According to a recent survey, nearly half of Americans say ID theft is likely to cause them financial loss in the next year. Here are some tips to help you prevent and mitigate the effects of identity theft.
Monitor your credit report. You can request a free credit report from all three major credit reporting agencies once a year, including TransUnion, Equifax and Experian. Additionally, some monitoring services allow you unlimited access to your credit information year-round. These services are there to help you spot inaccuracies, potential fraud and more on your credit report. This should also be done for children. Theft of a child’s ID may go undetected for many years such that by the time they are adults, the damage has already been done.
Don’t provide your Social Security number unless it’s necessary. A space for it on a form doesn’t necessarily mean that it is required. For example, … Read More
ID Theft Prevention
According to a recent survey, nearly half of Americans say ID theft is likely to cause them financial loss in the next year. Here are some tips to help you prevent and mitigate the effects of identity theft.
Monitor your credit report. You can request a free credit report from all three major credit reporting agencies once a year, including TransUnion, Equifax and Experian. Additionally, some monitoring services allow you unlimited access to your credit information year-round. These services are there to help you spot inaccuracies, potential fraud and more on your credit report. This should also be done for children. Theft of a child’s ID may go undetected for many years such that by the time they are adults, the damage has already been done.
Don’t provide your Social Security number unless it’s necessary. A space for it on a form doesn’t necessarily mean that it is required. For example, … Read More
Tax Cuts and Jobs Act and Life Insurance Policies
A doubled estate tax exemption makes life insurance policies less necessary, while more
favorable basis rules decrease gain on their sale. The law known as the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act
(TCJA for short), approximately doubled the individual exemption from estate tax, which
increased from $5.49 million in 2017 to $11.18 million in 2018.
Life insurance is often employed to reduce the estate tax's financial impact. The doubling of the estate tax exemption diminishes the need for certain estates to use life insurance to cover the
estate tax. Life insurance owners whose assets are now sheltered by the increased exemption
may consider selling policies that are no longer necessary. Those who sell will also benefit from
more favorable basis rules.
The TCJA allows the seller of a policy to include all premiums paid in cost basis when
calculating taxes due on a settlement transaction. Thus, sellers of life insurance are now … Read More
Boost Retirement Savings!
Retiring rich is definitely harder these days than a few decades ago. Wages, which had increased without fail for nearly 30 years, began to stagnate in the mid-1970s. Jobs with employee pensions have all but vanished, severely limiting available means of income for today’s retirees. Thus, there are major forces beyond your control that are making retiring rich harder. So, don’t make it worse by neglecting what you do have control over.
Treat Your Retirement Savings Like A Business
A strategy to make saving more appealing is to treat your personal finances like a business. Many people struggle to manage their household finances, but at the same time, many people have no trouble running a profitable business. What if, they treated their personal finances like a small company? This shift in mindset can make a huge difference. Stop viewing saving as sacrifice, changing your mindset can make saving a pleasure instead … Read More