Protecting Your Money

How do you protect your hard-earned money? Is it residing in a checking or savings account? Is it stuffed into a mattress inside your house? What would happen to you if suddenly you realized that your wallet or purse had been stolen or that someone broke into your home and took your mattress? There are ways to lessen the impact of these tragic incidents.

As you work to grow your wealth over time, it is important to plan ahead for unforeseen tragedies that could impact your financial infrastructure. For instance, what would happen if someone stole your debit card or robbed you while you were withdrawing money from an ATM? Would you be able to recover quickly? My advice is to open free checking accounts with several of the leading, FDIC insured, financial institutions (at least three of them.) Look for free checking accounts that do not have fees or minimum balances (they do exist.) These accounts may not have tons of perks, but all you need is for someone to hold your money and you also need a quick and easy way to make deposits, check your balance online, and withdraw from it. Confirm that the account includes "fraud protection" so that if someone does manage to spend your money without authorization, you will be covered 100%.

Plan to start separating your paychecks and set aside some money to put into each of these accounts. It does not have to be a huge amount of money. Every little bit helps. Do not spend any of the money that you put into these accounts unless you have a terrible emergency and withdrawing money from them is your last resort. Be sure to only carry one or two of these debit cards with you and lock the others up in a safe place where they will not easily be found.

Another idea is to give yourself an "allowance" with each paycheck and deposit this money into one account that does not hold the majority of your earnings. Make this the only debit card that you carry with you. That way, if someone steals this card, they will not be able to withdraw all, or even most of your money. Whatever you do, be sure not to have your PIN number in the same place with your debit card.

Check your balance for each account at least weekly or more often and be sure that there are no strange transactions that you have not authorized. Opt out of having the paper statements mailed to your home for these accounts so that they are not accidentally sent to the wrong place or opened by the wrong person. Also, be sure to periodically check your credit report to be sure no other accounts or loans have been opened without your permission.

Over time, hopefully, you will see the balances in each account begin to increase to the point where you have as much in each account as you started with in your main account. This is possible through determination and a little self-sacrifice. If something bad happens and one of your accounts is compromised, you will still have the means to pay your bills and continue to function while your financial institution investigates your claim and helps you to recover your lost money. You may find, at some point in the future that you have saved enough money in one of your accounts to begin investing the money or to buy something nice that you've always wanted without having to buy it on credit or put a financial strain on your main checking account. Good luck and be sure to keep an eye on what's yours.

Protecting Your Company from Fraud

Stressful times often bring out the worst in people.  People who are desperate to support their family may make bad decisions and turn to crime as a solution.  And then there’s the usual cast of thieves and scammers who do things like that on a daily basis.  It’s unfortunate, but many businesses will become the target of crime this year.  As a business owner or employee it is in your best interest not to leave your company unprotected.

As technology provides the business world with new opportunities, it also opens the door for new threats.  It’s not enough to rely on the security measures of yesterday to protect your computers and sensitive data.  If you do not have a properly configured firewall isolating your computer network from the Internet, then you might as well hook up a networked computer in the parking lot for anyone to use.  Employee training and good communication about threats is also important.  Employees can open the door from within the company network and unleash all manner of evil upon you if they are not closely monitored and educated.  Spend the time and money to hire an IT professional or train someone within your company to perform in that role.

How secure is the building where you work?  Are there monitored security cameras?  Locked gates and doors?  Keypad entry protection?  These are not really options but rather necessities unless you work hundreds of miles from civilization.  Companies should keep all doors locked to keep intruders out.  Special measures should be used to keep sensitive information and company equipment from leaving the premises as well.  All important company documents should be destroyed instead of just thrown away.  Familiarize yourself with different types of fraud, like check washing, and identity theft.

Another key protection is to have a good legal representation in place to assist with legal decisions.  Don’t trust your skills with searching the Internet to know the right decision to make.  Know exactly what the law entitles you before you go in any new direction and keep your company from being the target of frivolous lawsuits.  Also, educate each employee as to the level of authority they have and do not let them make decisions for you, especially when they are dealing with an unknown caller.  Monitor all bills, especially from utility companies, who under law can now allow third-party billing by other companies in most states.

As strict and tedious as this all sounds, it is in the best interest of your employees and the company as a whole.  Good prevention keeps your company from having to apologize for stupid mistakes later.