The Survive and Thrive Boomer Guide

Equifax to pay up to $700 million for 2017 data breach

Equifax has agreed to pay $575 million, and possibly up to $700 million, as part of a settlement with the Federal Trade Commission, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and 50 states and territories. The settlement alleges that the credit reporting company’s failure to take steps to secure its network led to a data breach in 2017 that affected about 147 million people.

In its lawsuit, the FTC alleges that the Equifax data breach exposed millions of names and dates of birth, Social Security numbers, physical addresses, and other personal information that could lead to identity theft and fraud.

As part of the proposed settlement, Equifax will pay $300 million to a fund that will provide affected consumers with credit monitoring services. The fund will also compensate consumers who bought credit or identity monitoring services from Equifax and paid other money as a result of the 2017 data breach. Equifax will add up to $125 million to the fund if the $300 million isn’t enough to compensate consumers for their losses.

Cancer warning on alcohol requested by consumer, health groups

The Consumer Federation of America joined other consumer and public health groups Wednesday in calling for a warning statement on alcoholic beverages to increase consumer awareness of the link between alcohol and cancer. The groups asked the U.S. Department of Treasury’s Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau to undertake a process to amend the health warning statement required to appear on all alcoholic beverage labels.

The letter to TTB includes signatures from the American Institute for Cancer Research, the American Public Health Association, Breast Cancer Action, the Center for Science in the Public Interest, and the U.S. Alcohol Policy Alliance.

All alcoholic beverage labels now are required to include a warning statement on motor vehicle operation and drinking while pregnant. The law requiring that statement, passed in 1988, directs TTB to consult with the surgeon general and “promptly report” to Congress if “available scientific information” justifies a change in the statement. The groups said the TTB needs to fulfill that reporting duty.

Sloppy practices by student loan servicers create obstacles to repayment, consumer group says

U.S. Department of Education data show that nearly a quarter of the more than 43 million federal student loan borrowers are in trouble with their loan payments. These borrowers need high-quality, timely assistance, but, unfortunately, the student loan servicing industry has long been rife with misconduct, said Joanna K. Darcus, attorney for the National Consumer Law Center.

The consequences of servicers’ misconduct are significant and, at times, catastrophic for borrowers’ financial lives, Darcus said. Sloppy practices by servicers created obstacles to repayment, raised the costs of debt, caused distress, and ultimately contributed to driving struggling borrowers to default, according to an April 2017 Consumer Financial Protection Bureau report based on student loan borrower complaints.

Specifically, many eligible borrowers aren’t enrolled in income-driven repayment or IDR plans despite clear benefits to the financial health of borrowers and their families. Instead, servicers steer many borrowers into forbearances and deferments, which are profitable for the servicer and costly to the borrower.

Federal agencies warn vaping companies about social media ads that don’t contain a nicotine warning

The Federal Trade Commission and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration sent four warning letters Friday to firms that make and market flavored e-liquid products that are used in vaping. The letters cite postings by influencers on social media sites such as Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter that endorse the companies’ products, without any warnings that the products contain nicotine, an addictive chemical.

The FDA determined that the e-liquids are misbranded because the social media posts don’t include the nicotine warning, which has been required since August 2018.

Given the significant risk of addiction, the failure to disclose the presence of and risks associated with nicotine raised concerns that the social media postings could violate the FTC Act, the agency said.

Car loans causing financial hardships for Americans with limited transportation options

Auto lenders are taking advantage of Americans who need their cars to go to work or school and for shopping, trapping them into car loans with high interest rates and inflated costs, according to U.S. PIRG, a public interest organization.

A report, "Driving into Debt" by the U.S. PIRG Education Fund, offers information on the hidden and risky costs of car ownership in the United States.

Today, Americans owe more than $1.2 trillion on car loans. And a significant share of that debt is owed by borrowers with lower credit scores, who are particularly vulnerable to predatory loans.

Tips for shopping on Memorial Day

Memorial Day is one of the best holidays for shopping.

What’s for sale

Most retailers are offering Memorial Day savings. You’re likely to find bargains on patio furniture, clothing, shoes, mattresses, travel, home items, baby items, auto parts, furniture, and musical instruments, according to Dealnews.com.

Best places to shop

The best stores for Memorial Day sales are Home Depot, Best Buy, Macy’s, Amazon, Lowe’s, Purple, Wayfair, and Casper’s, according to Finder.com.

New York Times editorial rips Trump administration for failing to protect borrowers

With the Trump administration proposing to reduce federal oversight of mortgage lending, perhaps the most obvious lesson from the 2008 financial crisis, the need for stricter supervision of mortgage lending, has been lost, the New York Times editorial board said in an editorial Thursday.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau was created in 2010 to protect borrowers, and it increased the reports mortgage lenders are required to file each year. The new information makes it easier to identify predatory lending and discrimination.

The Trump administration is proposing to increase the number of small lenders exempt from the requirements and has announced it won’t penalize lenders who don’t comply with the requirements this year, the first year the new reporting requirements went into effect.

Most sunscreens contain possible harmful ingredients or don’t protect well from the sun, consumer group analysis shows

Researchers from the Environmental Working Group found that two-thirds of sunscreen products it analyzed offer inferior sun protection or contain worrisome ingredients, such as oxybenzone.

On Wednesday, the EWG released its 13th Annual Guide to Sunscreens, which rates the safety and effectiveness of more than 1,300 SPF products, including sunscreens, daily moisturizers, and lip balms with SPF values. SPF means sun protection factor.

In February, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration released a proposal for updated sunscreen regulations. It’s a big step toward cleaning up a poorly regulated industry, with much-needed reforms that would better protect public health, said Nneka Leiba, director of the EWG’s Healthy Living Science program. Only 40 percent of the products on the EWG’s list contain active ingredients that the FDA has proposed are safe and effective, based on the agency’s new draft rules, according to the EWG’s assessment.

How government regulations help consumers

Conservatives rail against government regulations, and the Trump administration is doing its best every day to cut government regulations that corporations hate.

However, government regulations help consumers. A report by the Coalition for Sensible Safeguards lists 10 worker, health, safety, and transportation standards that could help consumers this summer.

“Summer is supposed to be when we take time off from work to spend with family and friends, enjoy picnics, barbeques and cookouts, lay out by the pool, head to the beach, take road trips across the country or fly to far-flung places,” the report says. “But what happens if you’ve been deprived of the wages needed to take time off or travel, if road trips, flights and tour boats are potentially dangerous, if it’s way too hot to work or play outside, and there’s a good chance the food and water may be hazardous to your health? Suddenly, summertime looks less like a dreamy vacation and more like a scorching hot nightmare.”

The regulations discussed in the report are:

Jury awards couple $2 billion in lawsuit against Roundup

For the third time in less than a year, a California jury issued a verdict against Bayer-Monsanto, finding that the company’s Roundup weedkiller caused cancer in a California couple and awarding them $2.055 billion in damages.

The jury in Alameda County Superior Court found on Monday that glyphosate, the main ingredient in Roundup, was the cause of non-Hodgkin lymphoma in both Alva and Alberta Pilliod of Livermore, who have used the herbicide since the 1970s.

It’s the third trial since August 2018 in which a jury found that glyphosate caused cancer. More than 13,000 similar lawsuits have been filed against the company.