Secure your financial life

Keeping your finances safe means more than not leaving cash lying around. You can save yourself a lot of headaches and hassles, and protect your money, by securing your financial life:

Shred any trash-bound documents that have any of your personal information on them, such as your Social Security number, birthdate or account number.

Don’t give out your SSN freely — make sure anyone asking for it is legitimate, and truly requires the number. Don’t print your SSN on your checks, and don’t carry your Social Security card or other important papers on you. Ignore all unsolicited calls or emails asking for personal information.

Review statements from banks, credit card issuers and other financial companies regularly in order to verify that all transactions are legit. (If you’re lucky, you’ll spot some old recurring charges you can cancel to save money—such as subscriptions or memberships you no longer use.)

If you get unwanted credit card or insurance offers in the mail, you can opt out by calling 888-567-8688 or visiting Optoutprescreen.com. Shred the offers you get, so identity thieves can’t use them to apply for cards in your name.

Use firewalls, antivirus software and passwords to guard your privacy online. Secure your Wi-fi network at home, and avoid entering passwords or accessing financial sites over open public Wi-fi networks, such as those in cafes or airports. When shopping online, stick with trusted, established retailers, and only enter personal information on webpages where the address begins with “https:” (not just “http:”).

Be smart with your passwords. Don’t use the same one at multiple sites, and avoid passwords that are easy to guess — such as your address, pets’ names, children’s names or birthdates. Ideally, use a combination of upperand lowercase letters, numbers and symbols. Consider using a password manager.

Scammers and thieves are hoping you won’t protect yourself. Foil their plans.