Several advanced techniques are mentioned in this workshop, but time does not allow me to fully explain them during the program. These links will help you learn more about the investment tools, income tax ideas, and estate planning techniques that are introduced in the lesson.
ID Theft Prevention: Credit Freeze and Fraud Alerts
Freezing your credit report will prevent most attempts to open a new bank account, credit card, or loan in your name. When your credit report is frozen, the credit reporting agency will not provide a report or credit score to any company with whom you don’t already have an account. Freezing, unfreezing, or temporarily thawing a credit report is free. You must do this separately with each of the three major credit reporting agencies:
Equifax.com/personal/credit-report-services or 800-685-1111
Experian.com/help or 888-EXPERIAN (888-397-3742)
TransUnion.com/credit-help or 888-909-8872
If you want to open a new credit line yourself, you will have to temporarily thaw the freeze with one or more of the credit reporting agencies. With the credit reporting agencies’ app, it is quick and easy. But if you think a freeze would be too bothersome, you can put a temporary fraud alert on your account instead. Use the same contact info as for freezing your credit report.
ID Theft Prevention: Password Managers
Read reviews of password managers from Consumer Reports. If the site prompts you to log in and you do not have an online membership with Consumer Reports, you can probably access it through your library. Ask your library for instructions about how to access Consumer Reports.
Automatic Rebalancing
“Automatic Rebalancing: Investing Made Simple, Part 2.” No-Nonsense Money Talk with Karen Chan (blog), posted Sept. 5, 2024.
Retirement account rollovers
This resource is currently not available. A new blog post on this topic is coming soon!
Two resources on irs.gov are particularly helpful in understanding rollovers. Rollovers of Retirement Plan and IRA distributions gives a concise review of the types of rollovers and the rules that apply to each. The Rollover Chart shows between which accounts rollovers are allowed and between which accounts they are not. You can transfer between almost all types of accounts, but not all, so check the chart to be sure.
Index funds
“Index Mutual Funds: Investing Made Simple, Part 1.” No-Nonsense Money Talk with Karen Chan (blog), posted Sept. 4, 2024.
Target date retirement funds
“Target Date Retirement Funds: Investing Made Simple, Part 3.” No-Nonsense Money Talk with Karen Chan (blog), posted Sept. 6, 2024.
Six Target Date Funds to Buy for Your Retirement, Nellie S. Huang, on the kiplinger.com website discusses how the approach to target dates funds differs among the companies that offer them, and some ways that the product is evolving.
Designate Representatives
To learn more and to download forms for the various advance directives for health care (Power of Attorney, Living Will, and DNR/POLST) plus Power of Attorney for Property, go to the Resources Page for my Estate Planning Toolbox program.
Karen Chan Financial Education & Consulting, LLC 