The latest target of identify thieves is not you, but rather your children.  With little to no financial history, minors make an unsuspecting and easily exploited target.  According to the 2012 Child Identity Fraud Survey, conducted by Javelin Strategy and Research, one in 40 households has had one child who has suffered from identity theft.  In fact, children are affected by identity theft and fraud 35 times more frequently than adults.  Because children are not financially active, this theft is likely to go unnoticed for years.  Unfortunately the damage done can affect a child well into his or her adult life.

 

 

Here are a couple of tips on how to keep the thieves away

 

The first step is to education yourself and your children on keeping their information safe.  You should also

1. Keep all of your children's personal documents locked up. This includes their birth certificates and Social Security numbers, as well as any other documents that contain sensitive personal information
2. Protect your children's Social Security numbers. Before you give it out, ask why someone needs it, how they will keep it safe, and how they will dispose of it. You should also inquire if there is another personal identifier they can use instead for your child.
3. Check with your children's school. Some schools share information about their students with third parties. You have the right to opt out of having a child's information shared in directories or online.
4. Create a joint bank account. When setting up a child's bank account, make sure it is a joint account. This ensure that no one can access the account without your approval.
5. Opt out of marketing materials. When creating bank accounts for your children, you should opt out of receiving marketing materials in their name. A pre-approved credit card offer addressed to your child is a goldmine for identity thieves. You should also add your child's name to the Do Not Mail List, which you can do through the Direct Marketing Association.
6. Teach your children how to be safe online. While monitoring your child's accounts online is important, children themselves should also be taught how to keep their information safe on the internet. Explain to them that they should not share any personal information on the computer or visit sites without permission
7. Update your child's electronic devices.  Keep any computer or tablet your child uses up to date with antivirus, firewall, and security software. 

If your child's identity has been compromised there are steps to take to regain control. First you should alert the three credit reporting agencies of the fraud. You must request a credit freeze on your child's accounts so not new accounts can be opened by the thief. You should also file a report with the Federal Trade Commission as well as your local police department.

 

It is estimated that 500,000 children are affected by identity theft each year.  Children who have their identities stolen can spend the rest of their lives dealing with complications regarding their personal information and identity.

The Best Free Budget Spreadsheets

 

With the New Year upon us, a lot of people make resolutions to get their finances in order.  Here are some of the best free budget spreadsheets that you can use with Microsoft Excel or OpenOffice Calc. All can be edited to suit your budgeting needs.

 

Vertex42 Spreadsheets. Vertex42 lists over a dozen free budget spreadsheets that work with Microsoft Excel, and some are compatible with OpenOfficeCalc or Google Docs as well. You'll find monthly and yearly household and personal budget spreadsheets, Christmas gift budget, business budget template, a wedding budget spreadsheet and a Money Manager Spreadsheet for Kids.

 

It's Your Money Budget Spreadsheets. It's Your Money lists seven free budgeting spreadsheets, including a Cash Flow Budget Spreadsheet inspired by Dave Ramsey's budgeting methods. Need to keep a budget by the week? Try the Box Budget Spreadsheet, which breaks down each month into four weeks

 

Google Docs Budget Spreadsheets.Use the Google Docs template gallery(now officially called Google Drive) and enter one of these in the search box for some great options for budgets:

• Best-Personal-Budget-Planner A nicely done and very comprehensive budget spreadsheet with embedded spending and budget summary graphs, by bluecyber.
• Simple Budget Planner A more compact budgeting spreadsheet that lets you budget expenses by percentage of annual and monthly income, by Google.
• Yearly Budget Template A detailed yearly and monthly budget tracking spreadsheet by Troybarto. This budget spreadsheet lets you project income and savings as well as keep a record of actual income and savings.

I ran a poll last year and found that 65% of people still use Excel to their budgeting.  If you are one of those people or someone who wants to start budgeting one of the templates above should be able to help.

 

WATERCOOLER

 

How Well Do You Remember 2014 - Goldman Sachs' end-of-year crossword just came out, and it's great puzzle to see how well you remember the most important financial and economic events of 2014

 

Click puzzle for a larger image (Answers are below)

 

Across

8  The US has already embarked on the path of monetary policy __ from easy policy, while Japan and the Euro area continue to expand easing efforts

9  Rebalancing of the __ in Japan was expected to provide a meaningful boost to Japanese equity markets

11  It is argued that France's large __ sector reduces the risk of a sharp contraction in French economic growth

13  Sales of __ have been an important fiscal revenue source for local governments in China

15 Bitcoin users must sign transactions with their private __ in order to spend their bitcoin

17  1985 Agreement to devalue the USD relative to the JPY and DEM

18  Ukrainian President who fled Kiev in February

20  Historically, equity vol tends to be highest in this season of the year

21  Eorpean corporate earnings have looked similar to Japan's during its "lost decades" but equity market __ looks very different

23  A recent return to higher private sector borrowing in __ currency in some emerging markets might be cause for concern

25  The majority of Muslims worldwide are __

26  Some argue that low economic volatility in 2014 is a cotinuation of the "Great ___" in economic growth that prevailed from the mid-1980s until the GFC

28  Percent of Chinese urban households that have mortgage debt

32  Monetary policy __ is a key driver of recent and expected dollar strength

33  Iraqi __ is an autonomous region in NE Iraq that has the potential to materially increase oil production and exports

34 A Euro area country that arguably benefited from a bout of deflation

36 A radical affiliate of al Qaeda, which took over large swatch of Iraq and Syria in 2014

 

Down

1  The percent of Japanese corporates that currently do not pay taxes

2  All bitcoin transactions are recorded in the __, a centralized, transparent ledger

3  China house price __ in 2014 have been a major source of concern for the economy

4  Roughly __ percent of OECD European crude oil and natural gas imports came from Russia in 2013

5  Rising concerns about __ have been a key focus of the ECB

6  A cryptocurrentcy whose price peaked in December 2013 at more than three times the current price

7  A key driver of low economic growth and deflation in Japan over the past decade

10  Russia's annexation of __ was a major catalyst of the current tensions between Russia and the West

12  Some argue that the global economy is experiencing secular __, implying that interest rates will fail to increase towards higher historical norms

14  Pseudonym for the creator of the Bitcoin network

16 Low economic and asset market volatility seems to be consistent with where we are in the current economic __

19  A desire to stem massive __ inflows has arguably been a key driver behind Chinese policymaker's shifting stance on RMB policy in 2014

22  Chinese officials set a daily CNY __ against the USD

24  A structured product that has been heavily employed to take advantage of the "one-way" currency bet that has been a key feature of the CNH/CNY market in recent years

27  One of the first developed market countries to raise interest rates in the current cycle

30  A consumption tax __ implemented in Japan on April 1 helped push the economy into recessionary territory

31 The Obama Administration's aggressive __ agenda could give Congress substantial leverage today in forcing the White House to address exchange rate grievances

35  The unprecedented double whammy of low vol and low rates in 2014 pushed __ options to decade low levels across many global equity indices.

 

The Valuation of Uber

 

Should you check your email

We all have becomes addicted to checking our email.  Here is a funny decision tree that you can use to help determine whether or not you should check your email or do something more productive instead. 

 

  

We hear that the drop in oil prices will act like a tax stimulus for Americans.  Just how much can we expect to save.  The chart below from Wells Fargo shows just how much each income group in the US will save over a year because of lower gas prices.

 

 

 

Answer to crossword puzzle

 

 

Click the image to enlarge