8 things I learned from the FBI to prevent Identity Theft
On June 15th we hosted an event presented by Special Agent Duffey of the FBI about preventing Identity Theft and safeguarding confidential information. Special Agent Duffey talked about a real life case involving a national department store; the recap is below.
DID YOU KNOW?
Most of your information is already online. Google, zabasearch, and a variety of other places can provide your name, address, phone number, d.o.b., and more, for FREE!
Armed with this information a clever criminal can pose as a trusted representative from a company that you do business with. If a criminal gets a hold of the list of clients who have credit cards from that company, a simple non-threatening phone call might go something like this:
Hello Mrs. Smith, I am calling from [NATIONAL DEPARTMENT STORE]. Your credit card was flagged for fraudulent activity. Do you still live at [THE ADDRESS I JUST GOOGLED] and have [THE SAME PHONE NUMBER I JUST ZABASEARCHED]? Great, now that you trust me…Can you please confirm your social security number?
And…BAM! Kiss your credit history goodbye.
- It takes the average victim 170 hours and $1,000 to correct their stolen identity.
- Today, nearly 1 in 5 Americans have been victims of Identity Theft.
Here are 8 tips I learned from Agent Duffey that might help you avoid becoming the next statistic:
- Protect your Social Security Number. Never give it out to anyone you don’t know…Ever! Ever, ever! Your SS# is your identity. In a situation like the one described above, hang up the phone and call the national department store at a number listed in the yellowpages.
- Check your Credit! Stolen information can lay dormant and resurface 5-10 years later. Annualcreditreport.com will check all 3 reporting agencies and is FREE once a year. *Note: This is not the one you hear advertised on the radio, DO NOT USE Freecreditreport.com, which is not free.
- Shred Everything with personal information.
- kEEp a S@fe c0mputeR. Passwords should not be words from the dictionary. Substitute $ymbol$, num6ers, and rAndom upperCase letters. Antivirus software and Firewalls are your friend and there is no such thing as being overprotected.
- Know your Surroundings. Supermarket and convenient store ATM & Debit Card machines are targets for cloning.
- Don’t open email from an unknown sender. Regardless of how enticing the subject line is, delete unknown emails immediately. These are scams and phishing attempts.
- Laptop Security. Never keep any personal or business information on a portable device.
- Talk to your Family. The elderly are often targets. They are friendly, love to talk to people, and not tech savvy. Criminals will contact them posing as officials or a family member in need late at night when they are disoriented.
Remember that you are only as strong as your weakest link, and I hope that these points have helped you discover where to find yours. For more information…
call 1-877-IDTHEFT
Visit this website: http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/consumer/idtheft/idt08.shtm
Or contact your local authorities.
Thank you Special Agent Duffey for an entertaining and terrifying presentation.
I was interviewed by abcnews.com!
Social Security Income Advice
Tuesday nights Social Security Income educational event was a hit! We hosted a presentation at the Great American Pub in Conshohocken, and the material was presented by the government. Richard Gaudiosi from the Social Security Administration did a heckuva job presenting an informative event and even made it entertaining. I think everyone learned something valuable.
Did you know that each month you wait to collect your benefit, it will increase by .5%?
There was a lot of information, including strategies to collect spousal benefits and survivor benefits.
Did you know that a husband can increase the monthly benefit his wife gets as his survivor by more than 20% by claiming at 66, not 62? Claiming later could be the most effective way a husband can improve his wife’s long-term financial security.
Do you plan on working after your Full Retirement Age? There is a lot to learn! If you have any questions or would like some of the handouts, feel free to contact me.
The crowd was great; we had 22 people…thanks to everyone for attending.
We are looking forward to doing it again in September. If you are interested in attending, ENROLL NOW .
Five Risks to a Successful Retirement
How do you plan for retirement with so many unknown variables that can change from year to year? It’s not as simple as calculating your assets on the day you retire and estimating how much you can spend per year. How much can you grow your nest egg? How many different income streams do you have? How long will it last? What if the markets go down? There are many different risks out there to consider. Here are the five risks that have the most influence on the success of your retirement. The key to a successful retirement is making sure you will not outlive your money.
- Longevity Many people underestimate their life span and risk outliving their assets. What is realistic? What is the worst case scenario?
- Health Care Expenses Rising health care costs coupled with inadequate health care coverage can have a devastating impact on a retirement income plan.
- Inflation Inflation increases the future costs of goods and services and may erode the value of assets set aside to meet those costs.
- Asset Allocation Retirees with a portfolio overly concentrated positions investments expose themselves to a greater risk of outliving their assets. It is possible to be over-concentrated in conservative or risky investments.
- Withdrawal Rate Aggressive withdrawal rates increase the possibilities of outliving your assets. Are you drawing down your account at a sustainable rate?
If you are concerned about outliving your assets, you need to review your portfolio. Don’t just sit back and hope things will be ok. Review your retirement income strategy. Determine whether it is consistent with your current goals. Is your withdrawal rate sustainable? Address your insurance needs. Revise your plan, or create a new plan, that addresses your concerns for the future.
7 Inflation Investments
Inflation is a silent killer of wealth. 2009 saw an enormous increase in the money supply, as well as a massive expansion of US government debt. This combination is a recipe for inflation, and there are few economic forces as damaging to your wealth as inflation.
There is no silver bullet to protect your portfolio, but here are 7 investments we believe can help prepare your portfolio for an inflationary world:
1) Commodities/ Hard Assets: Hard assets such as metals and foods should maintain their value relative to today’s prices. How to invest:
- Mining/Agriculture stocks
- Gold bars and jewelry
2) Energy: Oil and Gas are commodities, so it goes without saying that these assets should rise in value. How to invest:
- Energy stocks
- Numerous oil/gas investments
3) Real Estate: There are two components to real estate that have benefitted from inflation: The value of debt diminishes: mortgage payments are fixed and therefore decrease relative to the dollar, and the value of property (hard asset) increases. How to invest:
- Rental property
4) Inflation Protected Securities: Transfer Risk of inflation to governments, investment banks, or insurance companies. How to invest:
- US Government: Treasury Inflation Protected Securities (TIPS). Remember, Government bonds or U.S. Treasury Bills do not eliminate market risk.)
- Insurance company: Annuity with COLA (Cost Of Living Adjustment)
5) Bonds- interest rates have risen in inflationary environment. Remember, the purchase of bonds is subject to availability and market conditions. There is an inverse relationship between the price of bonds and the yield: when price goes up, yield goes down, and vice versa. Market risk is a consideration if sold or redeemed prior to maturity. Some bonds have call features that may affect income How to invest:
- Floating rate bonds: These are bonds with variable rates. As rates increase, so will the interest payments.
- Step-up bonds: Bonds that have a pre-defined schedule of interest rate increases over the life of the bond, regardless of interest rates today. Be aware of call features that could redeem these bonds early.
6) Currencies. How to invest:
- There are a number of investment products that track the relationship between the dollar and another currency (i.e. Euro, Yen). If you believe the dollar is going to get stronger or weaker based on an inflationary environment this may be your easiest way to invest in currency.
7) Equities. How to invest:
- US Stocks- Historically, stocks have done well in an inflationary environment relative to bonds. Stick with companies that have global businesses.
Past performance is no guarantee for future results.
