September 2024

Washington D.C., September 25, 2024 – Today, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) hosted the Final Equity Convening to celebrate the work of the USDA Equity Commission and the progress the Department has made under the Biden-Harris Administration to improve access to and inclusion in its programs and services.

Last week the Federal Reserve announced a 50 basis point cut to its benchmark interest rate—the first reduction in borrowing costs since the pandemic began in March 2020. That federal funds rate now stands in a range of 4.75% to 5%, providing a break on credit card and personal loan rates across the board. While a rate cut of half a percentage point (aka 50 basis points) will certainly reduce borrowing costs, it’s not going to provide drastic relief. And whereas some effects of the rate cut will be almost immediate (like credit card interest rates), others will take time to materialize (like more people refinancing mortgages).

Regardless of how large the break is, there are a few financial moves you might consider to take advantage and make the most of this interest rate cut.

Refinance your mortgage

Even before this rate cut, mortgage rates had dipped to their lowest point since May 2023, averaging 6.59% according to a Bankrate survey. Of course, lowered rates are one thing; the reality of refinancing is another.

Check your current rate and compare it to the new rates available. Even a 0.5% to 1% difference can result in significant savings over the life of your loan. Make sure to factor in your break-even point, so you can see how long it will take for the savings from the lower interest rate to offset the costs of refinancing.

While refinancing might not make sense for everyone, it could be particularly beneficial for homeowners who obtained mortgages during the recent rate hikes. Check out this mortgage refinance calculator from Bankrate to see if a refinance makes sense.

Tackle your debts

While mortgage rates might take some time to adjust, other forms of debt will see more immediate effects:

Personal loans: If you have a high-interest personal loan, look into refinancing options. You might be able to secure a lower rate now.
Auto loans: If you financed your car when rates were higher, investigate refinancing options. Even a small reduction in your interest rate can lead to significant savings over the life of the loan.

Re-assess your savings strategy

Unfortunately for savers, the interest earned on savings accounts may decrease, potentially right away. Now could be prime time for you to consider different savings products than you’re using now, either before or after rates drop:

High-yield savings accounts: These accounts often offer better rates than traditional savings accounts. Even when interest rates on your savings account are low, a high-yield savings account is a savvy way to get some returns on funds you know you’ll be accessing in the next one to five years. Here’s our guide to finding the best yields.
Certificate of deposit (CD) ladders: CDs are time-based, usually offered in terms ranging from three months to five years; longer terms come with higher interest rates. Consider building a CD ladder to take advantage of potentially higher long-term rates, while maintaining some liquidity in the meantime. When you build a CD ladder, you’ll have CDs maturing in rotation, giving you better access to your cash without paying early withdrawal penalties.
Money market accounts: A money market account (MMA) is a way to earn higher interest rates than you would with a regular savings account. These might offer better rates than traditional savings accounts while providing more flexibility than CDs, but anyone who has become accustomed to yields of 5% or more on cash in recent years might benefit from reallocating their money if it’s not needed in the near future.

Rebalance your investment portfolio

This rate cut is a great reminder why diversification matters in the first place. Make sure your portfolio is positioned for the lower rate environment and aligned with your personal goals and risk profile.

Consider increasing allocation to growth stocks: According to U.S. News, growth stocks are expected to continue to outperform value stocks as the Fed cuts interest rates. Lower interest rates can benefit growth-oriented companies that rely on borrowing to fund expansion. Here are the top performing growth stocks this month.
Stick with higher quality bonds: Bonds could jump in value, since investors will want the bonds issued at the higher interest rates from before the Fed cut rates. However, new bonds will offer lower yields at the moment.
Look into real estate investments: Lower interest rates can boost the real estate market. As mortgage rates decline, the housing market may see increased activity, with more people able to afford homes or refinance existing mortgages. Here’s our guide to investing in real estate without a lot of money.

Remember, while a rate cut can provide opportunities, it’s more important to consider your overall financial situation and long-term goals than making any significant changes in response to a rate cut. Always consult with a financial advisor for personalized advice tailored to your specific circumstances.

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Elder care is incredibly expensive—rooms in nursing homes and assisted-living facilities can cost upwards of $10,000 per month. And that’s before any treatments, prescriptions, or other needs are even taken into account. It’s also incredibly complicated because you often find yourself navigating multiple insurance policies, government agencies, and multiple members of a facility’s staff—not to mention doctors, nurse practitioners, and other medical professionals.

On top of the financial, medical, and logistical challenges is the emotional toll that caring for an aging parent or loved one can take on us. It’s no wonder that most people wait for crises to develop before making major decisions about caring for an older loved one, whether it’s the initial decision to place them in a facility, making decisions about adding services to their care plan (with the requisite additional costs), or the need to move them to a different place with more services—and how to pay for all of it. If that’s you and your family, now’s the time to consider hiring a patient advocate or private care manager.

Why you might need a patient advocate

It’s difficult for most people to comprehend just how expensive and complicated elder care can be. Many long-term insurance policies only cover very basic expenses, and only about 75% of older Americans even have long-term care insurance at all. If your parent or loved one does have insurance, there might be multiple policies (I have one from an old job that I haven’t paid into for years but is still in force) combined with Medicare benefits—and you’ll still be forced to pay for a lot of stuff out of pocket.

This complexity is a challenge when it comes to figuring out what your parent is actually covered for—and getting various insurers to pay out. Denial rates can be difficult to assess, but just about everyone has had a seemingly obvious health insurance claim denied—and it’s not uncommon for families to be forced to appeal denials related to elder care multiple times before they finally get a service or procedure covered (you haven’t lived until you’ve had to contact a “review committee” at an insurer). A patient advocate can help sort everything out, help you craft appeal letters, and interact with healthcare professionals to get letters and medical orders written that trigger insurance coverage.

Then, things get even more complicated because these facilities churn staff like there’s no tomorrow—the average nursing home turns over more than half its staff every single year. These are really, really crappy jobs in a lot of ways—they’re emotionally and physically draining, don’t pay very well, and are often quite dangerous, so it’s no wonder nursing homes and other facilities struggle to keep staff. But that churn means that every time you get comfortable with a physical therapist, dietitian, or other caregiver at a loved one’s facility, the chances that they leave and you have to start all over again are pretty high. A patient advocate can be the point person who tracks staff and ensures your loved one doesn’t miss a beat just because someone quit.

What a patient advocate does, in summary

Simply put, a patient advocate or private care manager is a consultant who understands the laws in your area, the maze of insurance terms and mechanisms, the way Medicare and Medicaid work, and who is familiar with the assisted living and nursing home facilities near you. They can perform a lot of incredibly useful services, including:

Translation. If you only understand half of what doctors and nurse practitioners tell you, a patient advocate can break it all down into simpler language.
Billing. A patient advocate can help you review bills to make sure you’re overpaying and that your loved one is getting everything they’re paying for.
Care. A patient advocate can also help you identify the type and level of care your loved one needs. Your parent might need just a little help with their daily activities, or they might need round-the-clock assistance getting to the bathroom or feeding themselves—an advocate can objectively recommend what’s necessary. And an advocate can make sure that the stressed, overworked doctors and nurses at the facility pay attention to your loved one, even when they’re swamped.
Interaction. A patient advocate can also act as both a buffer between you and the facility’s staff and as chief negotiator, freeing you to live more of your own life while someone else argues with the nursing home’s management about how often your mom gets a shower each week.

Patient advocates can also often identify resources ranging from government programs to insurance benefits that you might otherwise not be aware of.

How to hire a patient advocate

You shouldn’t wait for a crisis to engage a patient advocate when someone you care about goes into assisted living or a nursing home; they can be a crucial benefit from day one. If you’re not sure where to find a patient advocate, you can try a few different paths:

Insurance. Some health insurance and long-term care policies will pay for a patient advocate, so start by reviewing the coverage. If your loved one’s insurance covers it, they likely have a list of in-network or participating advocates you can contact.
The facility. Some hospitals, nursing homes, and other facilities have a long-term care ombudsman on their staff. They’re being paid by the facility, but their role is to advocate for the patients under their care. Most states have a LTCO program you can reach out to.
Private hire. You can hire your own patient advocate. The National Association of Healthcare Advocacy has a directory of professional patient advocates you can search to find suitable candidates in your area. If you do hire your own, it might be worth submitting a claim to your insurance—your worst-case scenario is just a denial, after all.
Nonprofits. There are nonprofit patient advocacy organizations like the Patient Advocate Foundation that offer free or heavily discounted advocacy services.

Old age brings a lot of challenges—and caring for someone as they age can be just as challenging. If someone you love is headed for an assisted living or nursing home situation, consider hiring a patient advocate to help you make sense of it all.

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I’ve been on a hunt for a shelf-stable pickle recipe for a long, long time. Sometimes the pickle was great, but only for a short while, or the processing destroyed the crunch or the brine was too sweet or the cucumbers were bitter. Eventually, however, I figured it out: a pickled vegetable that remains crisp for two years on the shelf is, it turns out, easy to make, as long as you can get really fresh cucumbers and you have an immersion circulator.

Choose the right cucumbers

Most people who make pickles go wrong before they ever start the pickle process. If you’re buying pickling cucumbers at the grocery store, you’ve already lost the war. To be good pickles, you need cucumbers that were picked within the last 24 hours, ideally that same day, and were kept cold. In case you’re new to pickles, there is a difference between your standard salad cucumber and pickling cucumbers, which are smaller, curved and feature a bunch of bumps on the side. You want to choose medium-sized, deep green cucumbers. Yellowing is not a good sign, and they should never be soft.

Credit: Amanda Blum

I grow my own, but that doesn’t mean you can’t get ahold of fresh pickling cucumbers. Most farms will bag up five or ten pounds specifically for picklers the day before markets. Get yourself to a farmers market, buddy up with a farmer, ask about securing some cucumbers for the next week, and then be sure to follow up with a phone call the day before. When you show up to the market, have your cooler with you and ice those cukes down as soon as you get them. You can certainly try the recipe with less-fresh cucumbers, but they tend to get bitter and don’t remain crispy. Five pounds of cukes will yield about 12 pint-sized jars, but cucumbers vary in size, so this can vary.

You don’t have to only pickle cucumbers

If you can’t get ahold of pickling cucumbers, make pickled green beans. They’re great for Bloody Marys and charcuterie boards. I also love pickled beets and carrots and kohlrabi.

Cukes in an ice bat
Credit: Amanda Blum

Whatever you pickle, you must keep your vegetables really cold for 12 hours before pickling. This can be your fridge or a cooler or sink with ice water. This will also help clean your veggies.

Choose jars based on pickle sizes

Now, you need to think about shapes and sizes. For this, you have two factors: how you like to eat pickles and the jars you have available. For instance, I love a spear, so I always use wide mouth pints. I also prep some in low, wide mouth half pints, the perfect amount for a grill night. If you make pickled asparagus (and you should) you want to find the tall, narrow pint and half jars, which are also great for green beans and long carrots. If your family can kill an entire quart of pickles in a few days, then by all means, choose a wide mouth quart.

Prep the jars

All your jars should be washed well by this time—run them through the dishwasher on a high heat cycle. (Make sure your hands are clean, as well.) Now, the magic comes in. There are two ways to maintain crispness in your pickles—tannins and Pickle Crisp (calcium chloride)—and we’re going to use both. To obtain tannins, you need unsprayed oak leaves or grape leaves. I tear a grape leaf in half, and fold half of it into the bottom of every single jar. For small jars, half a leaf is fine. Into each pint jar, add ⅛ teaspoon calcium chloride, and ¼ teaspoon for a quart. For a half pint, add a dash. Put the other half of the leaves aside.

Prep your vegetables

You must slice off the very end bit of both ends of the cucumber—that’s the blossom stem, and it has to go. It will soften the cucumber if you leave it on. Slice the rest into the shape and length you need to fit into the jars, ensuring you’re leaving at least an inch of space at the top. For spears, slice lengthwise in half and then each half, again. For slices, make sure each slice is at least ½ inch thick—less than that and they don’t hold up over time.

For green beans, it helps to grab a bunch and then chop one end all at once, turn the stack over so the ends are aligned again and chop the other end, then place in the jar.

Pack the jars

There’s an art to getting the maximum amount of vegetable into the jar. I turn the jar on its side, and start laying the vegetables in, adding more to the empty space. The goal is to fill as much of the space as humanly possible; you want mostly vegetable with a little brine, not the other way around. Stuff as much as you can in there.

Credit: Amanda Blum

When you’re done filling the jar, you want to ensure that you’ve got an extra inch of space at the top. If you don’t, use a knife sideways to slice off the extra. Into each jar, add the following:

Half pint

1 garlic clove, crushed
1 sprig of dill
1 teaspoon mustard seed
1 teaspoon caraway seed
½ teaspoon peppercorn
1 sliver fresh hot pepper (optional)

Pint

2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 small handful of dill
1 tablespoon mustard seed
2 teaspoons caraway seed
1 teaspoon peppercorn
1 sliver fresh hot pepper (optional)

Quart

4 garlic cloves, crushed
1 hefty handful of dill
1.5 tablespoon mustard seed
1 tablespoon caraway seed
1 tablespoon peppercorn
1 sliver fresh hot pepper (optional)

Be careful with hot pepper: You think you’re not adding much, but even the smallest amount packs a hell of a punch in a brine. It’s heartbreaking to realize you can’t eat a bunch of pickles you’ve made because they’re too hot.

Remember, we want to stuff the entire jar full except for the top inch, and if you haven’t done that, you can do so with leftovers. If you made spears, fill with slices; if you made green beans, use the cut offs to fill the space, same for carrots and asparagus. Finally, on the top, fold the other half of the grape leaf. That leaf will help hold the other ingredients under the brine.

Making the brine

If it’s pickle season, you should have brine around. If you make too much, the leftover is shelf-stable and will get used, so don’t sweat it. It is almost impossible to figure out precisely how much you’ll need, because your vegetables displace how much liquid you need, and you’re using different sized jars and vegetables.

This brine is half vinegar and half saltwater. You can play with the kinds of vinegar and how concentrated that brine is, but I use 3% brine, which means for every gallon of water, you add one ounce of canning salt. It must be canning salt, not table salt, which has additives in it. I have had success using tap water, but many books recommend using filtered water, and if you have terrible water in your area, it’s something to consider.

One gallon of brine

1 quart of apple cider vinegar
1 quart of white vinegar
2 quarts of water (filtered optional)
2 ounces salt

Place all the ingredients in a pot on the stove, and turn on medium high heat and stir. Once the salt is dissolved, you can turn the stove off. If you look at your jar, you’ll see a raised glass ring on the outside, about an inch from the top of the jar. That’s your guide. Using a clean ladle and a canning funnel, add enough brine to bring the liquid to the band on each jar.

Processing the jars

Top each jar with a new, clean lid fresh out of the box and a canning ring. You only need to tighten the ring until there’s no more resistance. Instead of pressure canning or using a stovetop water bath, you’re going to use a sous vide method of processing, since this will ensure a consistent, controlled temperature. Set up your immersion circulator, cover the jars with hot (but not boiling) water, ensuring they are under at least an inch of water. It helps to cover the top of the container with plastic wrap to keep the heat in. Then turn the circulator to 180 degrees F. Once it hits temperature, hold it at 180 for 30 minutes, and then turn the circulator off and remove the jars, placing them on a towel to cool on their own.

The next morning, remove the rings from all the jars. Jars should never be stored with those rings, and they’re reusable, so just put them away for the next time you need them. Check the seal on your jars; if any jar didn’t seal, those pickles need to go in the fridge and be eaten in the next week. Put the jars away on a shelf out of the sun, in a room that doesn’t fluctuate much in temperature; don’t stack any jars unless there is cardboard between them. These pickles are best if you wait a few weeks before trying them.

CHIPPEWA FALLS, Wisc., Sept. 25, 2024 – U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Tom Vilsack today announced that USDA is moving forward in the awards process with eight new clean energy projects through the Powering Affordable Clean Energy (PACE) program.

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