10 Cyber-Security Tips to Safeguard Your Finances

When considering your financial wellness and trying to plan ahead for your financial future – One area that often gets overlooked is cyber-security.

Here are 10 quick tips for staying safe courtesy of Jeff Lanza, a cyber-security expert who we partnered with for a client education webinar:

1. If you haven’t already, create your social security account online, before a criminal does it for you and tries to claim your benefits.
2. If you’re not applying for any loans any time soon, consider freezing your credit under the four reporting agencies.
3. Invest in a high-quality shredder for getting rid of sensitive files at home.
4. Consider signing up for electronic statements, so that less of your personal information is floating around in the mail.
5. Don’t respond to unexpected calls, texts, emails, or pop-ups on your computer.
6. Rather than clicking on links in emails, just go directly to the provider’s website to log-in.
7. Be extremely careful with wire transfers and move money requests. Take extra pre-cautions to confirm the instructions in-person or over the phone. 
8. Update your operating systems and antivirus software often.
9. Use strong and unique passwords for all your log-ins.
10. Don’t give out your SSN to anyone without confirming it’s for a legitimate reason.

You don’t want to wait until it’s too late to consider all these important tips for staying safe and diligent in securing your financial accounts and matters.