The Survive and Thrive Boomer Guide

Facts and figures for Labor Day 2020

As Labor Day approaches, it’s a time to celebrate American workers and take a look at how they’ve been impacted by the covid-19 pandemic. Although the United States is slowly regaining lost jobs, the national unemployment rate is still higher than normal at 10.2 percent as of July 2020.

The high level of unemployment, along with the continued spread of coronavirus and its huge economic impact, has led many American workers to be concerned about whether they’ll get laid off.

In these difficult times, WalletHub conducted a survey, which found that  The survey also had questions about people’s plans for Labor Day.

Below are highlights from the survey:

Source: WalletHub

Copyright 2020, Rita R. Robison, Consumer and Personal Finance Journalist

Pandemic still changing everything, but people are trying a few things

On Aug. 18, 1920, Tennessee legislators voted to ratify the 19^th amendment to the U.S. Constitution guaranteeing the right for women to vote. It was the largest granting of suffrage in the history of the United States.

As with the cancelation of everything else, events to celebrate the 100^th anniversary of women’s suffrage were canceled.

However, on the 100^th anniversary of the Tennessee General Assembly’s vote, women in my community gathered at a the state library next to a statue of Mark Twain to celebrate. Mark Twain said women should have the right to vote.

It was fun to celebrate such a joyous occasion.

Meanwhile, boomer bloggers are writing about:

20 books to read about food this summer

The world as we know it is changing due to the coronavirus pandemic. But as it exposes inequities in the health and food systems, many people hope that the pandemic offers an opportunity to build a new and more sustainable food system.

To understand what it will take to move forward, the Food Tank has compiled its summer reading list to examine the issues that affect the country's food system today. These 20 books provide insight into food access and justice in black communities, food relief and school nutrition programs, the effects of technology on global food supply chains, the relationship between climate change and food production, and more:

1. "Be My Guest: Reflections on Food, Community, and the Meaning of Generosity" by Priya Basil. Forthcoming November 2020

Priya Basil explores the meaning of hospitality within a variety of cultural, linguistic, and sociopolitical contexts. Basil uses her cross-cultural experience to illustrate how food amplifies discourse within families and touches on the hospitality and the lack thereof that migrants and refugees experience.

Watch out for phony offers for work-at-home jobs targeting college students

Students at colleges and universities are being targeted by a work-at-home employment scam through emails that appear to be sent from a college or university. The scammers obtain personal information from the student while posing as a college or university representative. They convince students to cash counterfeit checks and send them the money.

“Students who fall victim to this scam could face serious repercussions to their financial stability and credit record,” said Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody. “I am urging all students currently enrolled at Florida colleges and universities to take extra precaution when receiving online job offers.”

The scheme involves scammers sending online job advertisements offering college students an administrative position, tricking the student into believing the email is from a college or university representative by using an email address ending in “.edu.” As part of the scheme, the student receives counterfeit checks in the mail, or by email, and is instructed to deposit the checks into a personal checking account. The scammers then direct the student to withdraw the money and make a payment necessary for the job. Often, after the student sends the money, the checks are confirmed to be fraudulent by the bank.

Baby boomers figuring out how to cope during these difficult times

It’s so upsetting that coronavirus cases are spiking in about 20 states in the USA. I’ve been staying home since early March, and am prepared to stay home more because I’m in the high-risk group.

But many people, including President Trump, aren’t wearing face masks. Trump even organized a huge rally Saturday in Tulsa, Oklahoma. What is he thinking? Eight of his staff members who worked on the event tested positive for coronavirus. Two of them attended the event. We’ll just have to wait and see how many Trump supporters will get covid-19 and how many will be superspreaders.

I am going to go out this weekend to my nieces memorial service, which is in Bellingham, Washington, a couple of hours from my home. Before I go, I’ll need to cut my hair. I was going to hire an online stylist, but my daughter said since my hairdo is so simple, I might be able to do it myself. I checked out a couple of YouTube videos, so it looks doable. I’ll report later on how it goes.

Make sure a scammer isn't getting employment benefits in your name

In Washington state where I live, scammers have stolen hundreds of millions of dollars in employment benefits. The state, in a hurry to get payments to people needing funds during the pandemic, didn't have adequate safeguards in place to stop crooks. Now, the process has been slowed down to do more checking.

How are scammers doing this? They're filing claims for unemployment benefits, using the names and personal information of people who haven't filed claims. People learn about the fraud when they get a notice from their state unemployment benefits office or their employer about their supposed application for benefits.

If this happens to you, it means someone is misusing your personal information, including your Social Security number and birth date, said Seena Gressin, attorney for the Federal Trade Commission's Division of Consumer and Business Education. Gressin said to act fast using these steps to help protect your finances and credit:

Baby boomers thinking about venturing out, but should they?

Photo: Lawrence Purce

It’s so upsetting to see millions of people out protesting in the streets of America in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic. Should people be protesting the murder of George Floyd by a police officer? Yes, it’s needed. Should they be protesting in the middle of the pandemic? No.

In Washington state as of June 12, 2020, the 14-day average of covid-19 deaths was seven.

Seven people a day are dying, yet the state is opening up. The public policy is that it’s O.K. for seven people to die a day of covid-19.

In the United States on Sunday, 317 people died.

In this state, people age 65 and older are considered to be in the high-risk category, as are people with underlying health conditions. About half of baby boomers are in this age category. However, baby boomers are going out to dinner, getting their hair cut, and planning vacations.

Don’t be one of those who die. Stay home if you’re in the high-risk group. Health officials are predicting a second wave of covid-19.

Department of Education’s latest idea for student loan relief is deeply flawed, consumer groups say

A Trump administration rule that denies loan relief to many students cheated by their schools is deeply flawed and should be overturned, Public Citizen and the Project on Predatory Student Lending told a court Tuesday. The groups represent student borrowers in a lawsuit challenging the U.S. Department of Education’s new “partial relief” rule.

The rule details how the department will decide whether and how much relief to give borrowers who have demonstrated that they were cheated by the schools they attended. Under the rule, most borrowers whose claims are approved receive only partial or no relief on their student-loan debt.

The lead plaintiff, Sammia Pratt, attended a Corinthian-owned Everest school in Florida for accounting, based on the false promise that she’d be able to transfer credits to the University of Central Florida.

Baby boomers try to keep going in these trying times

Photo: Fibonacci Blue

We’re living the life of the coronavirus pandemic. We’re staying home and picking up groceries or having them delivered. Then, George Floyd is murdered in Minneapolis, Minnesota, when a police officer pressed his knee on his neck for 9 minutes.

Despite stay-at-home orders, thousands of people burst out of their homes to protest in cities throughout the nation, some not wearing face masks. Then, the riots and looting begin.

It’s upsetting in so many ways. Another black person killed by police, needlessly. Local officials slow to take the right action. Black and brown people continuing to face police brutality and lack of job opportunities, housing, health care, and more.

I hope, at last, elected officials, working with citizens, can bring about reforms in policing and to correct the disparities that have been ravaging black communities for decades. Every citizen needs to figure out what he or she can do to move public policy on these issues forward. See this listing of anti-racism groups you can join and anti-racism resources.

For this week’s Best of Boomer Blogs, boomer bloggers are writing about:

Baby boomers share stories of staying at home during these coronavirus pandemic times

Mother’s Day was different this year. Instead of celebrating with my daughter and her family in Spain like I often do, I was at home in the Seattle area following Washington state’s Stay Home, Stay Healthy order.

I enjoyed a video call with my daughters and pizza and chocolate cake. I got the idea for the pizza and cake from my birthday request made earlier in May. It was so good, I repeated it for Mother’s Day.

While staying home gets tiring at times, it’s giving me a lot of time to work on my book “Follow the Money: My Life as a Financial Journalist.”

Meanwhile, boomer bloggers are writing about how they’re doing during the pandemic: