My car insurance just went up 32%. Did I have an accident or get a few tickets? Nope. Since 2020, car insurance rates in the U.S. have risen by a whopping 37%. The main reason? High-tech vehicles — aka anything remotely new — cost way more to repair. And you don’t need to have a high-tech car to feel the pinch. It’s hitting everyone.

Driving up costs

Our cars are packed with dozens of sensors and endless lines of computer code. Combine that with the rising cost of replacement parts and repairs, and voila, soaring auto insurance rates. 

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If you travel for business or pleasure, renting a car is always an excellent option for exploring a new city or simply getting to where you need to go. But, like buying a car, renting a car can be a time-consuming and expensive process.

With insurance coverage, mileage limits and the extensive paperwork needed to be signed, sometimes it feels easier just to take a taxi or use a ride share versus renting a car.

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There’s a good chance you’ve been hit with insurance rate hikes — and it’s not just you. Within the past year, about a third of us have been hit with increases to the tune of 17%.

Insurance companies blame it on rising costs for car parts, replacement cards and all those expensive claims. 

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Cybercriminals have a new twist on ransomware that takes a strange turn. They infect victims’ devices with HardBit 2.0 malware that encrypts critical files. To get access back to those files, you must pay a fee. Here’s the twist. They try getting information from you that would make your insurance company pay the ransom.

Read on for details on this tricky scheme and ways to stay protected.

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Did you know the type of car you drive may impact whether you can get insurance? Like how a smoking habit may affect your health insurance, a lack of safety features might put you in a pickle. If you drive certain Kia or Hyundai vehicles, pay attention. Some insurance companies are refusing these car owners a policy at all.

Progressive and State Farm both dropped this bomb recently. Read on to see if your car insurance policy is in jeopardy.

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Gas prices are high, food prices are high and utilities are high. People across the country feel the economic pinch, and we want to help you ease the burden.

Americans spend more money on prescription drugs than any other country, to the tune of $358 billion in 2020 alone. You may think there’s no way to avoid those high costs, but you’d be wrong. A prescription refill can cost $100 in one store and $10 in another. Tap or click here to save up to 80% on medications.

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Medical debt is squashing American families across the country. In 2017, 19% of households who received care couldn’t afford to pay for it upfront, the U.S. Census Bureau found. They were in debt for an average of $2,000.

If you’ve gone in for a checkup recently, you may have noticed the astronomical costs of taking care of yourself. Many Americans flat-out couldn’t pay their hospital bills without insurance. Here’s why the prices are so high.

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Each week, I receive tons of questions from my listeners about tech concerns, new products, and all things digital.

Sometimes, choosing the most interesting questions to highlight is the best part of my job. This week, I received questions about securing Zoom chats, putting old iPads to good use, insuring cars in quarantine, and more.

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Working from home isn’t all bad. In fact, there are several perks to it that can save you money in the long run. Not only are you not paying to eat out while on the job, but you’re also not commuting to work and paying for gas and car maintenance.

Plus, with the right set of tools, you can easily talk with your teammates, create documents and collaborate on projects while social distancing. Tap or click here to see the free tools tech companies are offering for at-home workers.

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Accountability is everything when it comes to driving. That’s the reason cars come equipped with mirrors, turn signals and other non-verbal ways to communicate with other drivers.

But when an accident occurs, it’s your word versus the other person’s. Your insurance can mediate between both parties, but in a complicated crash, it ultimately becomes a game of he-said-she-said. Tap or click here to see how Google’s new app can detect car crashes and call 911.

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If you ever read George Orwell’s popular novel “1984,” you know all about Big Brother. The storyline was a futuristic look at how the world would one day become a place where your every move was being watched, and the idea of privacy was completely lost.

While we haven’t totally fulfilled that prophecy, you know some of those fears have come true — especially online. Unless you take steps to stop it from happening, everything you do online is being tracked. Tap or click here for six ways to stop being followed online.

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The honchos over at Facebook will be relieved to hear the mega social media site isn’t the backdrop for the latest story on fraudulent happenings. It’s true, scammers around the globe have found other platforms from which they can take advantage of unsuspecting folks.

Although tips are available to help protect your personal data from sites such as Facebook, there are others you may be visiting, unaware of who is lurking about in the hopes of stealing your identity or money.

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One thing Apple fans can agree on: It’s rare to get a good deal on any product from Apple. Retail sales and discounts are rare, so when we find a deal like the one we’re about to share, we can’t help but … well, we can’t help but share it.

Thanks to Aetna, its members can benefit from its wellness program, which includes the ability to reduce the cost of your highly desired wrist tech. We hope that other insurers will follow suit (hello, United Healthcare, Blue Cross/Blue Shield, Kaiser and Humana?)

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Smart home devices are an amazing development. They can remotely control your home, keep an eye on the front door from your vacation destination, or turn off the light after you’ve already crawled into bed for the night. Some of these devices even work through voice activation, eliminating the need for a remote completely!

While these devices sound appealing, many are quickly turned off by the high price tag. Consumers have become accustomed to paying for convenience through devices like smartphones, but it’s hard to justify the purchase of a smart home device when your current thermostat or doorbell works just fine. A lot of people view it as frivolous.

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It’s been said that the best things in life aren’t free, and that typically includes the latest technology like the Apple Watch. That is, until now.

As Apple continues to roll out smartwatch features with a heavy focus on health such as an FDA-approved heart monitor and fall detection sensor, the company is working on more ways to get one of their watches on your wrist. And part of that initiative involves working with different insurance companies.

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Wirelessly unlocking your car is convenient, but it comes at a price. The increasing number of keyless cars on the road has led to a new kind of crime — key fob hacks!  With the aid of new cheap electronic accessories and techniques, a key fob’s signal is now relatively easy for criminals to intercept or block. Imagine a thief opening your car and driving away with it without setting off any alarms!

According to the FBI, car theft numbers have been on a downward spiral since their peak in 1991. However, numbers have been steadily inching their way up again since 2015. In fact, there was a 3.8 percent increase in car theft cases in 2015, a 7.4 increase in 2016 and another 4.1 increase in the first half of 2017.

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