Identity theft is a serious issue, and smart consumers today are doing everything possible to protect themselves and their families. Since identity theft can destroy a family’s credit and tarnish their credit score for a lifetime, it is essential to do everything possible to prevent it from happening.

One basic way that individuals or families can protect themselves is by purchasing Identity Theft Insurance plans. These are easy to obtain, and are usually fairly inexpensive comparatively. These plans include a variety of features, including an insurance policy to help you deal with the expense involved in repairing the damage that will occur if your identity is stolen, credit reports from each of the three major credit reporting agencies, daily monitoring of your records with all three bureaus, a quarterly analysis of the items reported to your credit, and access to experts who can help walk you through the steps needed to recover if your identity is stolen. Plans like this are basically a beefed-up insurance policy that will help you recover if the worst should happen, but will do little to prevent it.

The more expensive option (and the more effective) is to purchase an Identity Theft Protection plan from a company like LifeLock. These services work more aggressively on your behalf, and will work directly with the credit bureaus to monitor for fraud, remove you from mailing lists that send you pre-approved credit applications (a major inroad identity thieves use to get your info), actively searches for your personal information online in an effort to determine if some of it has gotten out there, helps you if any of your information is lost (if you lose your wallet with credit cards in it) to make sure that information doesn’t get into the wrong hands, and will often cover you up to one million dollars to recover if somehow an identity thief gets your information despite their efforts.

These monetary guarantees are critical – especially if you are going to invest the money in a protection plan like this, it is best if they back up their services with a meaningful guarantee. You can be the target of identity theft at any time. Thankfully, it is really easy and often very inexpensive to protect yourself from those thieves.

Detecting identity theft can be as simple as checking your credit report once a year. Look for odd accounts or information that is incorrect. If you find that a credit reporting agency has you listed as having lived or living at an address you have never heard of, it’s a good bet that you have been a victim of identity theft.

It can be as simple as someone applying for a credit card or cell phone in your name, using your social security number and their address. This usually occurs when someone has stolen the identity of more than one person and is mixing the two peoples information in an attempt to cover their tracks. Often the address is correct while they are using the fraudulently obtained card or phone and when the accounts become maxed out or the retailer no longer gives them credit, they dump the card or phone and move.

Credit reports are a wealth of information. They also provide a list of names, partial and in whole, that have been used to obtain credit using your information. If your name is Marilyn Smith but you see the name Mary Smith as a name used on your credit report, it is suggested that you dispute the information and request any information pertaining to the use of the name. This may be helpful in catching the identity thief. Another detection of identity theft can be in checking your statements on a monthly basis.

Look for odd charges or charges to retail locations you do not normally shop. If it’s possible you made the charge, look for receipts to back up your suspicions. If no receipts can be found, and you don’t recall making a purchase for the amount and on the date in question, then contact your financial institution and inquire as to the item purchased, actual date of purchase (not the date posted) and the location of the store. It could be easily detected if you only shop at the Main St location but the charge was made at the Stuart St location. Then you have confirmed that it indeed is a fraudulent charge.

In today’s modern world, there are a variety of new threats to your personal privacy and security. Computers and the use of the internet to transact business have opened up a whole new world of ways that thieves or companies can get a hold of your identity and use it to their advantage.

Many people are aware of the now somewhat old-fashioned ways to protect your identity, such as cutting up unused credit cards, writing void on old checks, and shredding bank statements before putting them in the trash. These are excellent ways to protect your identity and are still important to continue to follow, but nowadays it is also important to apply these same principles to computer transactions and electronic documents. The main goal of protecting your identity is privacy. It is obvious, but often overlooked, that no personal information should be volunteered to unknown entities. You are your first line of defense and should maintain a healthy skepticism about why any company or person would need your personal information.

Secondly, it is very important that you verify the identity of the people or company you are transacting business with. The internet offers a range of ways to do this, the most popular being using electronic security certificates to verify websites as authentic. The same advice is also pertinent to email. Never reply to an email requesting personal information unless you are absolutely certain of the identity of the sender and have confirmed this. Many spam emails look authentic, but most authentic companies would never ask for personal information by email.
Finally, the best way to protect your identity is to not leave personal details “lying around.” This is the same as the old-fashioned advice to shred sensitive documents, although it is important to remember to apply this advice to your electronic sources of information as well. By not storing sensitive documents on your computer, you protect that information from anyone who attempts to access it through the internet. Sensitive electronic documents could include statements, as well as email, or transaction receipts. These simple steps can help keep your identity from being stolen.

It’s time to find things to do when you are bored. Sometimes you have plenty of time and can’t think of anything to entertain yourself. I created a list of ten free things to do that are free.

1. Clean your house and garage. Sort everything. Find items that you can give to a worthy cause. Items like clothes,old shoes, old toys are perfect for donation. Find a local center to donate. It’s not hard to find a worthy cause. The rest have a garage or yard sale. Use the money as a savings bonus

1. Have some fun with your kids while washing your car. Make it a family project. But turn it into a water fight with squirt guns. Nothing beats making your kids laugh.

1. Go to the community pool. Most are free for residences. Pack a lunch and get some rays.

1. Go to the library. Have everyone find a good book. Bring them home and have everyone lounge around and read. At dinner it is time to discuss your book with everyone.

1. Take a bike ride to the park. Bring a snack and don’t just sit there. Play ball or tag. Make it a real exercise.

Daily Laugh
Men And Women
* A man will pay $2 for a $1 item he wants. A woman will pay $1 for a $2 item that she doesn’t want.
* A woman worries about the future until she gets a husband. A man never worries about the future until he gets a wife.
* A successful man is one who makes more money than his wife can spend. A successful woman is one who can find such a man.
* To be happy with a woman you must love her a lot and not try to understand her at all.
* Married men live longer than single men - but married men are a lot more willing to die.
* Any married man should forget his mistakes - there’s no use in two people remembering the same thing.
* Men wake up as good-looking as they went to bed. Women somehow deteriorate during the night.
* A woman marries a man expecting he will change, but he doesn’t. A man marries a woman expecting that she won’t change and she does.
* A woman has the last word in any argument. Anything a man says after that is the beginning of a new argument.
* There are two times when a man doesn’t understand a woman - before marriage and after marriage.

Daily Thinking ExercisesJanice has $2.46 worth of coins in her pocket. The coins are of four different denominations, and she has the same number of each denomination. What are the four denominations, and how many of each does she have?Answer The following people were at a family gathering: a grandfather, a grandmother, two fathers, two mothers, four children, three grandchildren, one brother, two sisters, two sons, two daughters, one father-in-law, one mother-in-law, and one daughter-in-law. What is the smallest number of people who could have been at the gathering? (Hint: The answer is not 23.) Answer

InspirationCharles Plum, a U.S. Naval Academy graduate, was a jet fighter pilot in Vietnam. After 75 combat missions, his plane was destroyed by a surface-to-air missile. Plumb ejected & parachuted into enemy hands. He was captured & spent six years in a Communist prison. He survived that ordeal & now lectures about lessons learned from that experience. One day, when Plumb & his wife were sitting in a restaurant, a man at another table came up & said, “You’re Plumb! You flew jet fighters in Vietnam from the aircraft carrier Kitty Hawk. You were shot down!” “How in the world did you know that?” asked Plumb. “I packed your parachute,” the man replied. Plumb gasped in surprise & gratitude. The man pumped his hand & said, “I guess it worked!” Plumb assured him, “It sure did-if your ‘chute hadn’t worked, I wouldn’t be here today.” Plumb couldn’t sleep that night, thinking about that man. Plumb says, ‘I kept wondering what he might have looked like in a Navy uniform-a Dixie cup hat, a bib in the back, and bell bottom trousers. I wondered how many times I might have passed him on the Kitty Hawk. I wondered how many times I might have seen him & not even said good morning, how are you or anything because, you see, I was a fighter pilot & he was just a sailor. Plumb thought of the many hours the sailor had spent on a long wooden table in the bowels of the ship carefully weaving the shrouds & folding the silks of each chute, holding in his hands each time the fate of someone he didn’t know. Now, Plumb asks his audience, ‘Who’s packing your parachute?’ Everyone has someone who provides what they need to make it through the day. Plumb also points out that he needed many kinds of parachutes when his plane was shot down over enemy territory-he needed his physical parachute, his mental parachute, his emotional parachute, & his spiritual parachute.” He called on all these supports before reaching safety. His experience reminds us all to prepare ourselves to weather whatever storms lie ahead..

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