Your Emergency Fund: How Much is Enough?

Scammers are pretending to be bank customer service representatives reaching out regarding fraud prevention. Their goal is to get you to reset your login credentials and gain access to your account.

How it works

1. Scammers, posing as customer service representatives, will call and keep the victim on the phone for multiple hours to “resolve” a fraud issue.
2. The scammer urges quick action to prevent alleged hackers from draining the victim’s account.
3. The victim is asked for sensitive information like login credentials and verification answers.
4. The scammer logs in to the victim’s account to initiate unauthorized payments, bypassing security restrictions via a direct call to the real Fraud Support, all while the true customer is on hold.

Quick Tips

• Check your account activity frequently and monitor for suspicious transactions.
• When asked for information that seems unusual, hang up and call the phone number on the back of your bank card or account statement.
• Read text and email communications fully and pause before responding.
• Remember that banks and credit card companies will never ask you for your password or your card/account number over the phone.

There are some who see retirement as a finish line. I feel like this is slightly misleading. In actuality, quite a lot can still be accomplished at this time in your life. Rather than viewing retirement as a reprieve from the hustle and bustle, I like to see it as a final chapter to solidify your life’s success. How that looks, though, is entirely up to you.

The first step to ensure your life’s success is determining how you personally define that. This is a big picture question. Think about what you want said about you at your eulogy. What do you want to be known for? How do you want to be remembered when you’re no longer around? Some people focus on family and personal relationships. Others look to leaving a legacy or collecting memorable life experiences. This is clearly a deeply personal definition. Don’t look to the Joneses to define that for you.

Once you make the determination of what you want the next chapter to represent, it’s time to figure out what that looks like for you. Does a focus on family mean weekly family dinners at your home or visiting all the professional baseball fields throughout the United States with your children? Does leaving a legacy mean you want your name on a building or does it mean funding your grandchildren’s college fund? Does collecting memorable experiences mean getting an RV and traveling around the country or high-adrenaline activities like jumping out of an airplane? The clearer the vision, the better you can prepare to make it a reality.

Now the last step is making the proper preparations to see this vision come to fruition. Life can throw you curve balls. Make sure that if it does, you’re prepared. Be sure to have a financial plan and meet regularly with your trusted advisor. Create an estate plan and make sure your affairs are in order to ensure that you finish the victory lap of your life well.

The opinions voiced in this material are for general information only and are not intended to provide specific advice or recommendations for any individual. To determine what is appropriate for you, consult a qualified professional.