By Rita R. Robison, Consumer Specialist, Blogging at The Survive and Thrive Boomer Guide

I just finished writing my annual post on the “Top 10 Consumer Stories of 2009.”

As a consumer writer, it’s so frustrating that the media, government, and even consumer organizations don’t write about this. I found many articles such as the top business stories, technology stories, entertainment stories, movies, headlines, most read stories, economic stories, science stories, health stories, and auto stories.

However, few organizations see consumers and their needs as important, except as they’re spenders in the economy to make money for businesses and corporations.

Consumers need to strengthen their role in the economy and in their communities.

Here are my suggestions for action steps for boomer consumers for 2010:

1. Join two consumer groups. Two suggestions – the Public Interest Group in your state and Public Citizen.

2. Sign up to receive e-mail recall information or an RSS feed from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission.

3. File consumer complaints with the Attorney General’s Office in your state or the appropriate state agency if you can’t get your complaints resolved with the business or service provider you worked with. See the Web site of the National Association of Attorneys General for information on how to contact the attorney general in your state.

4. Find three Web sites or blogs that offer consumer information and read them regularly. Three suggestions: The Survive and Thrive Boomer Guide, The Consumerist, and ConsumerAffairs.com.

5. Make a savings plan and pay off your credit cards.

6. Contact your legislators and members of Congress about consumer issues, such as health care and finance reform.

7. Plan for retirement. See “Getting the Retirement You Want in Tough Economic Times” for information on retirement planning.

8. Do research before you make a major purchase or sign up for a costly service such as the installation of a new roof or home remodeling. Buy the magazine or online subscription for Consumer Reports for product information and Consumers’ Checkbook magazine for services if you live in the Puget Sound, Boston, Chicago, Washington, D.C., Twin Cities, San Francisco Bay, or Delaware Valley areas.

9. Figure out how to find out about prescription drugs so you know how to be informed when health problems come and you’re faced with choices about the drugs. Two sources of information are The People’s Pharmacy and Public Citizen.

10. Find a local or state group working to improve the environment and join their efforts.

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By Rita R. Robison, Consumer Specialist, Blogging at The Survive and Thrive Boomer Guide

Are you baby boomers traveling with your adult children this holiday season?

If so, what did you decide about who’s invited and who pays what bills?

One family I know debated about whether to invite the unmarried boyfriends and girlfriends of their kids.

In “Negotiating Vacations With Adult Children” on Uptake Vacations Blog, Laura Charon writes that she and her husband decided to pay the airfare for their two adult children for a vacation to Hawaii, but not the airfares for their significant others.

The parents would pay for the condo and groceries for the meals cooked there, one fancy dinner, one rental car, and one activity they could do as a family. The kids would pay for activities, a second rental car, if needed, shopping, eating out, and other expenses that came up.

What are your travel plans this holiday season? Did you invite your kids to vacation with you and work out the financial arrangement successfully?

Have you tried vacationing with your adult children in the past? Did it work out well? Or, was it a disaster, with fights about money?

Leave me a comment below and let me know your experiences.

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By Rita R. Robison, Consumer Specialist, Blogging at The Survive and Thrive Boomer Guide

As you’ve probably noticed, if you a credit card holder, credit card companies are jacking up interest rates, penalties, and fees before a new law of reforms becomes effective in February 2010.

A new study, “Still Waiting: ‘Unfair or Deceptive’ Credit Card Practices Continue as Americans Wait for New Reforms to Take Effect,” shows credit card issuers are gouging consumers.

The Pew Health Group examined credit cards offered by the 12 largest banks and found the following:

• 99.7 percent of bank cards allowed the issuer to raise interest rates on outstanding balances by changing the account agreement unilaterally – up from 93 percent in December 2008.

• 95 percent of bank cards allowed issuers to apply payments in a manner that the Federal Reserve found likely to cause substantial monetary injury to consumers.

• 90 percent of bank cards had penalty interest rates that could be triggered by late payments or overlimit transactions. All but 10 percent of these cards had penalty repricing terms that would qualify as “hair trigger” under Federal Reserve guidelines – triggers of one or two late payments in 12 months.

• 99 percent of bank cards included a late fee – median $39.

• 80 percent of bank cards included an overlimit fee – median $39.

• The median bank penalty interest rate was 28.99 percent. Most – 90 percent – penalty rate increases could continue indefinitely even if the cardholder resumes on-time payments.

As of July, interest rates spiked an average of 20 percent across the board from December of 2008 with some issuers jacking up rates 30 percent and in at least one case 50 percent – even on their best customers.

The Pew study also found that the 12 largest credit unions offered significantly lower advertised rates compared to bank credit cards, with penalty fees that were half the cost of comparable bank fees, and fewer dangers associated with “unfair or deceptive” practices.

An article in The Wall Street Journal, “Credit-Card Countdown: Higher Rates Abound,” describes further credit card rate and fee increases that have occurred since the Pew study was published.

If you want to take action against the way banks are operating, Public Citizen, a consumer advocacy group, is organizing a protest at Goldman Sachs in Washington, D.C., Monday, Nov. 16 at noon.

If you can’t make the gathering, see the Public Citizen Web site to find out about other ways you can take action on banking reform.

For baby boomer consumers facing problems on what to do about rising credit card debt, consider consumer credit counseling. For information on how to select an organization to help you see the article “Consumer Credit Counseling Offers Help to Baby Boomers Facing Financial, Mortgage Woes.”

Be sure to be an informed boomer consumer before you choose someone to help you. Scam artists abound in this recession and are bilking financially strapped consumers out of what money they have and putting them into an even more precarious financial situation.

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By Rita R. Robison, Consumer Specialist Blogging at The Survive and Thrive Boomer Guide

October 17 to 24 is National Protect Your Identity Week.

Identity theft claimed more than 10 million victims in 2008, a 22 percent increase over 2007.

Low-tech methods for stealing personal information are still the most popular for identity thieves, according to a report from Javelin Strategy and Research. Of the cases where consumers knew how their identity was compromised, stolen wallets and physical documents accounted for 43 percent of all identity theft, while online methods accounted for 11 percent.

The Council of Better Business Bureaus is partnering with the National Foundation of Credit Counseling in sponsoring the second annual identity protection week.

During the week, bureaus will offer identity theft protection events in communities across the nation. At the local events, consumers can take advantage of educational resources and free document shredding.

Consumers can find identity protection week educational events in their area by going to the Web site www.ProtectYourIDNow.org. The site also features an interactive quiz to help consumers assess their risk of identity theft; videos, blogs, and identity theft prevention tips. The Web site is also available in Spanish at www.cuidesuidentidad.org.

“In spite of doing everything right, consumers nonetheless can find themselves victimized and forced to spend time and money restoring their good name and good credit,” said Steve Cox, president and CEO of the council. “By providing educational tools and free document shredding as part of Protect Your Identity week, BBB continues to help communities guard against identity theft.”

For more information, see the Federal Trade Commission’s Identity Theft Site.

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By Rita R. Robison, Consumer Specialist, Blogging at The Survive and Thrive Boomer Guide

The baby boomers “are coming”; boomers are going to get older. And as they age, they’ll want health care workers to help them in their homes. 

Baby boomers will put unprecedented demands on the nation’s long-term care resources, and policy makers should act now to prepare for what appears to be an uncertain future, said Howard Gleckman, senior research associate at the Urban Institute, speaking at a long-term care symposium this week. 

Pay is a problem; 19 percent of home care aides and 16 percent of nursing home aides are compensated at a level insufficient for them to rise above the poverty line, Gleckman said. 

But as salaries for home care aides go up, it’s more difficult for older Americans and their families to afford the care. 

The symposium emphasized the need for a national long-term care strategy including funding, education, and support for the caregiver as part of health care reform. It also highlighted the numerous legislative proposals in support of caregivers aimed at helping to solve the nation’s long-term care challenges. 

See the article “Home Health Aide Shortage Looms, Experts Warn” on ConsumerAffairs.com for details.

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