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Insurance, fraud, lawsuits, estate documents, and your rights as a consumer. Guard what you have against loss.
Your credit card may already include coverage you’d otherwise pay extra for. Check your card’s guide to benefits before you buy the rental counter’s damage waiver, a store’s extended warranty, or your carrier’s phone insurance. Then pay with the card that covers you, since the coverage applies only to what you charge to it.
A credit card chargeback reverses a disputed charge, but the temporary credit your card issuer usually posts isn’t final. The merchant can answer with its own evidence, and the rules of your card’s network, such as Visa or Mastercard, decide who wins. Before you file, gather the receipt, the merchant’s policy, your messages, and photos of the problem.
Of all the numbers on your credit card, the three- or four-digit security code is the one to guard, because stores aren’t allowed to keep it after a sale. Enter it only at a checkout you started yourself, and never send it by email or text.
Check your credit card’s guide to benefits before you pay for a store’s extended warranty. Many cards add a year to the manufacturer’s warranty at no extra cost on items bought with the card, so the store’s plan can duplicate coverage you already have. Keep the receipt and warranty in case the item breaks.
Swiping lets a hidden skimmer copy your card’s magnetic stripe, and a thief can turn that data into a fake card. A chip or a tap sends a one-time code, though a skimmer inside a pump or ATM can still read an inserted card’s stripe. Tap when you can, insert the chip when you can’t, and swipe last.
If a stroke or accident leaves you unable to act, your will can’t help. A durable financial power of attorney lets someone you trust pay your bills, and a health care power of attorney names who decides your care. Sign both now, then file the financial one with each bank and brokerage.
Freeze your child’s credit at Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. A child’s Social Security number usually has no credit history and nobody watching it, so a thief can use it for years before anyone notices. The freeze is free, makes new accounts in their name harder to open, and stays until you or your child removes it.
Stop typing your real card number into shopping sites. Get a virtual card number from your card issuer’s app, your phone’s wallet, or a service like Privacy.com, and give stores that instead. A store that never has your real number can’t lose it in a breach.
Have the money conversation with your aging parents while everyone is healthy, not in a hospital hallway. You don’t need their net worth. You need to know where the documents are, who their advisors are, what insurance they carry, and whether a power of attorney exists.
Your heirs can’t claim accounts they don’t know about, and with paperless statements, the only record they could find sits behind your password. Keep every account in a password manager, turn on emergency access for someone you trust if the manager offers it, and have your will authorize your executor to open your email and other digital accounts.
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