What’s in Your Wallet?

You probably already know most of the things in my wallet but there are two things that you might find most interesting.  I’ll start off with the stuff you know because I’ve written about it before.

I don’t keep all my credit cards in my wallet, just the Blue Cash and Chase Freedom cards because those are the ones I use the most.  I’ve written see ID on the back of both cards instead of signing them so having my driver’s license is also a must. Obviously there’s my Costco membership card, alongside our health insurance and USAA card.

Overflowing Receipts
The first thing that you might not know about are all the receipts in my wallet.  If you’ve ever seen the Seinfeld episode where George has the wallet overflowing with receipts, that used to be me.  It’s not quite as full as it used to be, I’ve tried to do a better job of keeping it under control, but ever since I’ve owned a wallet I’ve been in the habit of saving every single receipt.

When we were moving I actually found some envelopes in the basement that had credit card receipts from over ten years ago, it was like a trip down memory lane reading through the places I’d spent money.  I still save most of the receipts but now they go in a folder instead of my wallet.

Cashless Wallet
The other thing you might notice about my wallet is that it has no cash in it.  On occasion a few one dollar bills will sneak in but typically I don’t have a dime in my wallet.  I hardly ever go to the bank or the ATM; I just put everything on our credit cards.  Of course when I run into a place that doesn’t accept credit cards it makes things a little difficult but if I’m ever robbed at least I won’t be out any money.

What’s in Your Wallet?
A few weeks ago the Money Writers shared what was in their wallets.  Since these last two weeks have been insanely busy for me thanks to an anonymous hacker and my new business coach, I didn’t have time to participate.  So now you know what’s in my wallet, here’s what they shared:

• What’s In My Wallet? @ Generation X Finance
• What’s in Lazy Man’s Wallet? @ Lazy Man & Money
• What’s in My Wallet? @ Suns Financial Diary
• What’s in My Wallet? @ My Dollar Plan
• What’s in my wallet @ Brip Blap
• Ask the Readers: What’s in Your Wallet? @ Million Dollar Journey
• What’s In Your Wallet? @ Budgeting in the Fun Stuff

So now you’e peeked inside all our wallets, what’s in yours?

Money Around the Web

In addition to the wallet posts, here are some of the other personal finance articles from around the web that caught my eye:

Personal Finance
– The Secret to Replacing Your Income @ Frugal Dad
– Top 5 Movies About Money @ Sweating The Big Stuff
– Maps.com Discount Coupon Code @ Promo Code Center
– The Financial Price Of Being A Stay At Home Mom @ Money Ning
– How To Make A Large Personalized Piggy Bank With Your Children @ The Money Crashers

Investing
– Ready to Invest? Consider This First. @ Momvesting
– Low-Risk Investment Planning @ The Oblivious Investor
– The Secret To Building Wealth @ Investor Junkie

Career
– Resume Writing Tips @ Saving Money Today
– If You Can Earn $5, You Can Change Your Life @ PT Money
– Are You Making These Job Hunting Mistakes? @ Moneyed Up
– 8 Personal Finance Management Tips for the Unemployed @ Free Money Finance
– How to Pass the CPA Exam and Become a Certified Public Accountant @ Good Financial Cents

Debt
– The Benefits of Being Debt-Free @ Being Frugal
– Want to Save Money? Eliminate Some “Needs” @ Beating Broke
– 5 Lessons From Our Pay Off Debt Year @ Eventual Millionaire

Also, thanks to these sites for including our posts in personal finance roundups:

• Health Savings Account Guide in Carnival of financial planning
• Stock Analysis Ratios in Festival of stocks
• Carnival of Personal Finance
• 5 Keys to Retire Overseas at Danielle Liss
• Online Credit Card Protection at Cash Money Life
• Options Trading 101 at DoughRoller

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Giving You More at Currency & Wise Bread

You’ve been reading personal finance tips on Money Smart Life for over four years now if you’ve been a reader the whole time. Periodically during that time you may have seen me mention that I’d written something as a guest on another site. Typically I meet some neat new readers as part of this process, which is why I was excited when two new opportunities came up last month.

Now you can also check out my money stories at two other personal finance sites, Currency and Wise Bread.

Currency

Currency is a new site sponsored by American Express that covers money issues for people like me, who are in their 20’s or 30’s and wrestling with a wide array of money decisions.

The site just launched about a month ago and features content from top personal finance journalists and bloggers.  As I mentioned, it covers a wide variety of financial topics, so far I’ve touched on home ownership and health insurance.

5 Reasons Why Your Bank Might Foreclose on Your Home – I share our story of buying a house on short sale and some of the our experiences with banks that help explain why so many houses go into foreclosure.

Health Savings Accounts – Who Needs Them? – If you’re trying to decide whether a health savings account is for you or not, I go into some detail on who an HSA works best for.

Writing Off Your New Home – Buying a house is expensive, in this article I talk about tax deductions you can take when buying and moving into a new home to help with the costs.

Wise Bread

Wise Bread has been around for a few years and I just recently had a chance to virtually meet it’s creators.  Like Currency, Wise Bread covers a variety of personal finance topics and has new articles coming out daily.  The writers on the site actually came together to write a book about a year ago titled, “10001 Ways to Live Large on a Small Budget”.

The site has a great community and offers up some good money tips.  Here are my contributions to Wise Bread so far:

• 5 Ways Money Can Buy Happiness
• 10 Financial Perks of Marriage
• 25000 Reasons to Pamper Your Credit

So, thanks for reading on Money Smart Life and now you can also get more money tips from me at Currency and Wise Bread!

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Online Master’s Degrees & Your Career

Has your college degree declined in value over the years? These days a bachelor’s degree is almost a must to even get a job and many professionals are turning to a Master’s degree to help them get ahead. Unfortunately working full-time and trying to get to a physical classroom on a regular basis can be an enormous hassle. Trust me — I speak from experience! I took night classes for two years to get my Masters in Business Administration from 2007 to 2009.

This is one of the reasons why online master’s degree programs have become so popular in recent years.  They are a great way to help advance your career but there are some things you need to keep in mind to make sure you get your money’s worth.

First we’ll look at how earning a degree can help your career; then we’ll go over some things to look for when choosing an online masters program.

MBA Career Benefits
It never hurts to have a Master’s Degree on your resume. It shows you’ve taken additional effort to stretch and grow in your specific field.  In addition to potential pay raises and promotions, here are a few ways going back to school can benefit your career.

Specialization. Who makes more money: general family doctors or doctors that specialize in a specific skill (brain surgeon, orthopedic surgeon, etc.)? If you get a concentration or certificate in a certain area, that specialization in your topic will help you stand out from the crowd.

One benefit of online degree programs is that you may be able to study a specialty that a local school may not offer advanced training for. Location flexibility is a definite perk of online master’s programs.

Keeping current. If it’s been a few years since you got your bachelor’s degree it is likely your industry has changed. Hopefully you’ve kept up at work, but hitting the books can force you back into the deep end of your field. You’ll come out informed and better prepared for your industry moving forward.

As a student, you’ll also have access to and discounts on the the latest and greatest software and equipment — something you may not be able to get with on the job training if your employer doesn’t want to foot the bill for upgrades.

Networking. This is by far the most important aspect of graduate level education; developing a professional network of individuals in your field. These are people you can lean on in the future for job assistance, project ideas, or general conversation. Just make sure you give more than you take. That’s the only way to make your network work for you.

Online MBA Program ROI
I work for a large staffing company as a recruiter so I see a lot of resumes and conduct a lot of interviews with people who have an MBA.

The good news is a good master’s degree can show expertise in your field. A bad master’s degree is completely ignored and occasionally shunned by hiring managers. There are many differ online degree programs out there. You have to be very careful when selecting a program to work with so that the time and money you invest gives you a return.

Best Online MBA Programs
In my opinion there are two tiers of online programs:

1. online extensions of traditional, well known universities
2. online-only or online extensions of new, for-profit businessesIf you’re dealing with an online program from a major university (think of any NCAA university) then you’re fine. That’s a real program with real weight behind it.

The online-only or extensions of really new programs is where the risk is. Many of these institutions are for-profit businesses. The entire goal is to get you to sign for your student loan documents (so they get paid) and then they deliver a mediocre product that holds no weight in the marketplace.

I’ve seen it happen too many times to count, and it’s sad. They may not be accredited and they may not have real professors, so be sure to watch out for online degree scams.

Of course major universities are looking to get paid, too. The difference is they have real professors with a real university behind them. That’s a major difference.

So be careful as you research and compare online mba programs. Make an informed decision, and you can get your career moving forward.

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MBA Programs Q&A

After looking at how to choose an MBA program and some tips on MBA programs for young professionals I thought I’d talk with a few people who had already earned an MBA degree and get their feedback.

I asked Sam from Financial Samurai, Dan at Darwin’s Money, and Neil from Vannoy Advisory Group a few questions about the value of their degree and for any tips they could share.

Business Degrees

First off, congrats to these guys for finishing their degrees!  If you’ve never looked over business school curiculum before, many MBA programs offer a core set of classes on business, finances, and management and then allow you to specialize in certain areas.  To give you a little background, here are the degrees that these guys earned.

• Sam: MBA – Finance and Real Estate
• Dan: MBA – Finance and Biotech Management
• Neil: MBA – International Business

Below are the three questions I asked them and their answers for each.

1) What has been your return on investment on your degree? 

Sam – My firm paid for 80% of the bill as part of their ongoing education benefit.  If I elongated my MBA by another semester the degree would have been fully paid for.  As a result of the low cost and doing it part-time, the return was immense.  I didn’t miss out two to three years worth of salary and experience.

It is unclear whether the promotion after graduation came due to my degree, or work performance, but the MBA certainly did not hurt.  In some industries, an MBA can mean the difference between being stuck in a dead-end job, to getting elevated to a different track with more responsibility.

Dan – Professionally, I didn’t get a raise following completion, but I do believe there’s an intangible value.  Many job posting both internal and external view an MBA as a great extra, and in some cases a requirement.  I think my company also views this as a substantial investment in my career and as such, may more likely to try to “retain” me at year-ends and less apt to lay off if it’s me vs another peer at similar performance level.  Different companies tend to view an MBA as having a different value.

Neil – My original intent for pursuing an MBA was to move from financial services into another industry. So I would say I haven’t seen a big ROI since I’m still working as a financial advisor! The primary reasons I had for wanting to leave the industry was to get away from selling commission-paying investments and the ever present sales pressure.

The coursework for the MBA degree increased my business knowledge and gave me skills and confidence I needed to break away from the broker-dealer side of the industry and open my own firm. Since I’m now operating as a fee-only advisor – and able to keep my focus on “advice” rather than “sales – I would say that the return has been huge.

2) Would you do it again?

Sam – Absolutely!  There is little that is more important than education.  The more education you have, the better thinker you become.  You understand how to do things as well as piece things together in a synergistic manner.

As a graduate, you get to tap into your school’s vast alumni network which can be vital.  You can also downplay your MBA and keep it hidden if you communicate with those without an MBA and don’t believe in graduate education.

Dan – I would absolutely do it again if my company paid for it, like they did in my case.  I probably wouldn’t spend 30K-100K to do it with my own money, unless I had the means (i.e. no kids, I’d saved a ton and could quit my job and do a top program like Wharton/Harvard).

Neil – Absolutely.

3) Any tips for people considering an MBA or pursuing one?

Sam – Really try and understand years worth of post graduation job statistics eg where alumni go/are, how much a typical graduate makes after X amount of years, the top employers, and so forth. If you like or love your job and want to continue in your industry for years, see if you can get your company to pay for it.

I really don’t believe one can get enough education.  There is an endless amount of things to learn.  Apply first round and when the economic cycle is peaking so you don’t have to compete with everybody trying to get in when the economy is bad.

Dan – Do the most prestigious/toughest program you can get into/your company will pay for.  MBAs are a dime a dozen these days and a generic online degree doesn’t have the same prestige as say, a top 20 school.  It’s just not worth the time and opportunity cost if you get an MBA from a lame program.  People with top degrees won’t respect you and employers won’t really give it any additional value in their estimation.

Neil – The only thing I wish I had done was wait until I had a little more work experience before beginning my MBA. At the time I had only been out of college for a couple of years so I don’t think I got as much out of it – or was able to contribute as much to the experience of my classmates – as those students that had more professional experience.

 

Thanks to these guys for sharing a little insight into their experiences!  Interesting that all three said they would “Absolutely” go for their MBA if they had it to do all over again.  If you have an MBA, feel free to chime in.  Would you do it again? Any tips for future students?

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MBA Programs for Generation Earn

Since MBA programs and their value are are this week’s topic I turned to US News and World Report columnist and author Kimberly Palmer.

You’ve probably heard of the US News & World report college rankings but you may not have heard about Kimberly’s new book, Generation Earn.  The second chapter is titled “Job Juggling” and one of the things Kim talks about is getting ahead in your career.  Since enrolling in an MBA program is often considered a major career move I thought I’d ask her a few questions about the value of an MBA.

Kim summarized several of the key points covered in Generation Earn into top money tips for young professionals.  I picked five of these tips to look at various aspects of choosing an MBA and asked her a question for each one.

1) Don’t scrimp on career-related investments.

Question: How much do you think is too much to pay for an MBA? What’s a good rule of thumb?

It all depends on what you plan to do after you graduate, and how much you can earn doing it. The best way to figure that out is to talk to recent grads from the school. How hard was it to get hired? What’s the average starting salary the first year after graduation?

Most schools make that information public, based on surveys of grads. If you plan to live in an area without a lot of lucrative business jobs, or go into a field (such as nonprofits) that doesn’t pay as well, then you could be stuck with a student loan bill that’s really hard to pay back.

There are cheaper ways to get an MBA, such as going part-time while working or getting your job to pay for it, that are worth looking into.

2) Invest in yourself.

Question: How can people know whether hiring a coach or going back to school can be a bigger help to them?

People who feel like they’re at a crossroads or unsure what they want to do next are the ones who benefit most from working with a career coach. Coaches can help you nail down your goals and come up with a plan for getting there.

If you already know exactly what you want to do and have done research on different school programs, then going back to school can be a great decision. The people who end up regretting going back to school are the ones who end up getting a degree for something they don’t actually want to do.

3) Raise your rates.

Question: Can you ask for a raise because you got an MBA?

Yes! Any change – a new degree, new hours, new responsibilities – is a great excuse to ask for a raise. If you’ve become more valuable to your employer, then make the case that you’re currently underpaid. 

At the same time, check out other opportunities in case you don’t get the raise at your current job. Sometimes changing jobs is the best way to make more money.

4) Cultivate your most ambitious dreams.

Question: Do you think sometimes people get an MBA because they want to be high achievers but don’t really know what their dreams are so don’t know what to aim for?

Yes, this happens with MBAs, law degrees, and post-graduate English and history degrees. Going to school is the ultimate way to delay making big decisions about your career. But it’s also the most expensive way to procrastinate.

Why not take a non-career job for a year or two instead?

5) Get a second (or third) job.

Question: If you only have time to go back to school or start a second job, how do you decide which is better?

You have to ask yourself what your ultimate goal is, and which one will you there. If you want to be a novelist, then getting an English degree might be better for you than earning extra money at a retailer – or doing neither, so you have more time for writing.

If the second job is just for the money, you might be better off re-arranging your budget to be more frugal, so you don’t need the extra money and can have the extra time instead. Having time and the flexibility to spend your energy the way you want it is worth much more than any $100,000 job.

Thanks to Kim for sharing her thoughts on going back to school and also for packaging all her years of experience as a financial journalist into a great resource in Generation Earn!

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How to Choose an MBA Program

An MBA program is a great addition to almost any career. Combine any other skill set (engineering, biology, computer science, etc) with business school and it can give you a big career advantage.

But which MBA program should you apply to? How do you know the school you select is really the top MBA for you? After going through the selection process myself I can share what I learned when comparing programs. I received my degree after completing a part time MBA program over a two year period at a local university.

Since I went to night school I was able to keep my job (and get tuition assistance!) while also furthering my education. Here’s a list of things to consider to help you find the best MBA program for your needs.

Is the Program a Goal Match?

Goals. You need to have them. If you’ve got a specific goal centered around furthering your education you can target your MBA program search toward that goal. Do you want to keep your day job and go to class at night? That has a huge impact on your choice. Are you looking for an intense program with the best professors and facilities? That’s a different program than the first.

Get your goals together first then continue down the list.

MBA Program Cost

The cost of an MBA program didn’t use to be as big of a deal because you had a more certain return on investment.  There were fewer people earning the degree and the market demand was high. If you could get a high enough GMAT score to get into a top tier school like Duke, Vanderbilt, or Northwestern you were pretty sure you’d quickly make back your money.

This was back when you could graduate from a top MBA program, get a guaranteed job at a big bank on Wall Street, pay off your loan in less than 5 years, and find yourself sitting on a healthy salary and maybe even a big bonus.

If you hadn’t noticed, those days are gone. Unemployment is rampant, big banks have failed and been bailed out, and competition is fierce. That’s not to say an expensive program isn’t worth it, but again, it needs to line up to your goals.

School Location

It’s pretty simple: the further away the MBA program the harder it is to attend. Is this a local university with an easy commute? Or do you have to move across the country? Do they have an online degree program or offer a distance learning MBA?

Instructors & Facilities

What is the overall quality of the program? Are you being taught by people with Ph.Ds from the best and brightest universities in the world? Or are you dealing with folks who don’t have real world experience, maybe instead a Masters degree, and are working on their Ph.D? You don’t want to pay premium prices for lower quality professors. Interview several of the professors (and pick them yourself — don’t let the school “assign” their best professors to interview with you).

The same can be said for the facilities. Ask to take a tour. What makes this program stand out from the others? Does everything seem to be well maintained? Is the latest technology in the classrooms? Or are they still using overhead projectors and Windows 95?

Specialty Areas & Course Options

This was an area that wasn’t super important to me, but you will run into it. Obviously you need to be concerned with what the school offers. Is this a basic degree that is designed to give a business degree to non-business undergraduate majors? Or is it a well respected program that is known for producing top talent in the business field?

Do you want to focus heavily on International Marketing? Then look for a program that fits that goal. Are you looking for a program where you go to class two nights per week and work online two nights per week? That’s a unique request — so try to filter your schools with that criteria.

Networking & Career Development

I think this is the most important aspect of choosing an MBA program. No matter how awesome the teaching is or how much you learn, you will never conquer the world alone. You need teammates, colleagues, and friends.

Picking a “B+” school that excels as networking and career development over an “A+” school that doesn’t know a thing about networking would be a wise move.

You want to not only be able to work with and get to know the people in your class, but alumni and friends of the program as well. The woman that graduated four years ago might be a Vice President at a company you’re targeting. A good school will find a way to connect the two.

This was a flaw in the program I ended up going to. Career development wasn’t working with the program at all because about 50% of the students were going while working. Of that group of students a large portion had their tuition funded by their employer. The school didn’t want to encourage students to leave their employers (who are happily paying the university) to get you a better job.

I guess the lesson there is to ask about those kinds of things ahead of time. It’s much better to find out ahead of time when you’re trying to choose an MBA program rather than later down the road when you’re already in the middle of your MBA courses.

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Online Degree Programs

Online degree programs have given potential students the opportunity to take courses at colleges and universities that would have previously been unavailable due to location or scheduling constraints.  Many people who pursue these online degrees have full or part time jobs that make it difficult to attend classes in a traditional setting.

Their ultimate goal is usually to advance their career by earning a Bachelor’s degree or Master’s degree in their current industry from one of these online schools.  The additional training and knowledge can often translate into a better job — and possibly better pay.

Although it can be challenging to work and go back to school at the same time, technology makes it easier than it used to be.  These online degree programs allow you to take classes from the comfort of your own home and interact with instructors and other students on your own schedule.

Online Degree Program Benefits
In addition to being location independent there are a number of other benefits associated with online degree programs. One of the most encouraging items is the speed at which you can finish. Since you can work at your own pace, and review course material when it’s convenient for you, it is often possible to finish more quickly than you would if you attended classes on campus.

Another advantage is that online degree programs can sometimes cost less than on-campus programs. You might even be able to take online classes for in-state tuition rates — even if you are not a resident. Online degree programs can be a great way to get the credentials you need to advance your career, while saving money.

Drawbacks of Online Courses
Although online courses have benefits there are a few things to watch out for when comparing online degree programs.  Since you’re spending money on tuition you want to make sure that you get a good value for your investment.

The first thing to check is whether a school is accredited, you want to make sure they are so that your degree has value in the job market.  You also want to research their reputation; some online degree programs may not be viewed with the same level of respect as for more traditional degree programs.

Another concern is the experience level of the instructors. Make sure that the school you choose uses properly qualified instructors with degrees and experience in the industry.  Reputation and quality of instructors will have a definite impact on how an online degree is viewed by your current and future employer.

Other drawbacks of taking online courses include:

• Access to instructors is virtual.
• Requires discipline and time for independent study.
• You may not have the right home environment for proper study.
• Miss face to face interactions with fellow students and your professors.

Make sure you consider these potential concerns and that you weigh your options before you spend the money to enroll in a program.

Options for Online Degrees
There are two main options when it comes to completing a degree program online. First of all, it is possible to take classes from an online university that offers all online options. These online universities are well known institutions like the University of Phoenix and Kaplan University. Many of these types of online universities also have physical campuses located around the country, and you may have to check in. As mentioned before, when choosing an online university, make sure it is an accredited institution.

Some traditional schools offer online degree programs as well. My sister took a number of courses online in order to finish her bachelor’s degree, and my brother-in-law plans to enroll in an online master’s degree program at a state university. When you complete your degree in this manner, the diploma comes from a respected and accredited school — usually with no indication that you completed your education via the Internet. Even if you can’t complete an entire degree online, you might be able to move toward your degree faster with help from online courses.

In the end, you can get great benefit from utilizing online degree programs that can help you improve your skills and knowledge. Just make sure you choose a school that’s a good fit for you and a degree that will help you move ahead in your industry.

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Is an MBA Worth the Money?

Whether an MBA is worth the money can be answered in two words – it depends.  The type of graduate degree, your industry, the graduate school, your goals, the cost, and many other factors determine whether it would be worth it to you.

I spent several years going to school in the evenings to get a Masters degree; it’s a big commitment and can be very expensive.  When people ask me whether it was worth the money, I say it was for me but that doesn’t mean it would be for you.

This week we’re going to go into some detail about choosing an MBA program, paying for a degree, online degree programs, and how an MBA can impact your career.  I’ll share my experience with going back to school and we’ll hear from a few other people as well.

Kimberly Palmer of US News & World Report recently released a related book called “Generation Earn”, and she’ll offer some tips for MBA seekers.  You’ll also read some Masters Degree Q&A with other personal finance bloggers who have earned an MBA or are currently pursuing one and have a few nuggets to share.

Here are some articles to check out when trying to decide whether an MBA is worth i.

• How to Choose an MBA Program
• MBA Programs Q&A
• How to Pay for Graduate School
• Graduate School Costs & Options
• MBA Programs for Young Professionals
• Online Degree Programs
• Online Masters Degree for Your Career
• Job Search New Degree

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Online Savings Account Security

Online savings accounts are convenient but how do they keep your money safe online?  Most online savings accounts, whether they’re for an internet bank or online banking for your local bank, have pretty strict security standards to protect your money.

Here are the things you should look for from a security perspective when choosing an online savings account.

Secure Banking

Any bank these days will probably be using adequate encryption technology but you should always check.  You shouldn’t enter any personal information or your user name and/or password on any page who address doesn’t start with https.  If you see https you know they are using a technology called Secure Socket Layer (SSL) to prevent anyone else from accessing your information as it travels via the Web.

Email Security

A technique known as phishing is a common way for hackers and identity thieves to try and steal your login information.  They send you an email that looks like it’s from someone you trust, like your online bank, but when you click the link in the email it takes you to a fraudulent site instead of to your online bank account.

Your bank should include a portion of your customer or account number in your email to let you know it’s really from them.  For example, if your account number was 52048234, the email should contain xxxx8234 near the top. You don’t want it to be your full account number for security reasons but including the last few digits let’s you know it’s a legitimate email.

You also want a bank that never uses email to send or confirm personal information, such as account number, PIN number, or social security number.

Login Security

Personalized Authentication

Online savings accounts with the highest level of security have you setup a personalized phrase and image when you setup your online account.

When you’re on the bank’s login page and have given them your user id, they’ll display your custom phrase and image before they ask for your password.  If the image and phrase don’t match what you setup then you know something is fishy, a sign not to enter your password and proceed.

PIN Number

Some banks require you to setup a PIN number in addition to your user name and password. This can be difficult to remember at times and a bit inconvient but it does help increase the login security.  In my opinion it’s worth the extra hassle because it’s your money we’re talking about.

Security Questions

Similar to the personalized phrase, some banks will ask you to answer a variety of questions, such as “What color was your first car”, “What month did you get married”, or “What’s your mother’s maiden name”.  They usually give you a list of questions to choose from and ask you to answer 4 – 8 of them.

Then when you start to login you’re asked to answer one or two of the correctly before you’re able to finish the login process.

Computer Recognition

Some online banks let you register your primary computer so thier online banking software can recognize you when you visit the site from that computer.

For some banks this allows you to skip the security questions but that’s not the real benefit.  The man reason to do this is so that your bank can confirm your identity when you visit the site.

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Identity Theft Protection Services

Identity theft protection is one of the key points during Cyber Security Awareness month and the main focus for Protect Your Identity Week. The goal is to highlight how vulnerable your identity can be, and what you can do to protect it.

Some of the things you can do to protect your identity include shredding documents with personal information, keeping documents you need to save in a safe place, monitoring monthly statements for fraudulent charges, and checking your credit report regularly for accounts that may not be yours. Watch out for social engineering, which means being careful of who you give account numbers to and what personal information you share.

If you’re looking for some help monitoring your credit and other personal information, there are identity protection services you can signup for. Here’s a list of some of the services available today:

Identity Guard: This service monitors your credit reports and scores, as well as monitors information related to your Social Security Number and address. You get lost wallet protection and $1 million in identity theft insurance. Can also include software meant to help protect your computer. Cost: up to $17.99 per month, depending on the package you choose.

LifeLock: One of the most visible identity protection services out there, LifeLock provides cyber monitoring services, and credit card monitoring and protection. It also offers alerts, and $1 million in ID theft insurance, and help placing fraud alerts on your credit reports. Cost: $9.99 or $13.50 a month, depending on your package, or billed at $99.00 or $148.50 for a savings.

TrustedID: You can get your three bureau monitoring, which is fairly standard with most identity protection services, along with black market Internet monitoring and medical benefits monitoring. You get anti-phishing protection, and TrustedID will perform a threat assessment to see how at-risk you are for ID theft. Comes with a $1 million warranty. Cost: There are two plans, one for the family and one for individuals. A family plan will cover your spouse and children as well. A family plan is $27.99 a month, or $20 a month if you are billed for 12 months at once ($240). The individual plan is $14.99 a month, or $10.42 a month for a year of protection ($125).

ID Watchdog: This company claims that 80% of identity theft has nothing to do with your credit, and offers services with this in mind. ID Watchdog has packages that include medical monitoring, credit monitoring, regular reports and alerts, public database monitoring, an ID management dashboard. You can also get a risk assessment and consultation on avoiding ID theft. Cost: Advanced package is $19.95 a month. You can get savings if you agree to an annual package ($179.95) or a three year package ($466.95). There is also a basic package for $9.99 a month.

Single Identity: American Express offers its own identity protection service. It monitors black market web sites and public records. You also receive mobile alerts of potentially dangerous information. There is also $25,000 of identity theft insurance and lost wallet protection. Cost: $9.99 a month.

ProtectMyID: Credit bureau Experian offers this service, which monitors your credit reports and scores. It also provides Internet monitoring and address monitoring in the event of attempted redirect. ProtectMyID also offers protection in the arena of medical information. There is also the option of ChildSecure to help keep your child’s identity safe. Comes with a $1 million guarantee. Cost: $9.95 per month.

Equifax ID Patrol: Like other identity protection services, this product from credit bureau Equifax offers credit monitoring and alerts you of changes. Additionally, it looks at Internet information trading sites. You can get help to resolve problems, and you get up to $1 million in identity theft insurance. Cost: $14.95 per month.

Obviously there are several different identity monitoring services to choose from.  Most of them offer similar protection but differ in some of the features and pricing so be sure to compare them to see which fits your needs best. Some of them offer a free trial period so it’s not a bad idea to try out a few for free and see which you like best.

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