This Week In Your Wallet: Answers To Your Equifax Questions
We’re a week out from the Equifax breach, in which up to half of American adults had their vital personal details — name, address, date of birth and/or Social Security number — swiped. This, in case the headlines haven’t hammered home the point already, is not good. According to Javelin Strategy & Research, you’re 11 times more likely to be a victim of identity fraud if you’re notified of a breach. And there’s no letting your guard down. On a special edition of HerMoney podcast, I interviewed security expert Frank Abagnale of “Catch Me If You Can” fame. His take is that the thieves are likely to park the information for at least a year — and possibly as many as five — before putting it up for sale on the black market. (Evidently, like a fine wine, your personal details get more valuable with age.)
I wrote about what to do including freezing your credit last week. You can read that here (and another update here). But, some of you also followed up with questions. Here are answers to a few of the ones that were asked most often:
Q: Regarding securing our information with the three credit bureaus, I am very concerned with entering my Social Security information through the credit bureau phone systems or online. Is there reason to be concerned?
A: No. It is a bit disconcerting to have to give out your SSN right now, but you’ll need to do it in order to prove to the bureaus that you’re actually who you say you are.
Q: My mother is 91 years old and home-bound. Is there any reason to secure her information with the credit bureaus?
A: Absolutely. Your mother, and people like her, are in no position to monitor their own credit regularly or to shut down an ID thief. Freeze it for her.
Q: What about the fourth credit bureau, Innovis?
A: Good point. Innovis is a smaller bureau than the other three. But better safe than sorry.
Q: What happens when you freeze your credit?
A: Only you, lenders you are currently doing business with and (sometimes) the government will be able to access your credit information. This means that a potential lender will not be able to get the info needed to decide whether or not to do business with you (or a thief pretending to be you). If you’re trying to buy a house, rent an apartment or get a new credit card, you’ll need to temporarily lift the freeze with at least one and possibly more bureaus (mortgage lenders often check all three of the majors). This is a bit of a hassle, but not life-changing.
Finally, the credit bureaus are still dealing with more traffic than normal. If you run into delays while trying to freeze your credit, keep on trying until you succeed.
Supply, Demand And Hot Tech
Another year, it seems, another iPhone. The iPhone X, however, with its $999 price tag (ouch) has more buzz than usual. It can’t be pre-ordered until late October — and won’t start shipping until November. But even then, analysts predict demand will overwhelm supply — and in Hong Kong, dealers expect to sell the iPhone X at a $300 to $400 premium in the first few weeks. Are these shortages a marketing ploy, calculated risk management or a product of the fact that manufacturing millions of high-end electronics and distributing them around the world is just plain difficult? “It’s likely a bit of all of these,” writes Christopher Mims in The New York Times. The long pre-order period is reportedly to give the company an idea of how many people will actually be ordering the phone so they can prepare accordingly. (The growing buzz probably doesn’t hurt, either.) So if you’re considering lining up, take the month in between now and then to think: Am I doing this for novelty’s sake or because I really want this product? Finally, remember you can lessen the pain of the amount you’re spending by selling your old phone. A top-of-the-line iPhone 7 or 7 plus in great condition can fetch between $300 and $400 from resellers like Gazelle and NextWorth.
How Eating Out Affects Your Wallet
What’s the longest amount of time you’ve gone without eating something from a restaurant, whether dine-in or takeout? Given Americans’ proclivity for grabbing food on the run, probably not more than a few days. But what would be the impact on your wallet (and your waistline) if you went cold turkey? Blogger Jennifer Rose Smith decided to find out. By the end of five weeks, Smith estimates she saved between $300 and $400. “It’s not just the big, fancy Friday night dinners,” she writes. “All those $10-$15 lunch runs to my favorite sandwich and taco shops really add up, too.” Plus, after doing this (and re-joining spin class), she lost about eight pounds. Other perks were learning to enjoy cooking and coming up with creative ways to spend time with friends (like bowling, seeing a play or picnicking in a park rather than grabbing lunch or dinner). This is not to say that you have to cut out restaurants entirely to enjoy similar results — even scaling back one or two meals out a week can make a difference.
Get A Jump On Holiday Flights
Finally, have you made your holiday travel plans? It’s time, according to Hipmunk, an online travel company. Booking by the week of September 25th could save you up to 27 percent on Thanksgiving flights — and up to 38 percent for the Christmas holiday. Google Flights is your friend when it comes to price comparisons. As for those newer “basic” fares that have been rolled out by Delta, American and United? Be careful: You may not have access to the overhead compartments, and you’ll likely be asked to board with the very last group. If you can squeeze everything you need into the bag that fits under the seat in front of you, this can be a nice way to save a cool 20 percent.
Have a great week,
Jean
