I had a reader ask a question about Debix and other identity protection companies so I thought I would say a little about them.

Identity theft occurs when someone gets a hold of your personal information and then tries to use that information in a fraudulent way to open up accounts with your information so that they can benefit (i.e. opening up a credit card and charging things too it, etc.). To help minimize the risk (almost impossible to prevent), there are companies like Debix, Life Lock, Identity Guard, and others, who monitor the three credit bureaus (Experian, TransUnion, and Equifax) for changes in your accounts. Some of these companies will also check out known “black market” sites to see if your information is being hawked (sold).

I cannot speak for the other companies, but what Debix does is if they see any new financial accounts opened with your data at any of the three bureaus, then you are contacted immediately. So for instance, a few weeks ago my wife opened up a new store account (with my knowledge and approval!). As soon as that information hits at least one of the three credit agencies, we received phone calls asking us if this was legitimate. They have our home and cell phone numbers, there is a pre-recorded voice key message (that we set up) so that we know that this is really Debix, and we enter a pin number and let them know if this new activity was initiated by us or not. If it was, everything is good. If not, then we talk live with a Debix individual who gathers information, then they set up an on call investigation team with licensed private investigators, and they call appropriate law enforcement agencies while the case is still “hot”.

What I like about this service and why I feel that it is worth the money is that someone is monitoring my information continually, something I cannot do myself, nor do I have the time or inclination to do so. Also, if my identity is stolen, there is identity theft insurance and recovery services. A team of investigators will work on my behalf to clear things up. They do all the leg work including contacting law enforcement, etc. Plus I will not be liable for any of the charges or expenses.

I look at this as insurance, and to me it is a small price to pay for peace of mind.

 

P.S. I don’t get any remuneration for talking about Debix or the other companies I mentioned in this article.

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I use Debix to help protect me and my family against identity theft. Every year about this time they do a public records scan to see if there is any evidence of misuse of our children’s social security numbers. We are willing to pay extra for this service because our three children are adopted and we know of at least four other people outside our family who know their social security numbers – and one of these people is in prison for theft and another individual is not what you would call an upstanding citizen either!

This past week I received a phone call from Debix that after performing their scan they found suspicious activity regarding my youngest daughter’s social security number. In order for them to investigate further I had to send them documents:

•  copy of child’s social security number

•  copy of birth certificate

• copy of my driver’s license (verify my identity)

• copy of a utility bill  (verify my identity)

So I have faxed the information (people still use faxes!), and am now waiting to hear the results from their further investigation. Hopefully it is just a false positive and everything is okay. But either way we are protected and we have the Debix team on our side to do the leg work and paperwork to help clear up the matter if necessary.

So if you have children this is something to think about. My understanding from talking with knowledgeable individuals is that child identity theft is on the rise.

 

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I have performed two funerals for families in the past two weeks. Always a hard event and very emotional. One thing that can help during this time is if the deceased has preplanned his funeral and express their wishes and desires. This helps to ease the burden on the family. I have seen the difficulty and hardship on families as they try to plan a funeral and make big financial decisions all while under stress and grief.

Now I am not saying that you should pre-pay for your funeral, but you can pre-plan, or as some individuals in the  funeral business call it “pre-need”.  You can have this document left with your other important documents (will, medical instructions, etc.), with a lawyer or trusted family member, or you can even have it on file with the funeral home if you know which business you would like to perform this service for you.

Some basic things you can include:

• Cremation or burial (and location of burial or ashes)

• Open or closed casket (even if cremated—sometimes cremation takes place after a viewing service and you just rent a casket)

• Type of urn or casket (how much do you want them to spend?)

• Who to perform the service

• Service held at a Church or a Funeral Home

• Scripture or poetry or songs to be sung

• Donation of organs, etc. (this should also be on other documents that you leave behind)

• Tombstone? Inscription? Type of burial vault?

There are other things you can add but this list would be a start. Not something we like to think about, but something that will be helpful, appreciated, and one more way to show love toward your family and friends.

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It’s now officially Tax Form Season. I know I have been receiving different forms – Local Tax Forms, Federal Mortgage Forms and Interest Forms, etc., just about every day! And yet I will not be getting around to do my taxes until sometime in February. So I make sure I have a place (File cabinet with folder marked Tax Forms) to put all this paperwork so I don’t forget it and I know where it is when I need it.

How do you organize for tax time? Or is it chaos at your place? Getting a bit more organized this year could be as simple as a manila folder or envelope where you can stuff everything. It’s hard enough to do taxes, so any little thing you can do to make it easier, like finding everything you need, is worth the little bit of time and effort.

 

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This week I will be doing some end of year financial things to get ready for the New Year. I have rebalanced my retirement funds to get them back in line with my asset allocation goals. I will set up my budgets for 2012 (at least my first attempt!). I will also begin to go through my files (always fun J). I will pull out the tax information I will need for doing my taxes, throw away documents no longer needed, and just generally clean up the files. Not real glamorous stuff but necessary. I do a little bit at a time so it is not so overwhelming (and so that I do not procrastinate). My wife and I will also begin talking about some financial goals for the coming year just to make sure that we are on the same page.

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We finally did it. My wife and I got new cell phones (and a new carrier). Our phones were over five years old, and our carrier (Verizon) kept dropping calls in our “remote” area—it was getting so bad that we had to stand still with the phone to have a two minute conversation before the call dropped (if we moved it dropped sooner).

We checked around to see who the best carrier was for our area, and after talking with neighbors and going into multiple stores, it was hands down AT&T for our area. So we checked out of our family plan (we were with our niece and my wife’s sister) and switched over. So far no dropped calls!

As far as phones, after checking around a little, we decided to join the evil empire and go over to the dark side—we bought an iphone 4. So far we have been very pleased. Not cheap, but very easy for us “old people” to learn. Heck, I have even sent my first text message (I told you I was old!).

I have the phone set up so that I can get all my email in one place – work, home, and my gmail account. I also now have all my calendars with me so that I don’t double book or miss something. I even have an app so I can blog on the go!

Now that we have switched everything over, which was really easy, we are wondering why we waited so long!

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Sorry Dave, but I opened up a new credit card account. It is a Sears Master Card, which you can use anywhere Master Card is accepted. Opening the account got us a great deal on a Christmas gift (which is what they are hoping), and I do buy a few tools there over the course of a year. We will see if we keep it open. My credit score is high enough we could take the small ding for opening an account, and if they give us some special offers on the things I already buy there, maybe we will keep it. Otherwise I will probably close it within a year. Opening the account brought us up to 3 credit cards – 1 Visa (tied to our mortgage and helps pay it!), 1 Master Card, and 1 American Express (use at Costco). We also have one debit card tied with PNC bank, and 1 store card (Kohl’s). That is about all I want to have in my wallet!

Just a note – we always pay off our cards in full, and we don’t buy unless we have the money in our budget!

 

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The church where I serve has approved the budget and I will be getting a raise! With the way the economy is and how tough things are for people, I was really pleased. On top of that, they have agreed to pick up part of the tab for my cell phone expenses since we pastors are “on call” all the time. So that’s also a nice added bonus which will significantly help out the budget.

As far as changes to the budget, most of the raise will go toward the auto budget (gas and repairs) and the medical budget (braces and dentist visits). I think I will also be increasing our vacation budget a little bit. There maybe some other little tweaks but those areas seem to be of greatest need (at least the medical and auto!).

Hi there - could you help spread the word about A Penny Saved? We rely on word of mouth to get new readers. If you would send someone a link, email, or even mention it to your friends, I would truly appreciate it. I got a Raise! is a post from: A Penny Saved, the best darn personal finance blog around.

Our church just finished it’s second Dave Ramsey Financial Peace University class. One more 13 week course in the books. Once again the people who attended really enjoyed it and thought it was very worthwhile. So far over 100 families have attended between the two courses we have offered. Each time we ask the group was it worth it and would they recommend that we offer another class—and each time the answer is a resounding yes. So it looks like we will offer another class once again in the fall. I am hoping to get some volunteers in place so that I don’t have to be there 13 weeks in a row! I enjoyed the course and helping to coordinate it but I cannot commit to 13 weeks right now, with us being understaffed and so much else going on. The staff will decide sometime in the Spring of 2012 the nights and times and hopefully by then we will have some volunteers lined up to help coordinate and lead.

If you have never gone to a Dave Ramsey Financial Peace University, it’s something you may want to check into. Although most of the things he teaches I knew (there were a few new things I learned), he is a great motivator and encourager, and he helped get me back on track in an area where I had gotten a little lazy (emergency fund savings).

Hi there - could you help spread the word about A Penny Saved? We rely on word of mouth to get new readers. If you would send someone a link, email, or even mention it to your friends, I would truly appreciate it. Financial Peace University Class Update is a post from: A Penny Saved, the best darn personal finance blog around.

I can’t wait for Thanksgiving. And not just because I love the food, the family, the football, and the giving of thanks. I just need the break. In addition to Thursday, I will be taking off Friday through Monday, and it can’t come soon enough.

I looked at my calendar the other day and I figured out that by the time the Thanksgiving holiday and my vacation comes, I will have worked 25 days in a row. Now not all of them were (or will) be full days, some are half, and one or two of the days I will only be working for a few hours, but still, I need a break!

I’m just hanging  on until then!

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