This Week In Your Wallet – April 5, 2011
Welcome to April and finally, it seems, to spring. There are daffodils about to bloom in my yard. And the fact that we’ve crossed the 50 degree mark for three days running makes even a grey Monday morning seem…well…pretty good. A few things to report this week that you need to pay attention to…
One Less Piece Of Mail To Open
Every year shortly after your birthday, you get a letter from the Social Security Administration. It’s actually a four-pager that gives you your earnings record, the estimated retirement benefits you can expect to receive as well as an approximate amount you’d receive monthly if you were to become disabled or your family would receive (again monthly) if you were to die. I have to say, I like receiving mine each year. I also know it’s useful in fiddling around with any retirement calculator (any good one should ask how much you’re anticipating receiving from Social Security along with other pensions.)
Unfortunately, yesterday the Social Security Administration said they will no longer be sending out these statements. Why? To save money, of course, some $30 million in 2011 and $60 million in 2012. As long as you’ve been in the workforce, typically, for 10 years, you can get an estimate of your benefits online using the retirement estimator tool at SSA.gov/estimator.
One More Reason To Check Your Credit Report
On March 30, customer data at Epsilon, a Dallas-based online marketing company that sends out more than 40 billion emails per year was breached. According to SecurityWeek, which wrote about the incident, the data belongs to customers of a very long list of companies:
Best Buy
Brookstone
Capital One
Citi
Disney Destinations
Home Shopping Network
JPMorgan Chase
Kroger
LL Bean Visa Card
Marriott Rewards
McKinsey & Company
New York & Company
Ritz-Carlton Rewards
TiVo
The College Board
US Bank
The information revealed is limited, according to the company, to customer email addresses and names only. That’s certainly not as bad as if credit card numbers were revealed. But it does open customers up to a particular kind of scam: Phishing. This is when you receive an email from someone masquerading as a company you do business with and asking you to reply with additional identifying data, for instance your credit card number, or Social Security Number. In no case should you ever give out that sort of identifying information in an email – or, for that matter over the phone – unless you initiate the transaction.
Additionally, this is a good reason to begin checking your credit reports three-times each year. Go to annualcreditreport.com and pull a report from one of the credit bureaus (it’s free); four months from now do the same thing from another bureau; and do it again four months after that from the third. Then repeat the cycle. And if you’re concerned you won’t recognize scam artists that come your way, consider putting a fraud alert on your file at the bureaus. This service, also free, provides that any lender with whom you’ve applied for credit will follow up with a phone call to make sure it’s really you before proceeding. Notifying one bureau that you’d like a fraud alert is sufficient. That bureau will notify the other two. Here are the fraud lines for the three bureaus.
Experian: 1 888 397 3742, www.experian.com
Equifax: 1 800 525 6285, www.equifax.com
TransUnion: 1 800 680 7289, www.transunion.com
One More Consideration Before Retirement
When do you think you’ll retire? You might want to have a conversation with your spouse or partner to see if you’re operating in similar time zones. According to the 2011 Retirement Confidence Survey from the Employee Benefits Research Institute, 20 percent of workers say that the age at which they planned to retire has increased in the past year.
Why? The top reasons include the economy, lack of faith in Social Security and change in employment situation. Healthcare and a desire to have enough money to retire comfortably are also on the list. Whatever your reasons, just make sure you’ve talked them out with your significant other to make sure you’re on the same page. Only then can you map out a way to get there!
Have a great week!
Jean
