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Need To Know
10 Austin South Asian | November 2022 4 Things You Need To Know About Open Enrollment
Open enrollment season is upon us. Whether you’re choosing benefits for the first time, adding coverage for a new family member or facing a passive enrollment, it’s likely your benefits decisions will look a little different this year.
According to a June 2022 Consumer Sentiment Study by Lincoln Financial Group, 45% of employees expect inflation will impact their benefits decisions this year. In today’s constantly changing economic climate, people are looking for stability and protection — for their family, their finances and their health — with more than 85% of those surveyed indicating they would like to better understand what they can do to protect against the impact of inflation.
“Benefits offered at the workplace can help provide financial stability when it comes to the unexpected,” said James Reid, executive vice president, president of Workplace Solutions at Lincoln Financial Group. “It’s important to take a holistic look at your options and the resources available, and then make the elections that will help protect your today and help secure your tomorrow.”
Lincoln Financial Group offers four tips to keep in mind during open enrollment:
1. Life changes — make sure the benefits you enroll in are changing too. Just like your personal situation can change from year to year, the benefits you enroll in should change with you. Maybe you had a new baby or are thinking about buying a house – now is the time to ensure you are protected for the future and that the benefits you choose make sense for your current situation.
2. Take a complete look at your benefits — including supplemental coverage. Lincoln’s June 2022 Consumer Sentiment Study also showed that Americans’ interest in supplemental coverage offered by an employer has increased over the past year: 89% of consumers reported being interested in Critical Illness insurance, and 86% would be interested in Hospital Indemnity and Accident insurance. Accident insurance can help pay for expenses that aren’t covered by health insurance, like high deductibles. And critical illness insurance provides funds to cover day-to-day expenses while someone is recovering from an illness, including mortgage payments, childcare, food and more. Check to see if these coverages are offered by your employer and if they make sense for you and your family.
3. Education is essential. Choosing the right benefits during open enrollment can be a complicated process — having access to digital enrollment guides and pamphlets can make the process much easier and give you the time needed to fully review and select coverage. Reach out to your employer for information on the coverages and tools they have available; digital calculators can help estimate life insurance and disability coverage needs, and tell you the impact each coverage will have on your paycheck. 4. Focus on financial wellness. To plan for the future, it is important to have an accurate picture of where you are today. A good place to start is with financial wellness tools, which many employers offer their employees. With these tools, you can create a personalized action plan and improve your financial wellbeing, whether that’s a plan to pay down debt or create an emergency savings fund. And for those struggling with competing financial priorities, Lincoln Financial’s debt calculator can help, available at lincolnfinancial.com under Planning. (StatePoint)
It’s fall, which means it’s time to roll up your sleeves, make minor fixes and prepare your home before it’s time to hunker down for winter.
Here are four easy DIY projects that will ensure your humble abode
is in tip-top shape before the cold weather arrives.
Patch It Up rior for any damage.
Take a walk around the grounds and look at the siding and the condition of the roof, including the garage and porch.
Use T-Rex Waterproof Tape to temporarily patch small holes in vinyl siding, loose shingles or leaks in your gutter. stretch up to 700% of its original length, so it can be used for any indoor or outdoor job that requires a waterproof seal.
Making quick repairs will save you from expensive water damage costs down the road and help prevent any further issues arising during the cold weather season.
Lawn Improvement As the leaves fall off the trees and onto the ground, an alternative to raking is to pull out the lawn mower.
Trim the leaves into smaller pieces, which can then be used as natural mulch around the yard and garden.
Layer the compost around perennial beds or other plants to provide insulation and protection through the winter.
Mid-to-late fall, with the warm soil and cool air, is also an ideal time for planting grass seed, and fertilizing and filling in holes with the leaf compost. This will put you on a path to a greener lawn next spring.
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11 Austin South Asian | November 2022 Why Experts Say Plastic Recycling Won’t Save The Planet
In the last two years, the global plastic pollution crisis has gotten worse, with more plastic being produced and an even smaller percentage of it being recycled, according to a new report.
While a 2020 Greenpeace USA report anticipated that the declining cost of plastic production would lead to declining rates of recycling, its follow-up report, “Circular Claims Fall Flat Again: 2022 Update,” not only proves this prediction true, but highlights additional barriers to plastic recycling that make it an untenable solution.
As the report notes, the high recycling rates of paper, cardboard, and metals in the United States show that recycling can be an effective way to reclaim valuable natural material resources. However, unlike these other materials, plastic waste is extremely difficult to collect, virtually impossible to sort, environmentally harmful to reprocess, and often made of and con-
taminated by toxic materials.
Complicating matters is the fact that the self-reported data of cor-
porations is often misleading, as it relies on the theoretical possibility of recycling a plastic item rather than actual plastic waste processing rates. In reality, of the 51 million tons of plastic waste generated by Americans in 2021, only 5-6% was recycled. “The plastics and consumer goods industries have worked with indus-
try front groups to promote plastic recycling as the solution to plastic waste for decades. Today, as plastic waste mounts, chokes our planet, and pollutes our communities, it is clear: most plastic simply cannot be recycled,” says Lisa Ramsden, senior plastics campaigner, Greenpeace.
As these realities are becoming more difficult to ignore, discussions about what to do regarding singleuse plastics and plastic packaging are underway at the global level through the United Nations Environment Programme’s plastics treaty, in the U.S. Congress, in city halls and state capitals across the country, and in corporate boardrooms.
Advocates say there is a way forward. In addition to calling for a Global Plastics Treaty to set international standards, Greenpeace is also calling on companies to take the following steps:
Cut The Stress Out Of Holiday Travel Planning
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Opt for Low Traffic Travel Days: When booking airline travel, CheapAir.com recommends avoiding Thursdays-Sundays.
Instead, book airline travel on Tuesdays or Wednesdays if possible, as those are the slowest travel days of the week.
According to ChearAir.com, traveling on actual holidays like Thanksgiving Day or Black Friday can save you $75-$90 in flight ticket prices.
Christmas Eve and Christmas Day are also expecting lower airfare prices this year.
Check the Cancellation Rules: Make sure you can cancel your hotel, airline, or car rental reservations if you need to, and understand what additional fees you may be subject to if you do need to adjust your trip. Plans can change at the drop of a hat, especially in the post-COVID world.
Use Those Travel Perks: Many credit card companies offer benefits like points and frequent flier miles, which you can redeem on flights, hotels and more.
If you’re a T-Mobile customer, you can save up to 40% on select hotels and car rentals by booking through T-MobileTravel.com.
Most come with free, flexible cancellations. You can also save your travel perks to use for your holiday travel plans and save even more.
Stay Connected: The internet can be hit or miss when traveling abroad, so make sure you’re wellversed in the details of your data plan before logging on.
Luckily, T-Mobile customers with Magenta MAX plans can get 5GB of free high-speed data worldwide in more than 215 countries and destinations, plus free in-flight WiFi and streaming all flight long on four of the biggest U.S. airlines.
Visit https://www.t-mobile.com/ travel to learn more about T-Mobile’s travel benefits.
Pack Smarter: Make sure all your tech items are within arm’s reach during your trip.
Pack charging cables, headphones and tablets to keep children entertained on trips.
Packing a portable charger in your carry-on is a game-changer when all the outlets at the airport are in use.
Holiday travel can be stressful, but it doesn’t have to be. Do your research, take advantage of deals and you’ll cut out the hassle of planning your upcoming travels. (StatePoint) (Continued From Page 10)
Prepare the Deck
Before the first cold front approaches, make sure to clean up the patio or deck and store outdoor umbrellas, cushions and rugs in a safe spot in the garage or shed.
• Urgently move to reuse systems and packaging-free approaches. Set targets to have at least 50% reusable packaging by 2030. • Commit to collaborating with others to standardize reusable packaging and build shared reuse systems and infrastructure. • Phase out all single-use packaging and products. • Be transparent. Annually release verified data about the company’s single-use packaging footprint. Disclose where plastic originates and report on the full lifetime climate footprint of packaging production, use and disposal. • Advocate for political action to drive industry-wide transformation.
Ramsden notes that consumers can also get informed and foster change by contacting their political representatives and their retailers. To read the full report, visit www. greenpeace.org.
“We cannot rely on the recycling myth to solve the plastic crisis. It is time to accept that plastic recycling is a failed concept and turn to reuse and refill solutions,” says Ramsden. (StatePoint)
If you notice any rot or wetness on the deck, it can be a simple fix by replacing the wood boards or using a wood filler to prevent further damage.
Winterize large patio furniture and protect items that are staying outside with a weatherproof cover. To keep the covers in place, secure them to the bottom of the furniture.
If there is a small tear in the fabric, mend it with T-Rex Clear Repair Tape. surfaces – plus, it applies securely at below freezing temperatures. Squeaky Clean Exterior
Once the patio is prepped, turn your attention to the rest of the exterior. Debris and stains collected on the outside of the house during summer can set over the winter, so it’s a good idea to power wash away the dirt.
Start with the driveway, deck and windows and then take time to wash the siding and gutters, as long as you spray water in a direction that won’t force it behind the siding or under shingles.
This project will help remove lingering grime, mold and mildew and ensure the outside area is clean and ready for winter.
After checking off these projects on your fall list, your home will be properly prepped so you can relax, slow down and enjoy the season. (StatePoint)
