Infotrak

Greg McBride, Chief Financial Analyst for Bankrate.com shared the results of a Bankrate survey that found that despite the hot labor market, 62 percent of employed Americans did not get a pay raise or better paying job in 2018. He noted that career or income advancement often involves a willingness to change jobs, yet only 25 percent have any intention of looking for a new job in 2019.

Gina LaRoche,is an organizational consultant, executive coach, co-founder of Seven Stones Leadership Group, and co-author of The 7 Laws of Enough: Cultivating a Life of Sustainable Abundance. Ms. LaRoche said counting your blessings year-round can be good for your mental health and well-being, ultimately boosting a person’s chances of success. She talked about ways to avoid a “scarcity mentality,” where more is always better and having more will lead to happiness. She talked about the influence of social media on this mentality

Danny Iny, entrepreneur, author of Leveraged Learning: How the Disruption of Education Helps Lifelong Learners and Experts with Something to Teach believes that pursuing a four-year degree leaves too many students drowning in debt and unprepared for the work world. He outlined the decisions that students and parents should consider before committing to the time and cost commitments of a college degree. He discussed what careers require a college education, along possible alternative paths for other careers.

Craig Smith, PhD, Research Investigator at the University of Michigan Center for Human Growth and Development led a study that examined whether parents should force kids to apologize for something they did wrong to another child. He found that the wronged child saw a big difference between a sincere apology and a coerced one. He suggested ways that parents can help their child learn to have empathy for the victim, thus ensuring a willing apology.

Quint Studer, community development expert, author of Building A Vibrant Community: How Citizen-Powered Change Is Reshaping America said vibrant communities don’t just happen—they are built. He discussed ways that cities and towns can attract investments, encourage small business startups and build lively downtowns. He talked about the importance of creating community events such as street festivals, rallies, fundraisers and concerts to foster a sense of neighborhood. He also outlined ways that citizens can volunteer to improve their local community.

Millions of Americans are hooked on gambling, and at least 40 states are addicted to gambling revenue. Keith Whyte, Executive Director of the National Council on Problem Gambling said states have not taken the measures needed to address gambling addiction, as they have greatly expanded gambling in the past ten years. He talked about the most common characteristics of those addicted to gambling and how to recognize if someone has a problem.

Karen Bakies, RDN, LD, FAND, Registered Dietitian and Vice President of Nutrition Affairs for the American Dairy Association Mideast in Columbus, Ohio said a recent survey by her organization found that 94 percent of Americans admit to throwing food away at home. In fact, the average family wastes nearly a third of the food they buy. She outlined the most common reasons that people throw food out, and offered suggestions to minimize the problem.

Jennifer Molinsky, PhD, housing expert, Senior Research Associate at the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University shared the findings of her annual report on the nation’s housing. She said that many older Americans are burdened by housing costs, and that affordable, accessible and supportive senior housing is in short supply. She also warned that many households in their 50s and early 60s may not be financially prepared for retirement.

There are roughly 8 million high-school student athletes in the U.S. However, only a small percentage go on to play a sport in college, and even fewer receive athletic scholarships. Patrick O’Rourke, Certified Public Accountant in Washington, D.C., founder of ScholarshipStats.com explained which sports have the most scholarship money available. He talked about parents’ misconceptions about college scholarships and offered advice.

David Mizejewski, Naturalist at the National Wildlife Federation talked about the benefits of allowing leaves to decompose naturally, rather than raking them up and disposing of them. In addition to serving as a natural fertilizer, he said butterflies and songbirds depend on leaf litter for food sources. He also discussed the environmental impact of bagging up lawn debris for disposal.

The number of children in the U.S. foster care system is at record levels, thanks in part to the opioid crisis. With nearly 450,000 children in the system, Diane Redleaf, family defense attorney, author of They Took the Kids Last Night: How the Child Protection System Puts Families at Risk discussed what happens when caseworkers make mistakes, taking children from parents who are neither abusive nor neglectful. She noted that minority families are disproportionately affected by this trend. She also said that once children are taken, parents and their attorneys sometimes can’t learn where the children are being housed.

Scammers have devised a new scheme to steal thousands of dollars from home buyers who are about to close on a house. Ryan Kalember, Senior Vice President of Cybersecurity Strategy for online security company Proofpoint said buyers are often tricked into wiring their down payment on the day of closing to a fraudulent offshore account, by criminals who have hacked their real estate agent’s or title company's email account. He explained how consumers can protect themselves.

In this age of smartphones, Twitter and information scrolling at the bottom of TV screens, Americans are reading faster than ever. Thomas Newkirk, PhD, Professor Emeritus, University of New Hampshire believes this is a negative trend, and that readers get greater enjoyment and comprehension when they read slowly. He talked about the reasons why people tend to skim text, and techniques they can use to slow down.

Materialism may be more common than ever. Lan Nguyen Chaplin, PhD, Associate Professor of Marketing, University of Illinois at Chicago led a study that tested ways to reduce materialism among young consumers. She found that a teenagers who completed a two-week gratitude journal were significantly more grateful, more generous and less materialistic.

Bonnie Halpern-Felsher, PhD, Professor of Pediatrics, Stanford University School of Medicine led a study that found that teens and young adults who use Juul brand e-cigarettes are failing to recognize the product's addictive potential, despite using it more often than their peers who smoke conventional cigarettes. She said the nicotine levels in a single Juul pod are the equivalent of smoking 1 ½ to 2 packs of cigarettes. She also discussed the high vulnerabilities of teens to brain changes caused by e-cigarettes, as compared to people in their twenties.

Alan Monheit, PhD, Professor of Health Economics and Chair, Department of Health Systems & Policy in the School of Public Health, Rutgers University led a study that examined the relationship between parental education and family healthcare spending. He found that parents educated beyond high school spend significantly more on healthcare, despite differences in family income and health insurance. He also discussed differences he found in healthcare decisions made by single-mother families compared to two-parent families.

Air pollution in the U.S. has decreased since about 1990. Jason West, PhD, Professor of Environmental Sciences and Engineering at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Gillings School of Global Public Health led a study that found that this improvement resulted in a 47% decrease in deaths related to air pollution exposure. He noted that, despite clear improvements, air pollution remains an important public health issue in the U.S., with an estimated 71,000 deaths in 2010. He discussed the effectiveness of tree planting programs and other steps ordinary people can take to help.

Sarah Stanley Fallaw, PhD, industrial psychologist, researcher, and president of DataPoints, author of The Next Millionaire Next Door: Enduring Strategies for Building Wealth wrote a follow up to her father’s classic book “The Millionaire Next Door.” She talked about several myths relating to millionaires and how they accumulate wealth. She discussed the importance of living below your means, and how to identify and develop behaviors that are conducive to building wealth.

Deborah Thorne, PhD is Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of Idaho, and Principle Investigator on the nationally-recognized Consumer Bankruptcy Project. Dr. Thorne’s research paper entitled “Graying of U.S. Bankruptcy: Fallout from Life in a Risk Society” found that the rate at which Americans age 65 and older are filing for bankruptcy has more than tripled since 1991. She outlined a number of factors that may contribute to this problem, including rising healthcare expenses and a lack of financial knowledge or discipline to properly save for retirement, since pensions have been replaced by 401k plans.

Andrew Gewirtz, PhD, Professor in the Institute for Biomedical Sciences at Georgia State University was the co-author of a surprising study that found that adding highly refined fiber to processed foods could have negative effects on human health, including liver cancer. He explained what ingredients consumers need to watch for on processed food labels. He said the simplest solution is to eat fruits and vegetables naturally rich in soluble fiber, rather than processed foods.