The Survive and Thrive Boomer Guide

Watch your wallet on Black Friday and Cyber Monday

"Black Friday is soooo close. It’s my favorite holiday!!!"

"Debating whether or not to enjoy Black Friday shopping. Nothing really needed, just enjoy the thrill of the hunt."

"Old Navy started their Black Friday sales this morning [Tuesday]!"

That’s what three consumers writing on Twitter said about Black Friday, the big shopping day after Thanksgiving that got its name because it was the day that retailers started making money after being in the "red."

Black Friday, Saturday, and Sunday will attract up to 134 million shoppers this year, up from 128 million last year. According to the National Retail Federation, 57 million people say they will definitely hit the stores while another 77 million are waiting to see what retailers are planning before heading out the door.

Cyber Monday is a term coined by Shop.org in 2005, when retailers noticed a large increase of people shopping online on the Monday after Thanksgiving.

But don’t be stampeded into spending a lot of money this weekend or on Cyber Monday just because of all the news in the media about Black Friday and "how important it is to give the economy a much-needed boost."

The article "Dirty Secrets of Black Friday" describes these problems shoppers may run into on the big shopping day:

• Limited quantities.

• Derivatives offered, models that have a few less features than a standard model in that product line.

• No information on what Black Friday sales are offered online.

• Online deals that don’t get shipped.

• Rain checks that don’t result in the cheap Black Friday deal.

Public Citizen, a consumer advocacy organization, urges consumers to not get wound up in the hype about Black Friday:

So let me get this straight. One year after the financial sector took our economy to the brink of collapse, we’re rooting for Wall Street’s success, which depends on the willingness of consumers to spend as much as they can – most likely more than they can afford, since that’s how the financial sector makes its money– during the worst economy in 26 years and while 10.2 percent are unemployed? Sounds like some seriously misplaced priorities.

So make a plan for your holiday gift giving and spend only what you can afford. It will reduce your holiday stress and make for a happier new year.

Copyright 2009, Rita R. Robison, Consumer Specialist

What were your best and worst consumer experiences this week?

Which consumer happenings cheered you this week and which ones made you want to scream or weep?



Here are my best and worst consumer experiences this week:



My best consumer experience: Balancing my checkbook

My paycheck came in this week and so did my mortgage payment. I balanced my checkbook.

I sat down and paid my bills. Then I balanced my checkbook again.

There wasn’t much money left. A good thing to know to keep from getting overdraft charges.

I belong to a credit union and have an overdraft protection plan. The fee for checks is only $2, but I still want to avoid a series of those charges.

Many banks are hiking overdraft fees along with other fees and interest rates.

Some banks charge as much as $39 when customers overdraw their bank account by even a few dollars.

Advertisement

My worst consumer experience: Trying to figure out Verizon’s cell phone offers

When I learned that my cell phone is on the high end of the scale in terms of the radiation it emits, I decided it’s time for a new cell phone. See the article “Are You Using a Cell Phone That Emits High Levels of Radiation?” for information about cell phone ratings by the Environmental Working Group.

I checked out the iPhones, and disappointedly, they’re also on the high end of the scale. Beside, if I bought an iPhone, I’d have to deal with AT&T.

Verizon has given me good service, so I’d like to stay with them.

When I saw I could get a Blackberry for free if I signed up a two-year Verizon contract, I was excited. And, more importantly, the BlackBerry in the ad was on the low end of the radiation emissions scale.

When I called Verizon, my hopes were dashed. You have to pay a $30 monthly charge for a data package if you get a BlackBerry. That would make my cell phone costs about $75 a month, which is too costly.

Verizon should certainly put this information in its ads. It felt like “bait and switch” advertising.

Copyright 2009, Rita R. Robison, Consumer Journalist

Top 10 best small towns in America

Small towns with strong economies still exist. Along with a good economy, you can also find great schools, affordable homes, and low crime in these towns.

Here’s Money magazine’s list of America’s best small towns:

1. Louisville, Colo. (shown in photo)
2. Chanhassen, Minn.
3. Papillion, Neb.
4. Middleton, Wis.
5. Milton, Mass.
6. Warren, N.J.
7. Keller, Texas
8. Peachtree City, Ga.
9. Lake St. Louis, Mo.
10. Mukilteo, Wash.

See “Best Places to Live” for details on why these towns made Money’s list.

Copyright 2009, Rita R. Robison, Consumer Specialist

Tips for saving more money in tough economic times

Want to know how to cut your spending?

An article "How to Get Everything for Less" in the October issue of Good Housekeeping caught my eye. It offers five helpful suggestions for consumers.

The tips offered include:

1. Stack discounts and store sales.

Look for Web coupons, Web codes, and other discounts to use when you buy items on sale. Get on the frequent-shopper mailing and e-mail lists of stores you shop in frequently.

2. Shop in high-income zip codes.

Check out the second hand stores in these areas.

3. Learn the sales cycle.

Ask at stores what day of the week new merchandise is put out and older items marked down.

4. Weigh how to pay.

Pay in cash at thrift stores, and use a credit card for liquidators and other stores where sales are final.

5. Do some post-purchase research.

Sign up for price drop alerts, at sites such as priceprotectr.com, after you’ve made a major purchase.

For details on these money saving suggestions, get a copy October’s Good Housekeeping at your local newsstand, supermarket, or bookstore, or check your local library for a copy.

Copyright 2009, Rita R. Robison, Consumer Specialist

Banks working hard to kill badly needed consumer financial protection agency

President Barack Obama is proposing that Congress establish a new Consumer Financial Protection Agency to regulate consumer financial products such as credit cards and mortgages, and to simplify disclosure on them.

After the financial mess that was spawned by Wall Street and the banking industry, the new agency is essential for the development and growth of our new economy in the United States.

However, the banking industry is set on killing the proposed new consumer protection agency.

The article "Banks Resist Push for Tighter Regulations" on the Miami Herald Web site reports:

Though virtually every cause of the nation's recent financial crisis was rooted in weak consumer protection, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce is leading the fight against the proposed agency on grounds that it would make credit less available and more costly. The American Bankers Association, the Independent Community Bankers of America, and the Financial Services Roundtable also oppose the measure.

Here’s what’s being spent to defeat the new consumer protection agency, according to the article:

The chamber said it's spending about $2 million on ads, educational efforts, and a grass-roots campaign to kill the agency.

The Center for Responsive Politics said that for the 2010 election cycle, commercial banks have donated almost $3.7 million to lawmakers – 54 percent of it to Republicans. Companies that provide credit have given about $1.4 million, 59 percent to Democrats. Mortgage bankers and brokers have given $581,423.

This massive lobbying effort by banks is unfortunate. Changes are needed to protect American consumers in their financial dealings.

David Arkush, director, Public Citizen’s Congress Watch Division, said in a statement supporting the new federal consumer agency:

For too long, financial regulators have been too cozy with the financial services industry that they were supposed to be overseeing. Moreover, no single federal agency focuses primarily on consumer protection for credit products.

Lenders have run amok, writing their own rules and creating a maze of unfair and predatory products that have harmed consumers and destabilized the economy. The lack of oversight and regulation, along with Wall Street’s unchecked greed, drove this country into its current financial crisis. Americans deserve an agency that will put their financial well-being ahead of the short-term profits of a few Wall Street banks.

The president’s proposal to create a new Consumer Financial Protection Agency will add much needed oversight of an industry that has run wild at great expense to consumers and homeowners.

Establishing an agency to protect consumers in their financial transactions is essential. Let your senators and representatives in Congress know today that you support this important consumer protection measure.

Copyright 2009, Rita R. Robison, Consumer Specialist

Baby boomer spending drops significantly since last year

Last year, Baby boomers’ average daily spending was $98. This year it’s $64, reports a new Gallup Poll.

Boomers, born between 1946 and 1964, are the largest generational group, making up 36 percent of U.S. adults.

Boomer spending habits have a greater effect on the economy because they’re the largest bloc of U.S. consumers. About two-thirds of the total gross domestic product comes from consumer spending.

Like boomers, daily spending also has reduced sharply from last year in other age groups:

• Greatest Generation, before 1930 – Down from $63 to $35

• Silent Generation, 1930-45 – Down from $84 to $50

• Generation X, 1965 to 1979 – Down from $110 to $71

• Millennials, 1980 to 1991 – Down from $92 to $61

Copyright 2009, Rita R. Robison, Consumer Specialist

Top 10 cheapest cars to own and operate

 

The more information consumers gather, the more likely it is that they’ll negotiate a good price, obtain the best financing available, and purchase a car that they can afford.

However, being affordable is more than what you pay, reports the article “10 Cheapest Cars to Own And Operate” on Bankrate.com. It includes other costs such as insurance, fuel, maintenance, repairs, and depreciation. Your costs also will vary according to how you use and take care of your car.

Edmunds.com, an automotive Web site, offers a True Cost to Own calculator, which estimates total five-year cost and the cost per mile based on driving 15,000 miles a year.

Here are the top 10 cheapest cars to own and operate, according to Edmunds.com:

1. Hyundai Accent GS

2. Nissan Versa

3. Chevrolet Aveo5 LS

4. Suzuki SX4 Sedan

5. Pontiac G3

6. Mazda3 iSport

7. Honda Fit

8. Pontiac Vibe

9. Toyota Yaris

10. Nissan Sentra

Is your car on this list? My Honda Accord didn’t make it.

My next post will be “Top 10 Cars for Older Drivers.”

flickr photo

Copyright 2009, Rita R. Robison, Consumer Specialist

What are the largest health insurance companies in America?

Several times in recent weeks during the health care debate, I’ve heard or read that a few companies provide most of the health care insurance in the nation.

Who are these companies?

UnitedHealth Group, WellPoint, Aetna, Humana, and Cigna.

Why, with the health care debate in full swing, haven’t we heard more about these firms and how they operate?

While the 10 biggest health insurance companies were seeing their profits rise by more than 400 percent between 2000 and 2007, the number of Americans without health insurance grew by 19 percent, reports the article “Rachel Maddow Show: Wendell Potter on the Health Care Industry Putting Soaring Profits Before People.”

Potter, the former director of communications for Signa, also appeared on the Diane Rehm Show on National Public Radio Wednesday.

Potter described the intensive lobbying efforts that began before the 2008 election to defeat any type of health care reform effort. He said extra lobbyists and public relations firms were hired.

The insurance companies, through their lobbyists and public relations staff, have ties to conservatives in the media and conservative groups. This way, they’ve been able to “stir up” people and get them to protest against health care reform.

Potter also said Signa is undertaking a significant change in the way it does business. They’re planning to greatly increase the deductibles consumers pay with “consumer-oriented” policies. These types of policies means consumers would pay much more for their health care and insurance companies would make even more profits.
 
It’s noteworthy that two of these large companies, WellPoint and United Health, had action taken against them early this year by government regulators.

Slate.com had a informative article, “Cost of Living: Sarah Palin Is Afraid Obamacare Will Put a Price on Human Life – But We Already Do,” which sheds light on how insurance companies make decisions and deny consumers coverage, even for those who are extremely ill.

Although Sarah Palin and others talk about health care being rationed by “death panels,” rationing already is occurring through the denial of health care by insurance companies, reports the Slate article.

I think the media needs to investigate these firms and tell the public how they’re making such huge profits and how they treat consumers who need health care.

I’d like to see big headlines in newspapers and on Web sites about UnitedHealth Group, WellPoint, Aetna, Humana, and Cigna.

Copyright 2009, Rita R. Robison, Consumer Specialist

President urges the faith community to step up efforts for health insurance reform

Yesterday I receive an e-mail from WashPIRG inviting me to participate in a conference call with thousands of others today on health care reform with its allies in the faith community.

The call, featuring remarks from President Obama, was part of a larger campaign in the faith community called 40 Days for Health Reform.

President Obama said providing better health care is a moral conviction, which goes to the heart of who we are as people.

"I believe that nobody in America should be denied basic health care because he or she lacks health insurance," Obama said. "No one in America should be pushed to the edge of financial ruin because an insurance company denies them coverage."

For those who have a health plan, it should be more affordable and more secure, he said.

Obama said health insurance reform would:

• Eliminate denials for preexisting conditions.

• Cap your out-of-pocket expenses.

• Provide tests, such as mammograms and colonoscopies, which save lives.

• Let consumers keep their doctor, if they like him or her.

Obama called the labeling of voluntary meetings with doctors about end of life choices to be paid for by Medicare as “death panels” an extraordinary lie.

He said people with money already hire “fancy” lawyers to do this.

Obama said health insurance reform wouldn’t:

• Pay for coverage for illegal aliens.

• Be a government take over of the health care system.

• Provide for government-funded abortions.

• Cut Medicare benefits.

• Raise the deficit.

"These are all fabrications that have been put out there in order to discourage people from meeting what I consider to be a core ethical and moral obligation,” Obama said. "That is that we look out for one another, that I am my brother's keeper and I am my sister's keeper."

Throughout history when the country has sought to change and bring justice to more Americans, those opposed have applied pressure by playing on people’s hopes and fears, Obama said. Two examples he gave were civil rights and the establishment of the Medicare system.

“We need the help of all of you,” Obama said, “to move the process ahead in the months to come.” The faith community needs to spread the truth and spread the facts on health insurance reform, he added.

Melody Barnes, director of domestic policy for the White House, answered questions prior to Obama’s telephone conference remarks.

The conference call opened with several people relating their problems obtaining adequate health care.

Ministers, priests, and rabbis also talked about how people are paying more then they can afford for health care, how shouting protesters are spreading fear and hatred, and why members of the faith community have a moral imperative to work on this issue.

Copyright 2009, Rita R. Robison, Consumer Specialist

What were the best and worst consumer experiences you had this week?

Recently, I launched a best and worst consumer experience feature on The Survive and Thrive Boomer Guide.

I think looking weekly at our best and worse experiences as consumers will help us learn from our successes and mistakes.

Each week, we have dozens of consumer happenings, some good and some bad.

Here’s one each of mine for this week:

My best consumer experience – Eating vegetables from my garden

Although I ran into some problems trying to figure out how to build a raised bed garden, I finally was able to get it constructed with help from a friend.

That was six weeks ago. Now I’m eating vegetables from my garden – Swiss chard, kale, and crookneck squash.

It’s terrific. I’m making a big effort this year to grow more of my own food to cut my grocery bill and reduce the amount of energy it takes to ship food.

My worst consumer experience – Failure to resolve a billing dispute with Comcast

When I signed up for Comcast, I received a bundled “deal” of $33 for high speed Internet, $33 for phone service including long distance, and $33 for cable television.

When the deal ran out, I was able to get it extended. However, the amount the Comcast supervisor told me to pay on my bill was wrong.

When I received my next bill, it had extra charges on it for $34 that hadn’t been properly credited.

I talked to a customer service representative who said impolitely that the bill was correct. No credit could be given. I asked to talk to his supervisor. The supervisor wasn’t available, but was to call me back. It never happened.

Several days later, I called again. Another representative, again impolitely, insisted nothing could be done about the bill. I asked to talk with the supervisor.

The supervisor listened politely, but wouldn’t adjust the bill. I told her how impolite the customer service representatives were. She said she would speak to the one I had just talked with.

Then I gave up. It wasn’t worth spending any more time on it. A disappointment.

Copyright 2009, Rita R. Robison, Consumer Specialist