Herb Weisbaum

CardRates.com Weekly Credit Card Update — June 11, 2021  CardRates.com

A unique survey by Consumer Reports released on Thursday finds that credit report errors are a frequent problem. Nearly 6,000 people took part in CR’s Credit Checkup Survey by looking for errors in their credit files earlier this year. The key findings:34% found at least one error. 11% said th…

The FDA has approved the first new Alzheimer’s drug in nearly two decades. Developed by Biogen, it goes by the brand name Aduhelm, and it’s the first drug that’s designed to slow the mental decline caused by the progression of the disease. Patient advocates pushed for approval desp…

Scams involving cryptocurrency are skyrocketing, as would-be investors try to cash in on the crypto craze. Criminals are leveraging the gold-rush mentality with outlandish claims. They’re using social media ads and message boards, they’re creating bogus websites, and even running radio a…

A lot of people – about half of all computer users – put off important software updates, according to a new survey by Kaspersky. Many see updates as inconvenient. They don’t want to stop what they’re doing or reboot their device. And they don’t see the harm in waiting. …

It’s going to be a sunny Memorial Day weekend. Better make sure you have some fresh sunscreen on hand – a broad-spectrum product with an SPF of 40 or higher. Consumer Reports recommends products with chemical active ingredients, such as Avobenzone.

May 25, 2021Parents who qualify for the Child Tax Credit should expect to get more money from the federal government. The enhanced benefit is part of President Biden’s American Rescue Plan. According to the IRS:The credit amounts will increase for many taxpayers. The credit for qualifying children i…

The CDC is investigating reports of mild heart problems in a very small number of teens and young adults a few days after they received the Pfizer or Moderna COVID vaccine. The condition, myocarditis, is an inflammation of the heart muscle that is usually caused by a virus. Right now, health experts…

Before painting the house, it’s always fun to check out the Pantone Color Institute’s Color of the year. For 2021, it’s actually two seemingly unrelated colors: Ultimate Gray and Illuminating Yellow. “Many people have decorated with gray in the last few years and now we want …

May 24, 2021Sooner or later, you’ll want to sell, donate or recycle the digital devices that keep you connected. Before you do that with any device that has onboard storage, make sure you’ve “wiped” the memory. Simply deleting the files—even after emptying the recycle or trash bin—is not…

A tight supply of used cars has pushed prices way up, making it more of a challenge for parents to find safe and reliable vehicles for their teenagers at an affordable price. Consumer Reports and the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) have combined their data to create a new list of recom…

Click the image above to listen to the audio. Sooner or later, you’ll want to sell, donate or recycle the digital devices that keep you connected. Before you do that with any device that has onboard storage, make sure you’ve “wiped” the memory. Simply deleting the files &ndas…

Nearly half of the adult women in this country have high blood pressure, and most of them are not controlling it. High blood pressure is a leading cause of stroke, and 1 in 5 women will have a stroke. According to the American Heart Association, strokes kills more women than breast cancer. High bloo…

Those old computer monitors, smartphones, TVs and game systems contain a mix of hazardous chemicals that must be handled properly when you dispose of them.

May 18, 2021. As we learned during this pandemic, internet access is no longer nice-to-have, it’s need-to-have. But many American families cannot afford to be connected. A new federal program, the Emergency Broadband Benefit Program, is designed to help. Congress gave the Federal Communication Commi…

May 17, 2021It seems like prices are going up on everything, food, paper products, gasoline, cars, lumber, and so much more. The price spikes are the result of market imbalance—high demand coupled with a shortage of products due to the lingering effects of the pandemic. Once production returns…

Let’s be honest, even the best password can be cracked eventually, or stolen in a hack. You need a second line of defense for your important financial and social media accounts. That’s what two-factor authentication or 2FA does. “It requires a second form of authentication after yo…

With more and more adults getting vaccinated, COVID cases in children are skyrocketing – up 24% nationwide in the last week or so. Hopefully, that will change now that the Food & Drug Administration has approved the Pfizer vaccine for kids 12 – 15 years old. The FDA found the Pfizer vacc…

Some people just don’t want to get the COVID-19 vaccine. Most of them, surveys show, have two major objections: They fear the vaccine isn’t safe, or worry about the side effects. I asked Dr. John Swartzberg, an expert on infectious diseases at the UC Berkeley School of Public Health, to …

May 11, 2021As car prices have gone up, auto loans have gotten longer to bring down the monthly payments. While a loan that runs seven or eight years may get you behind the wheel, it will drive up the overall cost of that vehicle. The longer the loan, the more interest you’ll pay. A longer loan does…