THIS MONTH’S HOT TOPICS
September Luncheon
Please note that our REAOC luncheon at the Mile Square Facility is on Wednesday, September 27, 2017. The Informer had the wrong date in one of the articles. As a reminder, our luncheons are always on a Wednesday. For January, March, May and September, the luncheon is on the last Wednesday of the month. The December Holiday luncheon is always on the first Wednesday of December.
An Important Notice from the Orange County Credit Union
Equifax, a leading credit report provider, recently announced that 143 million people could be affected by a recent breach of its data system. Cybercriminals stole important personal information that included names, Social Security numbers, birth dates, addresses, and some driver’s license numbers. Equifax is one of the three major credit report companies and as such, your personal information may have been compromised by this breach. To help you determine if your information has been breached, and to mitigate its impact, we have prepared the following questions and answers.
How do I know if my personal information was part of the breach? Equifax has promised to send direct mail notices to consumers who were impacted by this breach.
Is Equifax providing any resources and information to help customers that may have been impacted? Yes, Equifax has established a dedicated website, www.equifaxsecurity2017.com. This site includes information about the breach, a search tool to determine if you may have been impacted, and the option to opt in to credit monitoring services offered by Equifax.
Can I call Equifax instead of using their website? Equifax has set up a dedicated call center to help and can be reached at 866-447-7559. This call center is open every day (including weekends) from 7:00 a.m.- 1:00 a.m. EST.
What other actions can I take to help protect my account?
- Call us at (888) 354-6228 to place a code word on your credit union account. We then will use the code word to help validate your identity when you contact us to transact business.
- Monitor your financial institution activity online or through statements for unauthorized transactions. If they occur, notify the appropriate financial institution immediately.
- Visit www.identitytheft.gov for resources on identity theft, freezing your credit report, and steps to take with the three different credit bureaus to dispute any unauthorized entries.
- Place a fraud alert with any of the three credit bureaus – Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. The benefit of the fraud alert is it alerts potential creditors or lenders to take extra steps to identify you. You need to contact only one credit bureau to place an identity theft freeze and they are required to notify the other two credit bureaus.
- Pull your credit report yearly online at www.annualcreditreport.com. Upon review, if you find unauthorized activity notify the applicable financial institution or other agency immediately!
What else should I watch for? Remain diligent and watch for misleading emails and phone calls. Generally, there is an increase in scam attempts associated with these types of breaches. Helping you keep your information protected is our top priority. Please contact us if we can answer any immediate questions.
Open Enrollment for your County Health Plan coming soon!
The County will be sending out the Open Enrollment packets in October. It is very important that you keep your address current with the County of Orange Employee Benefits section. This will ensure the receipt of your Open Enrollment materials. The number to call to reach Employee Benefits is: 1-800-858-7266
WHAT’S IN THE NEWS – WEEK OF SEPTEMBER 18, 2017
OC Supervisors stripped of CalOptima control
After several years of moves by the Orange County Board of Supervisors to restructure the CalOptima Board of Directors, moves that seemed to anger one constituency or another, the State Legislature has stepped in and passed legislation to control the Supervisors’ actions. The legislation awaits the Governor’s signature to make it the law. (More)
Commentary – unfunded pension plans amount to theft
The San Diego Union-Tribune newspaper printed this piece responding to a 3-author opinion piece published last week titled “Why full funding of public pensions wastes money”. This author of this piece calls the views expressed in last week’s piece “disturbing” and goes on to explain why he thinks so. (More)
New Medicare ID cards are coming
If you are a Medicare recipient you know that your Medicare number is your Social Security number and, despite warnings about how we should guard our Social Security numbers, it is prominently displayed on the front of the Medicare card. To fix this security mess a new Medicare system and card with new numbers will be rolled out starting next April to all 60 million Medicare recipients according to this PBS story. (More)
No Hepatitis emergency in Orange County
The Orange County Register newspaper reports that despite the declaration of health emergencies in San Diego and Los Angeles regarding outbreaks of Hepatitis A, Orange County Health Care Agency officials see no need to declare such an emergency in their county. The Agency is offering free vaccinations to the homeless as a precaution however. (More)
Full employment is bad news for California?
So says this article in the Riverside Press-Enterprise newspaper. It says that the state is now at full employment and one result is a slowing economy due to lack of workers and that businesses that want to grow can’t because of a worker shortage. The reports states that the root of the problem is high home prices and not enough homes being built. (More)
OC’s John Wayne Airport highly regarded by passengers
An article in the Los Angeles Times reports that a ranking of airports in the U.S. ranked John Wayne Airport as number 1 in the large airport category. It says that in the “mega airport” category LAX came in next to last. It also reports that numerous airports, such as LAX, are undergoing major construction projects to bring improvements. (More)
Three OC Supervisors endorse incumbent DA
The OC Daily web site carried this story reporting that three members of the Orange County Board of Supervisors have endorsed District Attorney incumbent Tony Rackaukas for re-election rather than fellow Supervisor Todd Spitzer who is campaigning against Rackaukas for the post. (More)
ABOUT OUR LUNCHEONS
WHY
REAOC luncheons are held for the purpose of bringing Orange County retirees together for an afternoon of camaraderie, entertainment, and information. Friends and family are always welcome! Each luncheon features a different theme, with door prizes, and special gifts. As an added bonus, there is a valuable Progressive Drawing. They also serve as a general meeting for the membership.
WHERE
The Mile Square Park Banquet Facility located at 10401 Warner Ave., Fountain Valley, California, 92708. For directions, call the Mile Square Banquet Facility at (714) 962-5541 or see map below showing where the Facility is located. Please DO NOT call the Facility to make reservations. Reservations are made by sending in the reservation form in The Informer or by calling the REAOC office at (714) 840-3995.
WHEN
Luncheons are held the 4th Wednesday of January, March, May and September, and on the first Wednesday of December at Noon. To ensure a parking spot please arrive by 11 a.m. Please carpool.
Luncheons for 2017 are listed below:
January 25 March 22 May 24 September 27 December 6
Please Note: Reservations by phone or mail for the September 27th luncheon must be at the REAOC office by Wednesday, September 20th, 2017.
COST
Cost for the luncheon is $17.00 per person. A reservation form is provided in The Informer (on the current Luncheon page), in the “Forms” section of the REAOC web site or you may email the REAOC office of your request (reaoc@reaoc.org).
HEMET CHAPTER LUNCHEONS
Luncheons in Hemet have been traditionally held on the second Tuesday during the months of February, April, June, October and December. Attendees arrive around 11:30 a.m. at the First Presbyterian Church in the Fellowship Hall (please note the new location) located at 515 E. Kimball Avenue in Hemet and lunch is served between 11:45 and noontime. The cost is $9.50 per person. The Hemet Chapter would like new members and encourages all REAOC members who live in the area or within driving distance to join them for the luncheons.
REAOC’s Hemet Chapter will hold its next luncheon on Tuesday, October 10, 2017 at 11:30 AM at the First Presbyterian Church in the Fellowship Hall (please note the new location) located at 515 E.Kimball in Hemet.
Make your reservation by calling Joyce Emery at 951-658-2549 or Jane Pabitzky at 951-237-3240 by no later than October 2, 2017.
Luncheons for 2017 are listed below:
February 14 April 11 June 20 October 10 December 12
MAP TO MILE SQUARE PARK
Below is a map showing the general location of the Mile Square Park Banquet Facility located at 10401 Warner Ave., Fountain Valley, California 92708.
If you need exact directions from your house you can go to MapQuest and click on “driving directions.”
