The other night, I was chatting with a friend of mine who is from Australia. We were discussing real estate, (which she sells,) and stocks. I am an avid fan of the stock market. She told me that her parents were bankers, and that they always checked their bank balances every morning and evening.
I found that to be excellent advice. With all of the hacking and fraud that is happening in society now, if you know exactly how much money you have, and keep a close eye on it, you can catch any discrepancies. I once had a person from the Midwest use my debit card at their Walmart. They charged over $600.! I caught it right away, at six o'clock the next morning. I went down to my credit union when they opened and closed out the card. They reimbursed me and issued a new card.
I carefully look over my stock portfolio online each morning. I like to see if I am reaching my goals with my dividends and observe how the market is doing. I also need to keep an eye on my income, since in California, what we pay for health insurance depends on how much we earn.
I recently opened a CD at my bank, and that shows up on the screen, as well. Interest rates have gone up, and it is encouraging to be able to make some money off of savings once again.
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I'd say you are managing your finances very wisely, Stephenie. I've just received notification from one of the clinics I've been to saying their system was hacked and my personal information might be compromised. My daughter had her information compromised when they hacked into the university system's computers! It's scary!
ReplyDeleteYes, it's so important to be aware and to deal with the issue right away...that way the criminal can't get into your account again.
DeleteI always keep on top of my bank accounts, always have, always will. Many years ago we both froze our credit with all three major credit rating companies. I felt that was the safest thing to do to protect ourselves from fraud. It did cause a headache when I set up my Social Security internet account as the SSA uses the credit bureaus to verify your identification, but a fast trip to the local SSA office put that right. You just cannot be too careful these days.
ReplyDeleteSorry, Anita. I thought I had replied to this comment. I agree with you, it is so important to be very careful in these times.
DeleteI agree! I frequently check my bank account and my credit card accounts. Although last time the one credit card was hacked....it was in the middle of the night and the bank caught it first. It was a credit card that I hadn't used in a long while and hardly ever used. I think the issuing banks for credit cards are doing a fairly good job catching things. Would be an interesting topic to study!
ReplyDeleteI've found that when I travel, to consistently use the same credit card, such as for airlines tickets, car rentals, gas, etc., and that way the bank knows it's me and won't think I am a fraudulent user. That happened once. We used one credit card for a trip and then pulled out another at a Disney store in Florida, and it was denied! That credit card company didn't have any paper trail that I was in traveling. They used to say to contact the company if you were traveling. I have my cards set on my account for no out-of-country use as I never go out of the country also.
I don't use my bank account debit card for any purchases...just credit cards. It is good that the CD rates are going up. andrea
Good thing you had the other card with you, Andrea. Remember when we used to use traveler's checks? Times have changed. I notify card services when I have a trip planned. I had my card declined at a gas station once, on the way to visit my parents. It was too far from my home.
DeleteI didn't use to regularly check my bank balances, as I always had a good idea of my expenses and income. But one day, I did check. Horrors! $70 a month had been going out of my account for ten months!! I had paid a one-off $70, to have an IT question answered online. I had to do quite a bit of sleuthing going from one dodgy site to another, to track it all, but no emails nor phone calls were answered. I gathered all of the info, and went to the bank, as I had been unable to cancel the payment online. The bank cancelled it, and using my info, managed to get quite a bit of it back. Strangely, I was at a friend's one night, and she relayed the same story, same amount each month. Told her to go to the bank to get it sorted. Big lesson learnt here.
ReplyDeleteYikes, ratnamurti! That is why it is so important to check them. I bet they were doing this to many many people. Glad you caught it.
DeleteWe've just employed a financial advisor to manage Tony's pension fund. He has advised our friends for the past 15 years so we feel very confident that he's going to be worth paying
ReplyDeleteThat's wonderful, Cherie. There are some excellent opportunities in the stock market right now. I just switched a few of my investments yesterday. I really enjoy learning about personal finance. It's fascinating.
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