Exam Info

Habits to Protect Your Financial Life

Here are some great habits to help you
protect your finances. Forward this valuable
information to your friends and loved ones.

1. Every six months do the following:

Take all of your credit cards, drivers license,
social security card, and passport and make a
photocopy of them on a copy machine. Make
sure to copy both sides of
your credit cards. Keep the photocopies
in a safe place.

Here is why this habit can help protect
your finances.
We all know that we should cancel our
credit cards
immediately if they are lost or stolen.
The key is having the toll
free numbers and your card numbers handy.
If you wallet or purse is lost or stolen
you will have instant
access to the account numbers and also the
telephone
numbers to call to report your cards stolen.

In addition to calling your credit card
companies
you should also call the three national
credit reporting
organizations immediately to place a fraud
alert on your name and
Social Security number. Here are the numbers
to call.

1.) Equifax: 1-800-525-6285
2.) Experian (formerly TRW): 1-888-397-3742
3.) TransUnion: 1-800-680-7289
4.) Social Security Administration
(fraud line): 1-800-269-0271

2. Do not sign the back of your credit cards.
Instead, put "PHOTO ID REQUIRED."  If a clerk
checks for your signature he/she
will ask for your photo ID which will further
protect you.

3. When you check out of a hotel that uses
plastic magnetic strip
cards for keys (most of them), make it a
habit to keep the cards
and destroy them. Do not turn the "keys" in.
Those little cards
contain all of the information you gave the
hotel, including address and
credit card numbers and expiration dates.
Someone with a card reader, or
employee of the hotel, can access all that
information.

4. When you are writing checks to pay on
your credit card
accounts, make it a habit to always put only
the last 4 numbers
of your account number in the "For" line.
The credit card company knowz the rest
of the number. If you put your
entire credit card number anyone who handles
the checks during processing will have access
to your card number.

5. Don't keep your social security card in
your wallet. Many people do this and it is a
big mistake. If you wallet is stolen the thief
will have instant access to the most important
account 

posted by Jim Huffman @ 10:40 AM