Saving in cyberspace

If you’re like many people, you salt away rainy day funds in a savings account at a neighborhood bank, where your money is safe and can at least accrue some interest. Problem is that many banks offer a paltry annual rate of return for savings accounts, often 0.01%, meaning $10,000 saved could accrue only $1 in interest after a year. But that same $10,000 could reap a more robust $110 in interest if kept in an OSA, where the annual percentage yield is as high as 1.10% at the time of this writing.

Learn more about the pros and cons of online savings account by reading my latest article for AARP The Magazine, which can be accessed here.

How low can rates go?

To win the limbo rock game, you have to remain on your feet and not fall over as you shimmy down under a stick that goes lower as the music progresses. To score a win in the mortgage interest game, by contrast, your goal is to lock in at the lowest rate possible—only this rate stick is unpredictable; you want it to go down but it can quickly edge up when you least expect it.

Over the last few months, that stick has steadily plunged, leading to favorable financing conditions for prospective mortgage borrowers. But how low can mortgage rates go in 2016? That's the question I attempt to answer in my debut article for The Mortgage Reports, which you can read by clicking here.

Virtual ventures beyond the mainstream

Even if you missed the Time Magazine cover article last August, weren’t able to attend CES 2016, or have overlooked the countless headlines, posts and tweets about it over the past several months, it’s hard to ignore the facts: Virtual reality is a reality, and VR technology has captured the awe and imagination of consumers hungry for a disbelief-suspending computer-rendered simulation of the real and the fantastic.

Learn more about the latest advances in VR--particularly technology affecting publishers and electronic content providers--by reading my newest article for EContent Magazine (click here).

Will new data lead to more credit?

Bright borrowers are aware that a higher credit score, which indicates a person’s creditworthiness, can aid them in qualifying for more preferred loans and lower interest rates. Now, Fair Isaac Corp. (FICO), the company responsible for creating your FICO score—the credit score most valued and used by lenders—has launched a new type of scoring program. Called FICO Score XD, the new score factors in alternative forms of data in order to qualify more consumers for credit.

Learn more about FICO Score XD in my newest real estate article for CTW Features, published in various papers across the country, by clicking here.

Code pink rethink

Preventing an infant abduction (referred to as a "code pink") is a top priority at hospitals. To beef up security measures and better safeguard these vulnerable inpatients, healthcare facilities conduct a range of safety and security drills – including mock tracers.

The importance of mock tracers is explored in my latest article for The Joint Commission's Environment of Care newsletter. Click here to read the full story.

Sly-Fi

If you run a retail brick-and-mortar establishment, you know that it's important to engage customers and offer targeted and personalized deals and promotions that appeal to them. But doing that in real time while patrons are walking through your store isn't so easy. Thankfully, social WiFi can help.

Unlike traditional WiFi offered within buildings—which usually requires smartphone users to choose your network and ask for/type in a password—social WiFi makes it simple for customers to quickly and easily connect to your public WiFi network by allowing them to log in via their Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn or other social network account. Once logged in, the user can be prompted to “like,” “check in” and “follow” your business, and they can receive a targeted promotion/mobile coupon designed to build a social engagement.

Read my article on social WiFi - the first topic I've tackled for my new client The Content Wrangler - by clicking here.