Things To Do In SW Florida

The Winter Park Institute, which almost disappeared during the COVID-19 shutdown of 2020, has slowly been making a comeback — and now leaders have high hopes to reach a wider range of people with its thought-provoking programs.

“Our goal is we want to bring Winter Park Institute to all of Central Florida and introduce diverse programs for all people,” said co-executive director Lauren Zimmerman.

A revitalized board of directors includes heavy hitters in the region’s nonprofit sector. Chairman is Florida Blue executive Tony Jenkins, who has been a United Arts board member and is currently on the board of Florida Citrus Sports.

The organization has had a storied history. Started by Rollins College in 2007, the Institute brought such luminaries from the worlds of business, science and culture as Maya Angelou, Paul McCartney, Gloria Steinem and Salmon Rushdie to the podium for community talks.

In 2020, Rollins ended its involvement but gave the name and assets to Winter Park Publishing Company, which in turn handed things over to Randall Robertson, head of GladdeningLight, a nonprofit that explores the intersection of spirituality and culture. Robertson has since stepped aside, with Zimmerman and Jeffrey Blydenburgh tapped as co-executive directors by a new board of directors. read more

The good news: Those annoying (and expensive) overdraft and “non-sufficient funds” fees from your bank — of some $35 per pop! — have plummeted over the past couple of years, saving consumers some $5.5 billion (or about $150 a household).

In 2019, banks and credit unions collected $15.5 billion through overdraft and non-sufficient funds fees. In 2022, that shrank to $7.7 billion, according to the federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (formed after the Great Recession to protect the little guy — which some folks love to hate). Great, right?

The perhaps not-so-good news: Banks still collect billions in these fees. About one of every four households still pays them, and they’re mostly folks at the lower end of the income ladder whose bank accounts dry up at week’s or month’s end, just before new money arrives.

The left-leaning non-profit Accountable.US looked at data from the 10 largest banks still charging these fees and found that, in the first three quarters of 2023, they collected more than $2.34 billion. And that was before most folks started holiday shopping! read more

By Erin El Issa | NerdWallet

Putting expenses on a credit card can be rewarding — but only if doing so isn’t driving you deeper into debt.

According to NerdWallet’s annual household debt report, 40% of Americans who are carrying credit card debt from one month to the next say they use credit cards to earn rewards. The problem is, when you have revolving credit card debt, the interest you pay can quickly cancel out the rewards you earn on new spending.

When to use a rewards credit card

A rewards credit card is best used to earn cash back, points or miles on spending you would be doing anyway. Ideally, you would be able to pay your full balance each month, meaning you never incur interest, and the spending wouldn’t keep you from achieving your financial goals.

If you find yourself spending more than you normally would for the sake of earning rewards, or because the credit card gives you more buying power than you would otherwise have, that’s a signal to reevaluate. Consider setting limits on credit card spending, or using cash or debit to keep your budget in check. read more

DEAR TRAVEL TROUBLESHOOTER: Last year, my wife and I booked a cruise around Iceland. We bought business class tickets from Palm Beach to Reykjavik through JetBlue and Icelandair using our Chase Ultimate Rewards points.

However, shortly before we left, Chase erroneously downgraded our tickets to economy. I discovered the error when I checked our reservation a month before our departure. I contacted Chase, and a representative worked to get the business class flights back. They supposedly fixed this two days before our departing flight.

When we arrived at the airport, JetBlue had no record of our flight. I had to purchase new tickets to Iceland, and we arrived one day late. I have asked Chase to reimburse us for our hotel and extra airfare, but a representative told us we were out of luck — too bad! Can you help us get the extra $5,000 back that we had to spend on airfare and accommodations?

— Steve Feiertag, Royal Palm Beach, Florida

ANSWER: Chase Ultimate Rewards should have delivered your airline tickets to you as promised. And if it made a mistake, which you say a representative admitted to you, then it should fix it promptly. read more