What is Fake News? "Fake news is made-up stuff, masterfully manipulated to look like credible journalistic reports that are easily spread online to large audiences willing to believe the fictions and spread the word."-- PolitiFact Fake news is a type of completely made up and deliberately spread story, manipulated to resemble credible journalism and to…
Consumer - Page 2 of 2
How Long to Save Your Important Documents
Trying to organize your important paperwork and questioning what you need to hold onto and what you can just shred or recycle? Here's some guidelines as to how long you should keep your documents. What to Keep for a Limited Time - Household furnishings paperwork - Investment purchase confirmations - Loan documents - Savings bonds…
Talk to Your Teens About Money
It's the time of year when many of us make decisions about our employee benefits for the coming year--"open enrollment" season. The Office of Financial Education, a part of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, offers this sound advice: You can guide your children in finding the financial help they need. The financial world of today…
Searching Consumer Reports Made Simple
if you were familiar with the convoluted method of searching the Consumer Reports databases through MasterFILE, you will be relieved to hear those days are over. Consumer Reports is now easier to search through Article Finder, and is available in our web resources. Just go to Consumer Reports and put whatever items you need reviews…
Identity Theft
In 2012, approximately 16.6 million individuals (or 7% of the population) over the age or 16 were victims of identity theft in the United States according to a report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The increasing number of security breaches occurring just in the past few months has made it imperative that consumers take precautions…
Beware Tax Phone Scam
Con artists pretending to be IRS agents call unsuspecting taxpayers and tell them they owe money and must pay using a prepaid debit card or wire transfer. Those refusing to pay are threatened with arrest, deportation (many of the targeted victims were immigrants) or loss of a business or driver's license. Estimates that at least 20,000…
Choosing Wisely: American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM)
Choosing Wisely is a composite of U.S. specialty societies which represent more than 500,000 physicians. They worked to develop lists of "Five Things Physicians and Patients Should Question" in recognition of the importance of physician and patient conversations to improve care and eliminate unnecessary tests and procedures. Here are practical treatment guidelines, and suggested patient/advocate questions…
What’s FRED?
What is FRED? Short for Federal Reserve Economic Data, FRED is an online database consisting of more than 55,000 economic data time series from 45 national, international, public, and private sources. FRED, created in 1990 and maintained by Research Department at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, combines data with a tools that help…
Summer Driving
The U.S. Department of Energy has a site for fuel economy information which many drivers may find helpful in saving money, finding the right car, and checking EPA ratings. Please take a look at www.fueleconomy.gov.
Illinois Tax Rate Finder
Interested in where your sales tax goes when you make a retail or food purchase? The Illinois Tax Rate Database tracks the breakdown of state, county, and municipal taxes for all cities and towns in Illinois. Additional definitions for what specific taxes mean are in their online glossary.
