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Optimal Finance Daily - Financial Independence and Money Advice
3566: [Part 2] The Price of Inattention by Michael Smith with Financial Finesse on Financial Awareness
00:08:34
Michael Smith shows how quickly unchecked credit fraud can unravel someone’s career opportunities, insurance costs, and peace of mind
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Dell PCs with Intel inside are built for the moments that matter, for the moments you plan and the ones you don't. Built for the busy days that turn into all night study sessions. The moment you're working from a cafe and realize every outlet's taken, the times you're deep in your flow and the absolute last thing you need is an auto update throwing off your momentum. That's why Dell builds tech that adapts to the way you actually work, built with long lasting batteries so you're not scrambling for the closest outlet. And built in intelligence that makes updates around your schedule, not in the middle of it. They don't build tech for tech's sake, they build it for you. Find technology built for the way you work@dell.com DellPCS built for you.
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This is Optimal Finance Daily the Price of Inattention Part 2 by Michael Smith with Financial finesse.com after the police report was filed, she contacted every credit card with a copy of the police report. Some were very understanding and with the police report number and an outline of the facts of the case. They closed the account and didn't hold her responsible for any of the balances and they said that they would remove her account from credit reports. That part took as long as three to four months to complete. Others though, disputed her dispute. It wasn't until they sent her a copy of the account opening agreement with a signature that clearly did not resemble hers at all, and she gave samples from tax returns of her signature, along with a signed affidavit attesting that the signature wasn't hers, along with a copy of the police report and the officer's business card that they finally accepted her lack of responsibility and began the process of removing negative information from her credit report. She also placed a freeze on all three credit bureau files and disputed every fraudulent account. Eventually everything got removed, but she will never be able to apply for credit without the situation coming back into her mind. She's requiring that a company extending credit to her contact her for authorization and she had to invent new answers to her security questions because her ex fiance could resurface and try to hack her life again. It was an arduous process for her, but she got through it with patience and grace. Here are some of the things we learned after the facts had all come to light. She was unhappy with her job, so she'd been interviewing for jobs with other companies. She made it to the final round of interviews with several companies and had one say that she was an ideal candidate. She got exactly zero offers after they did background and credit checks. While the credit check was never explicitly stated as the reason she didn't get any of the offers, we can't help but wonder if it played a significant role. Her car insurance and renters insurance premiums went up significantly. Again, we can't say for certain that it was because of her credit score going from near 800 to under 600, but no other variable in her financial equation changed much. It made a mess of her life and her stress level for a period of time, and that's time she can't recapture. Not to mention, I'm not sure I'd want to be her eventual next boyfriend as she, her parents, her friends and maybe even the local police officer handling her case may all do a round of interrogations before the first date. The part of her story that makes her one of the memorable people from my past year is that she had a happy ending to this chapter of her life. The credit score improved. The credit reports are all cleaned up. The silver lining of not getting the other jobs is that she ended up with a significant promotion with a hefty pay raise and a relocation package to an area of the country she's always wanted to explore. The timing was such that she was able to completely wrap up her financial recovery prior to moving so that her new apartment management team won't see anything except stellar results on her credit score. She doesn't need to retell the story all over again to yet another person with her new job. Unburdening of stress, higher energy level, and overall change in demeanor, she looked nothing like the person I initially met. She had transformed into a newer, stronger version of her prior self. With a confidence about her, she unwound a horrible situation, worked her way out of it by spending hours fixing it and documenting every conversation she had, and now feels invincible financially. It was an amazing learning experience for someone barely 25 years old. What can we all learn from her experience? Make sure you know what's going on in your financial life. How Use annualcreditreport.com to order a free credit report each year from each of the bureaus. What I do is order one in January, one in May, and one in September. That way I'm never more than four months away from an updated credit report and I can spot any changes rather quickly. Before any damage is done. Look closely for any new items and inquiries that you don't recognize, and addresses that aren't yours. Those could be early warning signs. Also, be careful with who has access to your personal data. I visited a friend recently and he had his tax returns from the last several years on his dining room table and a half completed credit card application there as well. There were 15 to 20 people at his house at the time to watch a football game and if any of them wanted to, they could have completely stolen his identity. I told him this story at halftime and he tidied up the table and locked the files in his desk. You can also use a free service like Credit Karma or Credit Sesame to monitor your credit score, so if it heads downward, you can see an alert that tells you what factor is impacting it and that can serve as an early warning sign. Also, my takeaway from her case is that we must all be aware of what is going on in our financial lives. If we fail to pay attention, it's possible for bad things to be happening beneath the surface. You just listened to part two of the post titled the Price of Inattention by Michael Smith with financialfiness.com I don't
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code OFD Dell PCs with Intel inside are built for the moments that matter, for the moments you plan and the ones you don't. Built for the busy days that turn into all night study sessions. The moment you're working from a cafe and realize every outlet's taken the times you're deep in your flow and the absolute last thing you need is an auto update throwing off your momentum. That's why Dell builds tech that adapts to the way you actually work. Built with long lasting batteries so you're not scrambling for the closest outlet and built in intelligence that makes updates around your schedule not in the middle of it. They don't build tech for tech's sake, they build it for you. Find technology built for the way you work@dell.com DellPCS built for you.
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The first thing I thought while reading this article is that she could have avoided all of this if she would have frozen her credit A credit freeze keeps the sensitive data in your credit files from being accessed without your specific consent. That can protect you from fraudulent credit applications even if a criminal has key information such as your birth date and Social Security number. When someone applies for credit using your personal information, a lender or card issuer typically checks your credit before making a decision. If your credit is frozen, the potential creditor cannot see the data required to approve the application. While monitoring your credit reports is still a good practice, this only helps you catch the fraud after it happens. A credit freeze is preventative and can help you avoid the headache described in this article. You'll need to contact each of the three major credit bureaus, Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion individually. After verifying your identity, you can request the freeze. I easily did this online in no time at all, so I'd encourage you to do the same as soon as possible, but that's going to do it for today. Thanks so much for tuning in and listening to both parts of this great post and I'll see you tomorrow for more Optimal Finance Daily where your optimal life awaits.