Posts Tagged With ‘ Research ’

I’m now a T-Mobile customer. Darn. I switched because I was upset that Verizon wouldn’t give me a deal on a new iPhone and I wanted to be in a family plan with my grandson from Spain who’s going to college in Massachusetts. T-Mobile announced last week that its customer records have been hacked again. This time, it affects about 37 million accounts. The disclosure came in a regulatory filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The breach was discovered two weeks before the announcement. T-Mobile, one of the big three cell phone companies, said “a bad actor” obtained “limited... Continue Reading

This is a fact of retirement life: older Americans haven’t paid as much into Medicare and Medicaid as government spends on their healthcare and nursing home stays. But it is middle-class retirees who get the most out of the system, according to a new study. Middle-income households receive about $230,000 to $260,000 more in Medicare and Medicaid benefits, on average, during their retirement years than the total amount they’ve paid in. Their contributions consist of the Medicare payroll and income taxes deducted from workers’ paychecks, the portion of their federal and state income taxes devoted... Continue Reading

I’ve written about it before, but it’s worth highlighting again. A Consumer Reports evaluation of peer-to-peer or P2P payment apps found that users could lose money to fraud or scams and face privacy risks because app providers may share their personal information widely and it’s difficult for users to delete their data. More than half of Americans, 64 percent, use a P2P payment app for payments to and from individuals, including four out of five, 81 percent, of the 18 to 29 age group, a Consumer Reports survey found. Two out of five Americans, 40 percent, say they use P2P payment services... Continue Reading

One thing that financial writers recommend when you’re having money problems is to review your subscriptions. Sometimes subscriptions that you aren’t using anymore keep renewing or you didn’t realize you had signed up for one. “Negative option” programs include subscription services that automatically renew unless the consumer cancels, and trial marketing programs that charge a reduced fee for an initial period and then automatically begin charging a higher fee. “Consumers shouldn’t have to jump through hoops to cancel subscriptions they don’t want, and they shouldn’t have to... Continue Reading

I spent quite a bit on having two Christmas celebrations with my daughters. Now that I’ve got a little cushion in my bank account again, what could I look for at January sales? I know it’s a great time for white goods, sheets and towels, but what other great deals may now be available. Holiday décor, holiday leftovers, small kitchen appliances, fitness gear, gym memberships, beauty items, TVs, soft home goods, Valentine’s Day flowers, winter clothing, and laptops are likely to be on sale in January, according to DealNews. See the details below: Holiday décor Maybe. Lingering items such... Continue Reading

Photograph by Lewis Hines, West Virginia 1937. The Great Depression, sparked by a devastating collapse in stocks followed by 25 percent unemployment, remains the deepest recession in U.S. history. A new study laying out the long-term negative impacts to Americans born during that time might be consequential for today’s youngest citizens –  teenagers born during the Great Recession of 2008 and 2009 and toddlers born in the midst of the steep COVID downturn in 2020. The researchers found that the stresses and financial strains on parents from the Depression’s extraordinarily high unemployment... Continue Reading

Scores on 8th grade standardized math tests dropped during the pandemic, reversing a large part of the gains students had made since the 1990s. U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona called the news last October “appalling.” But declining scores only confirmed for many parents what they had witnessed as their children struggled to engage in classes conducted over Zoom when the schools were closed down. Now comes some of the fallout. The decline in math scores between 2019 and 2022 is expected to reduce the lifetime earnings for the average student by nearly 2 percent, or $19,400 in today’s... Continue Reading

Of the many consumer laws I’ve reported on over the years, weak laws on personal care products such as cosmetics are among the most frustrating. The United States has lagged behind the rest of the world in regulating the contaminants and ingredients in personal care products. More than 80 other countries have taken action to protect their citizens from chemicals linked to cancer and reproductive harm. Late last year, Congress passed the first update since 1938 to the federal law regulating personal care products, with key cosmetics reform provisions included in end-of-year spending legislation. “Although... Continue Reading

Inflation hurts, and it causes stress. I was going to buy a frozen package of mac and cheese. However, it cost $14.95. I decided I’d make one of my Annie’s organic mac and cheese packages, which cost about $1 from Costco. Although inflation is beginning to slow down, it increased 7.1 percent in November from November 2021. Inflation is rising more quickly in some places than others. In order to determine the cities where inflation is rising the most, WalletHub, a personal finance website compared 23 major metropolitan areas across two key metrics related to the Consumer Price Index, which... Continue Reading

Have you been frustrated because you’ve wanted to repair your electronics or appliances or find a less expensive place for repairs to be made other than through the manufacturer? Eighty-four percent of Americans said they agreed with a policy to require manufacturers to make repair information and parts available either to independent repair professionals or to product owners, according to a 2021 survey by Consumer Reports. Consumer groups have been battling for decades for the right to repair. Two positive actions have occurred recently on this issue: New York New York became the first state... Continue Reading