Worried about if the pandemic is affecting your credit? Here’s good news to help you monitor your credit status: Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion, the three major credit rating bureaus, are now offering free weekly online reports through April 2021. Normally, you are entitled to one report per year for free, so this is a great tool and it’s important that you take advantage of it.

Last year was the fifth year in a row that 10 or more weather and climate disasters in the US logged at least $1 billion of associated losses. If you think 2020 threw everything it had at us and will now ease off, think again. While we all have our hands full with navigating the new realities of life under Covid19, nature is relentless and doesn’t slow down. Most Americans agree. According to a recent survey by American Institute of CPAs (AICPA), 61% or respondents said they were likely to be personally affected by a natural disaster in the next three to five years. Almost one in five said that prospect was highly likely.

Things are looking much more positive and festive in New England for July 4 than they were a month ago for Memorial Day, but Covid19 is still looming so we all still need to be safe and careful. We worked hard to bring our numbers down, but we can see from some other parts of the country, things can spiral downward quickly if we don’t keep our guard up.

It’s National Lightning Safety Awareness Week. It’s good timing because July is the month with the most cloud-to-ground lightning strikes.

Let the men in your life know how much they mean to you by encouraging them to get healthy! June is Men’s Health Month, a time to encourage and support all the men in our lives to get health screenings and checkups. Why? Quite simply, the founders of this initiative say that “men live sicker and die younger.” The dedicated month is sponsored by the Men’s Health Network (MHN), a national non-profit whose mission is to reach men, boys, and their families where they live, work, play, and pray with health awareness and disease prevention messages and tools, screening programs, educational materials, advocacy opportunities, and patient navigation.

As if we all didn’t have enough on our plate this year – the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is alerting us that we can expect an above-normal 2020 hurricane season, with 3 to 6 major hurricanes. The season runs from June 1 through November 30, so we have just dipped a toe in the water so far. CoreLogic’s annual Storm Surge Report estimates that yearly 7.4 million single and multi-family homes are at risk of storm surge – potential damage that could be intensified by the pandemic and the uncertain economy.

It’s not yet clear when stay-at-home restrictions might be lifted – they’ll vary by state. NPR maintains a handy state-by-state list of How Each State Is Responding To COVID-19 that talks about various restrictions. But one thing is clear – until there is a vaccine for the coronavirus, we won’t be going back to life as we knew it in the foreseeable future. It’s likely that restrictions on public places will be lifted gradually and that we will still be practicing advanced hygiene, and social distancing. And more and more of us will be wearing face masks or face coverings in public places to protect ourselves and others. The CDC has recommended this practice, and many communities and states are requiring them in all or some public places.

There’s never been a crisis that cyber criminals won’t try to exploit — rest assured, they are out in full force during the coronavirus crisis. Their goal is to capitalize on your fears and anxieties to steal your money and your credentials. They hope that you will be distracted and that your guard may be lowered. We offer a roundup of just a few of the scams that we’ve been hearing about, along with resources that offer security and protection tips.

Who likes to be cooped up? None of us!  But kids are in their formative, high-energy years so it’s particularly hard for them to be away from school, friends, playgrounds, sports, and other activities. And if you are a parent, your challenge is to keep your kid(s) engaged, learning, happy, and safe. Online school activities and homework are likely occupying a good amount of time, but as we approach the weekend, we thought we’d offer some fun resources for you and your kids to explore. At the end of the list, we’ve also included some resources for keeping your kids safe online.

As the Coronavirus crisis continues across the nation, many of us wonder how we can help. Here’s one way: The American Red Cross reports a severe blood shortage. With so many people in shutdown all over the country, many blood drives have been cancelled. Yet just because many things have stopped, Red Cross reminds us that life’s other emergencies haven’t gone on shutdown.