Health Tips Line

Driving in winter is scary enough. Slick roads, limited visibility and unpredictable weather had me white-knuckling down Minnesota roads for nearly 20 years. But there’s nothing more frightening than seeing a giant sheet of snow and ice come flying off the car in front of you, headed right for your windshield. It happens in a flash, and all you can do is brace for impact. Next comes a temporary whiteout, followed by fumbling for the windshield wipers. You might try changing lanes to get away, but swerving on an icy road brings its own dangers. (Icy roads and other winter weather conditions play a role in nearly half a million crashes every year, according to the American Automobile Association.) If you’ve lived in or visited a cold-weather area of the country, you’ve probably seen cars on the road with a foot of snow on the roof or a big icy chunk clinging to the back window. DJ Neumann, director of operations for metro-Detroit auto detailer Speed Clean Services has spent decades de...

When choosing a retirement location, there are lots of considerations, all of which will vary by individual needs and preferences. Many people prioritize the most affordable places to retire or cities with easy access to quality medical care. Others simply want an abundance of golf courses. There’s another concern that isn’t always at the top of retirement-location wish lists, but perhaps it should be. And that detail is safety. GoBankingRates analyzed cities in which at least 25% of the population was age 65 or over and determined the safest and wealthiest retirement towns in the United States. Surprisingly, while Florida’s warm weather, senior-friendly activities and lack of state income tax make it a popular retirement location, no towns in the Sunshine State made this list, which is dominated by Arizona and California. While overall livability is important for retirees, safety isn’t always part of that equation, though it’s a huge component of what makes a town beneficial for ...

Hunting for housing has become something of a national hobby, and it’s not unusual to spend hours poring over listingsmany of them out of your price rangeonly to find yourself later Googling to find the most affordable city in the United States . Indeed, watching housing prices creep (and sometimes leap!) up over the past few years has left many people wondering if they’ll ever be able to purchase a home. Rising prices during and after the COVID-19 pandemic were due to a few unique circumstances, but according to data from the U.S. Department of the Treasury, this has been a trend over the past couple of decades. Since 2000, both rent and home prices have increased faster than wages in most of the country, and housing supply hasn’t kept up with demand. In fact, 93% of the U.S. population lives in counties where median rents and house prices outpace income, making housing a persistent problem for everyone from singles to older adults wondering how much money they need to save to retire...

For fast-food lovers, meals aren’t the only things that have been supersized. Prices are getting steeper across fast-food restaurants nationwide. In fact, costs have risen by nearly 50% in the past decade, making hitting up your favorite fast-food joint feel more like a splurge than savings. But according to a recent study, one fast-food chain reigns supreme as the most overpriced in the country. Keep reading to find out which fast-food restaurant customers consider overpricedand which other chains have diners feeling the pinch. Get Readers Digest s Read Up newsletter for more food news, humor, travel, tech and fun facts all week long. How did the study determine the most overpriced fast-food chain? In a recent study, language-learning platform Preply analyzed over 57,000 Google reviews of more than 10,000 restaurants in the top 50 major U.S. cities. Zeroing in on the language reviewers used to describe overpriced restaurants , the analysis looked at how often words like “pricey,...

For most of us, time spent on a plane presents the perfect opportunity to use the in-flight Wi-Fi and catch up on some work or watch movies for hours on end. If that sounds familiar, you likely travel with your laptop, tablet or both. But there are bound to be times throughout your flight, including during takeoff and landing, when your laptop isn’t in use on the tray table in front of you. So where do you stash it? Hopefully not in a common and convenientbut potentially damagingspot. Keep reading to find out where you shouldn’t store your laptop, why stowing it there is a major mistake and what to do instead the next time you fly. Get Readers Digest s Read Up newsletter for more travel, tech, cleaning, humor and fun facts all week long. What in-flight laptop mistake will you regret? If you fly with a laptop, don’t make the mistake of storing it in the seat pocket in front of you during your flight. The convenience may cost you the good condition of your computer. We get it: Th...