The Survive and Thrive Boomer Guide

What to do about Capital One’s gigantic data breach

A massive data theft at Capital One exposed personal information, in some cases including Social Security numbers, of more than 100 million people. It’s the largest amount of data stolen from any bank to date. 

Consumers should assume that their Social Security number has been exposed between this breach and breaches of other major companies’ databases, such as Equifax’s, said Ed Mierzwinski, U.S. PIRG’s federal consumer program senior director. U.S. PIRG recommends all Americans should freeze their credit reports for free to safeguard their financial security. Click on the following link for details on how to do this: https://uspirg.org/feature/usp/freeze-your-credit. 

“The Capital One breach impacting 100 million Americans is the largest-known breach of a bank,” said Mierzwinski. “The hacker stole people’s credit applications which help make up their financial DNA – and in some cases included Social Security numbers. This information could be used to steal our identities or drain our finances.”

Baby boomers start the summer with thoughts of politics, health, and stuff

It’s summer at last with spring rains lessening and warm days turning into hot days in many parts of the country. Politics are heating up, too, with the debates for 20 Democratic presidential candidates drawing substantial interest.

For Tom Sightings from Sightings Over Sixty, the heat has finally come in full force – in both the weather and in politics. Dial in to “Summer Heat” to find out how he's slowed down and started doing summer activities for little or no money, including watching a couple of debatable programs on television.

It was difficult for Meryl Baer of Six Decades and Counting to avoid the hype for the great event of the past week – the two-night Democratic debate extravaganza. Baer settled onto her couch with comfort food – ice cream – and spent four hours of her precious time watching politicians talk…and talk…and talk. She commented on the spectacle in this week’s post “Democrats Debate, Discuss, and Dream.”

Other boomers are writing about health.

For Rebecca Olkowski with BabyBoomster.com the topic is emotional eating. Emotional eating is one of the main causes of weight gain in women over 50. Olkowski is trying out a weight loss program that’s an app on your smartphone. It holds you accountable to yourself and gives you support and education on how to deal with psychological issues that are packing on the pounds. 

On my blog, I wrote about a request by consumer and health groups to put a warning statement on alcoholic beverages labels to increase consumer awareness of the link between alcohol and cancer. Half of Americans aren’t aware of this link.

Then, there’s the topic of what to do with all your stuff. Organizing spaces is a topic covered by two other boomer blogger.

What happens to our stuff when we don't have children to leave it to? And what happens to our nostalgia? Those are questions Carol Cassara of Heart•Mind•Soul asks in her post about stuff and nostalgia.

Jennifer Koshak of Unfold and Begin wants to know if you have a soul loving space.  A place that nourishes you, calms you, and helps to soothe your soul? A space in which you feel creative? Or, a space in which you feel connected with your family? For details, see the article “How to Create a Soul Soothing Space.”

This is the Best of Boomer Blogs #603. Be sure to take a look at these great boomer articles. And, leave a message to join in the conversations.

Copyright 2019, Rita R. Robison, Personal Finance Writer

Workstations recalled by Knape & Vogt due to injury hazard

Knape & Vogt is recalling about 76,000 sit-stand office workstations.

The workstation can malfunction, causing the gas cylinders to separate and forcefully discharge, posing an injury hazard. 

Knape & Vogt has received two reports of the gas cylinder separating from the workstation. In one case, the cylinder discharged from the unit resulting in damage to the drywall in an office.

Baby boomers deal with life in today’s world

 

The midterm elections are Tuesday and some of our baby boomer writers are getting excited about the outcome. America could be on the cusp of political change. It all depends on who comes out to vote.

This week, boomer bloggers are writing about:

• A 50^th high school reunion.

• A family’s immigrant past.

• Bullet journals.

• The child-like part of us.

• The deferred credit card trick.

• How Congress is out of step with the rest of us.

Rebecca Forstadt-Olkowski of BabyBoomster is the host for this week’s Best of Boomer Blog 571. Click here to get links to this week’s boomer articles. And be sure to join in the conversations. Boomer bloggers love to hear from readers.

Copyright 2018, Rita R. Robison, Consumer Specialist

Are you ready for a natural disaster? National Preparedness Month is a good time to get organized

Natural disasters and severe weather and can occur with little warning. Examples are this year’s floods and wildfires. Are you ready to leave your home quickly? You can reduce your worries about these events by making sure you’re prepared if and when they happen.

September is National Preparedness Month, and it’s a good time to get your family, pets, and property ready. Suggestions from the Federal Trade Commission include:

Are you ready for back-to-school shopping?

It’s hard to believe, but August is almost here, and soon kids will be headed back to school.

To help parents save money, WalletHub, a personal-finance website, has released the results of its “2018 Back-to-School Shopping Survey” and “Sales-Tax Holiday Calendar” to help parents save hundreds.

Highlights of the reports include:

33 funeral homes fail to disclose price information to consumers, the FTC finds

In 33 of the 134 funeral homes visited in 11 states during 2017, the Federal Trade Commission's undercover investigators found failures to disclose pricing information required by the FTC’s Funeral Rule.

The rule requires funeral homes to provide consumers with an itemized general price list at the beginning of a discussion of funeral arrangements, a casket price list before consumers view any caskets, and an outer burial container price list before they view grave liners or vaults. The rule also prohibits funeral homes from requiring consumers to buy any item, such as a casket, as a condition of obtaining any other funeral good or service.

By requiring a list of prices, the Funeral Rule allows consumers to compare prices and buy only the goods and services they want.

Enjoying the Olympics? It's a good time to multitask

Like many people, I enjoy watching the Olympics. However, I've got too much to do to sit for hours in front of the television.

That's why I decided to get caught up on organizing my photos while watching the Olympics. It's worked very well. I organized all the albums in the photo. However, what I organized were the brochures, thank you letters, and tourist information such as which wineries we visited and what we tasted. For 2015, I've ordered copies of my best photos and identified them on the back of the photos. For 2016 and 2017, I have to finishing getting copies of my best photos into a digital file then have them printed out. I have the photos, probably 500, for 2015, but I need to put them in the archival sleeves. It's going to be a time consuming task.

This would be a good stopping place for me now, and make the switch to working on my taxes. However, tax preparation isn't nearly as much fun. I especially enjoyed looking at the all the information I brought back from my Australian trip during mu album organization.

Since I hurt my back, a compression fracture, I've been resting and recovering at home. Maybe since I'm taking it easy, I'll get more work done on my photos and get my taxes done as well.

Copyright 2018, Rita R. Robison, Consumer Specialist

It's a good time to organize and file your receipts

Last night, I spent several hours organizing my receipts, then filing them. If you keep receipts, which I suggest all consumers do, it's good to get them in order before the receipts for 2018 start coming in.

Since I have a small business, I need to keep track of my business expenses. So, before tax filing time, I need to separate the business receipts from the others. I also make a file for medical receipts.

Last year, I sorted my receipts at the end of the year. That was helpful in February when I began working on my taxes.

For the last several years, I've been stuffing my receipts in a plastic 4-cup measuring cup on a shelf of my kitchen cupboard. I think I'll sort my receipts weekly this year. It would save a lot of time at the end of the year.

Copyright 2017, Rita R. Robison, Consumer Specialist

How's your Junk Drawer?

Today I had to face my Junk Drawer.

My fence is being repaired, and after a worker cut a board for the bottom rail too short, I had to go to Home Dupot and buy a new one. He was at the end of the job, so there weren't any spares.

I didn't want to have part of the six-foot long board sticking out of my trunk, so I thought I'd put down the back seat in my Honda Accord. The extra length of the board would be inside my car instead of sticking out of the back of the trunk.

A great idea, but where was the key unlocks the back seat so it folds down? Maybe in the Junk Drawer? I could only hope.

I began looking, putting the top layer of stuff on the counter. I found an envelope that said Keys, but it was the extra key to my locked mailbox. Darn. But, I persevered.

And there it was. A miracle, indeed.

Someday, I'll get that Junk Drawer cleaned out. Someday.

My mom had a junk drawer. It was the top drawer of a hutch for dishes, I think. I'll have to ask my sisters.

Copyright 2017, Rita R. Robison, Consumer Specialist