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Millennials Are Making Two Major Mistakes With Credit Cards

Considering the number of financial issues that have been thrust upon them by older generations, Millennials have been forced to adapt and learn how to be financially savvy, whether they like it or not. But a new NerdWallet survey reveals that, while these money-saving efforts might be well-intentioned, some habits — specifically relating to credit cards — might be hurting Millennials more than helping.

This generation, considered to be adults currently between the ages of 18 and 34, appears to be making two major mistakes: applying for a credit card without having the minimum qualifications, and avoiding credit cards altogether.

As NBC News reported, nearly 50% of all Millennials have applied for a credit card because of an advertisement or limited-time promotional deal. The good news is that credit card companies are still monitoring qualifications closely, so that the country doesn’t experience another major financial crisis similar to that of 2008. This means that Millennials who fail to meet the qualifications aren’t getting approved for credit cards they can’t handle.

The bad news is that, whenever a person applies for a credit card, his or her credit score is affected, slightly more so when the line of credit is denied. Add up multiple applications over a short period of time, and the individual will begin to see a low credit score for no apparent reason.

The other major problem that Millennials are making, TIME stated, is that they’re avoiding credit cards entirely. Almost one-third of this generation has never applied for a credit card, according to the NerdWallet data, and this negatively impacts one’s credit score as well, because 15% of a person’s total score is based on his or her credit history length.

Many financial advisers believe that these two problems are exacerbated by the fact that Millennials are, quite often, choosing the wrong company or type of card when they finally do apply for a credit card. These young adults are particularly astute when it comes to seeing through temporary promotional offers and too-good-to-be-true promises; instead, the majority of Millennials (60%) value factors such as customer service and convenience.

While that predisposition is beneficial in most cases, it also means that credit card companies can win over Millennials easily by ensuring that a friendly and persuasive sales rep is taking care of them.

Missouri City Faces E. Coli Scare in Water System

For one small Missouri city, chlorine has become a bigger problem than they ever could have imagined.

According to The Missourian, it all started when the Missouri Department of Natural Resources found traces of the e. coli bacteria in the water supply of Washington, MO. The city immediately installed chlorine injection pumps at all nine city wells.

Upon installing these chlorine pumps, residents began noticing that their water tasted a little “off,” and the city began exploring ways to balance the chlorine levels in their new pumps.

“We’re trying to tweak the system to minimize the chlorine taste in the water,” City Administrator Jim Briggs told council members Monday night.

The chlorine levels in the water system need to be exactly right to protect the health of Washington citizens, and for reasons more important than taste. When heated, chlorine releases a vapor that can lead to serious health effects, including breathing problems, headaches, and even cancer.

While attempting to rectify the situation, the city issued a “boil water order” for all homes and businesses. Some locals did not get this memo, wasting money on bottled water to last them until the problem was fixed.

Many residents are asking for reimbursement from the city for this bottled water, having been unaware of the “boil water order” and finding it a poor and unrealistic solution to the chlorine problem, especially in the long-run.

The Missourian also reported that the Washington Board of Public Works urged the city council to appeal the mandated chlorination of their water system until they conducted an independent review of the water supply.

Board President Kurt Voss is urging the city to fix the problem as soon as possible.

“I think it’s awful,” he said. “It’s like I walk into a swimming pool every morning. You might as well just dump chlorine on me.”

The city council unanimously voted against an appeal, with Briggs noting that it was “very unlikely” they would win in a circuit court.

If there is a silver lining, Briggs says there have only been 38 reports of a chlorine taste or odor in the water and 59 reports of rusty water in homes.

“Actually I thought we would’ve had more than that,” Briggs told the council.

Nobody is reported to have contracted E. coli and the city feels lucky they noticed the problem as early as they did.

Hopefully, Washington, MO can find that perfect balance between clean water and “walking into a swimming pool every morning.”

New Non-Invasive Treatment Offers Hope to Women with Uterine Fibroids

A diagnosis of uterine fibroids can be a harrowing experience for any woman, given that a hysterectomy may be the only way to treat them. However, a hospital in Georgia is offering an alternative to local women that will change their lives for the better.

According to the Times-Herald, Piedmont Newnan Hospital in Newnan, Georgia, is now offering Uterine Fibroid Embolization, or UFE, to women who suffer from uterine fibroids. The treatment is non-invasive — and that is great news for women suffering from the troubling ailment.

Fawzi Mohammad, M.D., is one of the doctors offering the service, and he expounds the tremendous benefits of the new procedure.

“UFE is a great alternative to surgery and we are proud to offer women with fibroids the ability to have all their care, from the initial consultation, to the procedure, to the follow-up visit done locally,” said Dr. Mohammad.

Removal of the uterus, known as a hysterectomy, has long been the most common surgical procedure used to treat uterine fibroids. With this amazing advancements in treatment, women are given a second chance to avoid invasive surgery.

The Jamaica Observer reports that the treatment may not be the right option for every woman, and Dr. Daryl Daley of Gynae Associates stresses the importance of making sure you seek the treatment that is right for you.

“Definitive treatment is dependent on the patient’s age, future fertility desires, the number and the size of the fibroids and the symptoms present,” explained Dr. Daley.

While UFE may not be the answer for every women suffering from uterine fibroids, it certainly helps millions breathe a sigh of relief. Uterine fibroid treatments have come a long way, and these non-invasive treatments are offering long-term solutions to women in need.

The Times-Herald goes on to mention that a recent study showed that about 80% of women who underwent a UFE procedure experienced total relief of symptoms and recurrence of treated fibroids was extremely rare.

These non-invasive treatments will only continue to improve, which is great news for the almost 50% of women who experience uterine fibroids at some point in their life. Hopefully, in the future, hysterectomies will become a thing of the past.

Josh Duggar Checks Into Rehab As Brother-In-Law Spews Insults on Facebook

As if the Duggar family drama wasn’t bad enough already, the recent Ashley Madison website hack has just made things a whole lot worse for TLC’s former fundamentalist reality stars.

Josh Duggar, arguably the most controversial member of the Duggar family at the moment, was caught red-handed when “hacktavists” broke into the Ashley Madison website and released thousands of user emails.

Duggar already faces serious public scrutiny after reports emerged a few months ago that he had sexually abused multiple young girls girls as a teenager, including his sisters. The allegations caused TLC to cancel the reality show that catapulted the Duggar family to fame, titled 19 Kids and Counting, and the family as a whole has faced plenty of public criticism for the way it handled the charges — or rather, the way it ignored the charges and tried to sweep them under the rug as swiftly as possible.

Despite the accusations and his abrupt departure from his job at the conservative lobbying group Family Research Council, Josh Duggar, 27, seemed firmly rooted in marriage with his wife, Anna, and their children.

That is, until the Ashley Madison email records were released, and it become clear that Josh had been cheating on his wife for three years.

According to CNN, the cybersecurity company Trustify has confirmed that Duggar had an account on Ashley Madison, using the name “josh_the_man.” He paid the company nearly $1,000 between 2012 and 2015 for dating services targeted specifically to married individuals looking to have extramarital affairs.

Duggar released a statement on his family’s website on August 19, admitting that he had been struggling with a pornography addiction and had been unfaithful to his wife. Just a week later, TIME reported, Duggar checked himself into rehab for his apparent sex and pornography addictions.

Up until this point, it has been unclear how well his wife, Anna, had been handling the entire onslaught of events. Though infidelity often leads to divorce, and indeed is the primarily reason for splitting up, according to 73% of divorced couples, the fundamentalist Christian faith that the Duggar family preaches is not very keen on allowing members to get divorced easily.

Of course, social media has a way of weeding out unpleasant details for the media, which is exactly what happened when Duggar’s recently-married sister, Jessa Seewald, posted a Bible verse from 1 John 1:8: “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

Daniel Keller, Anna Duggar’s brother and Josh’s brother-in-law, took the opportunity to voice his true feelings about the Duggar lifestyle by commenting on Seewald’s post, according to FOX News. “You have to confess and forsake your sin to have mercy. Not sin confess and repeat,” Keller commented. “Confessing and getting caught are two different things… You want to know what happens when you cover ur [sic] sin maybe you should go read ur [sic] bible instead of beating people over the head with it.”

School Budget Woes Epitomized in Ceredo-Kenova Stadium Case

High school athletics is one of the best developmental tools for teenagers in any situation. Curricula can change regularly, but The leadership, discipline, and team-work abilities gained from organized team sports is one of the most prized exports of the educational system. Unfortunately, government-funded public schools are constantly trying to meet tight budgets and sports is one of the first areas to feel the wrath.

Ceredo-Kenova High School in West Virginia is one school currently in the predicament of deciding what to do with their antiquated facilities. According to the local Herald-Dispatch.com news site, the community is currently in discussions on whether to refurbish or replace the old concrete stadium that was built and paid for by the people of the town in 1964. Ric Griffith, a community businessman and former mayor, is one of the proponents of restoring the structure to its former glory, and even adding murals of local historical sporting events.

“Can we return to what we once had? No. Can we preserve it? Yes,” Griffith said. “It would provide historic and artistic enhancement. It can be done.”

Unfortunately, he believes many of the school board members are in favor of a complete tear down, even though estimates suggest restoration would actually be cheaper.

“I spoke with David Ferguson with ZMM Architects who said it would be more expensive to demolish the stadium rather than restore it,” Griffith said. “He said restoring the stadium would cost 80% of the price of demolition. We have time to do the analysis and repairs before the new school opens.”

A proposal from the board suggests aluminum bleachers would be bought to replace the concrete ones. Seating capacity would be reduced as the plan calls for bleachers that would seat 800 versus the 2,000 seat capacity of the concrete ones. However, aluminum bleachers can come in many different sizes and adjustments could be made to accommodate more space.

The situation in Ceredo-Kenova isn’t unique except that the stadium they’re thinking of replacing has been around for such a long time. More and more schools across the country will be faced with these tough questions as budgets continue to shrink and athletics suffer the brunt.

Delicious E-Cig Flavors Helping Many Smokers to Make the Switch

While traditional cigarettes may not become completely extinct during our lifetime, the big tobacco companies now have their biggest competition ever.

E-cigarettes, or “e-cigs”, are electronic alternatives to cigarettes that have become the popular choice for many Americans who enjoy the wide assortment of e-liquid flavors available to them.

According to Health News Florida, one former smoker is echoing these praises and credits them for helping him stop smoking.

“Now that I switched to this, I just can’t stop smoking it,” said South Florida resident Juan Uranga. “It’s really helped with the cigarettes…I don’t even smoke them anymore.”

Health benefits aside, a major reason Juan and many others are switching to e-cigs is the vast array of vaping flavors for sale available to them, from classic tobacco to fruit-flavored options.

“It’s popular because there are millions of flavors,” said Florida smoke shop owner Sadallah Kahuk. “You can go from a cereal to a dessert to caramel to bacon.”

According to the Inlander, some companies are getting especially creative, offering flavors such as guava nectar, bubble gum, and super-menthol flavors that leave your mouth feeling cool and refreshed.

It’s safe to say that it isn’t very hard to find an e-cig flavor that you like, whatever your preference may be. The only real question is what your favorite one will end up being.

Popularity Rises, Results Remain Stagnant for Annuity Buyers

Over the last several years the financial market has rebounded, jobs are starting to come back, and overall the U.S. is much more financially secure than in the years directly following the “Great Recession.” Nevertheless, people are showing apprehension when it comes to how and where they choose to invest their savings.

Even with current interest rates low, there is a trend upward in the purchase of annuities. According to the news outlet AZCentral.com, sales of annuities rose 3% in 2014. These type of annuity policies are especially popular with Baby Boomers as more and more rapidly approach retirement age.

As the piece also points out, it is the conservative, fixed-rate annuities that are enjoying the most success, as opposed to volatile versions that rely more on stocks. These safer options, however, only usually yield payments of just 2-3%. When you consider it’s not uncommon for annual annuity fees to reach levels of 3%, it might be time to ask yourself if playing it so close to the chest is really worth it.

While it’s certainly smart to be conservative and risk-averse with the majority of your retirement savings, at some point you need to determine what the net gain will be. You might as well keep your money stashed away in a box under your bed, instead of paying fees that drain your capital, leaving you the same amount you started with.

In other words, it might be time to start looking into slightly more aggressive investment options. If you already spent your retirement investment money on the purchase of an aforementioned annuity, it’s still not too late. There are many reputable companies in the business of buying annuities for cash settlements.

If you go this route, you will then have money on hand to invest in slightly riskier, but potentially more rewarding options. According to a piece in the Chicago Tribune, one-third of Americans think there’s better than a 50% chance they will outlive their savings. Not losing money is great, but not making the money you have work for you isn’t helping you either.

As has been the case throughout history whether in business, love, finances, or life: You gotta risk it to get the biscuit.

Google’s ‘Alphabet’ Announcement Leaves Rural Small Business in the Dust

Contrary to widespread belief, Google is not just a search engine. Rather, it is a powerful advertising tool, utilized by millions of businesses across the globe to help increase traffic and awareness, and ultimately, sales.

For small businesses, Google’s belief in web democracy is especially important. There are approximately 27 million small businesses, and they account for up to 80% of all jobs in the United States. Using Adwords and Google analytics, these businesses gain leverage against big competitors, and develop the online visibility and traffic necessary to keep their businesses thriving.

However, despite Google’s insistence on web democracy, their recent announcement regarding “Alphabet,” the new parent company that will oversee not only the search giant but also its experimental projects like Google Glass and self-driving cars, is severely affecting the online traffic for a small business in rural Pennsylvania.

Alphabet Signs is a sign manufacturer and distributor with humble beginnings.

The company began out of the back of owner and operator Daniel Keane’s car. Today, all of the company’s business is achieved through its website.

Since Google’s announcement, the company has seen a 30% decrease in website traffic.

“At this point, our overall search traffic is down around 30 percent total,” Keane told Huffington Post. “We’re a mid-size sign shop in Pennsylvania, and online is our bread and butter.”

Since the announcement, the statistics haven’t seemed to improve in Keane’s favor. He is, however, remaining proactive about the situation.

“Sometimes there’s nothing you can do about it but restrategize,” said Keane.

As part of his new strategy, the sign store owner has started using negative keywords in order to gain web traffic while not having to spend money on keywords that have seen a spike in price such as “Alphabet” (we’re looking at you, Google!).

For small business owners, the fate of Alphabet Signs serves as a cautionary tale. As Google Analytics constantly changes, it’s important to stay on top of Adwords and online traffic.

As for Alphabet Signs? They may have lost their ranking for “Alphabet” but at least this news coverage is making up for it in traffic!

Accidental DNA Discovery Suggests Multiple Migrations Comprised the ‘First’ Americans

We know that a group of early humans crossed the Bering land bridge from Siberia over to the North American continent about 23,000 years ago, but scientists have always assumed that this group spread out across North America before venturing farther South.

Now, it seems that at least two groups of travelers made the perilous journey — leading researchers to state, for the first time, that another “ghost population” managed to cross the Bering bridge and venture down to Central and South America, without leaving any traces of their passing along the way.

A new report published in the online academic journal Nature states that researchers have found DNA evidence linking two Amazonian tribes, the Surui and the Karitiana, to current populations in Papua New Guinea and Aboriginal Australian tribes. This newly discovered genome means that the Surui and the Karitiana are more closely related to populations across the Pacific than to Native Americans in the north.

According to Fox News, lead author and researcher Pontus Skoglund of the Department of Genetics at Harvard Medical School stated that his team made the “unexpected discovery by using statistical methods that test whether a set of populations are equally related to a set of other populations.”

The team expected to find that Amazonian tribes have more in common with descendants of Native American tribes, which would have confirmed that there was just one major voyage of early humans across the Bering bridge.

This new “ghost population,” which appears to have no direct descendants on any continent, is now being called “Population Y” — a term derived from the word “Ypykuera,” which means “ancestor” in the ancient language of the Surui and Karitiana people.

Scientists often refer to “ghost populations” to reference villages or cultures that vanished without explanation; early U.S. history dating back before the Revolutionary War even boasts of the Lost Colony of Roanoke, which vanished into thin air after shipments of supplies from England were delayed for three years.

Similar to the multiple journeys that early American colonists made, scientists now believe that there was a period of mass migration from Siberia over to the Americas, but that several groups made individual journeys and settled in different locations.

There are no confirmed dates when each of these migrations likely occurred, nor do researchers know why each group decided to make the journey.

Study: Almost 14% of Our Coastline is Now Covered in Concrete

As of 2015, almost 14% of U.S. shoreline is covered in concrete.

Researchers working with data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration found that up to 22,842 kilometers of the country’s coast is “armored” with concrete barriers and seawalls, and that includes ocean, bay, and tidal river shorelines. Concrete installations can easily last up to 50 years, and the scientists say that unless trends change, they expect the amount of new concrete on our coasts to at least double this century.

One of the lead researchers behind the new study was Rachel K. Gittman of Nahant, Maryland. She and her fellow scientists concluded:

“The demand for coastal defense strategies against storms and sea-level rise (SLR) has increased with population growth and development along coastlines. Shoreline hardening, a common defense strategy that includes the use of seawalls and bulkheads, is resulting in a ‘coastal squeeze’ on estuarine habitats.”

That confirms findings from other scientists and environmentalists in the Chesapeake Bay region. In the National Wildlife Foundation’s report on “Sea-Level Rise and Coastal Habitats of the Chesapeake Bay,” scientists found that such seawalls and dikes posed a serious threat to local marine life habitats. If sea levels rise in the 21st century, as most scientists agree that they will, then concrete barriers and seawalls can prevent coastal habitats from naturally migrating inland with rising tides.

The NWF wrote, “We may be able to preserve habitats in some areas by restoring natural replenishment of sediments, for example, by removing seawalls…or reconsidering the use of river dams.”

Communities looking for an alternative to artificial, armored sea walls can encourage the replenishment of natural “living barriers,” which include vegetation planting or offshore breakwaters. But that might be a hard sell for developers in the South Atlantic and Gulf States, where the bulk of new concrete seawalls are installed. Although living barriers might benefit marine habitats, the effectiveness of living barriers in protecting human habitats has not been extensively studied.