How to Financially Protect Yourself

Your finances might be at risk without you even knowing it. While there is no need to panic, it’s important to consider the unexpected life events that could one day threaten your financial well-being.

To sleep more soundly at night, take steps to protect your funds from theft, emergencies, and other situations that can jeopardize your financial security. You can prevent unwanted surprises and financial instability in the following ways:

Build an Emergency Fund: Set a goal of saving up enough funds to cover one month of expenses. After that, aim for having enough to cover three months of expenses. If you won’t be able to create an emergency fund within a reasonable timespan, consider finding an additional source of income that will give you the breathing room to save. In many instances, pursuing additional income will be worth the time and effort. By creating an emergency fund, you protect yourself from surprise car repairs, medical emergencies, job loss, or other surprise events that can throw you into debt and keep you from growing your money.

Be Credit Savvy: If you shop online, try to use a credit card, not a debit card. This is because fraudulent debit charges generally means money has actually left your bank account immediately, while fraudulent credit charges show up on your next credit card statement and simply affect your balance. With that said, keep credit card spending to a minimum. Next, get your free annual credit report and review it thoroughly. You may catch mistakes or fraudulent account openings you can contest. Across the board, be careful about who you give your financial information to.

Protect Your Computers and Phones: Online banking and shopping have become integral to how we manage and engage with our money. Educate yourself on internet safety, such as how to identify authentic, safe websites and apps versus imposter or malicious sources. Set up security measures such as two-step authentication to avoid malware, hackers, and other bad players from accessing your private information.

Select Protection that Fits: You don’t need to own every type of insurance out there—certain policies are more important than others. Consider speaking to a financial professional for an assessment of what forms of insurance might be right for you

Bonus Tip: Consider finding a passion of yours to convert into a business. The potential income you can generate by being your own boss will give you the means to adapt to changes in your personal life as well as the broader job market.

Learn more ways to avoid financial headaches at www.syncis.com/blog.