The Survive and Thrive Boomer Guide

July Fourth facts and figures for 2019

Source: WalletHub

Celebrate July Fourth with these safety and health tips

Do you want to have a Fourth of July that’s fun yet safe? Check out these tips from the Environmental Working Group.

Holiday barbecue

Before you head to the grocery store, check out the EWG’s resources on the healthiest foods, the cleanest produce, and the safest and most humanely produced meat and dairy. While you’re shopping, check out the hot dogs. To avoid nitrates and nitrites, which can cause cancer, choose natural hot dogs, or select a different protein. You can also make safe, healthy menu planning easier with EWG’s Healthy Living App, which lets you check in the store how well a product rates.

In addition, make sure you avoid charring meat to decrease your risk of cancer, and use a food thermometer to make sure it’s fully cooked so you can avoid food-borne illnesses such as E. coli.

Cancer warning on alcohol requested by consumer, health groups

The Consumer Federation of America joined other consumer and public health groups Wednesday in calling for a warning statement on alcoholic beverages to increase consumer awareness of the link between alcohol and cancer. The groups asked the U.S. Department of Treasury’s Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau to undertake a process to amend the health warning statement required to appear on all alcoholic beverage labels.

The letter to TTB includes signatures from the American Institute for Cancer Research, the American Public Health Association, Breast Cancer Action, the Center for Science in the Public Interest, and the U.S. Alcohol Policy Alliance.

All alcoholic beverage labels now are required to include a warning statement on motor vehicle operation and drinking while pregnant. The law requiring that statement, passed in 1988, directs TTB to consult with the surgeon general and “promptly report” to Congress if “available scientific information” justifies a change in the statement. The groups said the TTB needs to fulfill that reporting duty.

Where are baby boomer living now?

By Florentina Sarac, Guest Blogger

Researcher for RENTCafé

As a generation that values individual choice and can easily adapt to change, baby boomers are known to favor certain parts of the country when it comes to retiring.

No longer tied to a particular city, many prefer to pack up their bags and leave for sunnier places. But while some only take a nice climate and entertainment options into consideration when choosing their next destination, others might want to move closer to family. Affordability also plays a big part in their decision as choosing a city with lower taxes can help them save money.

A study by the apartment search website RENTCafé shows that along with popular retirement zip codes in warm states such as Florida and California, baby boomers also prefer living in lively zip codes in New York or Las Vegas.

Doctor’s book, ‘Elderhood,” offers important insights on aging today

When I was returning from a trip to Bellingham Monday to help my older sister, I listened to a program on Fresh Air, a National Public Radio program, about why new ways of thinking about medical problems in elders need to be considered. It really struck a chord with me, because I help my sister with her medical issues.

Louise Aronson, M.D., talked about her book “Elderhood: Redefining Aging, Transforming Medicine, Reimagining Life.” Aronson said elderly people react differently to medications, even over-the-counter ones, and the medical community often doesn’t take into consideration this possibility when elders are having problems.

She described a situation that happened to her father. He was doing well for a number of years after heart surgery, but then he fainted. In the hospital, his blood pressure dropped, and the staff gave him medication, but then, it dropped again. More medication was given, but it dropped a third time. Aronson went through the list of things that could have been wrong and thought he might be bleeding internally. She tried to get the staff’s attention, but was unable to get them to act. She asked her dad if she could do a rectal exam. A doctor, too, he said yes. When she showed the staff the bloody glove, her father was rushed to the ICU, then to surgery.

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.

More children’s cereals contaminated with cancer-causing weedkiller identified in new round of tests by EWG

A toxic weedkiller linked to cancer was detected in every sample of oat-based cereals and snack products in a new round of tests commissioned by the Environmental Working Group.

All but four of the 21 products contained levels of glyphosate, the main ingredient in Bayer-Monsanto’s Roundup, higher that what EWG scientists consider safe for children’s health.

The highest levels of the weedkiller were detected in General Mills’ Honey Nut Cheerios Medley Crunch at 833 parts per billion, or ppb, and Cheerios, with 729 ppb. The EWG’s health benchmark for children is 160 ppb. A child would only need to eat a single 60-gram serving of food with a glyphosate level of 160 ppb to reach the maximum dose considered safe by the EWG.

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.

Credit score knowledge dips in last eight year, survey shows

Consumer knowledge about credit scores is at the lowest level in the past eight years, according to the ninth annual credit score survey released Monday by the Consumer Federation of America and VantageScore Solutions. On most questions, correct scores declined by more than 10 percentage points, and sometimes by more than 20.  For example:

• 78 percent of respondents in 2012, but only 62 percent in 2019, correctly indicated that people have more than one credit score.
• 85 percent in 2012, but only 66 percent in 2019, correctly answered that keeping a low credit card balance helps raise a low credit score or maintain a high one.

However, in the same period, the number of respondents who said they considered their knowledge of credit scores excellent or good rose from 54 percent to 60 percent.

Car loans causing financial hardships for Americans with limited transportation options

Auto lenders are taking advantage of Americans who need their cars to go to work or school and for shopping, trapping them into car loans with high interest rates and inflated costs, according to U.S. PIRG, a public interest organization.

A report, "Driving into Debt" by the U.S. PIRG Education Fund, offers information on the hidden and risky costs of car ownership in the United States.

Today, Americans owe more than $1.2 trillion on car loans. And a significant share of that debt is owed by borrowers with lower credit scores, who are particularly vulnerable to predatory loans.