again, my call was taken right away. When I asked the service representative about it, he said calls that are transferred from America are always very slow to be answered.

What a frustrating system for consumers.

Copyright 2013, Rita R. Robison, Consumer Specialist

American Airlines offers my best and worst consumer experience this week

I’m a frequent flyer on American Airlines. Sometimes they offer good services, and other times they don’t.

My best consumer experience: Flying through storms

This week, I took a trip to Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Stormy conditions were predicted through the East, so we were worried.

However, the trip went smoothly. We were delayed about an hour in Chicago while our plane was deiced. We had a bumpy ride for a short time, but it was far from the worst storm conditions I’ve been in.

My worst consumer experience: Customer service from American Airlines

When I was in Madrid, I called American Airlines to get information about my Fort Lauderdale trip. I’d left the information home, and I wanted to share the itinerary with my sister who was going to travel with me.

The reservations agent couldn’t find information about our tickets. I knew I was in trouble when I gave her my Advantage number, and she said she’d transfer me to the Advantage office.

She couldn’t locate the ticket from my Advantage number. She couldn’t find it by the date. After 20 agonizing minutes, I finally asked to speak to her supervisor.

The supervisor was quickly able to find my ticket, and I relayed the information to my sister.

Along with the reservations agent, the supervisor also was cranky.

You’d think that American Airlines would like to get my business and train their agents to be pleasant instead of grouchy.

Copyright 2013, Rita R. Robison, Consumer Specialist

Need help picking out a new, big TV?

Consumers who are in the market for a new TV – maybe in time for Super Bowl Sunday – will find models that are bigger, better, smarter, and cheaper, according to the latest Consumer Reports TV tests. 

Consumers should be happy to know that TV prices are usually lowest in February and March, when manufacturers start shipping new models and retailers cut prices to sell off the old ones.

Significant new features on 2013 models aren’t expected, so consumers shouldn’t pass up great deals on top-rated 2012 sets, according to Consumer Reports. However, beware. Some TV bargains can be risky.

Super-low priced sets, especially from lesser-known brands, aren’t always the best deals, reports the consumer testing organization. Some of the lowest-scoring sets in Consumer Reports’s Ratings – with below-average marks for picture, sound, or both – include TVs from Coby, Element, Haier, TCL, and Westinghouse.

LCD TVs from LG, Panasonic, Samsung, and Sony have consistently been among the best performers in the Consumer Reports Ratings. Plasmas sets from Panasonic have been at the top, followed closely by Samsung and LG.

Internet-capable TVs

The Consumer Reports Ratings include more Smart TVs, or TVs that can connect to the Internet to stream video from online services, giving easy access to on-demand movies and TV shows.

All tested TVs with this capability offer Netflix, but the availability of other services like Hulu Plus, Amazon Instant Video, and Vudu varies by brand. A growing number have full browsers for surfing the Web, built-in Wi-Fi, and access to an apps market. In addition to streaming video services, most Internet-capable TVs let you connect to a music service such as Pandora, social networking sites such as Facebook, and Twitter, and even eBay. 

Basic questions to consider

See the article “Consumer Reports: Latest TV Sets Are Bigger, Better, Smarter, and Cheaper” for information on what size TV to buy, whether to choose plasma or LCD, what resolution is best, and whether to buy a 3D capable awr.

The full report, which features Ratings of 140-plus LCD and plasma TVs, can be found in the March issue of Consumer Reports, on newsstands January 31, and online at ConsumerReports.org.

Copyright 2013, Rita R. Robison, Consumer Specialist

Eating fruitcake is my best consumer experience while Apple customer service is lacking

The holidays are coming, bringing fun and stress already.

Best consumer experience: Eating fruitcake

I really like fruitcake. I used to make it, but no one in my family liked it.

Now, I often buy a small fruitcake to enjoy with guests.

When I lived in Sydney, Australia, for a couple of years, one job I had was teaching cooking to middle school students.

Among the demonstrations I had to do was make an English style fruitcake.

It was quite the learning experience. Lots of raisins, sultanas or golden raisins, currents, and brandy. Then bake it for a long time.

Next, roll out marzipan and cover the cake.

These English cakes often are covered with intricate decorations. I didn’t have to demonstrate decorations, thank goodness, so we ate ours without.

Since I made that fruitcake, I like to enjoy fruitcake at Christmastime.

If you like fruitcake and want to try your hand at making one, see allrecipes.com’s “Best Fruitcake Recipes” for its top 20 fruitcake offerings.

Worst consumer experience: Lacking customer service from Apple

I have a Panasonic video camera that records on a mini-DVD. Unfortunately, it isn’t compatible with my iMac. I bought a Pinnacle Dazzle, which imports the analog files the video camera produces so that they can be used in the Mac format.

Since Christmas is coming, I wanted to make a movie from the footage I took this summer when my daughter and her family visited from Madrid.

I usually take a half-hour mini-DVD to a video store and have them make copies. However, this summer I made a mistake and put footage on two disks instead of one. So I thought I’d edit the video myself.

After I imported the video, I noticed that the video and audio didn’t match up.

I tried to call Apple Saturday night, but their customer service shuts down at 11 p.m. ET.

I called Sunday and paid $19. After talking with a customer service representative for about 20 minutes, he said the problem was with the Pinnacle Dazzle not iMovie. He told me to talk to Pinnacle. He said there wasn’t any way an adjustment could be made in iMovie to solve the problem.

I asked to speak to his supervisor. The supervisor linked to my computer and after about half an hour said I could detach the audio from the video and move it so it would sync with the video.

I hope I can figure it out. I have dozens of mini-DVDs and want to import them into my computer and make movies about my family and grandchildren.

I made the short movie above from footage I’d imported earlier to see if it was in sync.

Copyright 2012, Rita R. Robison, Consumer Specialist

Retailer pays $9.5 million to settle charges it fraudulently charged soldiers in New York and nationwide for electronics

SmartBuy, a retailer and financing firm based in North Carolina, has signed a $9.5 million agreement with the New York Attorney General’s Office to settle charges the company fraudulently charged thousands of soldiers who purchased electronics near Fort Drum in New York and ruined their credit.

The settlement will clear debt fraudulently charged to hundreds of New York soldiers at a shopping mall near Fort Drum and thousands of soldiers nationwide. This is the second settlement the attorney general has reached with SmartBuy and its affiliated companies.

"SmartBuy took advantage of service members using deceptive practices, roping them into high interest contracts, and ruining their credit,” Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman said in a statement.

The investigation

The settlement is the result of the agency’s investigation of a kiosk and small storefront at the Salmon Run Mall that appeared to be marketing specifically to Fort Drum soldiers. Sales clerks aggressively pushed the sales of electronic equipment, including laptops, gaming systems, and flat screen televisions to soldiers, Schneiderman said.

At the time of the sales, SmartBuy sales representatives refused to take cash payments for merchandise and instead pressured soldiers to enter into payment contracts with hidden fees and exorbitant interest rates, he said.

The state’s investigation revealed that the practices at SmartBuy's Salmon Run Mall location were part of a larger scheme to defraud service members by deceptively reselling them computers and electronics at wildly inflated prices. The soldiers were then locked into revolving credit agreements with undisclosed fees and high interest rates paid directly from military paychecks to unlicensed lenders.

SmartBuy purchased merchandise from stores such as Sam's Club, Costco, and Walmart. The items were then marked up by 200 to 325 percent, and included an added interest of 10 to 25 percent. The interest rates averaged out at 244 percent.

SmartBuy closed its local operations after the agency demanded that it stop its deceptive business practices and reimburse defrauded soldiers. A lawsuit was filed in 2010 and litigation continues against Rome Finance LLC and two individuals, Ron Wilson, of California, and William Collins, of Georgia.

The settlement

The settling parties include Frisco Marketing of N.Y. LLC, doing business as SmartBuy and SmartBuy Computers and Electronics; Integrity Financial of North Carolina Inc.; Britlee Inc.; and GJS Management Inc.; all owned and/or operated by Fayetteville, N.C.-based family John Paul Jordan, Stuart Jordan, and Rebecca Wirt.

According to the terms of today’s settlement, the settling companies will release about 358 New York state soldiers and an additional 3,963 soldiers nationwide from their debt. The defendants will also clear all negative credit reports related to the contracts and will pay a $150,000 penalty to the state.

The settling companies are banned from doing business in New York.

Copyright 2012, Rita R. Robison, Consumer Specialist

Agency takes action against wide spread tech support scams

It’s a common scam. Telemarketers say they’re major computer companies, con consumers into believing that their computers are riddled with viruses, and then charge hundreds of dollars to remotely access and “fix” the consumers’ computers.

At the request of the Federal Trade Commission, a U.S. District Court Judge has ordered a halt to six alleged tech support scams until further hearings are held. The court also has frozen the companies’ assets. 

The FTC charged that the companies – based mostly in India – target English-speaking consumers in the United States, Canada, Australia, Ireland, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom. 

Five of the six companies used telemarketing boiler rooms to call consumers, according to the FTC. The sixth enticed consumers by placing ads with Google, which appeared when consumers searched for their computer company’s tech support telephone number.    

After getting the consumers on the phone, the telemarketers allegedly claimed they were affiliated with legitimate companies, including Dell, Microsoft, McAfee, and Norton. And, they told consumers they’d detected malware that posed an imminent threat to the consumers’ computers. 

The scammers offered to get rid of malware for fees ranging from $49 to $450.  When consumers agreed to pay the fee for fixing the “problems,” the telemarketers directed them to a website to enter a code or download a software program that allowed the scammers remote access to the consumers’ computers. 

When the telemarketers took control of the consumers’ computers, they “removed” the non-existent malware and downloaded otherwise free programs.

In addition to individuals, the FTC lawsuits name the following companies: Pecon Software Ltd., Finmaestros LLC,  Zeal IT Solutions Pvt. Ltd., Virtual PC Solutions, Lakshmi Infosoul Services Pvt. Ltd., and PCCare247 Inc.

Recall of the Week: Legrand power strips due to electric shock hazard

Legrand Wiremold is recalling about 14,200 under cabinet power and lighting four outlet power strips.

The electrical wires are reversed on the receptacles on the power strips, posing a risk of electrical shock, the company and U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission said in a statement.

One incident was reported, with no injuries.

This recall involves four-outlet under-cabinet power and lighting strips model number PX1001.

The power strips come in a red package with "Wiremold-Series Part PX1001" printed on the front.

The manufactured dates are presented as product date codes January 2011 through June 2012, and are found imprinted on a circle on the bottom with an arrow pointing to the number of the month and the year "11" or "12" in the center.

The model number PX1001 and UPC number 0 86698 00125 3 are imprinted on the bottom of the packaging.

Power strips that have a star symbol printed in black ink on the packaging and on the back cover of the power strip aren’t included in this recall.

Manufactured in China, the power strips were sold at: Ace Hardware, Do it Best, Home Depot USA, Sutherlands, True Value Hardware, and online at Amazon.com between February 2011 and August 2012. The cost was about $40.

Consumers should immediately unplug and stop using the power strips and return them to Legrand Wiremold for a replacement or refund, the company and commission advise.

For additional information, contact Legrand Wiremold at 800-617-1768 between 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. ET Monday through Friday, or visit the firm's website at www.legrand.us.

For details on other recalls, see www.recalls.gov.

Copyright 2012, Rita R. Robison, Consumer Specialist

Finding money is my best consumer experience while Comcast customer service is terrible

By Rita R. Robison

Luckily, I found some money this week, but my experience with Comcast was awful.

My best consumer experience: Finding money among my receipts

This spring, I’ve been really busy. When I prepared my tax return, I usually go through my receipts in addition to reviewing my check and credit card records. However, I skipped going through my receipts.

Since I had company coming, I was organizing my office. I had two 8 x 10 envelopes of receipts. I debated on whether to divide them up between business and other expenses or just filing them as is.

I decided, despite being rushed to get my house in order, to organize them.

I was ecstatic to find $40 folded up in a receipt. Apparently, I’d put the money with the receipt, then transferred it to my receipt pile without noticing the money.

I happily kept filing. Then I found another $5. Again, I was tickled.

The whole experience of getting my house in order has made me want to keep up with my filing. The $45 was a nice reward.

My worst consumer experience: Customer service with Comcast

My daughter is visiting and wanted me to install wifi. I went to Office Depot and bought a router.

It looked complicated, and we had trouble at her house in Miami installing wifi. So I decided to contact Comcast, my Internet service provider. A big, big mistake.

I paid $5.95 for Comcast’s Signature service to help me. I worked with one customer service representative, Blake. We went at it for an hour, but we were cut off.

Then I called back. I worked with Tom. He was slower than Blake, but I thought he might be able to help me. When he wanted me to access an Internet address, he slowly explained the http:// address indicating the : was a colon. Come on. I’m a journalist. I’ve known what a colon is, as in writing, for years. I spent another hour with him.

He was terrible. At one point, he yelled at me. I was confused about which color cord to plug in, and I wasn’t doing it fast of enough. I had to tell him to stop yelling at me.

We worked on it for another hour. Tom said, at the end of a horrible hour, that the router was defective. He said I should take it back to Office Depot.

Wrong. At my daughter’s suggestion, I called D-Link, the company that makes the router, instead of trying Comcast for a third time.

It worked. The problem was the Firefox browser. It’s my default browser. When I worked with the D-Link representative, I got a blank screen two times.

She said we should try Safari. It worked. My daughter is happily posting photos to Facebook.

I can’t believe the terrible customer service I received from Comcast. I tried to call the Signature number again to complain about the “customer service.” I was cut off again. Unbelievable.

I plan to write the CEO of Comcast about this.

Copyright 2012, Rita R. Robison, Consumer Specialist

Blogging Boomer Carnival #265

Laura Lee Carter is this week's host for the Blogging Boomer Carnival.

Visit her blog at Mid-Life Crisis to take a look at the weekly roundup of boomer articles on a variety of topics including top local food magazines, how to read Kindle and Nook books on your laptop, a trip to India, a baby boomer icon quiz, and decision making.

Baby boomers, born between 1946 and 1964, are America’s largest age group so far, and a dynamic group they are.

Boomers are leading corporations, serving as governmental officials, heading up non-profits, worrying about retirement, and experiencing layoffs at a higher rate than younger workers. They’re also reinventing themselves in trying economic times, with some looking for their dream jobs to keep them happy in retirement.

At each stage in their lives, boomers have changed things. They’re continuing to make America different as they begin entering into their retirement years.

In addition to The Survive and Thrive Boomer Guide, members of the Blogging Boomer Carnival are: The Accidental Locavore, The Midlife Crisis Queen, Sightings at 60, Arabian Tales and Other Amazing Adventures, So Baby Boomer, Vaboomer, Empty House Full Mind, and Witty Woman Writing.

Copyright 2012, Rita R. Robison, Consumer Specialist