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So what steps can you take now to prevent your family from becoming another accident statistic?

Forward collision warning and lane departure warning technology can be the difference between an average commute and a tragedy on the highway. The systems use radar technology to detect if you get too close to an obstacle or another vehicle, which signals the system to sound an alarm – providing up to five full seconds of extra reaction time. That may not seem like much, but imagine how far you can go in five seconds when speeding down the freeway at 60 mph.

This technology isn’t just available in new luxury cars. You can get it installed aftermarket in your current vehicle at a fraction of the cost.

Safe Drive Systems is leading the charge in helping drivers protect themselves and their families on the road by providing affordable forward collision and lane departure technology that can be outfitted into almost any car.

Here are just a few ways that collision avoidance systems can save you money in the short- and long-term while keeping you safe:

Don’t wait for mandatory collision-avoidance technology. Government and consumer advocacy groups are attempting to make forward collision warning technology mandatory in all new cars by 2022. However, you don’t need to wait to protect your family – the technology is available now. This potentially life-saving upgrade is available to all consumers, and getting it installed in your vehicle can provide you and your family a safer driving experience years before the auto dealers will begin manufacturing the technology in standard models – at a higher price point.

Upgrade your safety features without buying a new car. Most manufacturers and dealerships won’t add collision avoidance technology to a car that’s already been purchased. However, you don’t have to buy an expensive car to be safer on the road. Drivers need to be aware of cost-effective aftermarket solutions that can be installed in almost any automobile. This technology can add up to $4,000 to the price of a new car from the manufacturer, but consumers can install it in their current vehicle for half that cost. And with some aftermarket vendors offering interest-free financing, making it even more affordable, there is no need to wait for the government mandate or purchase a brand new vehicle.

Reduce accidents and prevent hikes on insurance premiums. When drivers get into a car accident, they can often expect to pay thousands in insurance surcharges and fees over time on top of repair costs. Avoid these costs by relying on technology that assures a reduction in accidents. Some collision-avoidance vendors are even willing to pay up to 50 percent of your insurance deductible if an accident should occur.

You’re not just surrounded by other drivers when you’re on the road, you’re surrounded by text messages, tweets and apps too. With 80 percent of today’s car accidents caused by driver inattention, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, there’s no reason for waiting to take necessary and cost-effective steps to make your car safer.

For more information and tips on how to make your vehicle safer and reduce accidents, call 855-826-4234 or visit safedrivesystems.com.

Photo courtesy of Getty Images

*FF

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Based on IRS data, nearly 3 million people have been victims of tax identity theft since 2010. Every year, criminals use increasingly advanced tactics — particularly geared toward taxpayers filing online — to steal taxpayers’ personal information, file fraudulent tax returns in their names and steal their refunds. After fraud occurs, it can take months and multiple steps by the victim to access a stolen refund and regain an identity with the IRS.

Protect your identity — and your refund — with these five tax tips from H&R Block:

1. File early and be cautious. Filing your taxes early will allow you to claim your refund before a criminal can. Before you file, protect your personal information by installing a security software with anti-virus and firewall protections.

2. Keep your paper records safe. Shred records you are no longer using and keep your social security card and any sensitive documents under lock and key.

3. Do not respond to individuals posing as a tax agency. The IRS does not demand immediate payment without sending a bill in the mail first. If you receive a phone call or an email with an external link, do not click on the link or share personal or financial information unless you personally know the person on the other end.

4. Change your password. The 2015 tax season saw a significant increase of tax fraud in the do-it-yourself (DIY) space. When using at-home tax software, such as H&R Block’s DIY products, create a strong password with capitalization, numbers, and symbols or avoid the risk by visiting a tax preparer.

5. Use tax identity protection services. Visit the IRS website to learn more about how to protect your identity. Additionally, H&R Block’s Tax Identity Shield provides clients with tools to reduce the risk of tax identity theft and resolution services, if a client becomes a victim of tax identity theft.

This tax season, take away the stress and put the “fun” back in “refund” by filing early. Plus, this year, you’ll have a chance to boost your refund — as an extra incentive, H&R Block is celebrating refund season by awarding $1,000 a day to 1,000 people. The first drawing for this limited time offer is Jan. 16. Visit hrblock.com/grand for rules and an alternate method of entry. Enter early to protect your refund and for more chances to win.

*BPT

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October was National Cyber Security Awareness month and during that time, millions of online identities were stolen in America with more than 200 published breaches.

We’re now getting close to 1 billion records of identity theft – more than three times our entire population in the United States.

Nearly two-thirds of Americans have heard, read or seen something about online safety and security issues recently, according to StopThinkConnect.org. Yet consumers also say they don’t take steps to stay safe online because they lack information or knowledge.

So here are my best tips to help you enjoy Black Friday, CyberMonday and the Christmas shopping experience without losing your privacy and identity or putting your children’s safety at risk:

• Change your passwords – all of them. Do it now and do it as frequently as you can tolerate. If you don’t want to change them often, then use any unique characters you can think of, such as a dollar sign ($) or an exclamation mark (!) or replace a letter “O” with a 0 (zero). This goes a long way in preventing brute force attacks against your password. Also, never trust anyone on the phone who asks for your password, especially if they called you. The same holds true with emails. Both the telephone and email are used by people who try to get your password by pretending to be the IRS, your bank or someone else you have an account with.

• Clean up your apps. Assume most of your smartphone or tablet apps are malware that spies on you and your online behavior. Do you really need them? Delete any apps you don’t use often. Replace apps that take advantage of too many of your privacy settings with similar apps that don’t. On an iPhone, you’re not being eavesdropped on until you run the app.

• Shop online only from websites you trust. If you don’t know where the merchant is located, don’t shop online there. If they don’t have a corporate address or are located in another country, it could be iffy whether you ever see the goods you think you purchased. Also, if their shopping-cart experience is not an HTTPS browser session, then everything you type in ¬– your name, address and credit card information – is going over the Internet unencrypted, in plain view.Never buy online using your credit card on a site that doesn’t have SSL (secure sockets layer) encryption installed. It’s easy to tell you are in a secure, encrypted session. You should see an icon of a locked padlock in your browser and the website URL starts with HTTPS not HTTP. Also, if you receive emails from the merchant, no matter the reason, don’t give them your credit card information over email.

• Don’t use cash or debit cards. You have three major choices when shopping – cash, credit or debit. In rare but growing instances there’s even a fourth option called “Bitcoins,” which are now accepted at some merchants including Overstock.com. Bitcoins could be considered the equivalent to the cash option, because once used, you can’t get them back. So, if you have to choose among these options, the best is the credit card.Here’s why: If you experience identity theft, credit card laws allow you to keep all of your credit immediately, with no responsibility during an identity theft or fraud investigation. With a debit card, your bank’s policy can be to tie up your money in the amount of the fraudulent transactions for up to 30 days. Some have been known to take up to 60 days to resolve the issue.

• Don’t use public WiFi without using SSL encryption. Public Wifi networks can be a hacker’s dream. If they want, they can see what websites you are visiting and insert malware into your computer or other device. The hacker also has access to any information you are sending out over the Internet, which could include credit card numbers or other critical information.

About Gary S. Miliefsky

Gary Miliefsky recently blew the lid on the how Russian, Chinese and Indian hackers are behind the top 10 flashlight apps specifically designed to collect and expose your personal information to cybercriminals abroad. Fox News Bret Baier’s interview with Miliefsky broke records for Fox with over 5 million views. Miliefsky is a consumer advocate who has been recently featured on ABC, Good Morning America, World News Tonight, NBC’s Today, FOX News, CNBC and elsewhere for his expertise as a cyber security expert. He is Founder of SnoopWall Inc., a cutting edge counter-intelligence technology company offering free consumer based software to secure personal data on cell-phones and tablets, while generating revenues helping banks and government agencies secure their networks. He has been active in the INFOSEC arena, as the Executive Producer of Cyber Defense Magazine and a regular contributor to Hakin9 Magazine. He has patents and patents pending on his inventions for Computer and Network Security.

The post Halting Hackers For The Holidays appeared first on AKAMom Magazine.

After countless hours spent holiday shopping, you finally finished. Now, you’re faced with the credit card payments as you roll into the new year. While it may have been difficult to keep your finances – particularly your credit cards – top of mind amid the dash from store to store, those payments aren’t going anywhere.

Managing your credit can seem like a daunting task – but it doesn’t have to be. Even if you’ve blown your budget and maxed out your cards, you can still take control of your credit and become financially fit in 2014.

Here are five things you should do right now to help get your credit back on track and sustain your financial reputation all year long:

* Review your credit report. Start with taking a comprehensive look at what’s there, good and bad. Make sure you thoroughly review your report for any errors or mistakes, especially after the holidays. Tools like AnnualCreditReport.com let you check your report annually for free. It’s also a good idea to check your credit score to see if it’s dropped and to give you a basis for comparison moving forward. Resources such as Credit.com allow you to easily pull your score.

* Know what you owe. Tally up those balances and determine your debt to credit ratio – that is, the amount of money you owe on your cards versus your available credit, which accounts for approximately 30 percent of your credit score. If you’re using more than half of your available credit, this will likely lower your credit score. This means that if you have three credit cards with a combined limit of $10,000, your total balance should be below $5,000.

* Be sure to pay your bills on time and at more than the monthly minimum. Sure, it’s intuitive, but simply paying your bills on time accounts for about 35 percent of your credit score. Start with your holiday shopping bills and make sure that at least the minimum required balance is paid – even if you can’t pay them in full.- Also, pay more than the minimum payment every month to pay down your balance faster and decrease interest charges.

* Pay off the card with the highest interest rate first. These are the cards that are costing you the most, so paying them off ahead of a card with a lower interest rate will save you more money in the long run.

* Keep your cards open. Unless you have a compelling reason to close a card – for instance, if you’re paying a large fee on it – it’s best not to close credit cards, especially ones where you have a long positive payment history. When closing a card, not only can your debt to credit ratio increase, you also end up losing the history associated with the card and change the mix of your credit, which could negatively impact your score. And, in the future, do your research before signing on that dotted line. It may have been tempting to open up a retail store credit card to save 15 percent on a recent purchase, but those savings are now ultimately going to end up on your billing statement as interest. Instead, look for a card that works with your lifestyle. Review your options and find a card with a great rewards program and the lowest interest rate possible.

To learn more about budgeting, credit and personal finance, check out a recent Google Hangout, Better Money Habits: Understanding Credit. You can also visit BetterMoneyHabits.com, a free platform from Bank of America in partnership with the Khan Academy offering dozens of personal finance videos on everything from using credit to saving and budgeting that you can watch any time.

*BPT

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She looked up at me with tear-filled, eyes and said, “Why can’t I go to college like my friends?” It was then the “should have’s” surfaced. I should have saved more money, researched scholarships, and contributed to a 529. Maybe if I’d just given up my daily Starbucks fix that would have helped? Or I could have let go of those premium channels, ate at home more, and got a simpler phone plan. How many endless articles have I read on how to save but, I just wish someone would have helped me put together an easy plan. 

College is eighteen years away when you have a newborn. Just getting through the day scheduling naps, feedings, diaper changes, and entertaining them is simply exhausting. Who has the time, the extra cash or the plan to save money for college? Soon they are toddlers and the endless money drain begins with pre-school, fun/educational activities, and new clothing every ten minutes. Lastly, they are school age and not only do they need more; it costs buckets of time and money. You still have those cost-draining birthday parties, activities, and endless clothes changes, but you add the fact that you are a living breathing ATM machine. Cars, movies, and don’t get me started on the cost of yearbooks! Still haven’t started saving? Need help?

Give yourself an easy plan. Avoid the pain and tears; invest early in her imagination and education with College Savings Dolls®. Start with realistic 15” scaled to size, positive body-image dolls, based on actual college girls. Add career clothes to spark her imagination at an early age and get her thinking on the right track.

You will start seeing her childhood as a wonderful journey, and less of a day to day race to the next event. Our motto is, “Play, Imagine, Save, Succeed”. You work together to accomplish one goal; she plays and imagines, you save and she succeeds.

Use the mini-search engine financial website to calculate how much you need to save, research colleges, get tips, and use links to financial plans. At the same time, she is having fun on the companion site creating crafts, playing games, learning about saving, entering scholarship contests and imagining her future. Together you start forming that plan for success.

“Play, Imagine, Save, Succeed”

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New York, NY [September 5, 2012] – There’s no arguing that having a good grasp of how to handle money is one of the most important life skills a parent can help foster in their child. According to the National Financial Educators Council, over 92 percent of parents agree that developing good habits around money is an important element to having a successful life.[i]

However, parents struggle with imparting strong financial know-how to their kids. In a recent survey conducted by T. Rowe Price, 39 percent of adults disagreed when asked if their parents did a good job educating them about money and 59 percent felt their own kids were not equipped to manage their own money. [ii] How can parents give kids a head start in developing the right childhood money habits so they become successful adults?

Here are some tips from personal finance expert, dad, blogger, philanthropist and successful entrepreneur Doug Lebda to help support adults and kids of all ages in the mission to build a money smart world: 

1.       Change “I want!” to “How do I earn?”: Parenting is tough but it gets way tougher when kids don’t get what they want. Instead of saying no or yes during the next demand-driven fit, try diverting your child to think about what they can do to earn the things they want so they start developing a strong work ethic.

2.       See like a bird but save like a squirrel: Encourage kids to take a bird’s eye view of the money they have coming in like allowance, reward for tasks accomplished or birthday gifts. Then discuss the portions of any income they will put towards saving, giving and spending. This helps your kids develop healthy patterns and plans around money that they can carry with them as they get older.

3.       Be consistent about expectations and rewards: Make sure your kids know what they’re expected to do before they get their allowance. Be consistent in rewarding a job well done as well as withholding rewards if they don’t fulfill their responsibilities. 

4.       It takes a village, so get it involved: Inform extended family and friends about your mission and get them involved! Work together to teach and encourage your kids to save and get rewarded for achieving milestones. Consider having family matching their savings for birthdays or treat kids to non-cash rewards like a special family outing for good financial planning.

5.       Make learning fun: Make it a fun family project to teach your kids how to make money by starting a lemonade stand. Turn saving money into a game by celebrating and rewarding kids for meeting savings goals. Lastly, don’t forget the Internet! 85 percent of kids say that an online game would be helpful for them to learn more about the basics of money. [iii] With today’s digitally savvy kids, it’s important to meet kids where they are already. Apps like Tykoon.com help parents use the powers of virtual gaming for good and streamline the workflow of instilling healthy financial habits early.

Doug Lebda is the cofounder of Tykoon.com and founder and chairman of Lending Tree and the LendingTree Foundation, which empowers individuals in their personal financial lives through education, action and support by matching clients with personal financial coaches. He’s the Chairman of the Board of Recyclebank (recently named one of the 50 most innovative companies in the world) and is an active mentor, angel investor and personal finance blogger for The Huffington Post. In his free time, he enjoys time with his three daughters, is an avid runner and enjoys an occasional round of golf.

Tykoon (www.tykoon.com) is an online rewardbank for kids and parenting tool (Web & iOS) that makes it easy to apply all the tips above. It turns chores and parent-assigned tasks into an engaging virtual experience that helps kids learn about money by playing. Kids play by completing tasks to earn both virtual and real-life rewards.

About Tykoon

Based in New York City and founded in 2011, Tykoon is a fun online kid rewardbank and parenting tool (Web & iOS). It turns chores and tasks into an engaging virtual experience that helps kids learn about money through real life experiences.  Kids engage by completing tasks to earn both virtual and real-life rewards, developing strong financial values and practices. Built for parents and kids by parents and kids, the platform introduces the core concepts of earning, saving, giving and spending so families can build a money smart world, one kid at a time. For more information, please visit www.tykoon.com.

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Many people just spend as needed, or desired, and hope the next paycheck arrives before the money runs out. This is a mistake, but it’s easily corrected by drafting a budget – and sticking to it. A spending plan will help you define your expenses and following it will point you in the direction of future savings. A financial tune-up will help stretch your paycheck to meet basic needs and leave a little at the end of the month for fun. “Lots of people have big gaps in their spending – they don’t know where much of their money goes,” says Liz Weston, author of three books on personal finance, including the upcoming Easy Money: How to Simplify Your Finances and Get What You Want Out of Life. “Tracking what you spend can help you spot ways you’re wasting money and areas where you can cut back. This isn’t about deprivation – it’s about making sure your money goes as far as possible and that you’re using it for things that matter most to you.”

Tracking your spending isn’t hard and doesn’t have to be fancy. A pencil and notebook will do the job. If you want to include more detail, consider software packages such as Money or Quicken. The more detailed you make your budget, the more accurate it will be and the better you’ll be able to track your expenses and find areas to cut. A major benefit: Keeping a wary eye on expenses is the first step in avoiding identity theft. Take a little off the top each month for savings – think about setting up an automatic transfer from your paycheck. Don’t count on saving whatever’s left over at the end of the month because expenses routinely expand to consume available income, which will cause your savings account to flatline.

Getting Started- Start by listing your fixed costs:

• Mortgage payment or rent

• Utilities

• Insurance

• Car payment and operating costs, including gas, oil changes, and scheduled maintenance.

• Food, including what you spend to eat out.

• Clothing for you, your partner, and the kids.

How to Save – Think of the family budget as your roadmap to financial independence. Along the way, here are some suggested ways to save:

• Today’s study question: Will life as you know it end if your shirts don’t have a Marc Jacobs or other logo on ‘em?

• Make restaurant trips an occasional treat – not a substitute for preparing a meal at home.

• Make heating easy by installing a programmable thermostat that flips the heat on each morning, backs off during the day when you’re at work, cranks the temperature up again in the evening and drops it to 55 degrees or so overnight. A good model will allow you to program for extended time away from home, including weekends. Put on a flannel shirt or sweater and you won’t notice that you’ve dialed down the heat.

• In the summer, turn off the air conditioning when you’re away. Run fans in conjunction with the AC and you can set the thermostat higher and still be comfortable.

• Do you need his/hers and kids’ cars? Chances are someone could take public transportation – or walk – and live to tell the tale.

• You probably buy generic drugs when possible and save a bundle. Extend Brand X purchases to household supplies such as cleanser, soap, paper towels – you name it.

• Grab store coupons at the mall for mundane things you plan to buy. Many Internet sites offer printable coupons. You can make it a game with the kids. Use the coupons and tell them, “Wow! We saved $17.29 on groceries this week.”

• Renting DVDs is cheaper than trekking to the multiplex – plus, you can make the popcorn in the microwave. It may be possible to buy your favorite movie on DVD for less than the price of two theater tickets.

• There are clubs for just about every special interest or hobby. Some might save money and may open a new world to your kids. For example, the local history club will teach you about your town and you may pick up handyman skills.

• Borrow books from the library and you won’t have to dust them in the bookcase.

• Search the Internet for books on household tips. Start with a low-flow shower. You can save money by washing with cold water rather than hot and – yes – hanging your clothes outside on a line rather than running the dryer. Many utilities offer home energy audits that point out areas where customers could save energy.

Vitaliy Katsenelson, a Minyanville professor and vice president and portfolio manager at Investment Management Associates, suggests setting aside money throughout the year for anticipated expenses such as vacation, home repair or the deductible on your car insurance. “I put money each month in my vacation account,” Katsenelson says. “This forces discipline because you spend only the money you have. If you don’t have money set aside, you don’t go on vacation that year.” Drafting a family budget is the easy part because all you’ve got to overcome is inertia. Sticking to it takes work. But if you track your expenses within the framework of a realistic budget, you’ll find that you’ll be able to manage your money and won’t be living paycheck to paycheck. Visit Minyanville.com for more on business, finance and markets.

Article by: Scott Reeves

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