The Survive and Thrive Boomer Guide

How to select the best health insurance policy to meet your needs

When you’re hired by a company, it’s likely that you’ll be able to get health insurance through your employer. In America, 58 percent of people get their health insurance this way.

If your employer doesn’t offer health insurance or if you’re self-employed or do contract work, you can get health insurance through the Affordable Care Act.

In either case, you’ll need to pick out a policy. It’s a complicated process.

In addition, every year there will be an open enrollment period. That means you’ll be able to look at the different companies and policies your employer or the ACA offer to see if you want to switch.

Here are some tips to help you:

How to choose a financial advisor

In these complex financial times, it’s good idea to have a financial advisor on your team. You need to pick out one as carefully as you would a doctor or dentist.

A financial advisor will review your total financial picture and offer advice on how to invest money. The advisor will take into consideration income, goals, objectives, and attitude toward financial risk.

A certified financial planner is a good choice because requirements for certification include training, an exam, and continuing education.

Recreational off-highway vehicles recalled by American Honda due to crash and injury hazards

Honda is recalling about 82,000 recreational off-highway vehicles.

The throttle pedal can stick in the open position, posing crash and injury hazards.

The firm has received 15 reports of the throttle pedal sticking in the open position, including six crashes, resulting in a report of a concussion and a broken nose.

Secret slush funds for legal fees in the Trump administration need regulating, consumer group says

The Office of Government Ethics needs to issue rules governing the recent proliferation of legal expense funds within the executive branch, Public Citizen, a consumer advocacy organization, said.

The funds are set up by government officials in legal trouble to raise money from private sources to help pay for legal expenses. They’re largely unregulated for executive branch officials, Craig Holman, government affairs lobbyist for Public Citizen’s Congress Watch division, said.

The new rules should require a $5,000 limit on contributions, a prohibition on donations from those with business pending before the government official, and a requirement for transparency of the sources of funds and expenditures, Public Citizen recommends. It also suggests that OGE require that each official be able to create only one legal expense fund to ensure accountability.

CFPB needs to quash draft rule aimed at weakening discrimination reporting requirements for mortgage lenders, attorney general says

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau shouldn’t adopt its recently-proposed rule that would undermine the ability to enforce fair lending laws and prevent discrimination in the mortgage lending market, New York Attorney General Letitia James said Friday.

On May 13, the CFPB announced that it would raise the reporting threshold for mortgage lenders under the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act, or HMDA, a 1975 law that requires mortgage lenders to make some mortgage data publicly available as a check to ensure compliance with fair lending laws. Some of this data includes information, which lenders already collect to comply with other regulations as well as their own underwriting standards, such as race, ethnicity, gender, age, census tract, credit score, total cost of the loan, and property value, and whether the application was accepted or denied. 

“Fair lending laws exist to protect consumers and ensure that lenders cannot engage in discriminatory practices,” said James. “The proposed rules would undermine these very protections and greatly hinder our ability to hold bad lenders accountable for such behavior. The CFPB was created to protect consumers, not put them in harm’s way by adopting regressive policies.”

Ceramic space heaters are being recalled by Amazon due to fire and burn hazards

Amazon is recalling about 377,000 AmazonBasics 1500 watt ceramic space heaters in the United States, 18,000 in Canada, and 3,765 in Mexico.

 

The heater can overheat, posing fire and burn hazards. Amazon has received 25 reports in the United States and five reports in Canada of the ceramic heater overheating, burning, or sparking. Two of those reports included minor damage to power outlets.  There were no injuries associated with the incidents. No incidents were reported in Mexico.

 

This recall involves AmazonBasics 1500 watt ceramic space heaters. Two models — ASIN B074MR2HGM and ASIN B074MWRLZM — have oscillating fans and the others — ASIN B074MX8VNR and ASIN B074MWKSLX — don't.

Facts and figures for Father’s Day 2019

It’s that time of year again. When the flowers bloom and the trees leaf out, it’s time to recognize those important guys in our families – our dads.

Spending

Americans are expected to spend a record amount on gifts for Father’s Day this year, according a survey conducted for the National Retail Federation. Total spending for the holiday is estimated to reach $16 billion, up from last year’s $15.3 billion.

Father’s Day spending has grown 70 percent, about $6.6 billion, since 2009. The biggest drivers of Father’s Day spending are growth in spending by consumers ages 35 to 44, and spending on clothing, special outings, and gift cards. This year, 75.9 percent of people plan to celebrate and are expected to spend a record $138.97, up from last year’s $132.82, and up from $91 in 2009.

Best wishes on Flag Day – a day to commemorate the adoption of the American flag

Flag Day is June 14 each year, but it’s not an official federal holiday. It's a day to commemorate the American flag.

On June 14, 1777, Congress authorized a red-white-and-blue flag with stars and stripes as the national symbol of the USA.

On May 30, 1916, President Woodrow Wilson established the anniversary of the Flag Resolution of 1777 by issuing a proclamation.

On Aug. 3, 1949, President Harry Truman signed a law designating National Flag Day on June 14.

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.

Three-prong adapters sold as part of World Travel Adapter Kit being recalled by Apple due to electric shock risk

 

Apple is recalling about 814,000 three-prong wall adapters included in Apple AC World Travel Adapter Kits in the United States and about 81,000 in Canada.

Apple has received six reports from other countries of wall plug adapters breaking and consumers receiving shocks, including two reports of consumers who were medically evaluated and released without need for further medical treatment. No reports of incidents or injuries were reported by U.S. consumers.   

The three-prong AC wall plug adapters can break and expose the metal portion of the adapter, posing an electric shock risk.