The Survive and Thrive Boomer Guide

What Happens When There’s No Will or the Will Is Invalid?

“Three handwritten documents, dated between 2010 and 2014, were found in Aretha Franklin’s Michigan home in recent months, including one in a spiral notebook found under her couch cushions.”

The Queen of Soul’s lack of a properly executed estate plan isn’t the first time a celebrity died without a will and it surely will not be the last says The Bulletin in the article “Aretha Franklin and other celebrities died without an estate plan. Will you?”

The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Howard Hughes, and Prince all died without a valid will and estate plan. When actor Heath Ledger died, his will left everything to his parents and three sisters. The will had been written before his daughter was born and left nothing to his daughter or her mother. Ledger’s family later gave all the money from the estate to his daughter.

via blog.graberjohnson.com

I'm reposting this Typepad article by Graber & Johnson Law Group that offers tips on preparing a will.

Baby boomers ponder retirement, health, and responsibility

Fall is well underway and I’m eating the last few items from my garden – cucumbers, lettuce I planted in August, and kale. I was able to have a few servings of collards, but something was chewing on them, which reduced production. I used the kale in a crockpot stew, and it was much better than my usual kale dish – kale sautéed with scrambled eggs.

The photo is my next to last cucumber sandwich with bacon, lettuce, and a fried egg. I splurged and bought a croissant for the occasion.

Meanwhile, baby boomer bloggers are writing about a variety of topics:

Retirement

Some realities sneak up on you over time, and that's been true of Carol Cassara's love affair with California. Now in semi-retirement, she asks “Is My Love Affair With California Over?”

Health

Everything from minor aches and pains to major illnesses afflict folks during their lifetime. Unfortunately for most of us, the incidents of ailments increases as we age. Meryl Baer of Six Decades and Counting is currently dealing with a new issue – new to her. She discovered lots of people suffer from her current complaint, and writes about it in “Golden Years Bring Tears.”

You say you’re anxious or down? Oral surgery may be your solution. This phenomenon happened to Laurie Stone of Musings, Rants & Scribbles recently when she had to get a tooth extracted. And even though this was hardly open-heart surgery, she  was terrified. 

Jennifer Koshak of Unfold and Begin is continuing her year-long study of the “Art of Extreme Self-Care” by Cheryl Richardson. Each month has a focus and Koshak creates a calendar of activities to help process what’s being learned. In “How to Use Your Voice When You're Angry,” people learn how to address their anger instead of pushing it aside in order to avoid conflict.  

Responsibility

Jury duty is a civic duty but sometimes it isn’t convenient especially if you’re self-employed or dealing with other challenges. Rebecca Olkowski with BabyBoomster.com was on call for jury duty last week. She didn’t have to report, but each night checking in was stressful. See “Jury Duty – A Civic Duty That Isn’t Always Convenient” for her thoughts.

At Sightings Over Sixty, Tom wonders if men deserve the credit – or the blame – for all the troubles in the world. Go to “In Defense of Old White Males” to see if you agree, or disagree, or have a completely different view of responsibility.

This is the Best of Boomer Blogs #617. Click on the links to read the articles. And be sure to join in the conversations. Baby boomer bloggers love to hear from readers.

Copyright 2019, Rita R. Robison, Consumer and Personal Finance Journalist

Gordon folding knives are being recalled by Harbor Freight due to laceration hazard

Harbor Freight Tools is recalling about 1.1 million Gordon folding knives.

The locking mechanism can fail to engage on extension of the blade, posing a laceration hazard.

Harbor Freight Tools has received seven reports of the knife failing to lock, resulting in six reports of laceration injuries, including four that required medical attention.

It’s worth it to call customer service for your credit card, but men have better results than women, study shows

Men are twice as likely as women to get a credit card annual fee waived, according to a WalletHub survey released Wednesday. The survey was conducted to learn about Americans’ experiences calling credit card customer service departments, and whether or not they found the process helpful.

Calling customer service can help solve problems and get cardholders better terms, but the experience isn’t the same for everyone. Below are results from WalletHub’s survey: 

Key findings

• Nearly one in two Americans would rather call their in-laws than their credit card company.
• Millennials are three times as likely as baby boomers to be denied a credit limit increase.
• Three in four consumers agree that calling customer service is worth it.
• Nearly one in five people have yelled at a customer service representative.

New information for those selecting a nursing home

By Brian O’Connell, Analyst, insuranceQuotes.com

Guest blogger

Finding the right nursing home for an elderly family member is a serious responsibility, and often a daunting task. But many Americans aren’t aware of the tools that the federal government provides to make the search smoother and more trustworthy.

The U.S. Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services rolled out its new Five-Star Quality Rating System in April, with the goal to help families compare local nursing homes and get key questions answered.

The CMS’s website rates nursing homes on a scale of one to five stars, taking into consideration three key areas: health inspections, staffing, and quality measures.

Federal agency charges multi-level marketer with operating a pyramid scheme and imposes a $150 million fine

Multi-level marketer AdvoCare International and its former chief executive officer agreed to pay $150 million and be banned from the multi-level marketing business to resolve Federal Trade Commission charges that the company operated an illegal pyramid scheme. The FTC alleged that AdvoCare tricked consumers into believing they could earn huge income as “distributors” of its health and wellness products. 

Two top promoters also settled charges that they promoted the illegal pyramid scheme and misled consumers about their income potential, agreeing to a multi-level marketing ban and a judgment of $4 million that will be suspended when they surrender assets.

The FTC lawsuit filed in federal court also charges two other top AdvoCare promoters, Danny and Diane McDaniel, with unlawfully promoting a pyramid scheme, making deceptive earnings claims, and providing others with ways to do the same.

CFPB, state file lawsuit against companies offering high-interest credit offers

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau or CFPB and the South Carolina Department of Consumer Affairs filed a lawsuit Tuesday in federal court against Katharine Snyder, Performance Arbitrage Company Inc., and Life Funding Options Inc. The companies, owned and operated by Snyder, brokered contracts offering high-interest credit to veterans, many of whom are disabled, and to other consumers.

The CFPB alleges that the companies and their owner violated the Consumer Financial Protection Act’s prohibition against deceptive practices.

The CFPB and South Carolina allege that Snyder and her companies misrepresented to consumers that the contracts the companies broker are valid and enforceable when the contracts are void under federal and state law; misrepresented to consumers that the product is a sale of payments and not a high-interest credit offer; and failed to inform consumers of the products’ interest rates.

Are baby boomers responsible?

As we enter into fall before winter’s blasts, baby boomers are looking at personal and company responsibility. With climate change, corporate wrongdoing, and social media privacy mistakes, baby boomer bloggers are writing about responsibility.

Articles include:

• Whether we’re headed in the same direction as the dust bowl of the Great Depression, except on a larger scale, due to climate change.
• The charges by a federal agency that Match.com used fake love interest ads to trick consumers into buying subscriptions and made it difficult for them to cancel.
• Whether Facebook has become too controlling in determining what we see on the site.
• Sources for learning, including online courses.

Jennifer Koshak of Unfold and Begin writes about these articles on the Best of Boomer Blogs #616. Click here to get the links to the article. And be sure to chime in with your thoughts. Baby boomer bloggers enjoy discussions with readers.

Copyright 2019, Rita R. Robison, Consumer and Personal Finance Journalist

Utility bars are being recalled by DeWALT due to injury hazard

DeWALT is recalling about 145,000 multi-functional utility bars.

The utility bar can break while being used for prying, posing an injury hazard to the user.

DeWALT has received at least 56 reports of the utility bars breaking, including four reports of injured users.

What you need to know about loot boxes in computer games

Do you play computer games or does someone in your family play them?

More than 164 million adults in the United States play computer games and three-quarters of all Americans have at least one gamer in their household, according to the Entertainment Software Association.

Loot boxes are the containers gamers come across in many games filled with a mix of virtual items players might want: clothes or gear to customize their avatar, or weapons or skills that could give them an advantage over other players in the game. Some of the items are valuable in the game, but many aren’t. And players won’t know what they’re getting until they open the box.