Scams, Fraud and Scheme's: A How-To Avoid Them

Hi All,

I just found a very helpful site on the web from the Federal Trade Commission.  The previous link is for the Consumer Information section of the site - which is tremendously valuable to consumers - trust me...you'll see why in a minute.

There are other links on the site with information on Money & Credit, Homes & Mortgages, Health & Fitness, Jobs & Making Money, Privacy & Identity, Blog, and Video & Media.

The FTC homepage has a rotating set of highly relevant consumer videos and links when you visit the site: topics include: Hijacked Computer? What To Do, IRS Imposter Scams, Checking Your Credit Report and Cobradores De Dueda (Scams Targeting the Latino Community information).
 
The section of the site that I want to discuss in detail is the Privacy and Identity section.  When you click on the Privacy and Identity section you have a bunch of options: Limiting Unwanted Calls and Emails, Computer Security, Kids' Online Safety, Protecting Your Identity and Repairing Identity Theft.  Click on any of the prior links to go to that particular subject.

The section on Protecting You Identity discusses Active Duty Alerts, Credit Freezes, Financial Readiness,  Keeping Your Personal Information Secure, Identity Theft Protection Services and a link to Signs of Identity Theft.

As is usual for many federal government websites, there is a search box at the top right side of the page on all pages on the website.  The site is available in Spanish as well.

There are also links on the page for Related Items, the FTC Privacy Policy, About the FTC and links to Contact the FTC. Users can stay connected with the FTC by getting email updates, viewing the FTC blog feed, using Facebook, YouTube and/or Twitter.

Hopefully you won't need to use the resources on the site - but if you do...I hope they are helpful and easy to use.

Regards,
Stu

Financial Calculators

Hi All,

Today's blog entry is all about numbers. Specifically it is about financial numbers. More specifically it is an entry about how to find financial calculators to help you make better financial decisions.

For example, a common number on many credit card statements indicates how long it will take you to  payoff your credit cards if you only make minimum payments.  Click on this link to actually see how the calculation is made.

Another common calculation that folks need to make is to find how much interest you can save by increasing your monthly auto loan payment.   Click on this link to dig into the particulars of how this calculation is made.

Astute readers will realize that the two links above come from a website called DinkyTown.  Sure it might have a silly name, but the financial calculators on the site are current, easy-to-use and well organized.  

With categories like Mortgages, Loans, Credit Cards, Auto, Investments, Retirement, Insurance, Taxes, Savings, Finance and Business, DinkyTown.net is a veritable one-stop shopping site for financial calculators.  Of course users can click on any of the blue links above to go directly to that part of DinkyTown that you are interested in visiting.

Now, one of my personal favorite parts of the site is the Finance section.  In this section users can find a basic calculator, a basic financial calculator (can calculate present value, future value, payments or periods), a checkbook balancer, credit assessment calculator, net worth calculator, 'Should my spouse work? calculator' and a student budget calculator.  Interesting stuff, eh?

And just remember, these are just some of the available calculators in just the Finance section.  Remember that there are the other categories available - which all have multiple calculators under their own respective headings.  Very cool stuff!

So...with the tax season just getting underway, hopefully this site might just make completing your taxes just a bit easier!

Regards - hope the site saves you time and money!
Stu