Consumer Protection

Protecting Your Investment Accounts: 4 Critical Steps I've Taken

Protecting Your Investment Accounts: 4 Critical Steps I’ve Taken

4 Comments / Investments, Consumer Protection, Financial Independence / Retire Early (FIRE) / /

When you first start putting money into the stock market, your investment accounts may not seem to be that valuable. But over time, those accounts may very well be the lifeblood of your entire financial life. That’s the case for us nowadays. We’ve been fortunate enough to build up a solid net worth over the years that now funds our early retirement. That’s all well and good, but that makes it a little scarier that if one of those investment […]

Protecting Your Investment Accounts: 4 Critical Steps I’ve Taken Read More »

Privacy and Security: The Essential Guide to Reclaiming Your Digital Life

Privacy and Security: The Essential Guide to Reclaiming Your Digital Life

14 Comments / Consumer Protection, Here's Why I'm Liking..., Motivation / /

I spent the last 13+ years of my career in IT as a manager, but I’m still a techie at heart. Even now, almost 7 years into early retirement, I still enjoy keeping up with technology and tinkering with various parts of it. Over the past few years though, I continue to get increasingly concerned about how we don’t protect our data and identities in the digital world we live in. Privacy and security tend to get put on the

Privacy and Security: The Essential Guide to Reclaiming Your Digital Life Read More »

Freezing Your Child’s Credit: Why It’s Critical and How To Do It

Freezing Your Child’s Credit: Why It’s Critical and How To Do It

10 Comments / Consumer Protection, Debt, Kids / /

If you haven’t frozen your credit yet, I’ll be harping on why you need to do that shortly. However, this article is about freezing your child’s credit and why it’s just as important, if not more important, than freezing your own. Lisa and I have had our credit frozen since 2017. It wasn’t hard to do (it’s even easier now) and it’s quick and easy to thaw it temporarily when applying for new credit. That last part’s important because we

Freezing Your Child’s Credit: Why It’s Critical and How To Do It Read More »

3 Ways a Financial Aggregator Can Help Save You Money

3 Ways a Financial Aggregator Can Help Save You Money

12 Comments / Spending, Consumer Protection, Debt, Investments, Saving, Taxes and Financial Planning / /

A financial aggregator is sort of a broad term that generally refers to software or services that can pull all your financial data into one place. We’re talking about balances and transactions for your bank accounts, credit cards, investment accounts, loans, and more. You might already be familiar with some of the older players in the game like Quicken, which is still a huge competitor. I used Quicken from 1999 until 2019 (20 years!) until I switched to both Empower

3 Ways a Financial Aggregator Can Help Save You Money Read More »

Protect Your Credit – The 3 Vital Steps You Need To Take

Protect Your Credit – The 3 Vital Steps You Need To Take

10 Comments / Consumer Protection / /

I’ve been meaning to write about what you need to do to protect your credit for a while now. It’s such an important topic, but it seems to be something that’s glaringly overlooked by many. I noticed that anytime the subject comes up in conversation (yeah, I’m a blast at parties!), most folks have no idea about it or what to do. That can be a huge oversight since just a few simple steps can aid in preventing financial identity

Protect Your Credit – The 3 Vital Steps You Need To Take Read More »

One of My Favorite Ways To Learn How To Save Money

One of My Favorite Ways To Learn How To Save Money

8 Comments / Product and Service Reviews, Consumer Protection, Education, Financial Independence / Retire Early (FIRE), Investments, Saving, Spending / /

Those of you on the path to financial independence know there are only two ways to fatten your wallet: make more money or spend less. Today, I want to focus on telling you about an invaluable tool to learn how to save money. Most folks tend to start with cutting out the excess spending in their lives simply because it can be much easier than chasing after making more money. Regardless, both areas can be largely worthwhile and beneficial for

One of My Favorite Ways To Learn How To Save Money Read More »

My Credit Score Dropped – Should I Worry?

12 Comments / Debt, Consumer Protection / /

Should I be concerned that my credit score dropped recently? I mean, after all, your credit score helps financial institutions define your reliability in the world of finance.  It’s like your report card to see how you’re doing. A great score likely means you’ll get better rates when applying for a loan.  A bad credit score usually equates to a higher rate – if you’re able to get approved at all. I’ve always maintained a good score, even when I

My Credit Score Dropped – Should I Worry? Read More »

Identity Theft – Are You Protected?

6 Comments / Consumer Protection, Financial Independence / Retire Early (FIRE) / /

A good friend of mine at work recently said he’s struggling on his month of trying not to spend money on non-essentials.  He said he’s already had to spend $250 on a plumber and $200 to renew his identity theft protection for the year. Ok, well that makes sense— wait, WHAT?! $200 for identity theft protection?!!  Holy mackerel!!! First of all, I’ve always wanted to work the phrase “holy mackerel” into a post, so mission accomplished. Since that’s out of

Identity Theft – Are You Protected? Read More »