Asset Planning, Inc Blog

We talk to clients everyday about how important estate planning is and how they should have a trust in place to ensure that their wishes are met after they pass away or become incapacitated. While having a trust set up is great it doesn’t really provide all of the details necessary for a spouse or loved one to take care of the day to day tasks of wrapping up your affairs. It is a really good idea to create an information folder that provides the pertinent details such as account numbers and passwords. This is also valuable to have in case of an emergency such as a car accident or house fire. You can grab this folder and go. Here is a list of information you should have in the folder.

• Assets: checking and investment accounts, private business interests, location of safety deposit boxes, annuities, individual retirement accounts and 401(k)s, trust agreements, real estate, vehicles, collectibles

• Liabilities: credit cards, mortgages, car payments, cell phone bills, other recurring bills • Social media/online accounts: passwords and login information for Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, LinkedIn, Amazon, PayPal, eBay, Netflix, Hulu, iCloud or other cloud storage accounts, online photo storage accounts

• Miscellaneous subscriptions/memberships: airline rewards programs, Sam’s, BJ’s or Costco memberships, toll tag accounts, magazines, newspapers • Insurance: life insurance, long-term care, disability, home, auto

• Home maintenance: water, gas, electricity, telephone, alarm, lawn care, cable television, Internet service • Medical: medical conditions, medications, emergency contacts

• Personal: burial/cremation preferences, funeral plans, pre-paid funeral expenses, birth certificates, marriage certificates, Social Security card

• Key contacts: financial and legal advisors, doctors, family members, close friends

Each person’s folder will require different information but this is a good start and you can customize it as needed. It also may be a good idea to keep a copy of this information in a folder in your email account, that way you only need to have one password to give out and everything is backed up by the cloud.

(This list was compiled from an article on wealthmanagement.com)

We are excited to announce that we now have a secure portal to transmit sensitive information to and from our clients. We will use this portal to send reports and documents electronically with sensitive information including full account numbers, social security numbers, etc. Each client portal is individual and you will be required to set up a log in to receive and send documents. In order to set up the portal and receive your documents, you will be sent an email with a link to your portal site. You will need to click on the link or copy and paste the web address in to your browser. If you are interested in receiving your quarterly statements electronically through the portal please contact me at sjg@assetplanninginc.com or Melani at melani@assetplanninginc.com and we will be glad to set you up on the portal.

Last month Melani began working on coursework to become a Registered Paraplanner. She is scheduled to finish the program in early 2017 and will enable her to be more involved in assisting the CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNERS™ in constructing plans for our clients. We are excited for her to earn this certification as it will help better assist our client needs.

The Social Security Administration announced this week that there will be a Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) for Social Security and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits for more than 65 million Americans. The increase will be 0.3 percent and will start in January 2017. The intention of the increase is to help offset the rising cost of living for seniors.

Medicare premiums for 2017 have still not been announced. We will keep you posted as soon as they are.

We want to congratulate Melani for receiving her Notary Public. We now have three Notary Publics in the office. As a courtesy we offer notary services free of charge to our clients. If you have any questions or would like to set up an appointment please give us a call.

Mobile Banking Security Tips     

Whether using your phone or a tablet, mobile banking is a wonderful tool that gives you access to your financial world with a touch of a button. Almost all banks and credit cards now have apps that allow you to access your account information, make deposits, complete transfers and make payments directly from your smartphone. While we love the convenience of mobile banking it can also be a way for a thief to obtain your personal information if you are not careful. Here are a few tips to keep you secure while enjoying all of the convenience that mobile banking offers.

1. Always download banking apps directly from the banks website or the app store.
2. Never download banking apps on “jailbroken” phones. Phones that have been “jailbroken” or modified no longer have the operating system’s security in effect and are more likely to be hacked.
3. Always secure your phone with a strong passcode and enable the auto-lock feature in case your phone is lost or stolen.
4. Never use public Wi-Fi when logging into the app. That is a common way for hackers to get your personal information.
5. Never respond to a text or email requesting your banking/login information. A real bank will never send a request for this info.

We came across an article this morning on Marketwatch.com by Maria Lamagna that had some great tips on preventing credit card fraud while you are traveling abroad. We thought we would pass them on to you…

Bring some cash with you on your trip. Make a visit to your local bank before your trip to convert your cash into the foreign currency or you can convert it at the airport upon your arrival.

If you must use an ATM, it is better to use one at a bank than on the street or another non-financial institution. Examine the ATM before using it for any abnormalities. If the card reader appears not to fit, has glue on it or it is chipped it may be a “skimmer”.

Use credit cards instead of debit cards. Credit cards usually have built in protection for fraud and the credit card company can dispute the charges for you. With a debit card, cash is immediately withdrawn from your account and it can take longer for the funds to be returned to you.

Use mobile payments when you can. Transactions with services like Apple Pay use a tokenization method when making payments. This means that a new token is issued for each transaction instead of transmitting the actual credit card number making the payment more secure.

Avoid using public Wi-Fi as much as possible. Although it may be tempting to log in at the local café to save on data use it is very dangerous and an easy way for hackers to get your personal information. You should also change your password before and after traveling.

Check your account activity often. Look out for any transactions that look out of the norm so you can catch any fraudulent activity quickly. Many banks and credit cards now offer monitoring alerts that you can customize and be notified when an unusual transaction occurs.

It’s been a hectic day, but we wanted to give you a few notes on the Brexit vote and its impact:

• The UK makes up only 4% of the overall global economy
• Nothing will change overnight; the process of the UK leaving the Eurozone will take approximately 2 years based on current estimates.
• The economic impact will be felt like a ripple or earthquake, those closest to the epicenter will feel the effects more than those farther away.

We recently came across an article written by Kraig Mathias with some great money saving tips and want to pass them along to you. By following these tips you can really help your bottom line and focus your extra funds towards saving for the future.

1. Get out of debt and stop borrowing money. Pay off all of your debt now and do not buy more than you can afford to pay off each month. Having no more payments means you can save that money instead.
2. Stop going shopping. While you are getting out of debt stop spending money on unnecessary stuff. You will not make any progress if you continue to spend money at the same time you are trying to pay off your credit cards. It is a vicious cycle that is hard to get out of.
3. Eat at home and eat out very little. Eating out can be extremely expensive. You will be amazed at the amount of money you can save by merely eating at home more often.
4. Make a budget each month. Once you sit down and make a budget for the month you will be able to see where all of your money is going and can cut out unnecessary spending.
5. Think about the bigger picture. Set a goal for why you are saving your money. Once you have a specific goal it will be easier to say no to that daily cup of coffee at Starbucks and make one at home.
6. Downgrade your disposable goods. You can save big time by buying the generic laundry soap instead of the name brands. They are usually just as good without the high price tag.
7. Keep your living situation modest. If you are serious about saving money living in a posh apartment or driving that expensive sports car is going to put a strain on your savings potential.
8. Learn to say no. You’ll have to learn to say no to an expensive night out with your friends. Try suggesting a low cost alternative. This is a big part in taking control of your discretionary spending.
9. Learn to be content with what you have. If you are content with what you have you will be less likely to want more. Instead of going out and buying new stuff all of the time, try saving for it and paying in cash instead of charging it. You will be more satisfied with the purchase and that you earned the new item.

In a recent article released by AARP and written by Sid Kirchheimer, he writes about the new trends in credit card fraud. With the new chip-enabled EMV cards it is now harder for identity thieves to clone counterfeits of the existing plastic cards. Instead they are focusing on opening new fraudulent accounts with stolen Social Security numbers and other sensitive data. Javelin Strategy & Research reported in its 2016 Identity Fraud Study that new-account fraud more than doubled in 2015 from the previous year.

Here are a few tips on how to protect yourself:

1.Get a credit freeze. Once enacted, a credit (also known as a security) freeze restricts access to your credit report, which creditors check before issuing new financial or service accounts in your name. Without seeing your report, creditors won’t approve accounts to ID thieves posing as you. A freeze must be placed with each of the three major credit-reporting bureaus — typically free for those 65 and older (state laws vary) — and can be unthawed when you are legitimately applying for credit.

2.Secure mobile devices. If your financial life is on a smartphone or tablet, apply software updates that patch known vulnerabilities as soon as they become available. Use security features built into Android and iOS devices, such as passcode or biometric (fingerprint) protection, and programs that encrypt data and remotely wipe contents if the device is lost or stolen.

3.Use strong passwords. They “remain the de facto first line of defense for most online accounts, which has motivated criminals to compromise them whenever possible,” Javelin notes. Using a password manager is a convenient way to maintain good password practices without resorting to writing these codes down, which could also place them at risk of physical compromise.

4. Sign up for account alerts. Offered by banks, credit card issuers and brokerages, these free notifications, via email or text message, provide you with real-time alerts of suspicious activity. When fraud occurs, contact the account issuer immediately.

5.Take data breach notifications seriously. One in 5 data-breach victims suffered fraud in 2015, up from 1 in 7 in 2014. While data breaches at retailers remain an issue, the biggest jump in breaches was at government agencies and health care organizations, with a 64 percent rise in exposure of SSNs.