USEFUL TIPS & LINKS
Click on the titles below for more information on these topics.
Protect Yourself Against Identity Theft
Who's "Phishing" For Your Information?
Travel Tips
How To Improve Your Credit
Looking To Buy A Home?
Great Money Saving Tips
Protect Yourself Against Identity Theft
Identity theft is the nation's fastest growing crime. Each year thieves make off with millions of dollars and leave behind a paper mess that can take the victim months or years to untangle. It is important to know how to protect yourself and what to do if you become a victim.
Learn how to minimize your risk! There are several active steps you can take to protect yourself from identity fraud.
At Home:
- Know the date you should receive your monthly bills and statements. If one is late, immediately call the company.
- Review your bills and statements as soon as you receive them.
- When making a purchase over the Internet, make sure the merchant has proper security measures. If unsure, place your order over the phone.
- Be wary of unexpected e-mails that ask you to enter information on a linked web site. Sites may look official but are not.
- Close all unused card accounts and cut unwanted cards into several pieces before disposing of them.
- Shred confidential papers before discarding them.
On The Go:- Never carry your SSN or birth certificate in your wallet.
- Don't print your SSN, birth date, or credit card number on personal checks, and don't allow store clerks to write this information on your check.
- Carry as few cards with personal information as possible.
- Always take credit card receipts from cashiers. Never toss them in a public trash bin.
- Memorize your PINs and passwords. Shield your hand when you input them to prevent "shoulder surfers" intercepting them.
General Precautions:
- Don't provide personal information unless you initiate the interaction - not over the phone, not in person, not in writing. Also make sure your family members know not to give out information to others.
- When choosing passwords for your accounts, don't use your mother's maiden name, birth date, part of your SSN, or other easily guessed word or number.
- Write a list of your credit card account numbers, including expiration dates and company contact information. Safely store this information in case you need to report lost or stolen cards.
- Order your Social Security Earnings and Benefits Statement annually to check for fraud.
- Order your credit report periodically and review it for accuracy.
Learn what to do if your identity is stolen. Your fast action can help prevent damage. Here's what you would need to do:
- Document names, titles, and phone numbers of everyone you talk to. This helps prove your actions in case a creditor fails to close an account or for restitution if the thief is caught.
- File a police report. If your identity was stolen when you were away from home, you may need to contact the police in that jurisdiction too. Make sure you get the report number and investigator contact information.
- If your car or house keys were stolen, change your locks.
- Call the three major credit bureaus and have them place a fraud alert on your name and SSN. Add a "victim's statement" including your name, problem, and phone number.
- Equifax : 800-525-6285
- Experian : 888-397-3742
- TransUnion : 800-680-7289
- Contact financial institutions and credit card companies where your accounts may be at risk. Close any affected accounts and open new ones.
- If your Social Security number has been compromised, report it to the Social Security Administration: 800-772-1213 Mon-Fri 7am-7pm
- If the mail was used in the fraud, contact the U.S. Postal Inspection Service.
- Change your answering machine message to say something like, "This is Sam Anderson. Someone claiming to be me is trying to establish credit using this telephone number. Do not grant them credit.
- Contact the Federal Trade Commission to report the crime and obtain educational materials. 1-877-IDTHEFT (438-4338)
- After a few weeks, check to see if everything is okay. Request a new credit bureau report and look for new bank or store accounts. Check for any change-of-address requests at the post office, or new records at the department of Motor Vehicles, Social Security Administration and telephone company.
For more information on Identity Theft, visit CUNA's identity theft site.
Who's "Phishing" For Your Information?
"Phishing" is a high-tech scam that uses spam e-mail or phony phone calls to deceive consumers into disclosing their credit card numbers, bank account information, Social Security numbers, passwords, and other sensitive information. A typical phishing scam works like this: An individual receives an e-mail or phone call from someone claiming to be from a legitimate business the consumer may do business with, such as their financial institution, internet service provider or credit card service. The consumer is asked to "update" or "validate" their billing or account information online or over the phone and may direct them to a "look-alike" web site of the legitimate business.
First of all, know that Kentucky Telco will never call or e-mail our members and ask that they confirm any confidential information to verify their account. Secondly, report suspicious activity to the Federal Trade Commission. If you believe you've been scammed, file your complaint at http://www.ftc.gov/. Visit KY Telco's page on preventing identity theft to find out more. You may also want to visit the FTC's Identity Theft web site to learn how to minimize your risk of damage from identity theft.
Travel Tips
Are you already planning this year's vacation? You can reduce your stress by taking a few precautions before you leave home and by taking a few things with you while you are traveling.
Your check-list before you leave:
- Turn your water heater down to the lowest setting.
- Turn your air conditioner up in summer. You want to reduce your bills, but keeping the house from getting too hot will protect your pets and electronics.
- Leave your shades or drapes as you normally do - it looks like someone's home.
- Plug a cheap radio into a timer so you can have some noise in the house during part of the day.
- Lock all doors and windows, including in the basement and in the garage.
- Unplug electronic items, like your computer, to protect them if you have a storm while you're gone. Remember to unhook your phone line from the modem.
- Disconnect the garage door. Unplug it if you can.
Your checklist while you pack:
- Carry some change. You never know when you'll need to pay to catch the bus or train or make a pay phone call.
- Take along your VISA SmartCash Debit Card. You can enjoy instant currency conversion through any ATM and your card also makes it easier to track expenses. Make sure to contact us if you are traveling somewhere you have never been before. Our Fraud Watch Plus watchdogs will be looking for unusual activity on your SmartCash Debit Card.
- If you would like to take VISA Traveler's Checks, visit any Telco office to purchase them.
- Take contact numbers along. Important phone numbers of people to contact in case of an emergency may include your doctor, dentist, pharmacist, and your credit union. Put them elsewhere in your luggage.
- Duplicate important documents and cards. Make two copies of the entire contents in your wallet. (Black out all credit card numbers.) Leave one copy at home and store the second in a secret place in your suitcase. If your wallet is ever stolen, you'll know exactly what was lost and will have all the information and phone numbers at your fingertips.
- Keep track of all your credit card purchases. It's a good idea to leave all unnecessary credit cards at home. You can verify all of your credit card purchases when your statement arrives.
For additional information, visit www.freetraveltips.com for thousands of helpful free tips and links for travelers dealing with airlines, rental cars, hotels, cruises, restaurants and theme parks.
How To Improve Your Credit
There are several things you can do to improve your credit. Keep in mind it usually takes one full year of good credit behavior to see a significant change in your credit rating. This means you should exhibit a full year of responsible credit behavior -- specifically, conservative use of credit, paying on time, and not requesting too much credit during a short period of time.
Below are some general tips on how to improve your credit history. Follow these tips and over time, it will improve your credit.
- Review Your Credit Report. You should first get a copy of your credit report. You have to know what's there before you can make it better. There are three major credit reporting agencies:
It is recommended that you get all three or a consolidated credit report. By making sure that only your accurate credit history appears on your report, you ensure that the credit score it generates isn't lowered by inaccurate information. You should check your report about once a year.
Correct errors on your credit report. If you find any mistakes on your credit report, complete the request for investigation form that came with your credit report or type a letter describing every problem. Send your letter to the address provided by the credit-reporting agency for disputing information. Enclose copies of any documents you have that support your claim. Corrections you make to your report takes 30 days to take effect.
Add information showing stability. Creditors like to see evidence of stability in your file. Add things like current and previous employment information, current and previous addresses and date of birth. Credit reporting agencies aren't required to add this information, but they often do.
Avoid unnecessary inquires. Every time you apply for credit, or your credit report is accessed for another reason, that fact will be listed on your credit report as an inquiry. Many inquiries make it appear that you are shopping for credit, which indicates that you anticipate the need for many lines of credit.
Close unneeded accounts. The less available credit you have, the less risk you will pose to a potential creditor or lender. Keep around two to four credit cards for the best score. Close all unused or unnecessary accounts.
Build a great payment history. It goes without saying that paying your bills on time is the key to a great credit rating. While there's not much you can do to remove accurate late payment information, you can start making every single payment on time from here on out.
- Pay off credit cards. This shows you use credit wisely and aren't spreading yourself thin. Keep your credit limits and outstanding balances down. Conservative use of credit is important.
Keep you debt reasonable. One rule of thumb: for a good credit score, your account balances should be below 75% of your available credit. For example, if you have a $2000 credit limit, you should have a balance of no more than $1500.
- Take care of collection accounts and public records. Make sure collection accounts are paid and listed as paid on your credit report. You may be able to negotiate a reduced settlement with the collection agency to get a debt paid, but there may be consequences. Also, satisfy any public records, such as tax liens or judgments.
For more information on how to fix you personal credit report, call us to schedule a one-on-one, confidential credit session with a professional loan officer at (502) 459-300 outside of Louisville at (800) 292-9490. You can also sign up online by clicking here.
Looking To Buy A Home?
Buying a home of your own is one of the biggest decisions you'll ever make. And it's also the biggest financial commitment that you're likely to make. It's an important decision and one that can make a huge difference to your lifestyle now and your financial security in later life. The most obvious reason is that you'll be much better off in retirement if you don't have to pay rent. But owning your own home also gives you options that you otherwise wouldn't have.
First thing to do is to determine why you are buying a home. Write down exactly what it is that you want in a new home. Whether you are currently renting and want to own a home or wanting to downsize or upsize. This information will be very helpful when you start working with your realtor.
Talk to your credit union and get pre-approved. Unless you are paying cash for a house you will be borrowing money from someone. It is important that you understand how much house your can get approved for. You can submit an online application by clicking here.
Meet with your realtor. Your realtor will ask all types of questions to enable them to find the perfect house for you. Armed with enough information your house search should go relatively quickly.
Once you have found a house that you want, the next step is to put forward an offer. You must decide what is most important about the purchase of this home. Do you want the best price? Do you want to put little down? Do you want flexible move-in terms? Do you require repairs? While the obvious answer to all of the above is yes, you must take into consideration that the seller wants the exact opposite. The following are items that are negotiable in the real estate transaction.
So you want the best price possible for this house, what can you do? The first step is to request that your realtor show you what other similar houses are selling for and have sold for in the past. It may be that the price of the house is already below market (this can happen if the sellers are anxious to sell or the house needs repair). Let's assume that the house is listed at what seems to be fair market value. Here are some tips to attempt to get a better price:
Pre-approval. By all means make sure that you are pre-approved with a mortgage lender before making an offer. Pre-approval assures the seller that you can afford the home and removes the possibility that you may back out of the transaction due to an inability to obtain a mortgage. Click here to apply online.
Earnest money. This is the money you deposit with the broker when you make an offer. It is a show of how "earnest" you are about your offer. In general a larger earnest money deposit will demonstrate to the seller that you are serious about your offer. Sellers may be more inclined to consider a low offer if it is accompanied by a large earnest money deposit. On the flip side however is the fact that you are putting more money at risk.
Days on Market. If your primary motivation is best price look for houses that have been on the market for a while. As time goes by sellers become more anxious about selling their home and may become more flexible on price. Of course the house may have been on the market for a long time because it is overpriced.
Concessions. Don't ask for any. If you want the best price do not ask the seller to pay your closing costs or repairs. Also try to pay with cash or a conventional loan. FHA and VA loans require that the seller pay for a portion of the buyer's closing costs. This is money straight out of the seller's pocket.
Possession. Be flexible about when you can take possession. This can be especially effective if the seller needs to find another home before moving out.
Closing. If the house is vacant or the seller has indicated they can be out of the house quickly, go for the quickest close possible. Sometimes an ability to close quickly can get the seller to consider a lower price.
By all means make the offer contingent upon a professional inspection. While the seller is not necessarily obligated to make any repairs, it lets you the buyer know of any potential problems and gives you an opportunity to walk away from the deal if some serious flaw is discovered.
In today's market it is relatively easy to buy a house with little or no money invested (assuming adequate credit). With certain loan types (primarily FHA and VA) it is possible to have the seller pay your closing costs, pre-paids and even your down payment. Keep in mind that the more items the seller pays on your behalf, the less their bottom line. So expect to pay more for the house.
While most lenders no longer require a survey it is still a good idea to get one. It is better to know of any problems before buying the house than to discover them later.
In the end, whether or not you obtain this house and on what terms, depends solely on the ability of you and the seller to come to mutually agreeable terms. Sometimes it may not work out, so you continue looking and negotiating. Your dream home may be just around the corner!
Great Money Saving Tips
If you are like everyone else, you probably have too much "month" left over at the end of your money. Apply and stick to these tips and you will be amazed at how much money you can actually save.
By investing some of your money and being more aware of your spending habits, you'll not only get to save money for your future, you will also be creating an excellent residual income for the REST OF YOUR LIFE!
First of all, open up a separate savings account at your credit union for all your "small savings". Once your account is established, make saving a habit by setting up a payroll deduction into this account on a monthly basis. Forget about this account unless you really NEED the extra money. A good account for this is a Rainy Day savings account.
Ask your cell phone provider to match a deal. Some cell phone providers not only match deals, they throw in free minutes and other perks just to keep their customers. So be on the lookout for great deals.
Re-adjust withholdings. If you wrote a big check to Uncle Sam, it's time to adjust your withholdings. While you're there, consider having a check direct deposited to your extra savings account or to increase your emergency savings fund.
Water. Fill a two liter bottle with water and place it in your toilet tank. Not only will you save water, but it will save you a considerable amount of money every month. Every time you flush the toilet, and do not use the full tank, take $.35 cents and put that in your savings account!
Electricity. When doing your washing, make sure that you have a full load. Not only will this be a saving on your electricity bill, but you will also save a lot of water. For every two small loads, you'll save $3.00 if you combine them into one large load.
Bring your lunch. Instead of going out to eat at work, spend a few minutes making your own lunch. You'll spend a lot less on sandwiches you bring from home then on bought sandwiches. Consider this: A sandwich costs an average of $8.00. Take $8 x 21.66 days a month = $173.28! You can buy rolls, ham and cheese for the whole month's sandwiches and it will never cost you that much!
ATMs and frivolous spending. Withdraw your money from the ATM's preferably on a monthly basis, but if you can't stick to that, at least only once a week. Give yourself a monthly or weekly cash allowance to spend on anything you want, other than food, shelter, and education. Once your cash is gone, it's gone. Avoid going back to the ATM for more cash. You could save an extra $25 a week just by avoiding the ATM temptation. Make sure you SAVE your savings!
Recycle your plastic bags and tin foil. Don't throw your plastic bags and tin foil away if you can use them again. If they are still clean and re-usable, fold them up and put them back in a storage place. Calculate the cost of each plastic bag - if you pay $6.99 for 20 bags - a bag costs you $.34 cents at a time. Take the $.34 cents and put it in your savings and keep the bag.
Use less shampoo and toothpaste. Did you know that you basically only need a pea-sized blob of toothpaste to get your teeth clean? And use only enough shampoo to get your hair soapy - you don't need a whole handful. By cutting down on the amount that you use, you could save on the cost of a whole tube of toothpaste and a whole bottle of shampoo that you may not need to buy! Put that money in your savings!
Pay off your existing debt sooner. If you pay just $50 or $100 extra on anything that you owe, you will pay it off much sooner, thereby saving yourself an enormous amount in interest, and you probably won't even miss that $50! Also, pay on time so you will not receive late charges. Bigger balances can mean bigger late fees.
Write down EVERYTHING you spend money on. You will be surprised at how much money you are still spending on unnecessary things, and you will also know exactly where your money went.
Most important of all - you have to physically save your savings! Once you have calculated how much you are saving by not buying a product, or using less water etc, take that money and put it in a place where you keep all your small change. At the end of the month, deposit it into your credit union savings account.
Once you have a substantial amount of money in your savings account, carry that money over into a long-term savings account like a share certificate , a Personal Reserve account or even into a retirement account like an IRA. Over ten years, your "small change" will add up to LARGE SAVINGS!