This Fraud Awareness Week, Client Advisor Amanda Thomas shares her personal and professional tips on preventing fraud to protect your money.
How to Make Yourself a Difficult Target for Cyber Criminals
Last week, Mission Wealth hosted a personal security awareness presentation led by Gary Rossi, Vice President with Fidelity Global Security. In this presentation, Rossi provided Mission Wealth clients with insights about how to secure their online identity as well as practical advice regarding security threats and the appropriate risk mitigation strategies.
Why You Need Travel Insurance
If you get sick, lose your suitcase, or have to cut your trip short, will any of your existing insurance policies cover your expenses or reimburse you for your losses?
Why Investors Should Beware of IPO Valuations
Mission Wealth’s philosophy is that of a long term investor, and short term trading of IPO’s is a risky proposition. Overall, if we are going to invest in private equity, we generally prefer the debt or real estate asset class because we can invest at a fraction of the value of the equity holders (debt) or have real third party appraisals to establish fair value.
Make Arrangements in Advance to Protect Your Digital Assets
What happens to your digital assets if one is incapacitated, has memory issues, or passes away? Due to federal privacy laws, most internet companies won’t be able to assure access to someone’s electronic record unless one has made arrangements in advance.
Freezing Credit Is Now a Free Service
As of September 21, 2018 under the new Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act, consumers in states who previously had to pay fees to freeze their credit will no longer have to pay these fees. This is good news for consumers, as taking measures to protect your personal information should be available without incurring additional costs. In addition, this new law can be used by parents to freeze their children’s credit who are under age 16. Guardians, conservators, and those with a valid power of attorney can get a freeze for their dependent(s).
Disaster Preparedness for Businesses
As a successful business owner, you don’t want to think about your operations being interrupted by a natural disaster or other unexpected event. Yet the possibility is a real one. According to the Insurance Information Institute, 91 natural catastrophes occurred in the United States in 2016, totaling $23.8 billion in insured losses. But natural catastrophes represent just a portion of the crises that your business could face.
What is Your “Philosophy” on Insurance? Here’s What You Should Consider
Most people consider insurance an important part of their financial plan. But do you also have an insurance philosophy that you use to determine exactly how much coverage you need? We share four important questions that will help you crystalize your insurance philosophy.
4 Types of Insurance You Should Have
Insurance can be one of the most powerful tools you have as part of your portfolio. For a relatively small amount of money, the benefits are generally leveraged to many multiples greater and the payoff occurs at a time when it is needed most, such as an emergency, a disaster, an accident or a death. When implemented properly, investing in an insurance plan is designed to provide benefits that may otherwise be difficult to achieve.
Avoiding Gaps in Your Insurance Coverage
Financial planners take a holistic approach to a client’s finances, and while growing investments is an important goal, protecting the client’s wealth should be another. Generally speaking, the more wealth a client has, the greater the likelihood that they are going to have some significant gaps in their insurance coverage. As a planner, the nature of our work is in part as a risk manager, as risk to losses due to litigation, natural disaster, or theft may be no less than the risk of losses due to a bad investment strategy.
What To Do Before and After a Wildfire
As of December 12, the Thomas Fire has become California’s fifth largest fire, has burned through an estimated 257,000 acres and has destroyed more than 1,000 structures. The catastrophic events that have unfolded in California have left many wondering how they can prepare for a wildfire before and what steps should be taken after a wildfire strikes. We found some helpful tips from Cal Fire and from a local attorney and real estate agent to help you prepare and recover from a fire in your area.
Helping Victims of the Thomas Fire
As of December 7, an estimated 96,000 acres have been ravaged by the Thomas Fire and more than 50,000 mandatory evacuations have been issued in Ventura County.
Keeping Your Accounts Safe and Secure
Client Advisor, Amanda Thomas, gives tips on how you can keep your accounts safe and secure.
Top 10 Tips to Avoid Identity Theft
In light of the recent Equifax security breach, our clients are even more aware of the risks to their credit, liquid assets, and their identity. Many clients have reached out asking for ideas on protecting their identity. Here are 10 tips on how to protect yourself.
Equifax Data Breach Update
A data breach at Equifax has exposed the sensitive data of as many as 143 million people. Hackers may have accessed information including full names, Social Security numbers, addresses, birthdates and some driver’s license and credit card numbers. We want you to understand your options and be able to decide where to go from there.
Helping Victims of Hurricane Harvey
As of August 30, an estimated 30,000 to 40,000 homes had been destroyed and more than 3,000 water rescues had been reported in the Houston area as the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey continued to ravage the Gulf Coast with torrential rains, flooding, and strong winds. In response to the devastation Harvey has caused, Mission Wealth has donated to Direct Relief, whose simple mission it is to improve the health and lives of people affected by poverty and emergencies.
How to Reduce Your Cybersecurity Risk in 2018
Dannell Stuart recently attended a very informative seminar on personal cybersecurity. The knowledgeable speaker, who has a background both with the FBI and with a large financial institution, addressed several types of threats and talked about how we can help our clients mitigate the risk of a hacker accessing their investment accounts.
How to Select a Finance Firm
Selecting a financial advisor is a major decision that will impact your family’s wealth and peace of mind. If you are looking to engage a professional advisor or to evaluate your current advisor, consider these important criteria: Trust Selecting an advisor with integrity is paramount. You will be entrusting this person with your most confidential information and relying on …
The Added Value of Financial Advisors (PDF)
Vanguard says that a good advisor may add up to 3% of value-added returns. Mission Wealth employs all the principles listed in this attached research piece. Click the image below to read the research PDF.
It Happened to Me: Identity Theft
As a financial planning advisor, I have always recommended to my clients that they pull their credit reports annually to ensure that their credit is clear, that no records are erroneous and that no past due account is unnoticed. Yet, in spite of all of my own efforts to keep my credit and finances in check, what an eye-opening experience it was to have identity theft happen to me, and it turned my life upside down.