Budget & Savings

Went to the Costco today. They had dishwasher tabs on sale. I anticipated the normal sale for these tabs which for years has been 100 or 110 tabs, normally about $16.00, on sale for about $13.00. Guess what greeted me...... The regular price had been jacked up to $21.00 and the sale price was now the old regular price of about $16.00. Not only that, but the box now held only 90 tabs, not the 100 or 110 tabs it used to contain. NOT ONLY WAS THERE RIDICULOUS INFLATED PRICE INCREASES BUT THERE WAS ALSO SHRINKAGE!!!!!

As the pandemic continues, emotions may be running high. AARP financial expert JeanChatzky explains how making emotional financial decisions can cause more harm than good – and shares tips for how to avoid them. Do you have tips of your own to share?

My June 2026 UHC Supplement Plan N just went up 20.2% after a similar increase last year. Would somebody please tell me how AARP actually helps me in my senior years? If I was with Mutual of Omaha I'd pay $100 less for the same coverage. What good is the AARP affiliation? Not happy.

 

Regarding the article in the AARP Bulletin in the January / February edition: "WHAT TO KNOW ABOUT TODAY'S MOST POPULAR ANNUITIES, They promise income ... at a price" by Karen Hube my comment is as follows: The biggest issue is only tangentially mentioned.  The conclusion of most annuities is the surrender of your money / investment when you die.  If you outlive your actuarial age, then you have nothing to lose, and would have profited from receiving more than your investment, at the expense of those who die earlier than their actuarial age which IS mentioned in the article. But the comparison that is not mentioned is that you could conceivably, ON YOUR OWN or through a financial advisor, make investments that could mimic annuity returns.  The difference is that your own investment stays with your estate when your die.  If you have no heirs and don't care about family or generational estate planning then this is fine.  However, if you do care about fam

Many people look to annuities to help with having a guaranteed income when they don't have pensions (which would be most boomers). With annuities you give a lump sum to a company (this is actually in many respects insurance). They give you a monthly benefit for the terms of the agreement, sometimes only the first 5 or 10 years is a guaranteed rate that is high and after that the guaranteed rate is pretty low (although what you can get can be higher based on how they invested your money). Pay attention to this kind of fine print. If the company that has your annuity money goes bankrupt the amount of protection you have varies depending on where your money is. If the company makes risky investments and loses money you may find your annuity payments at risk.Here are some issues:  1) Inflation - one rule of thumb is that costs double every 11 years. Will your annuity be inflation adjusted? And yes you pay more for that. 2) Where exactly is your money? The grow

  

Any good discounts for places that you use, given by stores or restaurants?I know some give discounts to seniors on certain days of the week. 

I live in a condo complex with 3 stories and a subterranean garage where the main drain lines are located. I am on the 1st floor and the drain for 6 units are connected to vertical drain underneath my unit in the garage. Whenever one of these units used their kitchen drain, it flooded the drain pipes under my sink. I contacted the management company at 7:00 am and asked him of any known problems, what it could be and who to contact via email so I could attach a video. He never got back to me. I called the plumber who repiped my drain when I got new kitchen cabinets to see what the problem was. He told me the common drainpipe had to be descaled but he couldn't do it from my unit. He had to remove the cap from the drainpipe and do it from the garage. He also told me it had to be hydro jetted. Which the complete garage had been done the week prior (and probably contributed to my problems) The management company still hadn't got back to me (mind you one time in didn't g

I received a letter from Discover Customer Service. They are adding the following sentence. We may convert your Traditional or Roth IRA CD to a Traditional or Roth IRA Savings and vice versa via a notice to you.  When I called and asked for an explanation, I was told they may terminate my ten year CD, APY 4.3%, and move the funds to a savings account, APY 3.4% and variable.  Can they legally do this?

Groceries: May, June, July, August 2025 August Groceries H8tE3A4rcppRZws/view

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For many of  us trips are a hopeful benefit of retirement.  But traveling isn’t cheap, and we know that vacations can be lost to plain ole bad luck. So, it was when a tsunami hit Hawaii on July 30, delaying our flight by three days. No problem, I thought . That is why I had invested in a travel insurance plan — expensive at. $ 260 , but worth it for the cost of a six person family trip.i am not so sure now, with a claim a few months old and requests from the insurance company that seem diabolically designed to frustrate the insured. After producing a multitude of required proofs of expenses incurred, I am now being asked to get short statements that neither hotel.com nor Avis have issued any “ refunds” for the 3 days we missed, but had paid for. As if!!! Needless to say, speaking to a human who is actually willing to compose and send this evidence is damned near impossible. And the insurance carrier knows this as well as any of us do.Since when did providing more that th

 

@nctarheel @papawofbooSame people, same stores, same general diet. What we weigh is irrelevant. Of course the identical items are not bought each week nor even in the same month. That's why this is a continuing series that, come April, will reflect an actual year. Asked: is that all the money you spent on groceries in a month?That question would not be asked by someone who read beyond the chart.

 In 2013 my husband and I qualified for the HARP loan modification through Citimortgage. $156,000 was deferred until 2036, while we started paying on $76,000 monthly until then. The following year, our state's "Hardest Hit Fund" applied $50,000 to that $76,000, and in 2016, Citimortgage applied another $5,000 for "good behavior" in paying on our loan. Therefore, this first loan of $76,000 will be paid off early. Fast forward to today: May 1 was to be our final loan payment on the $76,000. Our contract with Citimortgage says, "$156,000 shall be deferred and I will not pay interest or make monthly payments on this amount." Today I was speaking with a Citimortgage MANAGER no less, and first she told me she never heard of HARP and that Citimortgage never had any such program, even though Citimortgage's logo is on everything and signed by them. She said we must continue making monthly payments even though the first mortgage will be paid in a couple of weeks or we must order a Payo

I would first make sure that when you say "Mortgage paid for a year", that it is the Principal that is paid for a year. Then I would put some of the money towards the Interest of the Mortgage and then I would pay off my high interest rate credit cards and cut them up. But with whatever is left I would stock my freezer with meat and my cabinets with canned goods.

For those who are deducting interest on loans covering vacation/second homes and RVs considered vacation/second homes, have you noticed that the proposed tax changes would eliminate the deductibility of interest on those? This applies to loans already in existence and those acquired in the future. No grandfathering here. However, if you rent out your second home and are considered a landlord who can deduct all expenses associated with rentals, then interest expenses will apply, as I read the text anyway. The proposed tax change would recognize only one residence to be eligible for mortgage interest deduction. This confuses me a bit as this would appear to be contrary legislation for the very wealthy but then they are likely to own/lease through corporate structures of one sort or another that will not be impacted by this particular change.  

When I turned age 50 in 1996, I read that President Clinton also turned 50 the same month, and he bought a one-year membership in AARP.  I chuckled at the notion that he turned down the upgrade to a Lifetime AARP membership for only $59.00 and chose to pay the annual membership each year. The AARP Lifetime Membership has served my wife and I well over the last 19+ years because of the additional cash-off discounts, free printed newsletter, free printed magazine, and other great topics. For those who wish to upgrade their AARP annual membership to a Lifetime membership, the current amount is $200 and can only be requested by calling AARP at 800-566-0242 .  Or, perhaps you can encourage your children to sign up so they get more years out of it. All my best, and be safe. 

With the 6000.00 tax break for seniors should I convert 6000.00 from my traditional IRA to my Roth IRA

As a service, our financial institution provides, free of charge, our FICO score on a monthly basis. This month, my wife's score was lowered albeit by only one point. But the reason given is what concerns me. They lowered her score because....... wait for it......wait for it......wait for it SHE DIDN'T SPEND ENOUGH MONEY!!!!!! That's right, folks.  To me, that's counterintuitive. Can anybody explain why your FICO score should go down when you are careful with your money and save, save, save rather than spend, spend, spend????

Hello all, I just turned 63, and with pensions and social security, I net about $92,000 per year. Not bad. I have a Roth IRA which I don't touch, but I also have a smaller "regular IRA" that has about $27,000 in it. It does not realize too much gain. I already pay a boatload of taxes every year, so was wondering what you all think about when I should start taking money out of this account??? I have ten years before the required minimum distributions. Should I wait until 73??? TIA 

Guess postage and shipping cost will be going up again this year, maybe by a lot. USPS- U.S. Postal Service Reports Fiscal Year 2024 Results Seems now it is the unfunded obligations of pension plans that are the big culprits - both CSRS and FERS. From the USPS - The net loss for the year under generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) totaled $9.5 billion, compared to a net loss of $6.5 billion for the prior year, an increase of $3.0 billion primarily attributed to the year-over-year increase in non-cash workers’ compensation expense.  Over 80% of our current year net loss is attributed to factors that are outside of management's control, specifically, the amortization of unfunded retiree pension liabilities and non-cash workers' compensation adjustments. I am really beginning to wonder if our government knows how to add and subtract.

What are some of the ways that prices will come down from their elevated levels of the pandemic? 1.  The Balance - prices don’t go down but they don’t go up either with very little inflation - just enough to spur a little continued growth and widening of the economy. But this may also mean a slow down in wage growth. 2.  SLOWEST sales - that one is up to us - the buying public - (very little inflation) 3.  SLOWER to NO Sales but production is covered - again up to us - but a more drastic maneuver than #2 because growth is also stymied to a certain extent so hiring and wage growth would also be reduced.  (stagflation)   4.  NO Sales and an abundance of inventory - the fastest way to reduced cost but this may be a curse because it would involve many layoffs and perhaps a Recession or an even more drastic Depression. (deflation) I know many of you are waiting for some prices to really come down especially in rent, food and other commo