Protect Your Identity - During and After the Holidays

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FromNavy Personnel Command Public Affairs
MILLINGTON,Tenn. (NNS) -- Making a holiday budget and following it is a great way to makesure your January credit card statements won't be a scary but don't forget toprotect your personal and financial data too, officials said Dec. 11.
"Asconsumers prowl retail stores looking for the best bargains, criminals andhackers are lurking, waiting for opportunities to steal their identities and inturn, their money," said Stacy Livingstone-Hoyte, personal financialmanagement specialist at the Fleet and Family Support Center in Millington,Tenn.
Shewent on to explain that there are ways to protect your identity and financialsecurity by:
-Maintainingphysical control of your debit cards, credit cards, checkbook and identifyinginformation (such as Social Security number and date of birth).-Knowwhere these items are at all times.-Onlycarry the cards you plan to use. This protects you in two ways: If you loseyour purse or wallet, you will know exactly what is lost and secondly, you willbe less inclined to overspend if you do not have other financial resources atyour fingertips.-Knowwith whom you are doing business. This is especially important when doingbusiness online or over the phone.-Reviewall statements upon receipt to verify that all the transactions are accurate.-Immediatelyreport any "missing" cards or unrecognized transactions."
"Beproactive," said Livingstone-Hoyte, "waiting to report a loss orunauthorized use won't make it easier, the sooner you can minimize damage, thebetter."Ifyou do spend more than you had planned, here are a few steps to take to lessenthe harm:-Stop charging, put the credit cards away and stop the bleeding. Before you useyour credit card; you should know how you will pay off the debt and have thefunds on standby.-Review your spending plan and make changes so that you can afford youradditional holiday debt payments. Update your financial planning worksheet.-Pay more than the minimum monthly payment to reduce your debt faster.-A $1000 credit card charge at 18% APR amounts to 19 years to pay off the debtand $1931 in interest payments, if you only pay the minimum payment (2% ofbalance). Avoid making only minimum payments.-If overspending has left you unable to meet your debt payments, see your CFS orFFSC financial educator to review your spending plan and help you exploreoptions.
"Financialplanning is important even after the holidays end," continuedLivingstone-Hoyte. "Take the time to note which techniques and strategieswere effective in helping you stick to your holiday spending plan and applythem to your yearly efforts. If the strategies didn't serve you well, try tofigure out why and make adjustments."
Livingstone-Hoytesays dealing with debt is essential to your wellbeing and navigating stress.She recommends using lessons learned from this year to plan for next. Savingnow for next year will ensure you will have the cash for your expenses and yourholidays will be debt-free. To do that, she says, add up what you spent thisyear and divide that amount by 12. This is the amount you'll need to put into asavings account each month to be ready for next year. Additionally; since theMilitary pay increase for 2013 will be 1.3%, consider using this "newmoney" as an extra resource in helping to grow your household savings oreliminate debt. The allotment feature available in MyPay can help you with thiseffort.