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• By Kevin Alvarez

What’s On Your New Year Financial To Do List?

Start the New Year Strong

Most of us stay current with routine weekly and monthly money tasks– like paying bills, monitoring credit card balances and savings accounts – yet some financial wellness tasks lend themselves to the beginning of a New Year.

The following suggestions are not intended as an exhaustive list, but can be considered reminders as part of your New Year financial to-do list:

To Do 1: Know Where You Stand

A healthy financial future begins with understanding your current situation. Start your New Year To Do List with a financial assessment to get a clear picture of your financial health.

An online financial assessment helps you see how mortgage, consumer debt, student loans or other debt might be affecting your budget, how long it will take to pay your debt off, and other personalized information.

This is a useful first step to understand the impact of interest charges to help you effectively manage your debt and reduce your financial stress.

To Do 2: Review Your Credit Report

Taking stock of New Year finances means getting a view of your credit history and credit score – important measures of financial health. If a mortgage, car loan or new line-of-credit is in the New Year plan, note that lenders look to your credit score as an indicator of your creditworthiness. The New Year is a good time to know how your credit score is calculated and understanding how to read your credit report is an important component of your overall financial health. Obtain a free copy of your credit report from annualcreditreport.com or other sources.

To Do 3: Build a Budget

A simple budget is the foundation of financial health. As the year gets underway, make a realistic plan for the money that you earn. Develop a line item in your budget for groceries, gas, savings, and entertainment as well as debt payments. If you haven’t had the chance to get around to a budget, take time to create one and track your expenses so that you can go back, review and adjust as needed.

Financial To Do List

To Do 4: Plan and Build an Emergency Fund

For a financially aware New Year, it is helpful to plan for the unexpected.  Depending on your budget, determine a set amount to put into a savings account from each paycheck. Some people have their employer directly deposit part of their paycheck into a savings account. Over time, you can build a budget buffer to help with unexpected expenses or emergencies.

To Do 5: Get Ready to Manage Student Loan Debt

For the more than 45 million people who carry student loan debt, the New Year is the time to prepare for the end of federal student loan payment relief measures, which paused federal student loan debt collection and reduced interest rates on federal student loans to 0%.

As of December 2022, the Student Loan Repayment Pause has been extended to June 30, 2023. Click here to read the U.S . Department of Education's press release regarding the matter.

This article is brought to you by our partners, GreenPath Financial Wellness

GreenPath Financial Wellness

• By Kevin Alvarez

7 Tips To Stay Safe While Online Holiday Shopping

Identity theft occurs when someone uses personal information without your permission — like your name, Social Security number or credit card number — to commit fraud or other crimes. With the increase in online purchasing, how can you protect your identity and ensure safe holiday online shopping?

The Federal Trade Commission estimates that millions of Americans have their identities stolen each year. While it can be a challenge to guarantee you won’t become a victim of identity theft, you can minimize your risk.

Online Shopping

7 Tips To Stay Safe

Noted here are tips to stay safe while holiday shopping online.

1. Use Trusted Websites When Online Shopping

A good first step to reduce risk is to online shop using websites that are well known and employ security features. Pay attention to the actual URL you are shopping from to be sure the site is valid, as the chance to be directed to a less-than-reputable website through “click-bait” ads is higher during the holidays. Some experts suggest to directly type the online retailer’s URL into your web browser. When shopping on your phone, consider downloading the specific apps from each vendor. Additional security features are built into retailer apps, and you can also ensure you are purchasing directly from the source.

2. Check for Security

To check that a website is secure, look for “https” at the beginning of a site’s address. When you see the “s” at the end of “http,” then the site is encrypted and your data will be secure.

Another security indicator to watch out for is an icon that looks like a lock. The lock icon appears either next to the URL or in the bottom corner of your web browser. Use an online browser that warns you before making a purchase from – or even visiting – a non-secure site.

3. Use a Credit Card, With A Holiday Spending Plan

Set a simple holiday gift-giving spending plan, and then stick to it. Credit cards do offer a level of fraud protection that you may not get using debit cards. In addition, credit card providers will likely notice holiday identity theft activity before you do.

To reduce stress about taking on holiday debt, consider using a cash-loaded disposable gift card. There’s no fraud protection, but there is also no connection to your personal information. Plus, it can also help you stick to your budget.

5. Don't Store Payment Information

For safe holiday online shopping, decline vendor offers to store your credit card information in their system. It may save time, but it’s risky in the long run. Stored information could compromise your identity if there is a widespread data breach.

This can also be a good move for your budget, as people are less likely to make impulse buys when payment data is not stored, and you have to get up from the computer to get payment information. Entering payment information by hand helps make you more aware of exactly what you’re spending.

6. Select Complex Passwords

Use passwords on shopping retail websites, credit card, bank and other accounts.  Avoid using easily available information like your mother’s maiden name, your birth date, a single word, the last four digits of your Social Security number or phone number.  Combinations of letters, numbers and special characters make the strongest passwords.

7. Monitor Statements And Credit Reports

The best way to detect identity theft is to monitor your accounts and bank statements each month, and check your credit report on a regular basis.  Early detection of identity theft can make a big difference.  Keep an eye out for any suspicious activity by routinely monitoring your financial accounts and billing statements regularly, looking closely for charges you did not make.

Credit reports contain information about you, including what accounts you have and how you pay your bills.  If an identity thief is opening credit accounts in your name, these accounts are likely to show up on your credit report.

For safe holiday online shopping, look for inquiries from companies you haven’t contacted, accounts you didn’t open, and debts on your accounts that you can’t explain.  Check that information, like your Social Security number, address(es), name or initials and employers are correct.  Check your credit report periodically free of charge.

This information brought to you by GreenPath Financial Wellness.

GreenPath Financial Wellness