The Survive and Thrive Boomer Guide

Many Americans think the threat of covid-19 will continue for months, survey shows

Most Americans are still concerned about the spread of covid-19 in their communities – and they expect the pandemic to continue to be a concern into 2021, according to a survey from Consumer Reports, a consumer research, testing, and advocacy organization.

A majority of Americans – 78 percent – remain concerned about the continued spread of covid in their area over the next month, including 44 percent who are “very concerned.”

The number of people who have been “very concerned” about covid rose mid-summer as the number of covid cases across the United States spiked. Forty-one percent of adults were “very concerned” about the pandemic in May and June. The figure rose to 53 percent who were “very concerned” in July, and then dropped to 44 percent in August.

Online Training Academy agrees to forgive student debt and pay more than $10 million

Online Training Academy hyped a “patented” training program that promised to help people earn “big money” by paying big money to OTA for trainings costing as much as $50,000.

OTA’s lavish earnings claims often came with encouragement for people to go into debt to pay for OTA’s trainings.

A settlement announced Tuesday with the Federal Trade Commission means debt forgiveness for some people who owe money to OTA.

Price gouging persists on Amazon, consumer group reports

Despite U.S. PIRG Education Fund calling out Amazon and other online retailers for allowing price gouging in their online websites at the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, a new analysis shows that the problem is still serious.

Six months later, U.S. PIRG Education Fund revisited whether Amazon had lived up to its promise of tackling price gouging. Its new analysis looked at 10 products found on many shopping lists during the covid-19 pandemic, including hand sanitizers, disinfectant wipes, and digital thermometers.

Of these items, options from Amazon were two to 14 times more expensive than the identical products sold at other retailers. Some examples include:

Donating to wildfire relief? Watch out for scammers

Millions of acres of land across the West Coast, especially in Southern California, are continuing to burn and evacuations are still being ordered for many homes as the flames are being battled by firefighters.

There are more than 100 active large fires in California, Oregon, and Washington. High temperatures and wind conditions are contributing to fires.

If you want to help impacted families, firefighters, or both, here are some suggestions from the Better Business Bureau:

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

Facebook and WhatsApp offers of free covid-19 help are scams

If you see a message on WhatsApp or Facebook offering you free help during the pandemic, watch out. People are reporting seeing messages that seem to be from Pepsi, Walmart, Whole Foods, Target, and other well-known companies.

These messages offer money to people who need it – through grants, coupons for food support, or other giveaways. But they’re all fake, and not from those companies, said Diana Shiller, investigator for the Federal Trade Commission’s Division of Marketing Practices.

You might receive this message, in English or Spanish, from a friend or contact. The message tells you to click a link to get your money. If you click, you might find a survey to take. Or it might ask you to enter your name, address, phone number, or other information. And it might ask you to forward the message to several friends to be eligible to collect.

Baby boomers trying to figure out a new normal in the coronavirus era

As cases of coronavirus spike and scores of people ignore the pandemic, boomer bloggers are venturing out into the new world we have now.

It’s tough. You have to weigh the risks of going out and continually be on the lookout for people not wearing masks. That includes people walking in your neighborhood without masks.

Now, I have to figure out how long covid-19 aerosols hang in the air.

Estate Planning 3-2-1 – Part 3: One task that can make – or break – your estate plan

By Lauren A. Pitman, Attorney

Founder and Author of the Side by Side Planner

Imagine this: a person goes through the trouble of hiring an attorney, making an estate plan, and keeping the plan accessible to their loved ones in an emergency. Then, their loved ones discover a glitch. The deceased’s life insurance policy is payable-on-death to only one of the three children, as it was created many years ago when the family only had one child.

Now, it‘s up to that child to decide: was this my loved one’s true wish for this money, or do I have to share it? What happens now?

Estate Planning 3-2-1, Part 2: Two ways to ease family tension by personalizing your estate plan

By Lauren A. Pitman, Attorney

Founder and Author of the Side by Side Planner

If I have learned anything in more than 15 years as an estate planning attorney, it’s that there’s really no such thing as a “normal family.” That’s because every family is beautiful, whether your “family” is your children and grandchildren, beloved nieces and nephews, or a network of close friends.

That’s why online estate planning tools don’t work: they aren’t customizable enough to work for a real-life family. Real families are too important to risk. I have seen too many sibling relationships fall apart after the death of a parent over what’s “fair.” In extreme cases, contests or disputes lead to permanent family fall-out.

A good estate plan can do more than just preserve relationships: it can even heal old wounds or set things right within a family. Only you know what you think is fair for your beneficiaries.

Estate Planning 3-2-1 – Part 1: Three key lists to keep with your estate plan

By Lauren A. Pitman, Attorney

Founder and Author of the Side by Side Planner

An estate plan is meant to make life easier for the people you love. You make it for yourself – so you maintain control over your medical decisions and the way your assets are distributed, to protect the legacy you’ve built – but really, it’s about the people you love.

It’s about lightening the load for them. If something happened to you, like an accident or injury, your loved ones would already be under a great deal of stress. The last thing they want to worry about is bureaucracy and paperwork.

That‘s where an estate plan comes in. You have done the work ahead of time, so your loved ones can focus on what is important: taking care of you and each other.