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Purchasing a car through Costco might sound a little funny—buying a car from the same place you get your bulk pretzels? Costco car buying doesn’t mean buying a vehicle from Costco but rather through Costco. “The Costco Auto Program is just a streamlined and maybe more confident-feeling process for buying a car,” says Karl Brauer, executive analyst at automotive-research firm iSeeCars.com.

In this age of electronic banking, voiding a paper check can seem like an anachronism…so much so that many people no longer even know how to void a check, and some even may ask, “What is a voided check?” We interviewed banking expert Ted Rossman, senior analyst at Bankrate.com, to take us through this simple process that we’re occasionally still called upon to perform. He also gives us some voided check safety tips and alerts us to some common mistakes when voiding a check. What Is a Voided Check?

Heart catheterization is the gold standard test for identifying the presence and extent of fatty plaques obstructing blood flow through the coronary arteries. More than 1 million heart catheterizations are performed every year in the U.S. The cardiac catheterization procedure has an excellent safety record, but it is not unusual for individuals undergoing their first heart catheterization to wonder about the seriousness of the test.

Muscle strains are among the most common soft-tissue injuries, yet they are often misunderstood. People frequently describe them as a pulled muscle, but the underlying issue is usually simpler: A muscle has been asked to do more than it is conditioned to handle. That mismatch can happen suddenly during lifting or reaching, or gradually through repeated stress. According to Mathew Kovalchick, DPT, OCS, a physical therapist in the UCLA Health System, these injuries are rarely as random as they seem.

You may schedule your annual flu shot as soon as it becomes available, but if you are in a high-risk group for pneumonia, make sure you also get vaccinated against this potentially serious condition. Moreover, the germs that cause pneumonia can be contagious, so carefully follow the simple hygiene precautions that can help protect you (and others) against the bacteria and viruses that underpin most cases of pneumonia. What Is Pneumonia?

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a progressive lung disease, meaning it typically worsens over time. The rate of progression varies from person to person, and early diagnosis and treatment can make a significant difference. Doctors use a system known as the GOLD stages to determine the 4 stages of COPD and to classify the severity of the disease.

You’ve probably been advised to save up a stash of money to manage life’s emergencies. Of course, we also take out insurance in case of trouble. But you wonder if both are necessary. In what ways is your emergency fund a form of insurance? Comparing these two ways of building financial security can help you make smarter money decisions. We interviewed certified financial planner James Holtzman, CFO, CPA, CEO of Legend Financial Advisers to help us examine the emergency fund vs.

Igor Barjaktarevic, MD, PhD, is a critical care physician and intensivist at UCLA Ronald Reagan Medical Center, where he serves as Director of Bedside Ultrasound and Medical Director of the Liver Transplant Intensive Care Units. He is also Medical Director of the COPD Program at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, where he leads clinical and research initiatives in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency.

Neil Schachter, MD, medical director of the respiratory-care department at Mount Sinai Hospital and the Maurice Hexter Professor of Pulmonary Medicine at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, both in New York City. He is the author of The Good Doctor’s Guide to Colds & Flu.

One of the primary considerations for people preparing for retirement is housing—will you be buying a house in retirement? Staying put? Downsizing? Renting? If you’re leaning toward buying, the home-purchasing journey for a retiree can look quite different from that of people in other stages of life. We interviewed Mike Steward, vice president for real estate sales at Real Property Management, the largest residential property-management franchise in North America.