59 percent of mothers and fathers pay for grownup children

A new survey reveals that fifty nine percent of United States mothers and fathers provide financial support for their grown children. The research covered mothers and fathers of grownup children who aren’t in school. The study concludes the tough economy is stopping them from leaving home. Also studied were so-called “boomerang kids,” or those that move away from home only to return again.

Pressure higher for this generation

President and CEO of NEFE is Ted Beck. He said, “Parents are continuing their involvement longer than we expected. The general sentiment is that financial pressures are higher for this generation.”

This was something mothers and fathers and young adults surveyed agreed with. Of the grownup children surveyed, 65 percent said their financial pressure is harder than their parents’ was. And 32 percent of their mothers and fathers agreed that they had it easier than their kids do. Further, 43 percent of mothers and fathers said they were giving support because they were “legitimately concerned” about the finances of their kids. Then another 37 percent thought they had significant financial struggles. They hoped their kids would not have to face these struggles.

Breaking it down

The lion’s share of parental assist, at 50 percent, is in housing. Living expenses account for 48 percent of parental financial assist. There is also the cost of transportation. That is about 41 percent of aid from parents.

About 42 percent of those kids who still live at home say they cook and clean to help contribute. About 75 percent said they helped financially.

What else is there?

”Face It” author, psychologist Vivian Diller, thinks that this trend has occurred because of the economy. “In the last 20 to 30 years, the family structure has become more child-centered,” she says. “Boomer parents were very willing to make sacrifices for their kids, giving them the sense that it would continue until they were on their feet. Now parents are supporting kids’ lifestyles.”

But, she warns, continued fiscal support could have negative consequences. “Because they have been protected, some children don’t learn reasonable ways to manage money, and they run into trouble.”

How parents sacrifice

Thirty percent of parents that were surveyed say they have given up privacy because of adult kids moving back home. Even worse are the mothers and fathers that took on debt for their children to move in. This involves about 26 percent of responders. Another 7 percent say they have been forced to delay retirement.

“If parents are going to financially support their adult children, they should first have a serious talk about their kids’ expectations so that everyone protects their financial futures,” Ted Beck says. “We all want to ensure the best for our children. But if you are taking on extra debt or delaying retirement to help your adult child, you could be making a mistake and putting your own financial future in jeopardy.”

Citations

ABC

abcnews.go.com/Business/60-parents-provide-financial-support-adult-children/story?id=13648780

NEFE

nefe.org/NEFENews/PressRoom/PressRelease/ParentsFinanciallySupportingAdultChildren/tabid/1015/Default.aspx

Reuters

reuters.com/article/2011/05/27/us-economy-parents-idUSTRE74Q4Y420110527

Tiny extras equal hundreds of millions for airline carriers

The baggage charges and the similar tiny extras billed by current airline carriers can be costly and annoying for the vacationer. But for the airline market, they are gold. They bring the market hundreds of millions, suggests a new report.

What the new study equals

A newly released report, the Amadeus Review of Ancillary Revenue Results, says luggage charges, frequent-flier programs, co-branded credit cards and similar non-transportation expenses earned the industry $21.46 billion last year.

Those that made probably the most

The airline that brought in the most non-transportation money was United Continental Airlines, which brought in $5 billion in extras. At $3.7 billion, Delta came in second. American Airlines, at $2 billion, was the 3rd largest earner. All of these are United States based companies.

Having a low budget means revenue comes from extras

More money is spent on extra fees for income at bargain airline carriers because of lower ticket costs. They lead the pack if the data is analyzed as a percentage of their total income. Of the airlines analyzed, Allegiant Airlines made 29.2 percent with these additional expenses making it the top earner. The next two involved Spirit Airlines at 22.6 percent and Ireland-based Ryanair at 22.1 percent.

Expect an increase in fees soon

Soon, non-transportation fees are sure to go up, according to co-author or the study and president of IdeaWorks Jay Sorenson. “Oil prices spiked in 2008, which was also the year in which the U.S. industry introduced baggage fees. We’re nearing those historical oil prices again, and I believe we’re going to see another round of new à la carte fees.”

A study from before

The Customer Travel Alliance, a Washington D.C.-based lobby, did a similar study earlier this year. Open Airlines for Airfare Transparency helped with the study. This means several travel agencies were involved. Air passengers paid about $36.80 in fees every round trip in 2010, according to the study.

Getting the government involves

The two groups have collected, as of last March, more than 60,000 online signatures in an attempt to urge the federal government to force flight companies to make their fees more transparent.

Citations

MSNBC

overheadbin.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/06/01/6764501-nickeled-and-dimed-for-21-billion

Denver Business Journal

bizjournals.com/denver/news/2011/03/10/airlines-cost-coloradans-1486m-in.html?ana=RSS&s=article_search

Business Week

businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D9IBOU7G6.htm

2011 NBA Finals here after a long wait

On Tuesday, May 31 at Miami’s American Airlines Arena, basketball followers will enjoy the kickoff of what will likely be a fantastic 2011 NBA Finals going between the Miami Heat and the Dallas Mavericks. The Heat will have home-court advantage in the best-of-seven series. For the rabid fan, witness this NBA Finals schedule and match-up story.

NBA Finals listened to on ESPN and Sirius while you watch it at ABC

ESPN Radio and Sirius XM will both broadcast the 2011 NBA Finals game on the radio while it could be seen on television at ABC. The games have been scheduled. They go like this:

Game 1: Tuesday, May 31 in Miami, 9 p.m. ET
Game 2: Thursday, June 2 in Miami, 9 p.m. ET
Game 3: Sunday, June 5 in Dallas, 8 p.m. ET
Game 4: Tuesday, June 7 in Dallas, 9 p.m. ET
Game 5 (if necessary): Thursday, June 9 in Dallas, 9 p.m. ET
Game 6 (if necessary): Sunday, June 12 in Miami, 8 p.m. ET
Game 7 (if necessary): Tuesday, June 14 in Miami, 9 p.m. ET

The dynamic duo, plus 2

Any defense going up against Miami Heat’s LeBron James and Dwyane Wade should be scared. Recently, the individuals both learned to play well together. Before that, they both were able to score whenever they wanted.

Yet when the Heat is in danger of losing, the ball goes to “King” James. He is huge and athletic. He also has an excellent basketball IQ which helps a ton. With Wade’s offense, it may be hard to stop the team from going too far. Dallas will have to keep his teammates down a bit. The Miami Heat will effortlessly win the 2011 NBA Finals in five games if Chris Bosh plays very well and Udonis Haslem can keep Dirk Nowitzki scared.

Keeping Nowitzki scared to play with veterans of the sport

Careful passing and a commitment to challenging James and Wade on the offensive end won’t only ensure the Dallas Mavericks remain in the series, but it should spell victory against the less experienced Heat. Dirk Nowitzki is on fire in the playoffs (28.4 points and 7.5 rebounds per game), and his increased lower body strength has enabled him to muscle his way to his preferred spots on the floor more effortlessly, as Haslem will discover. The veterans Kidd and Terry, both Jasons, will help a lot too. The same could be said for Shawn “The Matrix” Marion, who has made key plays.

It is true that the championship window is slowly closing for Kidd, Terry and Marion which might make them work harder. Not only that, but Nowitzki appears to have finally ditched the catcalls of being “soft.” The Dallas Mavericks could easily beat the Miami Heat with Jose Barea and Tyson Chandler on the team, even with injuries.

LeBron may have to wait another year.

Articles cited

Huffington Post

huffingtonpost.com/2011/05/27/nba-finals-schedule-2011-_n_867972.html

Yahoo! Sports

sports.yahoo.com/nba/news?slug=ycn-8546101

Autopen used to approve Patriot Act

President Obama recently signed a controversial bill. The bill renewed certain provisions of the Patriot Act which were going to end. The bill went to the president from Congress, though President Obama is currently visiting France. He signed the bill with an autopen, a mechanical machine which replicates signatures. The machine being used at all is causing a conflict.

Provisions allowing government surveillance renewed

Unless a new bill was created and passed by Congress and signed by the president, some Patriot Act provisions would have expired. Three provisions of the domestic security laws that allow for highly controversial surveillance procedures would have expired, according to the Christian Science Monitor, but President Obama finalized the bill at the last moment. Even though Senator Paul tried to rally against the bill, the government can still use the internet, business records and wiretaps without a warrant whenever they want. However, according to CNN, brouhaha in Congress has begun since the president used a robotic pen.

Working on the autopen

The signature was needed instantly on the document in the president was in France. He used an autopen to sign it. The autopen is a machine that could be used. A person’s signature could be reproduced with it. The main difference between an autopen and genuine signature is almost extremely hard to tell. Some of the machines are extremely complex. Some aren’t complex at all though, states MSNBC. Several websites are reproducing an interview with Bob Olding who’s the owner of one of the two companies that exists in the United States that makes the machines. ABC spoke with Damillic Corp., owner Olding who said the technology has not changed much since the 1930s when it came out. He also stresses that Damillic goes out of its way to properly vet its customers and make sure that his goods are getting used ethically.

Nothing illegal about it

The Constitution claims “he shall sign it” in reference to the president signing the bill. As long as a signature is directed to be attached to a document, it is valid, according to the Department of Justice. The Justice Department told President Bush that an auto signature was legal in 2005 when looking into using an autopen for this same purpose. Donald Rumsfeld was found to have used an autopen to sign letters of condolences to the families of troops killed in action in 2004, and previous Vice President Quayle admitted to using one in 1992. The signature and letter duplication machine was built in the 19th century. Thomas Jefferson was responsible for this. Government officials, astronauts and business executives all have used autopens in the past.

Information from

Christian Science Monitor

csmonitor.com/USA/Politics/2011/0527/Patriot-Act-three-controversial-provisions-that-Congress-voted-to-keep

CNN

whitehouse.blogs.cnn.com/2011/05/27/rise-of-the-machines-autopen-puts-bill-into-law/?hpt=T2

MSNBC

firstread.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/05/27/6731197-the-great-presidential-autopen-hullabaloo

ABC

blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2011/05/robama-is-it-ok-for-a-president-to-autopen-a-bill-into-law.html

Damillic Inc

realsig.com/index.htm

Compact cars far more popular than electric cars

Automobile buying habits among Americans have modified as the price of gas has been rising. {However, American consumers aren’t buying as several green automobiles for instance hybrids and electric vehicles as they’re compact and subcompact vehicles that sip the gas tank|That said, people are not buying more hybrids or electrics. Instead of green automobiles, people have been getting smaller compact and subcompact cars that sip daintily from the tank|Compact and subcompact automobilesare still far more popular than green automobiles, as individuals still want traditional cars that only sip from the tank| Subcompact and compact cars are still more p! opular than green cars like electrics or hybrids, as traditional automobiles that take just a little from the tank are selling better than greener but more costly and less useful choices|Small compact and subcompact vehicles that sip from the tank in the lightest manner possible have proven to be the best sellers, as buyers have been avoiding less useful and more expensive green possibilities.

60 percent of Americans think the leaf is ridiculous

According to a recent poll, electric cars are not that favored. In fact, about 57 percent of Americans would never purchase one, reports USA Today. The poll respondents would still purchase a traditional, internal combustion driven car regardless of the cost of a gallon of gasoline. The poll showed that individuals know the limited range an all-electric auto has. They compared it to gas cars or hybrids with backup gas engines to keep it going. The range of an electric auto is the biggest problem. Most drivers see it as impractical. By 2015, there will be 100,000 vehicles a year sold that are electric, J.D. Power and Associates predicts. This year, the company believes only 11,000 electric automobiles will sell. Power also believes that by 2015, 15 million subcompact and compact vehicles will sell a year. This year it predicts 14 million will sell.

No longer just two seats and small motor

When it comes to compact and subcompact vehicles, people tend to think of them as spending budget vehicles. This is no longer the case, the Wall Street Journal explains. Typically, a small, boxy hatchback would be two seats, a manual gearbox and a motor the size of a toaster oven, but automobile makers are beginning to slip luxury into their economy offerings. The Hyundai Elantra, for example, has models with heated rear seats, and it gets 40 miles per gallon. In the Ford Focus Titanium, there is a rear-facing camera for whenever you have to drive in reverse. There are also rain-activated windshield wipers for convenience. The Focus also has the option of a dual clutch, six speed transmissions; such a gearbox is normally the purview of Ferrari instead of Ford. The 2012 Honda Civic will have voice-activated Global Positioning System navigation, Bluetooth phone equipment and an iPod dock. Subcompacts are being purchased by wealthier consumers now.

Fiat helping Chrysler

In the automobile industry, everyone watched as Fiat purchased a stake in Chrysler. It was a large move. This has been an excellent move for Chrysler. The company is now closer to paying the American and Canadian governments off while launching in the U.S. the Fiat 500. Fiat recently staged a bit of a pre-launch stunt by filling a street in New York City’s SoHo district with 20 500 Cabriolet cars, according to CNN. For 30 years, Fiat has not been in the U.S. much. Now that will change with its subcompacts. Another Fiat brand, Alfa Romeo, has been rumored to be coming to the U.S. for years but has been delayed until at least 2013, according to MotorTrend, due to design problems with the new Alfa Romeo Giulia.

Information from

USA Today

usatoday.com/money/autos/2011-05-24-most-americans-refuse-electric-cars_n.htm

Wall Street Journal

online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304066504576343201704359810.html?mod=WSJ_Autos_LS_Autos_2

CNN

money.cnn.com/2011/05/25/autos/fiat_500_publicity.fortune/index.htm

Motor Trend

wot.motortrend.com/report-alfa-romeo-launch-pushed-2013-66663.html

Issues model Estella Warren is confronting

To be fair, Canadian model/actress Estella Warren has a long way to go before she gets even close to Lindsay Lohan’s should-be-patented “LiLoMeter” for stars behaving badly. However, as E! Online states, Warren is at least a contender in the eyes of LA cops. Hit-and-run, DUI, assault and felony escape led to her $100,000 bond. As if that laundry list wasn’t enough, she confessed to being 40 years old on her arrest report. That’s eight years older than what the public knows.

Warren’s try to fight the power like in the film

Some might suggest that Estella Warren was simply fighting the power like her slave girl character Daena in Tim Burton’s 2001 remake of “Planet of the Apes,” although neither Warren nor her publicist have said anything about what happened Monday. According to LA law enforcement who spoke to TMZ, she was just really drunk. It was certainly too bad.

These were the events that followed for Estella Warren:

1. Using her Toyota Prius, Warren hit three vehicles. All of them were parked.
2. She easily fled the scene. She was fuel efficient throughout.
3. Officious Los Angelinos with badges pulled Warren over.
4. She got a DUI after doing a breathalyzer test.
5. Her actions continued. She took one more stance.
6. Estella Warren was cuffed and taken into custody.
7. After they realized Warren was really a different age, she got out of her handcuffs.
8. She got a felony escape charge since she ran to the door and tried to get away.
9. Bail was set at $100,000, according to the L.A. County Sheriff.
10. The fairly bird became a jail bird.

Models need to behave better than that

Drinking too several alcoholic beverages can send any person into a downward spiral. When celebrities – particularly attractive ones – tip the bottle back one too several times, it’s front-page news, food for the devilish fever dream that is United States popular culture. Some of probably the most famous magazines have had Warren in them while she is internationally known and has acted in both television and film in the past. This just makes the news even bigger.

Information from

E! Online

eonline.com/uberblog/b243600_estella_warren_arrested_dui_hit_run.html

Estella Warren wiki

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Estella_Warren

Planet of the Apes – The Sacred Scrolls

planetoftheapes.wikia.com/wiki/Daena

TMZ

bit.ly/ivEW1F

Howling over Little Red Estella Warren

youtube.com/watch?v=dnwHS3wc1B8

Overdraft does not harm credit, however it is not harmless

A lot of people know that not paying bills on time or sustaining a high balance on several charge cards can result in damaging marks against their FICO score. There are other things that may or may not, however. For instance, will overdrafts affect a credit score? According to financial planner Don Taylor, the answer depends upon a number of factors.

More than just an overdraft fee is needed to hurt credit

There was a university student really concerned about hurting her credit with checking account scams. She asked for advice at Bankrate’s “Dr. Don” column. Her checkbook was stolen and someone wrote checks with it. Then her checking account went into overdraft from it. She was wonder if her FICO would be affected while waiting a couple of weeks for her bank account to go back in the black. After she sent a fraud notification to her financial institution and one of the three major credit bureaus, no other identity theft happened.

Taylor explained that a consumer’s checking ledger transactions do not matter. A credit rating won’t change depending on it. Overdrafts typically don’t, although missing bill payments will. One exception is when a banking institution does a “hard pull” of a consumer’s credit history when a new checking account is opened.

It won’t cost you anything to know about your banking

According to Taylor, consumers are able to check on their banking history. ChexSystems is the best system to use. This business enables consumers to pull one free banking history report every 12 months, as stipulated in the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act (FACTA). It is bas when there are damaging marks. They stay for five years at the very least.

ChexSystems is a fantastic place to get information to help consumers know why they get denied if they are ever denied for a financial institution or credit union account. It may be worth checking out ChexSystems Customer Assistance each year even if that is not the case.

Stay away from scams

If you are the subject of a financial scam involving fraudulent checks, contact your banking institution and law enforcement. HSH.com can help you if you need to talk to your state’s banking commission to protect others from the same scam.

Articles cited

Bankrate

bankrate.com/finance/checking/overdrawn-account-won-t-ruin-credit-score.aspx?ic_id=tsThumb4

Consumer Debit

consumerdebit.com/consumerinfo/us/en/freereport.htm

HSH

library.hsh.com/read_article-hsh.asp?row_id=67

Get your bank account history once per year

youtube.com/watch?v=xazfPvwCMTw