Current Events in March 2016

Since the financial crisis, brought on by the collapse of the housing market, getting a mortgage has been a frustrating process, even for many creditworthy borrowers.

Overnight, lenders went from very lax standards to very tight ones. Since then, Realtors have argued that just minor tweaks in underwriting rules could lead to an increase in home sales.

On Tuesday the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) proposed new certifications that both lenders and consumer advocates suggest might help more people qualify for a mortgage. The rules softened language that the American Bankers Association (ABA) says could have made lenders shy away from participating in the FHA program by punishing lenders for any mistakes made during the mortgage process.

Protection for lenders

“In this final loan-level certification, FHA is clearly identifying [that] lenders will be held accountable for only those mistakes that would have altered the decision to approve the loan,” FHA head Ed Golding said in a statement. “This important move makes it very clear that minor mistakes that do not affect the decision to approve a loan are not the focus of our compliance efforts.”

Under the proposed new certifications, lenders are only required to certify that “to the best of their knowledge” the information is correct.

Mike Calhoun, President of the Center for Responsible Lending, says the revised certification process still requires lenders to certify that the loan complies with the appropriate rules that protect both consumers and taxpayers.

Should lenders violate the rules, they could face a number of unpleasant consequences, including having to forfeit FHA insurance and buy back any loans they sold under false representations.

Common sense rules

“These common sense rules should be welcomed by prospective homebuyers, lenders and taxpayers,” Calhourn said in a statement emailed to ConsumerAffairs. “The rules provide increased clarity for lenders on the proper standards for making loans to qualified buyers.”

The rule change addresses one of the conditions that has made banks less willing to make mortgage loans. In the past, Calhoun said they feared they would be penalized for any minor error, even if it had nothing to do with the risk involved in the loan.

He said FHA will still need to guide and monitor the application of the new rules to ensure they achieve their goals. But in the end, he says they should result in the lending industry making more safe and affordable mortgage loans.

After tumbling in January, the pace of new home constructions stepped it up last month.

A joint announcement from the Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development shows ground was broken for construction of privately-owned homes at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,178,000. That's a gain of 5.2% from January, and 30.9% above the year-ago rate of 900,000.

At the same time, the government revised its January figure upward to show an annual construction rate of 1,120,000 instead of the earlier estimate of 1,099,000.

Starts on single-family homes rose 7.2% from January to a rate of 822,000 -- the highest level since November 2007. The February rate for units in buildings with five units or more was 341,000, up 8,000 from the previous month.

"February's single-family gains indicate that this sector is strengthening in line with our forecast," said David Crowe chief economist at the National Association of Home Builders. "As the U.S. economy firms, job creation continues and mortgage interest rates remain low, we should see further growth in housing production moving forward."

Building permits

Building permits, on the other hand, were on the decline. Authorizations for construction in the months ahead fell 3.1% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,167,000. Still, that's 6.3% above the February 2015.

Permits for single-family homes were up 4.1%, but multi-unit authorizations were at a rate of 401,000 -- a drop of 41,000.

The complete report is available on the Commerce Department website.

Mortgage applications fell last week for the third time in four weeks, with applications for refinancing continuing their decline.

The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) reports applications overall were down 3.3% in the week ending March 11, 2016.

The Refinance Index plunged 6%, pushing the refinance share of mortgage activity down to 55.0% of total applications from 56.7% the previous week -- the lowest level since August 2015. The adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) share of activity dropped to 4.9% of total applications.

The FHA share of total applications dipped to 11.7% from 12.0% the week before, the VA share was 12.3%, and the USDA share of total applications was unchanged at 0.8 percent%.

Contract interest rates

• The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages (FRMs) with conforming loan balances ($417,000 or less) was up five basis points -- to 3.94% from 3.89% -- with points increasing to 0.42 from 0.38 (including the origination fee) for 80% loan-to-value ratio (LTV) loans. The effective rate increased from last week.
• The average contract interest rate for 30-year FRMs with jumbo loan balances (greater than $417,000) went from 3.81% to 3.86%, with points decreasing to 0.28 from 0.31 (including the origination fee) for 80% LTV loans. The effective rate increased from last week.
• The average contract interest rate for 30-year FRMs backed by the FHA jumped 6 basis points to 3.77%, with points decreasing to 0.33 from 0.37 (including the origination fee) for 80% LTV loans. The effective rate increased from last week.
• The average contract interest rate for 15-year FRMs rose to 3.22% from 3.14%, with points decreasing to 0.39 from 0.41 (including the origination fee) for 80% LTV loans. The effective rate increased from last week.
• The average contract interest rate for 5/1 ARMs inched up three basis points to 3.23%, with points increasing to 0.35 from 0.32 (including the origination fee) for 80% LTV loans. The effective rate increased from last week.

The survey covers over 75% of all U.S. retail residential mortgage applications.

Google is determined to get its self-driving cars on the road and doesn't want any roadblocks being erected by the states, so today it will ask Congress to give federal regulators the authority to override state wishes, billing it as a safety measure.

"We propose that Congress move swiftly to provide the secretary of transportation with new authority to approve lifesaving safety innovations," says Google self-driving czar Chris Urmson in remarks prepared for testimony before the Senate Commerce Committee.

"This new authority would permit the deployment of innovative safety technologies that meet or exceed the level of safety required by existing federal standards, while ensuring a prompt and transparent process," Urmson argues.

But not everyone sees it that way. 

“Rushing new technology to the roads will leave safety by the wayside and put drivers at risk. Federal regulators have a process for writing rules to keep the public safe, and Congress shouldn’t skirt those rules just because tech industry giants like Google ask them to. Speed is not a friend to safety,” said John M. Simpson of Consumer Watchdog, a non-profit advocacy group based in Santa Monica, Calif.

California DMV

In fact, it's California that is currently tying up Google's plans. The state DMV wants a licensed driver at the wheel of every autonomous vehicle, ready and able to take control if there's a misfunction.

California-based Google and other companies racing to get their autonomous autos on the street say they can't be bothered dealing with individual rules in each state, even though carmakers for decades have installed tougher emissions control equipment in California cars to comply with the state's tougher clean air laws.

Consumer Watchdog said that Google’s own test results demonstrate the need for a driver who can intervene.  A required report filed with the DMV showed the self-driving robot car technology failed 341 times during the reporting period.  The self-driving technology could not cope and turned over control 272 times, while the test driver felt compelled to intervene 69 times.

The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said in January that it might be willing to waive some vehicle safety rules to mollify the driverless car lobby but has since conceded that there are serious legal issues in allowing cars without streering wheels or other control devices.

The NHTSA is in the process of writing rules for driverless cars and has said it will be done in six months. The agency is not exactly famous for meeting deadlines, however, and there is some skepticism that it will accomplish much between now and autumn.

Bad timing

It's not helping matters that the latest scrape involving a self-driving car occurred Feb. 14 when a Google car and a bus rubbed shoulders. There were no injuries and only minor damage, but the timing was unfortunate.

“Given the current state of robot car technology, it’s clear that there should be a driver behind a steering wheel and brake pedal capable of taking control when necessary,” said Consumer Watchdog's Simpson.

Consumer Watchdog and several other groups are calling on the Department of Transportation to hold public -- not secret, closed-door --  meetings to discuss the NHTSA's forthcoming rules and to take testimony from citizens and organizations.

The organizations, including Consumers Union, the Center for Auto Safety, Consumers for Auto Reliability and Safety, and former NHTSA Administrator and Public Citizen President Emeritus Joan Claybrook made the request in a recent letter to Secretary of Transportation Anthony Foxx.  

Lawyered up

The consumer groups are facing a well-funded Google lobbying effort, however. 

None other than David Strickland has been speaking out lately on Google's behalf. He was the chief NHTSA administrator at the time of the notorious secret O'Hare Airport meeting that resulted in the much-reviled deal involving fire-prone Jeep Cherokees. He and Ray LaHood, former Transportation Secretary, both resigned shortly after the deal and are now laboring in the vineyards of the Washington influence, lobbying, and "public affairs" business.

Of course, federal officials can't go to work as lobbyists immediately after leaving the public payroll so Strickland's current job description is attorney at the law firm Venable, a venerable player in the D.C. influence field. 

In recent remarks, Strickland has described the self-driving car debate not as a safety matter but as a "speed issue," eerily echoing Simpson's remarks but inverting their meaning. 

"Without clarity from Congress, self-driving cars may still find a place on U.S. roads, but "it will just take a really, really long time," Strickland said, Politico reported.

Airbnb is popular with renters and property owners but not so popular with neighbors, who say the short-term rentals are turning their apartment and condo buildings into hotels.

Noisy parties are a particular sore spot. Now Airbnb is trying to address the problem. It's developed a new tool that will let you complain about unruly renters, though it's not clear whether the complaints will be made public and whether they will affect the status of those who are the subject of frequent complaints.

The feature will be rolled out globally over the next few weeks, Yasuyuki Tanabe, the head of Airbnb in Japan, said at a government panel in Tokyo on Monday, Bloomberg Business reported.

Neighbors will be able to enter complaints about unruly renters in an online form that will be reviewed by Airbnb's customer-support team, Tanabe said. The team will take "appropriate action," he added, but didn't say what that might include.

Tanabe was speaking at a public forum to discuss issues with Airbnb, which has exploded in popularity in Japan recently, making it the company's fastest-growing market.

Not enchanted

But just as in other cities, local residents aren't as enchanted with Airbnb as its renters and landlords are. Besides noisy parties, neighbors complain that the presence of so many one- and two-night renters is changing the nature of their buildings.

Running into strangers with suitcases in the hallway is not the same as greeting your neighbors, they say. 

Critics note that many of the rentals occur in buildings that prohibit short-term stays. A ConsumerAffairs reporter recently spent a few days in a Southwestern city in a loft apartment rented through Airbnb and was cautioned by his host that her neighbors didn't know that she was renting to strangers.

"If you run into anyone on the stairway, maybe you can say you're my uncle?" she asked. The reporter didn't run into any neighbors but he did encounter a large and rather territorial cat that his host had left behind in the apartment. (She had also forgotten to leave any unoccupied hangers, but that's another story).

In Palm Springs, Calif., home to many music and art festivals, renters of one Mid-Century Modern home are warned that if they emit even a peep that is audible to neighbors after the sun sinks behind the mountains, they can expect a "very unpleasant" visit from the Palm Springs Police Department.   

But these ad hoc measures haven't stilled complaints, leading Airbnb to adopt a more formalized method of dealing with noisy renters.

Not just noise

It's not just noise that upsets the neighbors, of course. Many Airbnb critics say that renting apartments and homes on a short-term basis is driving up rental prices and forcing out lower-income tenants. 

Many cities, including New York, have tried to crack down on unauthorized rentals but have found it difficult to weed out who's staying where. It's similar to trying to single out Uber and Lyft drivers, they say. 

"We are proud to have built a respectful and compassionate community," an Airbnb spokesperson said after Tanabe's remarks were made public. "Most Airbnb hosts are sharing the home they live in and we give them tools they need to only welcome respectful travelers."

Popular, national retailer Lord & Taylor has agreed to settle a complaint made by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) that it did not disclose that it paid for endorsements and an online article in Nylon, a pop-culture and fashion magazine. The agency stated that these advertisements, which included 50 Instagram posts from fashion “influencers,” took advantage of consumers for the company's own profit.

“Lord & Taylor needs to be straight with consumers in its online marketing campaigns. . . Consumers have the right to know when they are looking at paid advertising,” said Jessica Rich, Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection.

In a prepared statement, Lord & Taylor said any deception was unintentional: "Lord & Taylor is deeply committed to our customers and we never sought to deceive them in any way, nor would we ever."

Deceptive advertising

Much of the controversy surrounding the paid advertisements centered on a paisley dress (shown to the right). In March of 2015, Lord & Taylor began promoting its Design Lab rollout, which included said dress. After giving the dress to 50 “select fashion influencers,” the company paid them between $1,000 and $4,000 to create posts on Instagram and other social media sites showing it off.

The influencers could wear the dress according to their own style in their individual picture, but they had to include the “@lordandtaylor” user designation and the hashtag “#DesignLab” in their post.

The FTC took umbrage with this because the influencers were not required to disclose that they were being paid for their posts. This led many consumers to believe that the dress was a hot commodity. In little more than two days, the posts had reached well over 11 million Instagram users, Lord & Taylor’s Instagram handle was engaged 328,000 times, and the dress was completely sold out.

The deceptive marketing strategy was used in the company’s editorial piece in Nylon. While many consumers assumed that the article was an objective piece written by the magazine’s staff, it was actually paid for and edited by Lord & Taylor without any kind of disclosure.

Changed its guidelines

Lord & Taylor said it took immediate action to resolve the issues and "cooperated fully with the FTC's inquiry into the marketing of this dress and have of course agreed to uphold the current version of the guidelines." 

"The FTC has changed its guidelines since last year and we applaud the new guidelines that clarify the rules," the company said. "Further, we encourage the FTC to continue to update and communicate their guidelines clearly and swiftly as the digital and social media landscape rapidly evolves. We remain dedicated to our core values of transparency and honesty in everything that we do for our customers."

Settlement

The settlement that has been proposed by the FTC stipulates that Lord & Taylor will no longer misrepresent paid advertising that comes from independent or objective sources. Any individual who is paid for endorsing a product must also disclose that information in the future so that they are not billed as an objective source.

The FTC has also required the company to create a monitoring and review program for its endorsement campaigns. The agency says that this system is responsible for “monitoring and reviewing its endorsers’ print, radio, television, online, or digital advertisements or communications made as part of an Influencer Campaign.”

Have we really come as far as we think we have in combating traditional gender stereotypes over the years? As it turns out, maybe not.

Women and men have undoubtedly seen changes in the activities they do and how they are represented. But according to new research, gender stereotypes haven’t actually changed at all in the last thirty years.

In fact, one study finds that people are even more likely to believe that men avoid “traditional” female roles. The study, published recently in the Psychology of Women Quarterly (PWQ), finds that while we might have changed, our beliefs have not.

Changes didn’t alter beliefs

In comparing men and women thirty years ago with men and women today, you would likely spot a number of differences. But change alone hasn’t been enough to completely free us from gender stereotypes.

"Those changes apparently have not been sufficient to alter strongly held and seemingly functional beliefs about the basic social category of gender," said researchers Elizabeth L. Haines, Kay Deaux, and Nicole Lofaro.

To reach this conclusion, the authors compared data from 195 college students in 1983 to 191 adults in 2014. The question: rate the likelihood that a typical man or woman has a set of gendered characteristics.

Stereotypes still alive

The researchers found that even though the 2014 crowd was more diverse, people still have firmly held beliefs on what defines a man or a woman.

Participants still believed gender stereotypes about their own gender. They were also likely to believe that each gender should present themselves in a certain way as far as personality traits, gender role behaviors, occupations, and physical characteristics.

The belief, for instance, that a man should be the one to “repair and maintain the car” hasn’t changed since 1983. Men are still perceived as less likely than women to engage in female gender roles, such as housekeeping and taking care of the kids.

Why?

As to why we have such strong beliefs on how men and women are different, the researchers say two reasons are likely:

First, an unconscious bias might distort the way we perceive -- therefore, we remember gender atypical behavior as more stereotypical than it actually was. Second, men and women might tend to shy away from cross gender behavior in order to avoid the backlash that usually comes with it (e.g. wimpy men or powerful women).

For those in therapeutic or advising roles, the researchers say it’s important to be aware of how gender stereotypes might affect the goals of their clients. They also recommend doing away with gendered criteria on job descriptions and boosting the awareness of gender stereotypes in the workplace. 

Investment bank Goldman Sachs is purchasingHonest Dollar, which operates retirement plans for employees of small companies that don't have an employer-sponsored retirement savings program.

The deal sheds some light on a small company that doesn't get much attention, but which may hold the potential to help solve a pressing need – encourage more workers to put money away for retirement. Currently, an estimated 45 million Americans don't have access to a retirement savings plan at work.

Honest Dollar is a web and mobile platform offering retirement plans for employees who work at small-and medium-sized businesses. There are also plans for people who are self-employed or who work as independent contractors. The system uses currently available individual retirement account (IRA)-based savings programs.

Simple solution

In a statement, Timothy J. O’Neill and Eric S. Lane, co-heads of the Investment Management Division at Goldman Sachs, said Honest Dollar has created a simple solution to a complex retirement savings problem.

“Together, we have the potential to help millions of people achieve their investing goals,” they said.

Goldman Sachs believes the Honest Dollar approach also has potential to change the retirement investment landscape. Signing up is easy. Both employers and employees can do it online in less than two minutes.

Two retirement plans

The company offers two savings plans. The Basic Plan allows employers to provide employees access to individual IRAs. Depending on qualifications, employees will be able to choose from either a traditional or Roth IRA.

Under The Basic Plan, employees make all the contributions to their own accounts. Employers do not contribute.

The Flexible Plan contains a few added benefits. It allows employers to define eligible employees for participation in an employer sponsored SEP IRA. Employer contributions are at the discretion of the employer, but all eligible employees must participate.

Portable

The accounts are fully portable. If an employee leaves a company, the account goes with him or her.

Independent contractors and self-employed can also set up retirement accounts using Honest Dollar. Depending on how you qualify, you may be able to use either a Roth IRA or SEP (self-employed pension) IRA. Naturally, you'll be responsible for making all your contributions.

Employers pay $10 per month per employee to provide access to a retirement account. Employees pay nothing, except when they withdraw funds or close their accounts.

Years ago most consumers parked spare cash in a passbook savings account at their bank, a place where money could be separated from cash needed for day to day expenses and, where it could earn a little interest as well.

But in an era of rock bottom interest rates and the addition of numerous bank fees, many have come to question whether it makes sense to have a savings account.

It may, under the right circumstances. But it will definitely pay to shop around.

Scaling back options

Many banks – especially the larger national ones – have scaled back their savings account options and the rates they pay. Bank of America has what it calls its basic savings account, as well as a Rewards Money Market Savings account, with higher rates and added benefits. They are fairly typical of the industry standard these days.

The basic account currently pays an interest rate of 0.01% APY. If that sounds very low, it is. If you had $1,000 in an account for one year, you'd earn almost nothing in interest.

While that's definitely on the low end, at least it's something, and safer than sticking your cash in a mattress.

Walling off money

These days, few consumers put money in a savings account to earn interest. Rather, it's a way to wall off the money so it doesn't get spent on other things.

With online banking, it is easy to transfer money from a checking account into savings without having to make a trip to the bank.

Bank of America, along with many other banks, also offers a “Keep the Change” program. If you opt-in, the bank will round up every debit card purchase to the next dollar, transferring small amounts of change into your savings account. It's a fairly painless way to save.

You can also use your savings account for overdraft protection. Should you overdraw your checking account, the bank can transfer money from savings to cover it.

So there are some advantages to having a savings account, even though they don't earn any interest to speak of. And while online banks, like Ally, pay a higher rate on passbook savings, it's still a far cry from the rate paid a couple of decades ago.

Requirements

Of course, there are some requirements to maintain a savings account without incurring fees. For the Bank of America basic account, you must maintain a $300 minimum daily balance, or link to your Bank of America Interest Checking Account, or make combined monthly automatic transfers of $25 or more from your checking account during the preceding billing cycle.

Failure to meet those requirements results in a $5 fee.

Bank of America's Rewards Money Market Savings account pays a slightly higher interest rate – 0.03% to 0.06% – but has steeper requirements, like maintaining a $2,500 minimum daily balance. Failure to meet all the requirements results in a $12 monthly fee.

While a savings account is not going to grow your money in any real sense, it might prevent you from spending it. It's a fact that some consumers need a separate account as a way to exercise financial discipline. And if you can meet all the requirements so that monthly fees are not eating into your savings, that's a perfectly legitimate reason.

Other options

For those who can carefully track their spending and exercise tight discipline, however, a rewards checking account might be a better solution. Some banks will pay a higher interest rate – in some cases over 2% APY – on balances up to $15,000 or so.

By meeting all the requirements – usually a certain number of debit purchases each month and at least one direct deposit – consumers can avoid fees, earn interest, and sometimes receive other benefits, such as having all out of network ATM fees refunded.

No matter what type of account you use, the important thing is to save.

Builders remained confident in March in the market for newly-built single-family homes.

The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB)/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI) held steady at a level of 58. Any number over 50 indicates that more builders view conditions as good than poor.

“Confidence levels are hovering above the 50-point mid-range, indicating that the single-family market continues to make slow but steady progress,” said NAHB Chairman Ed Brady, a home builder. “However, builders continue to report problems regarding a shortage of lots and labor.”

The HMI measures builder perceptions of current single-family home sales and sales expectations for the next six months as "good," "fair" or "poor." The monthly survey also asks builders to rate traffic of prospective buyers as "high to very high," "average" or "low to very low." Scores for each component are then used to calculate a seasonally adjusted index.

The HMI component gauging current sales conditions was steady while the index measuring sales expectations in the next six months fell three points. The component charting buyer traffic was up a touch.

In the three-month moving averages for regional HMI scores, the Midwest was higher, the South was unchanged, and the West posted declines.

“While builder sentiment has been relatively flat for the last few months, the March HMI reading correlates with NAHB’s forecast of a steady firming of the single-family sector in 2016,” said NAHB Chief Economist David Crowe. “Solid job growth, low mortgage rates and improving mortgage availability will help keep the housing market on a gradual upward trajectory in the coming months.”

The cost of living on the wholesale level ticked lower last month.

Figures released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), show the Producer Price Index (PPI) for final demand, which measures the cost of things one step short of the consumer level, fell a seasonally adjusted 0.2% in February.

The PPI was up 0.1% in January and down 0.2% in December. For the last 12 months, the index is unchanged.

Goods and services

The cost of goods dipped 0.6% -- the third decline in a row. Most of that was the sharp 3.4% plunge in the price of energy. Food costs were down 0.3%. Excluding those two volatile categories, goods prices inched ahead 0.1%.

Services prices were unchanged in February after rising for three consecutive months. A rise of 0.3% for services excluding trade, transportation, and warehousing offset a 0.4% drop for trade services and a 0.7% decline in prices for final demand transportation and warehousing services.

The government's report on consumer inflation for February is scheduled for release tomorrow.

The complete report may be found on the BLS website.

Airline on-time arrival rates showed improvement in January on both a year-over-year and month-over-month basis.

According to the Department of Transportation's (DOT) Air Travel Consumer Report, the January on-time arrival rate was 81.3%, an improvement from both the 76.8% rate posted a year earlier and the 77.8% in December.

In even more good news, there were no tarmac delays of more than three hours on domestic flights. However, there were eight tarmac delays of more than four hours on international flights. All delays are under investigation.

As far as cancellations go, carriers scratched 2.6% of their scheduled domestic flights. The year before, the rate was 2.5% and in December it was 1.7%.

The consumer report also includes information on chronically delayed flights, and the causes of flight delays along with such issues as flight problems, baggage, reservation, and ticketing issues.

What to do

Consumers may file air travel service complaints on the web at this address. 

The full report  is available on the DOT website.

Consumers often search high and low for the best life insurance rate but then neglect to inform their beneficiaries about the details of their policy. The result is often that when the consumer dies, no one knows about the policy and the money goes unclaimed.

Many consumers think that life insurance companies will go to the ends of the earth to learn of policyholders' deaths and rush to pay the insured person's heirs.

But in all too many cases, that doesn't happen. In fact, more than $1 billion in unclaimed benefits are gathering dust and earning interest for insurance carriers today. A bill just passed in Florida seeks to change that, requiring companies to use available technology to scour death records and pay death benefits promptly. The bill has passed both houses of the legislature and now awaits the signature of Gov. Rick Scott.

Setting records straight

About $8 billion has already been returned to consumers nationwide after a Florida-led investigation found that many insurers had failed to pay up. Ironically, many of the companies were using death records to stop payments on annuities when the annuity holder died but were failing to use the death records to pay beneficiaries.

The sponsors of the Florida measure say many companies are still “intentionally shielding themselves” from knowledge about policyholders’ deaths.

“I am proud to stand on the right side of this consumer-friendly public policy,” said Rep. Bill Hager (R-Delray Beach), who sponsored the bill in the Florida House, according to a Palm Beach Post report.

Florida Insurance Commission Kevin McCarty said the bill will require all companies to get their records up to date and keep them that way. 

"By searching all their records, both going forward and then retroactively to 1992 against the United States Social Security Death Master File, life insurance companies would have to make a reasonable effort to investigate a claim when they have actual knowledge of a life insurance policyholders death and either return those monies to the beneficiary or report and remit it to the [state] unclaimed property unit, who will forever have these funds available for the owners to collect," McCarty said in a prepared statement.

What to do

On the most basic level, you should be sure to tell your family members where they can find your insurance policy. It should be kept in a safe place but not in a safety deposit box, which may be sealed by the court pending probate.

If you think you may be due the proceeds of a deceased relative or friend's policy, the first place to check is www.missingmoney.com, a website maintained by the National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrators. 

Besides a searchable database, the site contains a directory of the various state agencies that regulate insurance. 

The idea behind an annuity is that, in exchange for an upfront investment, it guarantees you an agreed-upon income for the rest of your life. But annuities have never sold as well as most economists think they should and no one seems to know why.

Two Boston College marketing professors say they think they have found the answer: people don't like to think about dying. 

This doesn't appear to make sense on the surface. After all, the whole idea of an annuity is that it keeps you from outliving your money -- no small concern in an era when people are routinely living into their 90s. You may be old, tired, sick, or whatever, but at least you have a few bucks coming in each month. But the process of setting up an annuity forces you to think about how long you have left and therein lies the rub, says Gergana Nenkov, Associate Professor of Marketing with the Carroll School of Management at Boston College.

"When you think about an annuity, you have to think about how long you have left to live, how many years you need to finance," says Nenkov. "You have to think about dying -- that's part of the annuity process, and when people do that, it turns them away."

Hoping it goes away

Previous explanations for Americans' poor record of annuity purchases have focused on low retirement savings, unfair pricing, and decreased flexibility in accessing one's money. 

Nenkov and fellow BC professor Linda Court Salisbury say they applied psychological theory to answer the question that's usually posed in economic terms. 

"Nobody has ever looked at it from the psychology of making the decision and going through with the decision," says Salisbury. "Our idea was the averseness of thinking about your own death is enough to make you use what we call 'mortality salience defense strategy,' which is to avoid it."

In other words, by not thinking about death and not planning for it, we're hoping it will go away. The theory was supported in four studies that included 748 adults. 

One study asked participants whether they would rather roll their retirement savings in an Individual Retirement Account, or purchase an annuity.

"When people considered an IRA, very few thought about dying or how long they have left to live," says Nenkov. "But when the people considered an annuity, a big proportion of them had those kinds of thoughts related to death."

Two of the studies presented participants with annuity descriptions that contained subtle differences. One description indicated the annuity "guaranteed payments for as long as you live," while another "guaranteed payments for as long as you live until you die." Whenever an annuity mentioned death, interest plummeted.

"We showed that even those subtle mentions of death decreased further the rate of choosing an annuity and made people stay away from the product even more than if we just talked about years left to live," says Nenkov.

It's not just annuities, of course.

"Wills, life insurance, estate planning -- all of those decisions are sometimes put off, and we think this issue of not wanting to think about death has a role," says Nenkov. "Maybe finding ways to deal with that anxiety could help consumers overcome it and make the important decisions because if they don't, there are devastating consequences later in life."

Diapers fall under the “necessary, but expensive” category. They're an ongoing expense that can put a strain on any budget.

But while middle-class and wealthy parents have seen diapers become a little more budget-friendly thanks to sites like Amazon Prime, parents in the lower-income bracket haven’t been as fortunate.

Low-income families receive no federal assistance for diapers. Neither medicaid nor food stamps can step in to help with costs, and special nutrition benefits for mothers and infants do not include diapers.

With no federal aid being granted, what happens to the lives and budgets of those who can’t afford this parenting essential?

Middle-class pay less

There’s a “diaper loophole,” said Luke Tate, a special assistant to the president for economic mobility in a statement to the Washington Post.

Diapers are an essential item -- as vital to the health of a baby as the roof over its head. But while federal aid may help with the roof, it’s not helping with the cost of diapers.

Tate says a poor family could spend $1,000 per child per year on diapers. He, on the other hand, estimates that he’s paying half that amount as a result of having the money to enjoy the benefits of the digital age.

“I'm able to order in bulk,” said Tate, “because I have the capital, the Internet, the device, and I’m able to receive packages in the place where I live.”

Government data from 2014 proved that families of different incomes do, indeed, have very different financial experiences when it comes to buying diapers. The data showed that families in the lowest-income quintile spend nearly 14% of their after-tax income on diapers, while families in the middle quintile spend less than three percent.

Health consequences

For baby, a lack of clean diapers could mean diaper rash, urinary tract infection, and even hospital visits, according to Megan Smith, an assistant professor of psychiatry at the Yale School of Medicine.

For mothers, Smith notes there is a psychological component to not having enough diapers. The inability to soothe a crying child, she says, “really decreases your sense of being a good parent.”

It goes without saying that keeping families stocked with new diapers is essential. But the road to relieving the financial burden of diapers has been slow -- and even laced with ridicule. 

What's being done

In 2011, Rep. Rosa DeLauro's (D - Conn.) Diaper Investment and Aid to Promote Economic Recovery (DIAPER) Act sought to provide financial assistance for diapers, as did her more recently introduced Hygiene Assistance for Families of Infants and Toddlers Act.

Both have yet to gain traction and have been mocked by conservatives who see no merit in giving away diapers. 

However, a new White House initiative, called the Community Diaper Program, hopes to mitigate the surge pricing that poor families experience when buying diapers.  Jet, an e-commerce company, has offered use of its warehouse to sell diapers in bulk to nonprofit groups. More than 15 million diapers are expected to be bought through the program this year.

Ensuring that privacy and security can be maintained in their homes is important to many consumers. But no matter where you live, there is always the chance that a break-in or other wrongdoing may occur.

To combat this problem, many people look to home security solutions like alarms – but perhaps one of the best things that a homeowner can install is a set of security cameras. But if you, like many others, don’t know the first thing about security cameras, then where do you start? To narrow down the choices, you may want to think about how you want your video stored.

According to a recent CNET article, you have two primary choices when it comes to storing video – either by local storage or cloud storage. While each offers a different set of benefits, choosing which one works best for you will depend on your security priorities.

Local storage

Local storage saves your security video clips just like it sounds – locally. Cameras that support local storage usually come with a slot where you can insert a microSD card, usually ranging from 16GB worth of storage to 128GB. Depending on the brand of camera you buy, you may have to go out and pick up a microSD card separately.

As is the case with many security systems, there are some options you can choose from in terms of what your camera will record. For those who want to make sure every second is recorded, the cameras can be set in continuous recording mode. If you’re less scrupulous, you can also set your camera to event-based recording mode. In this setting, the camera will only record when it detects motion, allowing you to get a little more out of your microSD card before you run out of space.

No matter what your preference is, when your card is finally full you can elect to overwrite the information and keep recording or take the card out and assess the footage. If you want to save any video that was picked up on the card, but want to continue using it, you can buy a card reader and card adapter to convert the information.

Cloud storage

For those who don’t want to buy any extra equipment, like the microSD cards, card reader, or adapter, cloud storage can provide an alternative that is a little more hands-off. Instead of physically having to manage a microSD card, cameras that operate using cloud storage save footage in – you guessed it – the cloud.

Depending on the service you use, your footage is sent to a remote server that is managed by a company. You will have to pay a fee to use the company’s service, which can vary in price. Currently, cloud-based security storage offered by Alphabet/Google costs $10 per month for 10 hours of continuous recording.

Which should you choose?

Local storage and cloud-based storage come with their own set of benefits, but choosing which one really comes down to personal preference. Local storage is preferred by many consumers because it gives you the greatest amount of access to your video, but if you want to save your video then you will have to buy extra equipment to do that. Also, managing the microSD cards manually could become tiresome after a while.

Cloud-based storage is much more hands-off in this regard, and you don’t have to worry as much about overwriting data. However, you will have to pay a monthly fee to access your video footage and technical problems with the company hosting the servers could lead to you not being able to access it in some cases. Also, since the information is hosted on a server, hackers could potentially get hold of your videos – making privacy a concern.

Of course, video storage is not the only consideration when it comes to buying security cameras – it’s just a good starting point for narrowing down choices. Be sure to do your research before committing to any one course of action so that you can get the best home security that works for you.

It should be noted upfront that an airline credit card won't be the best choice for most consumers. Unless you travel a lot, a card offering a generous cash-back reward is probably going to be your best option.

But for those who are frequent fliers, using a credit card associated with one of the airlines will help you rack up miles in a hurry.

Credit card website CardHub has updated its picks of the best airline credit cards, choosing four that have plenty of advantages for travelers.

Frontier Airlines Credit Card

The CardHub editors pick the Frontier Airlines Credit Card as tops in terms of the best initial bonus. Most credit cards will start you off with some miles, assuming you spend a certain amount in the first three months.

For Frontier credit card holders, you only have to spend $500 in the first 90 days. If you do, the credit card will give you 40,000 initial miles, which can be used right away for two round-trip domestic tickets.

There's a $69 annual fee and other cards offer more miles, but CardHub says the low qualification requirement, along with the relative ease in redeeming the miles, makes Frontier a good choice.

Platinum Delta SkyMiles Credit Card

If you travel a lot, you might want to check out the Platinum Delta SkyMiles Credit Card from American Express. Right off the bat you get a $100 statement credit if you make a Delta purchase in the first three months. If you spend $1,000 during that period, you'll get 35,000 bonus miles.

Other perks include a free checked bag on each trip, a free companion ticket each year, and priority boarding. The annual fee is on the high end – $195. However, there are no foreign transaction fees.

AeroMexico Visa Secured Credit Card

You say your credit has a few dents in it? Not to worry -- the AeroMexico Visa Secured Credit Card passes CardHub's test for the best airline card for consumers with below-average credit.

It's rare to find any kind of rewards card for applicants who do not have good or excellent credit histories, but the AeroMexico Card not only does, but offers 5,000 bonus miles and a free companion ticket after your first purchase. There's no annual fee the first year but $25 a year after that.

Rewards aren't limited to airline spending. The card offers two miles for every dollar spent on gas and groceries, one mile per dollar spent on all other purchases, and free checked bags when you use the card to fly AeroMexico. Because it is a secured card, there is a minimum $300 security deposit that is refundable at some point in the future.

United Mileage Plus Explorer Business Credit Card

For consumers who fly more for business than pleasure, CardHub recommends the United Mileage Plus Explorer Business Credit Card. It starts you off with 50,000 bonus miles if you spend $2,000 in the first three months and tacks on an additional 10,000 bonus miles if you charge at least $25,000 to your card.

It also adds two miles per $1 spent directly with United, as well as charges at gas stations, office supply stores, and restaurants.

There is no foreign transaction fee or a first-year annual fee the first year. After that, you'll be charged $95 a year.

There are also regular credit cards that provide airline miles as part of their overall rewards programs. The best overall, says Cardhub, is the Barclaycard Arrival Plus World Elite MasterCard. Its miles can be used with any airline.

Nothing blows your monthly budget faster than an expensive and unanticipated car repair bill. Sadly, car repairs appear to be a major reason people head for payday loan storefronts, where they begin a cycle of debt.

The RepairPal Institute, a research affiliate of the auto repair resource RepairPal, has surveyed all 50 states to determine where it costs the most to get your car back on the road. The research looked at the average repair bill for three common repairs – water pump, alternator, and brake pad replacements.

To further make sure apples were compared to apples, the study looked at repairs on just three widely-owned vehicles – the 2010 Ford F-150, 2010 Honda Accord, and 2010 BMW 328i.

States in colder climates are at the top of the list, suggesting harsh weather might be a contributing factor requiring more major repairs. Alaska leads the way at $1,374, followed by Michigan at $1,289 and Connecticut at $1,271.

West Virgina consumers pay the lowest average repair bill, at $1,033; Kentucky is the second most affordable state, at $1,087; Arkansas is a close third at $1,088.

$1,176 national average

The study also found the national average for the three repairs was a bill of $1,176. Alaska was 17% above the average while West Virginia was 12% below it.

The biggest states in terms of population were not the most expensive places to get a car repaired. California was the 11^th most expensive state. New York was 23^rd.

In general, the researchers say you'll tend to pay less for a car repair if you live in a southern state.

Avoiding big repair bills

Regular maintenance is one way to avoid big car repair bills that often crop up at the absolute worst times. Besides regular oil changes every 3,000 to 5,000 miles, it is a good idea to follow the manufacturers recommended service schedule.

When a large car repair bill does present itself, how you deal with the repair shop may determine whether you get a fair quote. Bankrate.com recommends asking probing questions before agreeing to the repairs. It's helpful if it appears you are an informed consumer.

You should also check out the shops qualifications and reputation. The Internet makes that a lot easier to do than in the past.

Here are 10 ways to avoid costly car repair mistakes.

Motorists nationwide may have noticed gasoline prices are rising faster in some areas than others. Two things are responsible.

The price of oil has rallied from a low of about $27 a barrel in January to around $37 a barrel this month. Still, a far cry from the time not long ago when oil routinely sold for well over $100 a barrel.

The second factor is the switch over to summer blend gasoline at the nation's refineries. Summer blends cost more, and since production just began, supplies are limited. Each year, fuel prices begin rising in late winter into early spring, only to begin to fall again around July 4.

Getting close to $2

The national average price of gasoline, according to the AAA Fuel Gauge Survey, is $1.93 a gallon. While that's still relatively cheap compared to recent averages of $3 or more, the sudden rise may be taking some consumers by surprise.

The national average price has jumped 11 cents a gallon in the last seven days. It's up about 22 cents a gallon from a month ago. But to keep things in perspective, it's down about 52 cents a gallon from last March.

Consumers in some states are feeling more pain than in others. The statewide average price of gasoline is back over $2 a gallon in Alaska, California, Washington, DC, Hawaii, Iowa, Illinois, Nebraska, Nevada, New York, Oregon, and Washington.

In California, gasoline prices have jumped 13 cents a gallon in the last seven days. They've risen 17 cents a gallon in the last week in Illinois.

In a tweet, Gasbuddy senior petroleum analyst Patrick DeHaan notes that 99.4% of the nation's gas stations are selling regular for more than $1.50 a gallon. A month ago, only 68.8% of stations were. Today's most common fuel price, he says, is $1.99 a gallon.

Biggest price move of the year

AAA says the recent move in prices at the pump is the largest in any seven day period so far this year. The auto club says this year's seasonal rise in fuel prices, due to refinery issues, started later than usual so the increase – while occurring quickly – hasn't been as high as in the last couple of years.

Because of that, AAA says some refineries have reduced capacity at a faster clip in order to draw down abundant supplies of fuel.

AAA says the still-low price of crude oil and generous supplies should keep gas prices from escalating too much as we head into the summer months.