Today is Election Day. Your basic rights at the polls come first below.
In this issue (a 6-minute read):
1. Voting today: your rights, in plain words
2. The headlines: a coffee-maker recall, two smoke alarm models to throw out, flu on the rise, fake health-plan ads
3. Do nothing, and the average stand-alone drug plan may cost $51
4. A space heater recall
5. Your money dates, including a new I bond rate
6. Two marathon finishers in their 80s
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TODAY: ELECTION DAY
Voting today? Here's what you're allowed to do
Today, Tuesday, November 3, is Election Day. The short version: federal law gives every eligible voter some basic protections, and you can ask for help.
Find your polling place first.
It can change from one election to the next. Your state or local election office has the place and the hours. Not sure how to reach your election office? USAGov can point you to it: 1-844-872-4681, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Eastern.
Bring ID.
Most states ask for ID when you vote in person, and each state sets its own rules. No ID? Go anyway and ask. You may still be able to vote, sometimes on a provisional ballot.
Still in line when the polls close? You can still vote.
Not on the list? First ask a poll worker to make sure you're at the right polling place.
At the wrong one, a provisional ballot may not count. At the right one, ask for a provisional ballot, and ask whether you must do anything afterward, like bring ID within a few days.
Need help?
If you need help because of blindness, a disability, or trouble reading or writing, you can bring someone you choose to help you vote (not your employer or a union officer). If you need help reading or understanding the ballot, you can ask a poll worker. Because today's ballot includes races for Congress, every polling place must have at least one voting machine that people with disabilities can use, and trained workers can show you how.
Haven't returned your mail ballot?
Don't drop it in a mailbox today. In many states a ballot has to arrive by today to count, and a postmark won't save it. Call your local election office and ask where you can hand it in today. Depending on your state, that may be the election office, a drop box, or your polling place, where some states let you turn it in or swap it for a regular ballot. If your state accepts a ballot postmarked today and you have to mail it, take it to the counter at a post office and ask for a free hand postmark.
The scam to watch:
the FBI warned about texts or emails that say you're not registered to vote, with a link to a fake state page. Don't click. To check your registration, go to vote.gov.
THE HEADLINES
Coffee drinkers: stop stirring with a metal spoon.
About 5.9 million Bodum French presses with 8-cup and 12-cup glass carafes are recalled (Bistro, Brazil, Caffettiera, Chambord, Crema, Java, Jesper and Kenya models,). A cracked or damaged carafe can break while you use it, and Bodum has 48 reports of burns. You can keep using yours if the glass isn't cracked or damaged. Contact Bodum for a plastic stirring spoon and warning label: 888-879-8213.
Check your smoke alarm today.
The Consumer Product Safety Commission says to stop using and throw out two combination smoke and carbon monoxide alarms sold on Amazon and eBay, because they fail to sound in a fire. One is model JZA-540COM, sold under the JuzhiAnn, Yfwsrecinoe and JAEHSKA brands. The other is model YHW-542COM-R, sold under the GuardianSense and KLTseanife brands (the model is printed on the back). If yours matches, put up a working alarm right away, one that meets UL 217 for smoke and UL 2034 for carbon monoxide.
Flu is starting to rise.
The CDC says flu is still low across the country but rising in many places, and COVID is going down. Haven't had your flu shot? The CDC says to keep getting vaccinated after October while flu is spreading.
Health-plan ads are everywhere. Some are fake.
It's open enrollment for HealthCare.gov plans (Nov. 1 to Jan. 15). The FTC warns that some ads, calls and texts, including ads in paid search results and on social media, promise "comprehensive" coverage but sell limited plans or discount cards that aren't insurance at all. Others pose as the government or a well-known insurer. For a Marketplace plan, start at HealthCare.gov or 1-800-318-2596. On Medicare? Start at Medicare.gov or 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227). It's against the law for anyone who knows you have Medicare to sell you a Marketplace plan. Report bad ads and illegal robocalls at ReportFraud.ftc.gov.
→ Bodum recall · Smoke alarm warning, JZA-540COM · Smoke alarm warning, YHW-542COM-R · CDC flu and COVID data · FTC's alert
SECOND STORY
Do nothing, and the average stand-alone drug plan may cost $51 a month
These numbers are for stand-alone drug plans only, not drug coverage built into a Medicare Advantage plan.
On a Medicare Advantage plan? Check yours too. Through December 7 you can switch to another Medicare Advantage plan, with or without drug coverage. If yours is an HMO-POS or PPO plan with no drug coverage, don't add a separate drug plan: Medicare says that drops you from your Advantage plan.
Medicare projected the average stand-alone drug plan would go from $35 to $36 a month in 2027.
KFF, a health research group, ran it another way. If everyone keeps the plan they have, the average premium goes from $34 to $51 a month, up 50 percent.
KFF says Medicare didn't explain its method and may have assumed people switch to cheaper plans. So $51 is the stay-put number, and KFF expects the real average to land lower.
Who pays more.
About 10.4 million people without Extra Help will pay a higher premium if they stay put. Extra Help is a Medicare program that helps people with limited income and resources pay Part D premiums, deductibles and other drug costs. That includes 4.1 million now in $0 plans, because no $0 stand-alone plans are offered for 2027. For 2.4 million, the rise is more than $50 a month.
Do this before December 7:
Go to Medicare's Plan Finder at medicare.gov/plan-compare, or call 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227).
Compare plans using the drugs you actually take.
Compare the total for the year, not just the monthly premium.
On Your Radar
Check your space heater.
About 338,800 DREO space heaters sold in the U.S. are recalled because they can overheat and catch fire. DREO has had 17 reports of the heaters igniting, including three with property damage and one burned hand. They sold at Costco and online from September 2025 through October 2026, for $70 to $110.
Your move, with the heater in hand:
Flip it over. On the label, look for model DR-HSH015 and a made date from April 2025 through January 2026.
If yours matches, stop using it.
Contact DREO for a free replacement at 833-820-0887 (8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. ET, weekdays). You'll be asked to unplug it, cut the cord and send a photo.
YOUR MONEY DATES
Today, November 3:
Social Security payday if you started benefits before May 1997, or get both Social Security and SSI.
Tuesday, November 10:
Social Security comes a day early if your birthday is the 1st to the 10th. The holiday calendar puts Veterans Day, a federal holiday, on Wednesday, November 11.
November 18 and 25:
payday for birthdays on the 11th to 20th, then the 21st to 31st. If a payment is late, Social Security asks you to wait three more mailing days before you call.
December 7:
Medicare open enrollment ends.
The new I bond rate:
Now through April 30:
new I bonds earn 5.51 percent for their first six months.
The part that lasts:
the 1.40 percent fixed part stays with the bond for life. It's the highest fixed rate since November 2006, when it was also 1.40 percent.
The catch:
you can't cash it for 12 months, and before 5 years you give up the last 3 months of interest. Use only money you can leave alone. TreasuryDirect's rates
Slice of Life
Two marathon finishers in their 80s
On Sunday, Mildred Baker, 80, of the Bronx, finished the New York City Marathon in 7 hours, 3 minutes and 49 seconds.
Dave Obelkevich, 83, of New York, finished in 8:38:26. That makes 49 five-borough New York City Marathons in a row: he has finished every one since 1976. His daughter, Maria, has gone the full distance beside him in recent years. In 2021, he walked it.
The one to forward: send it to someone who says they're too old to start.
Until next week,
The Senior Road
P.S. One word is plenty: which item today was the most useful to you? Hit reply and tell us.
