HINTS FROM HELOISE

DEAR READERS: Wow — there are some wild myths out there about the COVID-19 vaccine! Three of the most absurd? The vaccine causes infertility. (No.) When you get the vaccine, you’re implanted with a tracking device. (What??) And the vaccine will alter your DNA. (It absolutely will not.)

None of these is true. Talk to your doctor, nurse or other trusted medical expert about the COVID-19 vaccine. Don’t let fear take hold of you; just find out the truth.

— Heloise

P.S. One new movement that can help: double maskage. That’s right. Experts are saying wearing two cloth masks can be more beneficial than wearing just one. It’s an extra layer of filtration.

But it stops there. Three masks can inhibit breathing. Again, check with your doctor about what she recommends.

DEAR HELOISE: A “pass sentence” might be more secure than a password. How about “eyel0v3knewYork”? I take a common phrase and skew it into a sentence complete with numbers standing in for letters. It’s harder to crack!

— Henry T. in Pennsylvania

HENRY, THROWING IN A symbol or punctuation mark can tighten up a password too. I agree; a password does not have to be a “word.”

— Heloise DEAR READERS: Did you know? You may not need life insurance. Here’s the scoop.

If you are single, debt-free, financially self-reliant and no one depends on you for support, the experts agree: You don’t need life insurance.

However, there are folks for whom life insurance can work well: parents with young children, people who own their own business and have a lot of debt, a married couple that has not fully funded their retirement, and someone with a high net worth (over $10 million) — all could benefit from life insurance, to pay toward estate taxes.

Life insurance, used correctly, is a good tool for some people, but not everybody. It works to replace income or to pay taxes and debts if you are no longer around. Check with your agent for more information.

— Heloise DEAR HELOISE: There’s a new telephone scam going around. A person will receive a call from someone stating they are with the sheriff’s department and there is a warrant for the person’s arrest.

The only way to get the warrant dropped is to purchase … I am not kidding … gift cards from big box retailers, and then submit them to the caller. Please advise your readers to watch out for this type of phone call. Your sheriff’s department will never call you in this manner.

Never give gift cards to someone who intimidates you on the phone, and certainly never wire money to someone you don’t know.

Hang up and report the call.

— Robert T. in Virginia DEAR HELOISE: I have either my dad, brother or boyfriend record my voicemail on my cellphone. This deters creepy and weird random people from leaving me messages.

— Ashley K., age 22, in Texas