Asset Planning, Inc Blog

It seems like everyday we are hearing about yet another major company being hacked and our personal information getting exposed. It's frightening to think of all the harm that could come from a criminal using that information to wreck havoc on your finances. If you haven't done so already, putting a freeze on your credit is something that you should strongly consider. A credit freeze restricts companies from seeing your credit report which would prevent them from opening new accounts in your name. If you want to open a new account or apply for a loan you will have to call and have the credit freeze lifted to do so. This may seem like an inconvenience but it's definitely better than trying to clean up the financial mess that fraudulent activity creates.

To place a freeze on your credit you will have to contact the credit reporting agencies directly at the numbers below:

Equifax 800-349-9960

Experian 888-397-3742

TransUnion 888-909-8872

In observance of the Labor Day Holiday we will be closed on Monday, September 4th.

We will be returning to normal business hours on Tuesday, September 5th.

We hope that everyone enjoys their holiday weekend!

Nothing is more annoying then getting numerous calls a day from unknown or out of the area numbers. They never leave a message and tend to be unwanted robotic sales calls. I was starting to see an increase in these calls and I was getting frustrated with the constant disruptions in my day. Luckily for me Sandy came accross a service called Nomorobo. Nomorobo is a service that automatically detects phone calls from illiegal robocallers and blocks them from going through to your phone. Legal robocalls, from schools and doctors' offices for example, are allowed through. The service is free for VOIP landline phones and they recently released an app for iPhones, the Android app is coming soon. Sandy and I each started the free trial for the iPhone app and are really pleased with how it has been working so far. I have not received a single unwanted call since signing up. Another great feature of the app is that if a robocall accidentally gets through you can report it directly on the app and they will add it to their blacklist right away. This is by far better than the Do Not Call Registry that doesn't seem to do much to deter scammers from calling. I have included a link to the Nomorobo website below with a screen shot of some features it offers. If you are annoyed by these calls it's definitely a service to check out!

https://www.nomorobo.com/

Have a wonderful weekend!

Melani

Come help us celebrate National Ice Cream month this Thursday, July 27th from 1pm-3pm at Churned Creamery in Cypress. We would love to see you!

Asset Planning wishes all of our clients and their familes a wonderful and safe 4th of July!

Our offices will have limited staffing on Monday, July 3rd and will be closed on Tuesday, July 4th.

We will return to normal business hours on Wednesday, July 5th.

The weather is getting warmer, it’s staying lighter later and there are tons of graduations happening. This can only mean one thing, summer is here. With the official start of summer being next week and this being the time that most people leave for vacation we thought it would be a great time to send a reminder about increasing your home security while you’re away. Unfortunately petty theft and home break-ins have been running rampant lately. Doing a little to protect yourself now can help you avoid this happening to you. Here are some reminders for when you’re away. (These tips can even help if you aren’t planning on taking a vacation)

• If possible, have someone stay in your home while away. This is the best option and gives you the peace of mind that your home and pets will be well taken care of.
• Make sure that the outside of your home is well lit, especially your porch and side yard/gate areas. Criminals are getting braver but most do not like to be conspicuous and bright lights may deter them.
• Put a stop on your mail and newspaper deliveries. Leaving these things to pile up is a sure sign that no one is home.
• Tell a trusted neighbor about your vacation and ask them to keep an eye out for any suspicious activity.
• Don’t post about your trip on social media. While it’s fun to share with your friends you never really know who is seeing the posts and it may alert the wrong people that you are away from your home.
• Install a security system. An alarm system or cameras are a great option to help deter criminals. A few of us in the office use the Ring doorbell that has a camera and is connected to Wi-Fi. It also has an intercom so if you are home and you receive a knock from an unwanted solicitor you can politely tell them no safely from inside your home.

With the BBQs, beach days, bike rides and bon fires, summer is one of my favorite seasons. Hope you all enjoy yours as much as I do!

Melani

In February I posted blog about websites that exposed your personal information and how to opt-out of them. I have recently been alerted to a few new ones I wanted to make you aware of so you can make sure your sensitive information isn't out there for identity thieves to grab. I have listed the webisites below. As I mentioned in my previous blog these websites do have an opt-out option. It only takes a couple minutes to visit these sites to protect yourself.

Truepeoplesearch.com

Stalkscan.com

Aboutthedata.com

If you missed my original blog on this subject you can read it here https://www.assetplanninginc.com/new-blog/entry/protect-your-information-on-the-internet

Have a great weekend!

Melani             

One thing we’re always telling our clients is how important it is to create a budget and to track their spending. Understanding how busy life is and how different things come up we realize this may seem like a daunting task. Fortunately, technology is on our side these days and there are a ton of new budgeting apps that help you keep track of all of this. I scoured the internet looking for recommendations on the best budget apps. These are the ones I found to be on many of the top lists; Mint, You Need A Budget, Level Money and Albert Budget App. Over the next couple weeks I am going to personally try each of them out and review them based on user friendliness, effectiveness and overall experience. In the meantime, I have included the links to each website below where you can find additional information on how each one works.

Mint- https://www.mint.com

You Need A Budget- https://www.youneedabudget.com

Albert- https://meetalbert.com

Level Money- https://www.levelmoney.com

I hope everyone has a great weekend!

Melani

In an effort to go green, the Social Security Administration is now only mailing Social Security statements to workers 60 years old and over who are not receiving Social Security benefits. They do however offer a convenient online service that allows you to access your benefit information, earnings records and statements as well as complete a number of other services with the Social Security Administration. You will need to create a My Social Security Account to do so. I have included some instructions taken directly from their site to set up your account along with some detailed information on the benefits of using their online services.

Go to https://www.ssa.gov/myaccount

Click on Sign In or Create Account

What does a my Social Security account let me do?

If you receive benefits or have Medicare, you can:

• Request a replacement Social Security card if you meet certain requirements;
• Get your benefit verification letter;
• Check your benefit and payment information and your earnings record;
• Change your address and phone number;
• Start or change direct deposit of your benefit payment;
• Get a replacement Medicare card; and
• Get a replacement SSA-1099 or SSA-1042S for tax season.

Be wary of a new websites that makes it very easy for literally anyone to get your personal information. There are numerous websites that offer this information but one of the newest and easiest is FamilyTreeNow.com. In a couple of clicks you can find out virtually anything you would like to know about someone including their address, phone number and possible relatives. The amount of information listed on these sites is scary and makes you a perfect target for identity theft. The sad part about it is that it is perfectly legal for these sites to post this information because it is considered public information. There are somethings you can do about it though. Here are some tips we took from the article from Cyber Security experts with the LAPD.

1) Send mail to a box rental service that lets you use a street address over a P.O. box number (since no one will believe you actually live where a P.O. box number is located)

2) Buy property through a blind trust if you can, so your name isn't linked to where you live. The downside is this is very expensive, and it also can make selling your property more challenging.

3) Give out a Google voice number instead of your actual cell phone number.

4) Opt out of information gathering websites.

Here are the opt-out pages for a few of them: 

FamilyTreeNow.com: https://www.familytreenow.com/optout

Intelius.com: https://www.intelius.com/optout.php

LexisNexis.com: https://www.lexisnexis.com/privacy/directmarketingopt-out.aspx

WhitePages.com: https://premium.whitepages.com/help#about

Spokeo.com: http://www.spokeo.com/opt_out/new

411.info: https://411.info/manage/

ZoomInfo.com: http://www.zoominfo.com/lookupEmail

PeopleSmart.com: https://www.peoplesmart.com/optout-go

BeenVerified.com: https://www.beenverified.com/f/optout/search

PeopleFinder.com: http://www.peoplefinder.com/optout.php

If you need assistance with any of these steps, please feel free to call the office to make an appointment and we will be happy to assist you.