While it’s extremely unlikely to happen, consumers around the world fear becoming victims of identity fraud.
If the worst does happen there are some really simple, easy steps to help you stay confident and safe: Call your bank, pronto! If you suspect suspicious activity on your account history or have misplaced your card details, the most important thing to do is contact your bank to report the incident immediately. Relay as much information as you can and they will work with you to track the fraudulent activity and halt it. You’ll be better off doing it sooner than later, as it will put you in a better position to have those charges refunded! In rare instances, your bank may ask you to lodge a report with the authorities. Remember to keep a copy of the report for your records.
Contact the credit bureaus.
If it’s confirmed that your identity has been stolen, it’s best call one of the credit reporting companies. Reporting the situation will enable them to put an alert on your account. Not only that, it makes tracking your identity much easier for investigators! Take your information off shopping websites. If your credit card is linked directly to any online shopping sites, go through each account and remove your information so that you have more control over where your credit card number is stored.
Despite its rarity, it is always better to be proactive than reactive. Stolen identity can be used not only to shop and spend, but also set up new accounts under your name. Your best bet is to review your statements, or pop into your mobile banking application to glance at your transaction histories on a regular basis. In addition, review your credit reports on a regular basis to ensure there are no irregularities. And remember to always dispose of statements properly.
And remember, unlike cash, any money spent fraudulently on a card has a higher chance of being returned!
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If you're minimizing your debt, putting money away for retirement and generally bringing in more than you spend each month, you're probably doing all right financially.
But if you want to reach larger financial goals, such as retiring early or becoming a millionaire, you need to know more, like how quickly you're able to build wealth. On their blog Money Sloths, Mike and Sophie, who use only their first names online and save up to 80 percent of their annual income, break down how to calculate your personal savings rate. That's "the amount of money, expressed as a percentage or ratio, that a person deducts from his disposable personal income to set aside as a nest egg or for retirement," according to Investopedia.
The formula is simple. "It's just your income, less your spending, divided by your income. Multiply by 100," the Money Sloths write.
They break it down into four steps:
When calculating your saving rate, it's important to note that it should include your income after taxes, because you'll over-estimate your savings otherwise. Besides, "it's much easier to look at everything from an after-tax basis right now since your future hypothetical self will face the uncertainty of different tax rates — whether it's because you live in a different state or maybe you're retired and now sit in a lower tax bracket," say Mike and Sophie.
You should also include any employer 401(k) matches in this number since those will go toward your eventual retirement as well.
On the spending side, be sure to include medical expenses such as health insurance, if those don't come straight out of your paycheck, as well as property taxes and interest on any outstanding debt, including your mortgage. Once you figure out your savings rate, you can get a sense of how close you are to financial independence. This varies according to your personal goals but experts typically recommend having $1 million set aside to retire in your 60s. However, if you want to kick back earlier, many early retirees rely on the "four percent rule." The idea behind that is, if you can safely withdraw four percent a year from your retirement savings portfolio, you have enough in the bank to quit your job. Flipping the four percent rule can help you figure out how big your portfolio needs to be, or what's called your "magic number." Simply divide your annual spending by 0.04 (or multiple it by 25) to get your target.
For example, financial blogger The Money Wizard — a Minneapolis millennial who goes by the pen name Sean and is on track to retire by age 37 — plans to live off of about $30,000 per year. Using the four percent rule, he estimates he'll need $750,000 ($30,000 / 0.04) in the bank to retire comfortably.
Although the four percent rule will give you a good idea of how close you are to being able to fund your retirement in full, it's not foolproof. Some experts recommend using a lower withdrawal rate to be safe. Source: CNBC |
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July 2017
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