This week the IRS admitted the computer hacker attack was more widespread than initially reported.
Time to panic? Not really. The percentage of taxpayers hacked is still very small.
However....
Hacking and identity theft are still a big problem, and identity thieves often use data to file bogus tax returns for refunds.
Best advice? Watch your mail. If you receive anything from a creditor or a government agency that looks strange follow up immediately (to an address or phone number you know you can trust). And see our next letter on telephone scamming.
protectingseniorcitizens@gmail.com
The Internet is loaded every day with financial and investment advice and market news.
Problem is much of it is…….
too generic
too narrow, too broad
factually wrong
loony
not customized to your situation
Many of the predictions would lead you astray, in the past five years we have seen predictions of market crashes, hyperinflation, deflation, gold at record levels, a silver boom, another economic meltdown and other really bad projections.
So where do you get good financial advice?
A series of posts will address that and many related issues.
Watching television these days includes a constant stream of auto insurance advertisements.
Cheaper! We are cheaper! We are the cheapest!
And shop on the Internet!
Is cheaper auto insurance always better?
Probably not.
If you have a home (or need renter’s insurance) your insurance should probably be bundled, which accounts for a large portion of the population. Do you need umbrella liability? Boat or camper insurance?
And having a real living breathing insurance agent can often be helpful.
Buyer beware.
For $30 or less you can buy a small household shredder that will fit on a plastic waste basket. This is a major tool in your fight against identity theft.
Your trash can may be golden to people who need to steal identities to commit all sorts of financial crimes.
For those with larger amounts of confidential paperwork, a larger shredder can be had for a reasonable amount.
These days a good quality shredder does not cut strips, it cuts strips and then crosscuts the strips into confetti.
Don't have a shredder? A good pair of scissor and some enthusiastic cutting is almost as good (cutting paperwork in half does no good, determined thieves will reconstruct paper work from pieces). The paper must be cut into many, many pieces.
Any paper work with identifying data, even if it is several years old, may be used be identity thieves to search out the rest of your data and to begin misuse of your data.
Don't let your trash become your worst enemy.
With the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) so much in the news, and talk of change coming from all directions, what is all of this doing to Medicare?
Should you be worried?
Short run – very few of the changes will impact you or even be noticeable
Medium run – these relationships will change
....the relationship of providers with the government, and to a lesser extent
....your relationship with your doctor and other providers
Long run – the Medicare system will be subject to major changes, some will be noticeable to you and others not –
.... some of the changes may raise your out-of-pocket or the quality of your care
So should you be worried? Yes. Long run.
In the long run the federal government is asking for
Higher quality
More prevention
Chronic disease management
Fewer services to lower costs
Lower cost per service
Problem is, can the government accomplish all of these goals without wrecking large parts of the system?
Time will tell.
Unless you live in a cabin in the woods with no phone or electricity, and never use the Internet, you have no privacy.
Credit reporting agencies, data sweeping and mining companies, your own bank and credit union, Internet browser and email companies, health care providers (within rules) and the federal government are all involved in sweeping and storing massive amounts of data. Even your grocery store courtesy card results in data storage and marketing analysis.
This is not directed at terrorists or criminals, this is directed at everyone.
So…..
If you want to do something quietly, do it in cash. However, using or moving large amounts of cash will get you in trouble also (a future post will be published on the perils of using your own cash).
Always assume everything you do involving money or paper ends up in data files for future use.
Identity theft and related crimes are becoming a bigger and bigger problem as the thieves use both high tech and low tech means of obtaining and abusing your identifying information.
Now you have to worry about your federal income tax returns being the sources of identity theft, sometimes directly through the IRS.
So we are starting a series of posts on defending yourself against identity theft and what to do if you are a victim. Watch for two posts a month.
