- The Internet has given new meaning to the old chestnut, Caveat emptor.
Who hasn’t been hoodwinked by an on-line marketing ploy? We trusting souls see an ad on the web offering a deal, product or service we can use, and we bite, having been assured in bold red type that our privacy would be fully respected. It seems safe enough, so we dutifully type in our email address and phone number and… how gullible, we should have known better! For the next three weeks we’re besieged by emails and sales reps calling incessantly. So think twice, then twice again before responding to any presumably innocuous offers on cyberspace. Venders will say virtually anything to snag your electronic address and once they get it, be prepared to add a gig to your Spam repository because it will fill up rapidly. For advertisers to deliberately mislead and do what they said they would not do… that is callused cynicism.
- What went up is starting to come down. Amid widespread anger over its controversial CEO, Elon Musk, sales of Tesla cars are beginning to fall.
As Musk has continued his trajectory into the MAGA-verse — pledging allegiance to right-wing conspiracies, amplifying racist and antisemitic messages, disparaging trans people, including his own daughter, and endorsing Donald Trump — his stock in Hollywood, and that of his brand, has plummeted. Shifts are now occurring in local consumer interest and purchase behavior with a significant sales drop this year. It seems quite likely that there will be a lasting impact in response to Musk’s provocations, especially in Hollywood, and given the industry’s influence over consumer behavior, this effect will likely become more pervasive nationally, or even globally,
- Planning a vacation but afraid of flying? Here’s how to make it feel less scary.
More than 25 million Americans have a severe fear of flying, or aerophobia, which can cause extreme anxiety before and during a flight. Aerophobia commonly causes people to experience a range of symptoms, from jitters to total panic. You can ease anxiety with these tips to help you fly more comfortably. Breathing exercises help achieve a relaxed state. In one method called box breathing, you inhale deeply for four seconds, hold for four seconds, exhale for four seconds and hold again for four seconds. Repeat this cycle three to four times, until you feel calmer. Understand how pilots do their jobs. Try listening to the podcast Dial a Pilot, specifically geared toward nervous fliers, in which the hosts, pilots themselves, explain the flying process and crew training. Take advantage of these apps: The Flight Buddy app has audio clips of normally functioning airplanes; listening to what you will hear aboard the plane can help make you feel less surprised by sounds that may be new to you; Turbli, a turbulence forecasting app and website, can help keep sudden bumps from catching you off guard. Simply plug in your flight number before takeoff and tap on the flight plan to show you the expected turbulence level.
- AccuWeather’s 2024-2025 winter forecast: Will it be a cold and snowy winter?
Check out this two minute video and decide if a fleece-lined winter coat is on the shopping list.
- Thinking about a trip to Disney World? Start saving! New ‘Premier Pass’ lets you skip the lines, at a cost up to $449 for a “Top of Park” ticket
Unlike the existing Lightning Lane offerings, which Disney says will continue to be offered, Premier doesn’t require users to book a time to ride in advance. Pass holders can simply walk up to the ride and enter the Lightning Lane. While the pass sounds like a golden ticket to fans of the parks’ most popular attractions, the pricing has raised some eyebrows. A family visit to the park is becoming too expensive to take the family!
- How do you stack up? Average salary in U.S. according to Bureau of Labor, was $59,384
Average salaries and wages in the United States have been increasing year after year, but the landscape looks different depending on a range of factors, from where you live to how old you are. We’ve compiled the official numbers to produce a comprehensive breakdown of average salaries in the country. We’ve split salary data by age, race, gender, occupation, state and educational background, then analyzed the results to see who earns what in the United States.What is in this guide?
- Social Security COLA Set at 2.5% for 2025. Annual benefit adjustment lowest in 4 years
Inflation is clearly top of mind, not just for retirees, but for Americans generally, and the annual COLA provided by Social Security is a critical feature of the system. The 2.5 percent COLA will bump up the estimated average Social Security retirement benefit by $49 a month, from approximately $1,927 to $1,976, starting in January. Some may feel the increase for 2025 is low relative to the inflation they feel in their pocketbooks, still, it’s a welcome increase that builds on a 5.9 percent increase in payments in 2022, 8.7 percent in 2023 and 3.2 percent this year.” Social Security is almost entirely funded by a payroll tax of 12.4 percent on eligible wages, with employers and employees each paying 6.2 percent. (Self-employed people pay the full 12.4 percent.) The tax is applied to earnings up to a certain threshold, which will increase next year from $168,600 to $176,100.
- Good news: COVID cases are on a downward trend. And updated vaccine will continue to protect against new variants.
COVID-19 cases continue to fall throughout the country after a summer wave peaked in early August, surveillance data shows. The percentage of positive COVID-19 tests dropped from 17.8% the week of Aug. 10 to 14.9% the week of Sept. 7, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Walgreens’s national respiratory disease tracker showed a similar trend. Americans can prepare for the respiratory virus season by ordering free tests from COVIDtests.gov,
A newspaper by and for seniors, Senior News Daily scours the internet each morning for news of interest to active men and women of retirement age. Coverage includes financial and health news, politics, retirement strategies and assisted living news and helpful blogs about aging.
Senior News Daily is written by and for active seniors. We believe seniors have a sense of humor and can laugh at themselves. We know our readers are intelligent, influential, have active lives and get their news from a variety of national sources, both left and right of the political center. We don’t simply duplicate what they report. Each day we scour the internet for articles that interest and benefit seniors. We publish health and financial news for seniors, breaking political news, and retirement and community news of value to seniors. Humorous or serious, they advocate for our generation of AARP members. In addition to news by and for seniors, Senior News Daily publishes a Blog featuring posts from our editors and the opinions of our contemporaries. Occasionally there are reviews of products and services we test and endorse.