Jill Russo Foster

Tips for Successful Personal Finances

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Is A credit Freeze Right For You?

Here is Connecticut we have been experiencing a heat wave (although the weekend was great), we have another 90+ days ahead!

So in an effort to stay cool, let’s take about credit freezes.  Have you done this?

If you don’t plan on needing credit in the near future, you may want to consider this.  A credit freeze is one way to help protect your identity from being stolen.  You freeze your credit reports (yes, all three credit reports), so that no one can access your credit report (not even you) to open new accounts.

The reason why I say not needing your credit in the near future, is because there is a cost to freezing and unfreezing your credit report.  So if you have plans to open a new credit card, finance the purchase of a car, buy or refinance a home in the near future, this could be costly.

Here is a great article from AARP  walking you through the steps of a credit freeze.

Consider A Credit Freeze

With all the news lately (and previously), it seems that every day there is another breach.  And these are only the ones that make the news!

So what should you do:

  • Consider a credit freeze (yes, there is a cost involved)
  • Check your bank and credit card accounts frequently (in my opinion at least once a week)
  • Make sure your user ID and passwords are different – no two sites should be the same.  If this is too many to remember, consider a password mana ger.
  • If you have used one of these companies that have been breached, change your password, request a new credit card – be proactive.

Nothing is 100% foolproof, but taking theses steps can lessen your risk.

Put Your Identity on Ice with a Credit Freeze

I am diligent about protecting my identity.  I monitor my accounts, pay bills from my account online, shred paperwork, opt-out of mailings, and so much more.  But even that may not be enough.

As a customer, I have been receiving notices that my personal information may have been compromised. I thought my identity was safe because I mostly purchase from, and use, well-known companies. But, they have not protected the databases they use to store everything they know about me.  You know the companies I am talking about – Epsilon and Sony to name a few. You’ve probably been getting these warning notices yourself via email and postal mail, and you’ve probably heard more than enough from the media.

What can you do to protect yourself? You can follow my list of things to do to protect you from identity theft.  If you need a refresher, visit www.jillrussofoster.com and look at past newsletter articles.

Put Your ID on Ice

If you are not planning on applying for new credit anytime soon, then the best advice is to put a credit freeze on each of your three credit reports. This will stop everyone (including you) from accessing your credit report for the purpose of obtaining new credit.  Yes, there is a fee for this service, but it can be well worth it.

What if you need to apply for a loan or a new credit card within the next month? I assume you have a specific need, like a new car, home, or school loans.  In that case, you should not use a credit freeze until your loan is complete.  When you apply for credit, the creditor should be able to access your credit without you unfreezing your credit because you will have to pay a fee for that. However, do use a credit freeze if you’re just planning on shopping early summer sales. The freeze will not only protect your identity, it will prevent you from opening unnecessary store credit accounts at the mall.

Credit freezes are  great and can prevent identity theft.  They can prevent identity theft even if someone steals your wallet right out of your hands.  But think before you leap, freezing and unfreezing your credit can be costly.

Protecting your child’s credit

If you have been a reader of this column, you know how important it to maintain good credit.  Unfortunately, it is not enough to monitor your own credit, you must protect your child’s credit as well.

Good credit is as important to your child’s financial future as GPA and SAT numbers are to career goals. Recently, I was asked by the parents of a newborn what they could do to keep their child’s credit /identity safe.

Unfortunately, the answer is not a thing. You probably don’t like that answer.  But it does make sense – let me explain.

To protect your personal credit / identity, I recommend that you place a credit freeze on your credit report so that no one (not even people you authorize) can view your credit without you unfreezing your credit.  You have to pay for the service, so you should only do it when you don’t think you will have a need to finance something in the immediate future.  Freezing and unfreezing can be costly to your wallet.

Well, you can’t freeze a newborn’s credit, or for that matter, a child’s credit.  If you think about it, your child has a social security number shortly after birth, but they do not have credit yet.  You cannot freeze credit if there is no credit to freeze.

To protect your child’s credit / identity, you will have to order their credit report at www.AnnualCreditReport.com periodically to make sure that no one has requested credit under your child name and social security number. Don’t wait until they are ready for their first loan or you may find out someone stole their identity years ago.

In One More Day

You have heard about all the security breaches – from major retail chain stores to credit bureaus and more.  You can’t turn on the news or read a newspaper without learning about another breach.

Because of this, I have always encouraged you to freeze your credit to lessen your changes of identity theft.  Well tomorrow is a big day for consumers.  Credit report freezes will become free – no more small fee to freeze your credit and another small fee to unfreeze – all this adds up.  As of tomorrow, September 21, 2018 and just after the one year anniversary of the Equifax breach, there will be no cost to freeze your credit.

Please remember that you will receive a PIN with your freeze.  You will need to keep this in a safe place, but not so safe that you forget where you put it to unfreeze your credit.

In addition, fraud alerts will now be available for 1 year (it was 90 days in the past).

Get out there and take advantage of the free credit freeze tomorrow!

Take Time To Protect Your Identify Now

Well it happened again – this time EquiFax! This is not the first time nor will it be the last security breach.

Here are some suggestions that you may want to take to help to protect your identity:

•    Personally, I am not a fan of doing banking on my phone, so I don’t have these apps. But I do have many texts (one for each transaction) and this way, I can catch anything immediately. I will be adding my credit cards to this process.

•    In addition, I use two-step authentication for all my accounts. Having a code either texted or phoned to me to use to access my account.

•    Check your credit report. I am a firm believer of this and now even more so. If you need reminders to check your credit for free three times per year, sign up for my newsletter here and you will get email reminders to check your credit every four months.

•    Monitor your accounts. I typically check in a couple of times a month, both my bank and credit card accounts just to look for anything that I don’t recognize. If you don’t want to do this, make sure you reconcile your accounts monthly.

•    You may want to set up credit monitoring service and/or freeze your credit report. You can check out my article on Credit Freeze here.

•    Change your passwords regularly.They shouldn’t be easy to guess (use a combination of upper and lower case letters, number and symbols) and don’t you use the same password. Each account should have its’ own individual one.

Take the time now to protect your identity. It’s much easier to do this proactively than to deal with the turmoil of identity theft later.

Save

Save

Do-It-Yourself Identity Theft Protection

Have you received a letter from your bank or credit card company lately telling you that your personal information may be compromised?  We’ve been getting these letters on a regular basis at my house. If you read further, you’ll see that these companies are trying to sell you identity theft protection for a monthly fee.  It’s a good idea to guard against identity theft, but buying protection is not the most cost effective plan for your personal finances.

You can monitor your own credit and stop identity theft for minimal money. Simply put a credit freeze on the credit reports offered by the three major credit reporting agencies.  A credit freeze prevents anyone from accessing your credit report (including you). If someone is trying to open a new credit account in your name, potential creditors will not be able to access your credit report. Creditors don’t give out new credit without it, so the thief will be stopped in his tracks.

How do you freeze your credit report? Contact all three credit reporting companies and pay a small fee to  freeze your credit report.  No one, including you, will be able to access your credit.  That means if you want to finance a car, you will be denied since the potential creditor cannot access your credit.  Don’t worry – you can unfreeze your credit for a fee when you need to.

Bottom line: The cost to freeze and release the freeze is substantially cheaper to you than the $10 plus dollars a month for credit monitoring.  Credit freezes can stop new accounts from being opened by thieves even when they have your personal information. The only effort required on your part will be planning for your  upcoming credit needs so you can freeze and unfreeze your credit accordingly. How often do you need to open a new credit account? Most of us do it very rarely, so it’s easy to plan ahead.

Resources

         This Resource page is something that I have personally put together over the years and have either personally used the service or have been referred to by a trusted associate.  We have many requests for links to be added to this page and we do NOT accept them and will NOT respond to requests.

This page is for information purposes only. It is not meant to be legal, tax and/or financial advice and should NOT be relied upon or treated as legal, tax, and/or financial advice. Please consult your financial and/or legal advisors for specific information regarding your personal circumstances. All resources have been personally selected to support you.

**AFFILIATE LINK DISCLOSURE**
Many links used are for informational purposes only. Other links, Jill Russo Foster has an affiliate relationship with. If a link is an affiliate it will be clearly noted with ** so that you are aware that Jill Russo Foster may receive a percentage of the purchase price if you chose to buy the linked product. There is no difference in price to you.

Charities

  • Give.org – You should be looking for a larger percent going towards the cause than to the people running the charity.

Credit and Financial Information

Credit Report

  • AnnualCreditReport.com – The government has authorized you to receive one free credit report from each of the three credit reporting agencies. To see your credit report for free every four months, only order one of the three reports (for example: January order Experian, May order EquiFax and September order TransUnion)

Credit Score

  • MyFico (your official score – you will be charged a fee)
  • CreditKarma (free close approximation of your official score)
  • CreditSesame (free close approximation of your official score)
  • Quizzle.com (free close approximation of your official score)

Credit Freeze – there is no fee to freeze your credit report

  • EquiFax 800-349-9960
  • Experian 888-397-3742
  • TransUnion 800-916-8800

Financial Education

Retirement

  • Ballpark Estimate Online – An easy-to-use, interactive tool that helps you quickly identify approximately how much you need to save to fund a comfortable retirement.

Student Loan Information

Declutter – Donation, Recycle and Sales Sites

There are many places in each and every community, think locally (local non-profits, schools, organizations and more in your community) in addition to these national suggestions.

Appliances

  • Renovation Angel accepts high end appliances and more.
  • Habitat for Humanity
  • Check with your local utility companies, ours will remove appliances for free and sometimes gives us cash back for recycling.

Automobiles

  • Locally, contact your fire department or auto / technical schools; some will take cars for training purposes.  In addition, many charities will accept donation of cars for resale.

Blankets, Towels and Linens

  • Donate only if in good condition to local shelters for the homeless, battered women safe homes or to your local humane society / animal shelters.
  • Check with your Town.  Our Town has a textile recycling drop box for clothing, linens, shoes and more to keep them out of the trash.

Building Materials / Home / Household Items

Business Attire

Clothing / Shoes

  • Local consignment shops, thrift shops and charities
  • Retro / Vintage stores for vintage clothing typically more than 20 years old
  • Donate My Dress for Prom and Special Occasion Dresses and your local high school.  In addition, formal wear can also be donated to the theater department as costumes – think schools and local theater companies.
  • Suits both Men’s and Women’s
  • OneWarmCoat.org
  • Nike Re Use A Shoe Program to recycle your old athletic shoes.  Nike stores have a collection box.

Computers / Electronic Equipment / Cell Phones

Eyeglasses. Hearing Aids

Furniture

Luggage

Make Up

  • Saks Fifth Avenue In Store drop off or visit website for prepaid mailer. Empty packaging (from all brands) including plastic tubes, cream, pots, pumps sprays, jars, complex closures and empty glass packaging, lip balm tubes and caps, soap dispensers and tubes, body wash caps, lotion dispensers and caps, shampoo bottles, conditioner bottles, hair gel tubes, pumps, spray bottles, triggers and complex closures, lipstick cases, lip gloss tubes, mascara tubes, eye shadow cases, bronzer cases, foundation packaging, powder cases, eye shadow tubes, concealer pots and concealer.

Markers

Media: Books / Magazines / CD’s / DVD’s

  • PaperBackSwap.com to swap with others.
  • Better World Books to have them shipped to people around the world.
  • Second Spin to trade in your CD’s, DVD’s and more.
  • Discogs for music – vinyl, CD’s, cassettes and more.
  • Book Scouter for textbooks.
  • The Pinwheel Project – children’s books and candy.
  • Operation Paperback – accepts used book and ships to Military locations
  • Contact used bookstores and libraries for what they accept.
  • Contact local schools and hospitals.
  • Nursing homes / Veteran’s services.
  • Some doctor’s offices and hair salon will take them.

Paint

Packing Foam or Peanuts

  • Local packing and shipping store or reuse the next time you ship a package.

Photos, Slides and Movies

  • Southtree great service for digitizing your family’s memories from all media types.

Stuffed Toys / Toys Board Games

  • Local Children’s Hospitals, Roanld McDonald House
  • Local firehouses sometimes accept donations of stuffed toys to give to children after fires / traumas.
  • Local animal shelter to comfort pets.
  • We also have a church thrift shop that will accept them and they sell them for pet toys.
  • Mattel and Hasbro will recycle old toys.

Sporting Equipment

Ticket Stubs

  • Dave Buys Ticket Stubs   We sold him all our tickets stubs for cash.  We never knew they were worth anything.

Toys / Video Games

Declutter – Online and Resale Sites

Discounts & Rebates

Healthy Living

Food, Fitness and Personal Care

Organization

Recycling

There are many ways to recycle at home. We personally use a rain barrel to collect water for our garden and flower beds. We compost some of our waste, grass clippings and leaves. We carefully consider what to do with the rest of our trash.  Our town has a great recycling program. Newspapers, mixed paper, all plastics, metal,  glass and cardboard go to our transfer station in town.  We do this all the time.

We participate in several town and state “special day” programs, such as “hazardous waste day”, “prescription / over the counter medication disposal day”, “sneaker recycle day”, “America Recycles” and others. You can find information on special disposal days near you by going to your state or city website.  We are on the email list for our local politicians and receive announcements of these special events.

Electronic Trade In Programs at certain times of the year. Check the stores that sell electronics website for details. You might be able to earn money back.

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) – Find your state on The Environmental Protection agency website. Look for ReUse Centers and Material Exchanges. You should find a list of locations in your state where you can donate and/or buy reusable goods.

Grocery Stores – many stores will accept your plastic bags and/or reusable bags for recycle.  Paper, plastic and reusable bags can be giving to local organization that deliver food / meals.

Holiday Lights – you can mail in your old holiday lights to be recycled. At the holiday times, our local transfer station accepts broken holiday lights to be recycled – check with your Town.

Home Depot – has drop off boxes and accepts used light bulbs and old batteries at their stores.

Verizon Wireless Stores – electronic items. They  accept cell phones, tablets, netbooks and mobile hotspot devices from any carrier AND you may be eligible for a gift card. For every device recycled, they will also make a $1 contribution to HopeLine®. Learn more here: VerizonWireless.com

Retail Shopping

  • Billeo.com helps you to find the lowest price on the item you want to purchase online.
  • CarFax.com – you can check to see if a car you are buying is considered a lemon. This is listed under FREE services.
  • Consumer Action Handbook – helps consumers with making purchases and getting help with problems and complaints.  You can download your free copy at their website.
  • Price Grabber

Stopping Spam and Calls

Unwanted Mail – to reduce your unwanted mail www.DMAChoice.org, www.OptOutPrescreen.com  & www.CatalogChoice.org.

Unwanted Phone Books – to stop receiving paper copies of some phone books www.YellowPagesOptOut.com

Unwanted Phone Calls – The FDC offers www.DoNotCall.gov or 888-382-1222. Or, you can use a private service like NoMoRobo.com. It’s free for your landline and a small monthly fee for your cell.

Travel

Recommended Books

Cash, Credit and Your Finances: The Teen Years by Jill Russo Foster

Thrive In Five: Take Charge of Your Finances in 5 Minutes a Day by Jill Russo Foster

111 Ways To Save by Jill Russo Foster

The Complete Tightwad Gazette by Amy Dacyczyn

Not Buying It: My Year Without Shopping by Judith Levine

Trash or Treasure: Guide To The Best Buyers by Tony Hyman

Living Large in Lean Times by Clark Howard

29 Gifts by Cami Walker

The Money Book for the Young, Fabulous and Broke by Suze Orman

The Law of Divine Compensation on Work, Money and Miracles by Marianne Williamson

 

 

Guard Your Social Security Card

Your social security card has been lost or stolen – what do you do? That’s a tough question. If there is no evidence that someone is actually using the number, neither Social Security nor the FTC will help you.

If you do have evidence that someone is using your number, you can contact the FTC at 1-877-IDTHEFT or FTC.Gov. If you are unsuccessful in trying to correct the situation, Social Security might give you a new social security number. You can contact them by calling 1-800-772-1213. For more information, visit SocialSecurity.Gov.

You should also report the loss to each of the three major credit reporting agencies: Experian, EquiFax and TransUnion. Ask them to put an alert on your credit report. This will send a signal to any merchants or credit companies that the person requesting a new account may be using stolen information. Actively monitor your credit by ordering free reports from AnnualCreditReport.com

If you are in a state that allows you to put a credit freeze on your credit report, I would do this as well. That way, no one can access your report unless you authorize them to do so. There is a charge: First a fee to freeze your report, then another fee to unfreeze your report when you apply for credit cards, loans, or insurance. But, it’s better to be safe than sorry.

With that thought in mind, remember to keep your card in a safe place and not in your wallet.

Financial Literacy Month #17

According to LifeLock, 84% of people’s information is on the dark web.  Is yours?  Think about how you will protect yourself and your information.  How often do you check your bank accounts?  How often do you check your credit card accounts? You can monitor all this yourself by checking regularly.  We check our accounts once per week and we have chosen to freeze our credit reports. #JillRussoFoster #FinancialLiteracyMonth