Money Matters

Making sure that you keep a watchful eye over your credit score is essential to protecting your good name and your ability to receive credit offers from companies, including but not limited to car dealers, mortgage lenders, and credit card companies. If you fail to keep an eye on things you could easily and quickly become the victim of identity theft. Fortunately for all of us, there are companies out there which can help us keep an eye on our credit reports, which in turn can alert us if our identity may have been stolen. IdentityHawk is one such company.

IdentityHawk recently aired a commercial in which they highlight one way that criminals can obtain the information necessary to steal your identity. A bank statement, a social security number are just 2 forms of identification that someone needs to potentially ruin your life, well maybe not your life, but your credit most certainly.  I never thought about someone going through my trash to get my information until I watched the IdentityHawk commercial. The commercial was definitely an eye opener to me. It’s definitely time for me to go out and get a good shredder and subscribe to a service which will help me protect my identity.

Keeping a vigilant eye on your credit score can make a big difference when it comes time to you actually needing credit. If you’re not careful your identity could be stolen and the person who stole your identity can rack up hundreds or even thousands of dollars’ worth of credit in your name, and you won’t know it until you go to purchase that new care you’ve been wanting, or until you try and get that credit card offer that was sent to you in the mail, and unfortunately for you, it’s not easy to clean up your credit, or for that matter even prove that it wasn’t you that ran the credit up in the first place.

There are 3 major credit reporting agencies (TransUnion, Experian, and Equifax) and each one reports a little differently. It’s important that you keep a watchful eye on each of them. The nice thing is that you don’t have to send requests to them individually as there are companies out there that will compile the information and then provide that information to you in a single report. So protect your identity and your credit by requesting your free credit score

After having a talk with someone close in my family, I was shocked to hear that she didn’t have life insurance. I don’t know what shocked me the most, the fact that she didn’t have it or for the crazy reason she claims she don’t need it.  Her reasons seemed odd and very uneducated. Her exact word was “I don’t want anybody getting rich off my death”.  At that point I was lost for words.  If you know me you know that’s very unusual.  However, after thinking in my head what I should say next without sounding totally blunt, I ask her how does she expect her last expenses to be paid like her funereal.  She then started telling me that her Social Security check only covers the basics, leaving no money left for life insurance if she wanted it.  She also said that they do pay a one-time death benefit. I really didn’t want to get in more details because I felt my whole mood changing.  This was bringing me back to when my grandmother died. She did get a one-time death benefit but if I am not mistaken it was only like 250 something. Luckily she did have life insurance which covered her all her expenses.  Many people would actually be shocked to know that cost it takes to burry someone these days. One must learn about how a dynasty trust works within an estate plan and is helpful for the people in such circumstances.

My negative thoughts I just had seemed to change.  When I was working in the medical field I used to hear a lot of these stories from our elderly patients. It’s just breaks my heart.  I started thinking about my own parents.  They are getting up in age and insurance is something we really haven’t talked about.  I mean I don’t want to make money off their death and hate that people even think like that when it comes to life insurance.  I just want to make sure I don’t have to put my own family in financial strain if they don’t have  insurance or the money to cover those last expenses.   I started looking online and found AptusInsurance.com. I was able to get online quotes and learn more about Term VS Whole life.  I really think that they just need term.  However I have heard other’s say its best to go with whole.  Since getting the quotes and talking to my parents, I am happy to report that they already had Life insurance.  This sounds crazy but I was going to get them life insurance and just pay the monthly payments.  I know we have life insurance for ourselves and kids. People seem to look down on having life insurance on children but they, clearly are not looking at the big picture.

SO DO YOU HAVE LIFE INSURANCE?

I keep seeing people  online talking about the Green Dot Credit Card to use when shopping online.  I even noticed when looking at store coupon match ups CVS runs specials when buying one of these.  Just the other week they had a promotion when you buy a Green Dot Card; you get a $5 credit on your new Green Dot card when you use it to make a purchase at a CVS/Pharmacy by 10/08/11.  Plus allowing you to earn an EXTRA $5.00 credit (for a total credit of $10.00) when you make a purchase with a new card.  I really thought doing this deal but then I had second thoughts.

I never really thought about buying a pre-paid card to do my daily shopping online. I actually feel safe using my debit or credit cards. However, I see why people feel safer with pre-paid cards. One thing that I do like about the green card is that you can fund your paypal instant. So, no more waiting for checks to clear. I find this helpful for people who don’t keep a balance in paypal. This way you don’t have to wait till the check clears.  After doing a little more research, I found that the minimum amount of the initial deposit is $20 and the maximum amount is $2,500.  I don’t know about you but no way would I put that much on a pre-paid card at a time.  Keep in mind products like this is not a bank account and funds are not FDIC insured. So you need to treat them just like cash and keep them in safe places!

You can reload your Green Dot card, and even have a portion of your paycheck directly deposited to your card or you may purchase a Green Dot MoneyPak universal reload from locations such as Rite Aid, CVS, Eckerd, Radio Shack, The Pantry and other participating merchants. The MoneyPak costs $4.95.

The card charges a $4.95 per month maintenance fee, $2.50 for each ATM transaction ($3.00 per international ATM transaction, $4.00 per cash advance from a teller or non-ATM transaction), up to $1.00 per call to obtain your balance using the interactive voice response system or a live operator, and $10 fee to replace a lost or stolen card.

So my question is do you currently use a green dot? If so please share your reasons…