The Survive and Thrive Boomer Guide

President George H.W. Bush: Not a consumer champion

As President George H.W. Bush is being positively eulogized, it’s important to remember that Bush, as often is the case with most Republican, was more interested in helping business interests than consumers.

Here are some examples of how the Bush administration, and the Republican Party, have failed consumers:

But by and large, [George H.W.] Bush was an establishment president. This meant that he did not fundamentally try to fix the inequities wrought by the American model. He escalated, for instance, Reagan’s War on Drugs – leading to the mass incarceration of African-Americans, a blight that still ails the country to this day. The New Statesman

President Bush signed the biggest rewrite of U.S. bankruptcy law in a quarter century, making it harder for debt-ridden Americans to wipe out their obligations. NBC News

What to do about the Marriott data breach

Photo: Justefrain

About 500 million Marriott customers appear to have had their credit or debit card numbers stolen four years ago.

These consumers are at risk for existing account fraud and should consider requesting a new card. All consumers should check their monthly credit card and bank statements.

“The Marriott breach raises serious questions about Marriott’s data security and its response,” said Mike Litt, consumer campaigns director for U.S. PIRG, a public interest organization. “For starters, how did Marriott’s data breach go unnoticed for four years?”

Have the interest rates gone up on your credit cards?

Many consumers sign up for credit cards without paying too much attention to the interest rate. They may not notice that the credit card issued by a retailer has a much higher interest rate than one they’d get from Visa or Master Card.

In the past several years, credit card interest rates and debt have risen substantially, increasing consumer costs by tens of billions of dollars each year. For example, interest rate on credit card accounts rose steadily from 12.95 percent in 2013 to 16.46 percent in August 2018, an increase of 27 percent, according to Federal Reserve Board data. The credit card interest rate is the highest in this century.

These interest rate increases are going to make holiday purchases with credit cards more expensive. Consumers with high credit card debt levels should be cautious about increasing their debt during the holiday season, said Steve Brobeck, a senior fellow at the Consumer Federation of America.

Scam artists trying to get information from new Medicare cards

The new Medicare cards have now been mailed to recipients in most states.

The cards have a new Medicare number that’s unique to you, instead of a Social Security number. This helps protect your identity. Carrying the old cards around in your pocketbook or purse meant that if either were stolen, the thief would have your Social Security number. I’ve wondered for years why this change wasn’t made. 

You should only give your new Medicare number to doctors, pharmacists, other health care providers, or your insurers.

Scam artists are busy trying to get your Medicare information by contacting you about your new card. If someone asks you for your information, for money, or threatens to cancel your health benefits if you don’t share your personal information, hang up and call Medicare at 800-633-4227.

How to research a charity

When I was writing about Giving Tuesday on Tuesday, my daughter asked me how you research a charity. I’ve recommended it for years but haven’t done it myself because I give to the same four charities that I’m familiar with every year.

She said when the Trump administration began putting immigrant kids in cages, her daughter asked if there was a way to help them. My daughter picked a charity that she saw recommended on Facebook, the Asylum Seeker Advocacy Project or ASAP that is one of the projects at the Urban Justice Center in New York.

I decided to see what I could find out about it.

What are your favorite stores for holiday shopping?

On Sunday, I went to the outlet mall with my daughter and her teenage son to buy his Christmas presents. Now that he’s a teen, he wants clothes for Christmas – and he wants to pick them out.

We went to Adidas. He bought a pair of sweats and we picked out a t-shirt for him also because the Black Friday deal was 25 percent off on the second, less costly item.

Next, we went to Nike. He picked out a pair of running shoes and a sweatshirt. My daughter was excited to find a rain jacket she could wear when running. And, she found a sweatshirt she liked. The deals were better Adidas. Thirty percent off on everything.

The third stop was at the store for my grandson’s sports team. He bought a coral-colored hoodie there.

It was a boring shopping trip. The shops were filled mostly with gray, black, and navy blue clothes. I looked longingly at the pretty patterns and bright colors when we passed by the women’s stores. Later, my daughter said.

My favorite stores for holiday shopping are:

The holidays begin for baby boomers

Tom Sightings of Sightings Over Sixty hates Thanksgiving. Not a football fan, Sightings says all you do is sit around, overeat, and watch football. Often you have to withstand the perils and pitfalls of traveling on some of the busiest days of the year, fighting traffic, airport lines, and surly crowds, he says. In addition, Sightings doesn’t like shopping.

But the Thanksgiving curmudgeon loves Christmas.

Sightings offers a report on how his boomer blogger buddies are getting ready for the holidays. They’re writing about:

Tips to help consumers protect themselves on Black Friday and Cyber Monday

As millions of holiday shoppers head out for Black Friday shopping and take to their computers for Cyber Monday, it’s important to remember that just because items are supposedly on sale, all may not be what it seems.  

“When purchasing gifts for family and friends, we encourage consumers to use our tips to protect themselves against fraudsters and scams,” said New York Attorney General Barbara Underwood  

Underwood offers the following tips for consumers shopping on Black Friday and Cyber Monday:

REI skips Black Friday and encourages others to enjoy the indoors instead of shopping

For the fourth year this Black Friday, REI Co-op will close its 153 stores, process no online payments, and pay more than 12,000 employees to #OptOutside with friends and family. Since 2015, 15 million people and more than 700 organizations have joined the #OptOutside movement.

This year, REI is also pledging $1 million to support the launch of a center at the University of Washington that will study the link between human health and time spent outdoors.
 
“The best data we have says that, in any given year, 150 million Americans don’t spend any time outside,” said REI CEO Jerry Stritzke. “That’s half the country. Day in, day out, we’re looking down instead of up, looking at our phones instead of the world around us. We’re asking people this year to reevaluate that picture of themselves. To see technology as the starting point to a journey outside, not the destination. And to go explore the world with someone they love – on Black Friday and every day.”

Top 10 stores for Cyber Monday shopping

Cyber Monday isn't just for Black Friday leftovers. Some of the year's best sales will take place on Monday, Nov. 26. So, you may want to save part of your holiday shopping budget for Cyber Monday deals.

Which stores will be offering the best savings? DealNews.com offers 10 suggestions, based on the best sales last year from Cyber Monday and the Sunday before.

1. Amazon

Best for: Gaming, toys, home, and almost anything else you can buy online

While plenty of other retailers offer Cyber Monday sales, none of them match Amazon's. Last year, DealNews.com saw three times as many Cyber Monday deals at Amazon as the next highest retailer.