Posts Tagged With ‘ Employment ’

Financial institutions are increasingly using chatbots, which put out human-like responses using computer programming, to communicate with customers to save money. Chatbots sometimes have human names and use popup features to encourage interaction. Some chatbots use more complex technologies such as “artificial intelligence” to respond to customers. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has received hundreds of complaints from frustrated customers trying to receive timely, straightforward answers from their financial institutions or to raise a concern or dispute. “To reduce costs, many... Continue Reading

Memorial Day is a day to honor Americans who have died in service to their country. Many people attend a memorial day event, visit a cemetery where a loved one is buried, or spend time remembering a service member. In addition, for others, it’s the unofficial beginning of summer. So, it brings barbecues, picnics, swimming, and other outdoor activities. Then, millions will be heading to stores or looking online to check out what the best sales prices may be. For details on Memorial Day 2023, see the following from WalletHub, a personal finance website: Originally Published on https://boomersurvive-thriveguide.typepad.com/the_survive_and_thrive_bo/ Continue Reading

Memorial Day is a day to honor Americans who have died in service to their country. Many people attend a memorial day event, visit a cemetery where a loved one is buried, or spend time remembering a service member. In addition, for others, it’s the unofficial beginning of summer. So, it brings barbecues, picnics, swimming, and other outdoor activities. Then, millions will be heading to stores or looking online to check out what the best sales prices may be. For details on Memorial Day 2023, see the following from WalletHub, a personal finance website: Originally Published on https://boomersurvive-thriveguide.typepad.com/the_survive_and_thrive_bo/ Continue Reading

On Saturday, I received a strange email. It said it was from Gastro Health and a new lab result had been entered into my patient portal from my Gastro Health provider. To access my lab results, I was to go to my patient portal. I thought it was a scam. I haven’t had a test done recently related to my digestive system, and my doctor belongs to a practice called Gastroenterology Associates. The next day, I thought I’d write an article warning people about a possible scam. However, when I started doing research, I found that Gastro Health is a private equity firm that purchases the offices of... Continue Reading

Although Mother’s Day is highly commercialized, I like remembering my mom on this special day and I enjoy visiting with my daughters over WhatsApp. Maybe next year, I’ll be able to travel to Spain again in May. Since my birthday is May 4 and my daughter’s is May 23, we have so much fun celebrating our birthdays plus American Mother’s Day and Spanish Mother’s Day in May in Spain. The photo is of my mom. It’s her high school graduation photo. She graduated when she was 16. Mother’s Day spending Consumers plan to spend a total of $35.7 billion on Mother’s Day this year, nearly $4... Continue Reading

Graduations are coming up and many parents and students are thinking about student debt, which totals $1.63 trillion in the United States. Student loan debt is about $37,600 per borrower. “In the short term, students are not overly optimistic about their financial situation, as 88 percent are concerned about the economy and 80 percent are worried about inflation,” said Jill Gonzalez, an analyst for WalletHub, a personal finance website. “Inflation has taken a heavy financial toll on the country, and has made higher education less affordable.” However, students do think that going to college... Continue Reading

Spring is my favorite time of year, and on May Day, when I was a kid, we used to make paper baskets, put flowers in them, and hang them on door knobs. Then we’d ring the bell and run away. One time, I took part in a maypole dance. It was magical. Many countries around the world celebrate International Labor Day on May 1. The United States doesn’t officially recognize International Labor Day although it originated here when workers fought for a shorter work day. Other countries celebrate Labor Day on different dates. In the U.S. and Canada, Labor Day is the first Monday in September. U.S.... Continue Reading

When I worked at The Anchorage Times during the 1980s, I was fortunate to get my dream job writing a consumer action column. However, along with the job as columnist, I also had to be the religion editor. It meant that every week, I had to write a big feature article on religion along with compiling the Church Circuit, a listing of religious events in the anchorage area for that week. In 1986, I interviewed Rabbi Harold Kushner, author of ‘When Bad Things Happen to Good People,’ about his new book “When All You’ve Ever Wanted Isn’t Enough.” Kushner was coming to Anchorage to take... Continue Reading

As a fan of the FIRE (financial independence retire early) movement, I thought I’d try a side hustle, one of the FIRE recommendations. Since I have pinecones that fall on my driveway all year around, I decided to collect them and sell them on craigslist. I have two kinds of pinecones; those from European pine and Douglas fir trees. I collected about a dozen boxes of pinecones, checked out what people were selling them for, and advertised them on craigslist. One woman came before Christmas and bought a small box. She was very happy to get them, saying the pinecones at hobby stores were extremely... Continue Reading

As workers age, poor health or disabling physical conditions can interfere with holding down a job. Sometimes people are forced to quit working if things get really rough, whether they’re ready to retire or not. But race also figures into this predicament, because workers of color are already in poorer health and tend to have more vulnerable employment situations than White workers. A new study compares what’s it’s like to be an older Black, Hispanic or Asian person who is trying to keep working in two countries with similar cultures: the United States and England. The United States does... Continue Reading