In any economy, it’s a known fact that there are people who do unscrupulous activities to make money illegally by using other’s people identities. Knowing this, you can take some very basic precautions to minimize your risk for having your identity stolen and used against you.
Here there are…
1. Monitor Your Credit
Most consumers aren’t even aware that their identities have been stolen…until they go to use their debit cards or other accounts and they are empty or they get a call from a credit card company asking if strange charges are theirs. All of a sudden you realize something is dreadfully wrong and you can spend months or years fixing what the impostor has done to your name, your credit, your buying reputation, etc.
You can request a free credit file disclosure, also known as a credit report, once every 12 months at www.annualcreditreport.com. There are other sites offering free credit scores and reports but quite often they are tied to a monthly charge to monitor your report and such. You don’t need this! Just get your free report from the website above and pay attention to the details.
2. Don’t give out your personal information without a good reason.
Make sure the person who is requesting personal information from you (name, address, zip, phone, etc.) is a reputable person and the reason they want the information is valid.
3. Be careful with your mail.
Using an unsecure mailbox out in the open is a big no-no when it comes to mailing important documents of any kind. Take mail to an official mailbox if you have to and make sure you collect the mail as quickly as possible each day. If you have to, go get a PO Box and pick it up every 2 or 3 days.
If you’re going on vacation, put a hold on your mail or have a neighbor or the house-sitter bring it in each day.
4. Watch what goes into your trash!
Thieves that live on stolen identities gather their information from trash, as well as mail, forms they copy in offices and a lot of other sources.
5. Only give out your social security number when you absolutely have to!
Your Social Security Number is the single, most prized find for identity thieves! Make sure you protect yours.
Banks may need them to start account. Employers need them to make sure you’re legal and your taxes are allocated correctly. However, you know those medical forms you fill out when you have a new doctor or dentist? They ask for your social security number? Don’t give it to them…you don’t have to.
Don’t give it out over the phone (giving the last 4 digits is fine…no one can track anything from the last 4), put it in the mail, etc. Just keep it to yourself.
And your social security card should NOT be in your wallet. If it is, get it out right now and put it in a safe! My financial guy taught me this one!
6. Pay attention to billing cycles of credit cards.
Know when your bills usually arrive (make them paperless if you work on the web effectively) and when your billing cycles land so that you know if something goes missing. Call your credit card companies if a bill doesn’t show up on time or a check you send is lost in the mail. Looking at past statements can help you set up a calendar so you know what arrives when.
7. Be cautious when ordering product on the internet
When you decide to order a product or service online, look for the symbol (a lock) on the bottom right-hand corner of the browser window you are using. If you don’t see it, call the merchant and place the order over the phone. It’s worth the extra few minutes to make sure your information is safe and secure.
8. Delete your personal information from all old computers you’re not using or sell.
How often do we sell or donate old computers without thinking about what personal information may be on that old useless hard drive? It only takes once in the hands of the wrong person to give donating a bad taste in your mouth.
Get in and delete all information, reformat the hard drive if you can and if all else fails, remove the hard drive (they are cheap now) and have a computer professional help you wipe the drive clean. Again, isn’t it worth a few dollars to hire someone to help you keep your personal financial life safe?
Bottom line, it’s up to you to be diligent with your personal information. Having your identity stolen and used against you is one of the most painful and time-consuming events to recover from. Do whatever you can to prevent it!
Teens can do several things to find their place in a world full of other teens looking to do the same thing. There are two basic avenues teens can take to begin making money for themselves: 1) they can get a J.O.B. or 2) they can CREATE their own job by providing a needed product or service business to a particular niche market.
1) Getting a J.O.B.
First off, they must begin by dressing the part. Teens must understand that success begins when they get dressed at home…before they go looking for a job…before they start asking who’s in charge…before they step foot in any business establishment.
Next, they must learn how to shake hands correctly. First, secure, full grasp of the hand, look the person in the eye, notice how the other person says ‘hello’ with their face and mirror that response back to this person. The action alone will help them build rapport very quickly. Also, teach them to ask questions more than talk.
Before beginning their job search, sit down and write out a list of skills they already have. This list doesn’t have to be from a previous job; any and all skills that might be relevant to an employer are fine. Look at skills involved with helping family, friends, neighbor solve problems in their lives. How have they helped others in the past? And lastly, what types of things are they good at?
Take this list and teach them how to set an Intention about what kinds of skills they would like to learn, in addition to what they already know.
Help them create a simple resume with their name, contact info, schooling, skills, careers aspirations (if they have any idea), what they’re great at, etc. List two references at the bottom.
Make a list of businesses they’d like to work for and learn from and go visit those businesses, but first, figure out when the busiest time is for the businesses (if there is one) and visit each one as a customer first! Find out what THEY could provide that the businesses appears to need. Put THIS on the resume!
Now, and only after doing the above, go visit these same businesses, resume and intentions in hand. Present yourself as professional, willing to learn, willing to do whatever it takes, and take what you get and make the most of it. Help them not to get discouraged. Tell them stories about your first job searches.
When they DO land their summer job, talk to them about choosing to do their best, learn everything they can possibly learn from the experience (suggest they keep a ‘learning journal!), and leave the job in a better position than they found it. During the summer, if they start to complain, don’t lecture. Listen, ask questions, encourage and don’t get upset about it. We all complained at first…at least a little.
2. Now, for the second option…CREATING their OWN JOB.
This is my favorite option for all. Empowering your teens with the ability to make their own money is one of the best gifts you can ever give them. It’s the gift that truly never stops giving!
First…suggest that they start paying attention to what people are already buying, using, needing, wanting. Get them to focus on a particular niche market, i.e., kids, teens, babies, golfers, moms with school kids, dads with expensive cars, etc. The narrower the niche, the better. There’s a reason that niche rhymes with rich!
Then, teach them how to approach this group of people with questions that will help them narrow down their chosen niche’s ‘criteria.’ In other words, what is it that niche needs, wants, is buying. One of the biggest mistakes business people make is assuming they know what their niche wants. WRONG! If you want to know…ask!
When they narrow down a product or service, help them figure out how to provide it. Can this be done in person, via the internet, through developing a joint venture with an existing business?
Note: if they don’t want to create their OWN product or service, they can teach themselves the amazingly profitable business called Affiliate Marketing, in other words, sell someone else’s product or service and make a commission from each sale.
Now comes the fun part…the marketing!
First, help them create a simple webpage and the easiest way of all to do this is by creating a blog. They can start a simple blog at BlogSpot.com or, if they are a bit web savvy and have a place to host their own website, I recommend using WordPress software. There are thousands upon thousands of ‘templates’ out there for everything under the sun and a blog is the easiest way to get up and running on the internet FAST.
OK, so how DO they get the word out? This is a whole seminar in itself.
For now…
Get the niche
Figure out what they want
Figure out how to provide it (create or joint venture/affiliate marketing)
Name the company
Create a simple logo (or just use the name in a nice type style)
File a DBA (doing business as) with your local city or county (if you don’t know how to do this, call your local county office. It’s easy). Let’s teach them how to do it right the FIRST time.
Start a bank account for the business (you’ll need to co-sign)
Get a blog created and start adding content about the niche. Content does NOT have to be long and complicated. It can simply be finding articles that are written already and providing links to them or writing short articles about the niche and what they are providing.
Set up a Twitter account and start learning to TWEET
Set up a Facebook (if they don’t have one already) and start talking about their niche and product or service.
Create a nice one-page flyer and post around town.
Post information on Craigslist and other free bulletin boards online.
Treat each customer with the utmost respect because they have friends!
Do the best job possible.
Develop self-esteem by knowing they can do it themselves!
Then, just keep doing the same thing and see what happens
Sit back, pat yourself on the back and know you’ve done a great thing.
At this point, helping your teen find a mentor is a great idea. It can be someone doing a similar thing or someone doing something they’d like to be doing or someone successful in THEIR eyes (not yours) who can share positive, effective business philosophy.
So, there you have it. Whatever you don’t, Do NOT let your teen sit around all summer and play computer games. Your number one job as a parent is to teach them to be a responsible human being. Empower them now and they won’t have to move in later! Enjoy…
You know that show, “Kids say the dardest things?” Well, I thought I’d do my own version but do it around money. So, last night I sat down with Jessica, my neighbor, who I have known since she was 1 year old (I can’t believe she’s 12 now!), and we had a little chat about money.
We had so much fun, I’ve decided to do this some more. If you have a child, any age, that would love to be in front of a camera and sit with me for 10 minutes, please give me a call 805-957-1024 or send me an email.
The series is called, “Kids Talk Money” and I can’t wait to do more!
You know how you can’t keep stuff from kids? They’re kind of like Moms…they just always know when something’s up!
Well, lots of people have asked me how to explain to their kids what the heck happened to the economy. To tell you the truth, most adults don’t understand it either.
To give you and your kids a little glimpse into what happened, watch this short video. It’s VERY good and explains how we got into this particular mess in the first place.
If you have followed my program at all, you know that it is geared toward introducing the idea that you (the Universal You) can actually create your OWN way to financially support yourself by some other way than to just go out and get a job.
The old standard of going to school to get good grades to go to college to get good grades in order to graduate and get a good, secure job doesn’t work so well anymore.
On an internet marketing cruise in January of 09, myself and Amanda Dan Der Gulick did a really fun video with Reed Floren, a self-proclaimed semi-retired 22 year old who has done it all on the internet.
To watch this amazing young man talk about how and why he got into entrepreneurship and making money on the internet, go here…
So, how did I pay my bills last month? I began by changing my scarcity thinking to abundant thinking. I was determined to meet my bills and put at least a little bit in each of my jars, using only the money in my checking account.
Changing your thinking requires effort and the creation of new habits.
First, starting on the last day of the coaches camp, I began to keep a brief evening diary listing everything I had done that day that was a step towards the creation of my new financially free life. This made me conscious each day of doing at least one thing: reading a few pages of a respected financial book; searching the web to learn about stocks; making a phone call to solicit more business, etc.
Second, I began to really pay attention to what I was spending my money on. Piddlyjunk is anything that loses its value the minute you walk out of the store. I included food items like chips, speciality ice cream, candy, donuts, Dairy Queen, all fast food, etc. as Piddlyjunk that, if bought too often, would destroy my dream of financial freedom. I stopped and thought before I bought anything: “Do I really need this, or do I only want it? What purpose does it serve?” I had to buy ink cartridges for my printer. I tutor students and printing the Latin worksheets was essential to create wealth; they were a need. I wanted to buy one of Donald Trump’s books that I had checked out from the library. There was not sufficient money in my Education jar and I had already read the book. This was a want and I did not buy it.
Third, before going into the grocery store I now check to see how much cash I have. This is the maximum I can spend. Doing this makes me much more careful about what I decide to buy.
Fourth, I continued to log all my income and expenses.
Fifth, I constantly thought about “more” not “less”. Out of the blue I received an e-mail from the mother of a five-year old. She had processed the DBA for my Latin program and wanted to enroll her son in classes with me. I had one new student!
Sixth, I made time to read every day – Cameron Johnson, Donald Trump, Robert Kiyosaki, Stephen Leeb – anything to increase my financial knowledge.
I am creating new habits. I am thinking abundant thoughts.
These abundant thoughts brought me a tax-windfall from the State of Michigan. I have money in my jars AND I can pay all my bills from my checking account! I celebrated with an on-sale cheesecake using money from my living expenses and not my credit card, and a friend had chips out as munchies at her house on Friday!
Mr. Kiyosaki, Mr Trump, Ms Donati, I think I am getting it!
