Are you holding a variable annuity (VA) that you purchased some time ago from an enthusiastic insurance salesperson? It behooves you to periodically review it to see if its purpose, cost, and value are still aligned with your financial goals. Below are some steps you can take to better understand what you bought and whether…
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Under a new federal law passed on September 21, 2018, you can now freeze and unfreeze your credit files at no cost at each of the nationwide credit reporting agencies – Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. This new law additionally requires the credit agencies to allow extended fraud alerts up to one year (vs. the current…
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Yes, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which last year identified senior financial abuse as a public health hazard. Defined as fraud, breach of personal trust, poor investment advice, or improper use of power of attorney, the CDC’s effort highlights the fact that an increasing portion of total American assets…
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As you probably have heard, nearly half of all Americans have had their most sensitive personal data stolen from Equifax, one of the country’s three credit reporting bureaus. This is the biggest single data breach in American history, and we should all be very concerned about this situation. Here are my immediate observations and suggestions,…
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Now that tax-time is just around the corner, the IRS offers several warning signs that you may be a victim of tax-related identity theft and what to do about them: Your attempt to file your tax return electronically is rejected. You get a message saying a return with a duplicate Social Security number has been…
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I recently attended a seminar about public pension reform led by Chuck Reed, formerly mayor of San Jose and currently board member of the Retirement Security Initiative. As you probably recall, Reed led the effort to pass a pension reform measure for San Jose in 2012. Here are some of the implications of the underfunded…
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