Current News & Issues
Protect Your Move
If you’re moving this summer, you’ll want to find a
company that’s reputable. You can ask friends or neighbors
for recommendations, and you can look at ads in the phone
book or online. But you should also read Protect Your Move from the U.S. Department of Transportation. It’s filled
with tips to help you spot “rogue” movers, get an honest
estimate, and insure your property while it’s being moved.
To get a free copy, send your name and address to the Federal Citizen Information Center, Dept. 601P, Pueblo, CO
81009.
Or call toll-free 1 (888) 8 PUEBLO, that’s 1 (888) 878-3256,
and ask for Item 601P.
And visit www.pueblo.gsa.gov to read
or print this and hundreds of other FCIC publications for free.
Overdraft and Bounced Check Fees
Sure, the overdraft protection you decided to purchase for
your bank account is helpful—who wouldn’t want to protect
themselves from returned check fees? But is that protection
really worth the money you’re paying? You could end up
spending far more on the service than you would if you only bounced a few checks a year. Learn how to manage your
account so you don’t use money you don’t have with Protecting Yourself from Overdraft and Bounced-Check Fees from the Federal Reserve Board. This publication costs $1.00.
Order a copy by sending your name, address, and a check or
money order for $1.00 to the Federal Citizen Information Center, Dept. 340P, Pueblo, CO 81009. Or call toll-free 1 (888) 8 PUEBLO,
that’s 1 (888) 878-3256, and ask for Item 340P. Have your credit
card handy.
And visit www.pueblo.gsa.gov to read or print this
and hundreds of other FCIC publications for free.
GSA # 2844
For current information after October 15, 2007 please contact
Rebecca Ewing 202/501-1794
rebecca.ewing@gsa.gov
U.S. General Services Administration
The Federal Citizen Information Center.
Free Internet Safety Education For Youth
i-SAFE Inc. is the worldwide leader in the Internet safety education. Founded in 1998 and endorsed by the U.S. Congress, i-SAFE is a non-profit foundation dedicated to protecting the online experiences of youth everywhere. Kids and teens can learn about Internet Safety through i-SAFE's free i-LEARN Online. The program is composed of six online video modules, which address personal safety, cyber-community issues, cyber-predator identification, cyber-security, intellectual property and community outreach. Included as part of the I-LEARN Online Program is the I-Mentor Training Network. These modules help empower students to take their knowledge of Internet safety in the real world to educate friends, peers, family and community members.
Students are encouraged to hangout, learn about cyber safety and share their online experiences with others on the i-SAFE's X-BLOCK. The interactive webpage has a chat room, contests and the "411" where a 58-page student tool kit can be downloaded. There is also i-DRIVE TV where students can watch video casts made by other students. Students can also receive i-SAFE?s student news the Kewl Times.
Telemarketing Fraud and Internet Scams Increasing
The number of fraud victims increased in 2005, as reported in a 2006 National Consumers League (NCL) Bulletin. Increases have occurred in Internet fraud regarding wire transfers of money and in Internet scams such as Nigerian money offers. The average loss to telemarketing fraud rose from $1,974 in 2004 to $2,892 last year and Internet fraud more then doubled, from an average of $895 in 2004 to $1,917 in 2005. The number of telemarketing scams reported rose by 39 percent, Internet fraud reports by 12 percent. Another Internet scam on the rise is bogus offers of scholarships and grants from the government. For more information, visit Fraud.org or e-mail info@nclnet.org.
Americans Marrying Older, Living Alone More, See Households Shrinking, Census Bureau Reports
The median age of first marriage was 27.1 years for men and 25.8 years for women last year, up from 23.2 and 20.8 years, respectively, 25 years earlier, according to new information on America’s families and households released by the U.S. Census Bureau. According to "Families and Living Arrangements: 2005," the proportion of households consisting of one person living alone increased from 17 percent in 1970 to 26 percent in 2005. In 2005, 10 percent of the nation’s households contained five or more people, down from 21 percent in 1970. During the same time period, average household size declined from 3.14 to 2.57 people. The tabulations also show 67 percent of the nation’s 73.5 million children under 18 lived with two married parents in 2005. About 20.7 million children under 18 lived with one parent; 17.2 million with their mother and 3.5 million with their father.Other highlights:
- The majority of men and women in 2005 had been married by the time they were 30 to 34 years old (72 percent); and among men and women ages 65 and over, 96 percent had been married.
- The United States had an estimated 5.8 million "stay-at-home" parents: 5.6 million moms and 143,000 dads.
- About 8 percent of all children (6.1 million) lived in a household that included a grandparent.
- Among 12.8 million children ages 15 to 17, about 2.4 million were working and, of these, 2.2 million worked part time.
The Marriage Calculator
The Department of Health and Human Services has developed The Marriage Calculator. The Web-based tool can calculate the "cost of marriage" for a specific couple in a specific State - how welfare programs and tax policies might interact to create penalties and/or incentives and how they differ across States and across different income and family structures. The Urban Institute, under contract to ACF, developed this new Web-based tool.
News & Issues Archive
Upcoming Workshops & Seminars
"Women and Money" Seminars
This summer, Ohio State University Extension is again supporting "Women and Money" programs,
sposored by the Ohio Treasurer of State's Office.
"These programs are meant to empower women," said Cyndi Renn, money management program
manager for OSU Extension Family and Consumer Sciences. "Participants get some know-how about
finances, and ways to find out more."
Along with many other partners, Extension educators are teaching various topics at the sessions,
Renn said. Topics covered at each session include: budgeting; credit and debt; elder care; estate
planning; insurance; investments; kids and money; retirement planning; homeownership; identity theft;
and supportive financial attitudes.
According to the state treasurer's office, the number of men filing for bankruptcy has risen
662 percent since 1981, and 87 percent of all elderly Americans living in poverty are women.
Ohio's treasurer, Richard Cordray, has made financial education and financial literacy among Ohioans
a priority.
The State Treasurer's Office has offered the Women and Money program since 2000. The day-long
program includes a continental breakfast, free parking, an opening session, four break-out sessions,
lunch with a guest speaker, and a 30-minute question-and-answer session followed by a random prize
drawing.
Anyone can register for the free Friday conferences at the treasurer's Web site,
http://www.ohiotreasurer.gov. Click on the "Women and Money" icon.
The sessions started with a program on Friday, June 8, in Youngstown, where Nancy Hudson,
OSU Extension specialist in family finances led two sessions on credit and debt.
"A lot of people don't realize how much they're paying for credit," Hudson said. "It's always a surprise
when you add up interest payments."
Although anyone -- men and women -- can register for the conferences, Hudson said it helps women
focus on their particular circumstances when all of the case studies use women as examples. "As they
say in the introductory session, women still earn less than men, and we live longer," Hudson said.
"We have to be responsible for our own finances."
Additional sessions were held at:
- University of Cincinnati on June 15.
- Columbus State Community College, June 22.
- Student Union, Wright State University, June 29.
- Cambridge High School, July 13.
- Student Union, University of Toledo, July 20.
- Wright Patterson Air Force Base, July 27.
- Ohio University-Chillicothe, Aug. 3.
- Mansfield High School, Aug. 10.
- Student Union, University of Akron, Aug. 17.
- Cuyahoga Community College, Corporate College East, Aug. 24.
Besides attending the sessions, participants visiting the OSU Extension display are introduced to financial
management tools available through OSU Extension, Renn said. Many of these resources are available
free to download off of Extension's publications Web site, http://ohioline.osu.edu, or can be purchased
inexpensively through county Extension offices.
For more information or to register for Women and Money, go to http://www.ohiotreasurer.gov.
Writer:
Martha Filipic
filipic.3@cfaes.osu.edu
(614) 292-9833
Source:
Cyndi Renn, Consumer Sciences
renn.7@osu.edu
(614) 292-0858
Nancy Hudson, OSU Extension Center at Wooster
hudson.2@osu.edu
(330) 263-3799
Additional Workshops & Inservices