The Survive and Thrive Boomer Guide

Education Department delays rules designed to protect students from predatory for-profit colleges

The U.S. Department of Education is delaying new rules that would have protected student loan borrowers from predatory and deceptive practices by higher education institutions.

The decision is deeply troubling, said Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson.

“As Washington’s chief law enforcement officer, I have worked tirelessly to protect student loan borrowers, and I strongly support the revised rules that were set to take effect on July 1,” Ferguson said Wednesday.

Facts and figures for St. Patrick’s Day 2017

What are your plans for St. Patrick’s Day?

Originally a religious holiday to honor St. Patrick, who introduced Christianity to Ireland in the fifth century, St. Patrick’s Day has evolved into a celebration of all things Irish.

I’m looking forward to wearing my green outfit and remembering my great trip to Ireland with my daughter in 2015. We heard from a woman who shares the same Irish ancestors about research she’d done. She told us our ancestor, Henry Baylee, had lived in Kilkishen, County Clare. Lisa and I decided to go visit. See my article, “Visit to Ireland Is Magic,” for details.

Spending

Americans will spend a record amount this year to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day, with spending expected to reach $5.3 billion, according to a survey prepared for the National Retail Federation.

How will Trump’s environmental budget cuts affect you?

The local impacts of President Donald Trump’s proposed cuts would cause direct, immediate, and lasting harm the public health and environment, New York Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman said Wednesday.

"President Trump's budget cuts would cause untold – and perhaps irreparable – damage to New York's rivers, lakes, and drinking water," said Schneiderman. "Even before these massive cuts, EPA represents just two-tenths of 1 percent of the federal budget – yet it's responsible for protecting our environment and public health.”

Trump’s proposed budget would cut the EPA’s budget by $2 billion – a 25 percent cut – and the EPA’s workforce by 20 percent, which means 3,000 employees would be fired. Grants to states and air and water programs would be cut by 30 percent.

Imposter scams move up to second place on FTC consumer complaint list

Imposter scam complaints rose to second place, overtaking identity theft for the first time as the second most common category of consumer complaints received by the Federal Trade Commission.

Although debt collection complaints declined slightly between 2015 and 2016, they remained the top complaint category, making up 28 percent of all complaints.

The rise in impostor scam reports is due to increased complaints about government imposters. Imposter scams are varied, but work the same way: a scammer pretends to be someone trustworthy, such as a government official or computer technician, to convince a consumer to send money.

Uber to pay $20 million for exaggerating employment claims

Photo: Elekes Andor

Uber has agreed to a $20 million settlement related to charges that the company made false or unsupported claims about its drivers’ likely income and the benefits of its Vehicle Solutions Program, the Federal Trade Commission said Thursday.

The FTC said Uber made misleading claims about the annual and hourly wages its drivers were likely to earn. For example, Uber’s website claimed that the median yearly income for Uber drivers in New York is $90,000. In addition, Uber ads in Boston and Philadelphia claimed that the average driver would “make $25/hour,” while San Diego and Phoenix drivers could expect to make $20/hour.

Most of Uber’s drivers weren’t likely to earn the claimed annual and hourly wages, according to the FTC.

Takata agrees to plead guilty and pay $1 billion in criminal penalties for airbag scheme

Takata Corp., one of the world’s largest suppliers of automotive safety equipment, agreed to plead guilty to wire fraud and pay a total of $1 billion in criminal penalties due to the company’s fraudulent conduct in the sale of defective airbag inflators. Three Takata executives also were charged with wire fraud and conspiracy for the same conduct.

“Automotive suppliers who sell products that are supposed to protect consumers from injury or death must put safety ahead of profits,” said U.S. Attorney Barbara McQuade.

“For more than a decade, Takata repeatedly and systematically falsified critical test data related to the safety of its products, putting profits and production schedules ahead of safety,” said the Justice Department’s Fraud Section Chief Andrew Weissmann.

What to do about the changing retirement

As we all know, retirement is changing for people of all ages.

In Consumer Reports latest look at the topic, “The New Retirement,” it discusses new approaches and reaffirms the need to start early to plan for the future.

The new reality of retirement shows that 401(k) plans are getting better, retirement advice is getting more reliable, savers can essentially design their own pension through an immediate annuity that guarantees cash flow, and those applying for Social Security can get far bigger payments by claiming their benefits the right way, according to Consumer Reports.

Financial predictions for 2017

What’s going to happen financially in 2017?

WalletHub, a financial website, released its “10 Financial Predictions for 2017” report Tuesday to help consumers get information on next year’s economy.

Below are some of Wallethub’s predictions, which are based in part on conversations with a panel of economics and finance specialists:

1. U.S. GDP growth will remain anemic, at 2.1 percent.
2. Unemployment won’t go far, finishing around 5 percent.
3. The S&P 500 won’t do much better than an online savings account.
4. U.S. auto sales will surpass 17 million for the third straight year.
5. Existing home sales will rise to 6 million, despite higher rates.
6. The Fed will raise rates twice, bringing its target to 1.125 percent.
7. Credit card debt will break all-time records, topping $1 trillion owed.
8. Consumer credit scores will peak at 675 in 2017.
9. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau won’t die.
10. Charge-offs will top $30 billion, limiting credit availability.

Well, that doesn’t seem too bad. Maybe the havoc Donald Trump is going to foist on America won’t begin until 2018, or perhaps he’ll be impeached by then.

Copyright 2016, Rita R. Robison, Consumer Specialist

Which states have the most data breaches?

December is National Identity Theft Prevention and Awareness Month. So far this year, 901 data breaches have been reported, WalletHub analyses, "2016’s States Most Vulnerable to Identity Theft & Fraud" and "Identity Theft Guide," show.

To measure the level of susceptibility to these crimes, WalletHub’s analysts compared the 50 states and the District of Columbia in six areas. They ranges from “identity-theft complaints per capita” to “average loss amount due to fraud.”

		Most Vulnerable States			Least Vulnerable States
		1	District of Columbia		42	Oklahoma
		2	California		43	Kentucky
		3	Florida		44	Idaho
		4	Massachusetts		45	Montana
		5	Nevada		46	Iowa
		6	Illinois		47	North Dakota
		7	Texas		48	Arkansas
		8	Michigan		49	West Virginia
		9	Missouri		50	Maine
		10	Connecticut		51	South Dakota

Trump’s transition team filled with lobbyists, special interest insiders

Despite the fact that Donald Trump pledged during his candidacy to “drain the swamp” in Washington, D.C., a list of the reported members of Trump’s transition team, compiled by Public Citizen from press reports, shows that’s full of industry insiders.

The names don’t include the transition leadership – largely made up of politicians, political operatives, and members of Trump’s family – that was announced Friday.

The list includes nearly a dozen lobbyists. Vice president-elect Mike Pence said late Tuesday that the transition team would be purged of lobbyists. However, it’s unclear how the decision will be applied and who will be booted off the team.