Protecting Your Future

by Carmen Gonzalez

From your loved ones to your finances, it is important to have plans in place to protect what is important to you. Making safety plans can vary depending on your personal situation, but there are some things we all can put into practice. When doing anything online, it is important to remember to be cautious of what information you are sharing and what people you are connecting with. Being open and honest with your family about what to be cautious of online is important to keep everyone safe. This also opens up the line of communication to discuss the family’s budget, financial situation, and what goals everyone wants to achieve. Being prepared and planning ahead gives everyone peace of mind and encourages everyone to work together towards the same goals.

The safety precautions you take for you and your family depend on what your family unit looks like. Remembering that as your family changes and grows your plans on how to protect everyone will also have to change. Here are some things to keep in mind for safety depending on the age of your loved ones:

• Toddlers and babies:
  • When you have babies and toddlers, you want to make sure you are protecting them around the house and when traveling. You can go to our local state police office, and they will do a child safety seat inspection for FREE.

  • You can give your kids a head start when they are older by opening them a Youth Savings account that you regularly deposit money into so it can begin to grow.

• Tweens and teens:
  • As your kids begin to grow up and spread their wings, technology and social media will become the biggest threat to their safety. Be sure to talk to your kids about the dangers of being active online and teach them what precautions they need to take.

  • Create a technology cubby where all technology, including cellphones, gets put when it is time for bed. This enforces safety measures and allows you the opportunity to do phone checks.

• Adults:
  • Whether it’s just you and your spouse or your children are all grown, using family location-sharing services can be an additional protection protocol. This especially comes in handy when traveling or visiting new places.

  • Anyone 18 or older should meet with a Centric Certified Credit Union Financial Counselor to evaluate their budget and credit.

• Elderly Loved Ones:
  • Encourage your elderly loved ones to talk to an estate planner and to get a will written out. This helps give the whole family peace of mind and takes away some of the stress if the worst happens. Centric is proud to partner with Summit Financial to help better serve our members and their families. For more than 20 years, Summit Financial has been working closely with individuals, families and businesses developing customized financial solutions to address their unique goals.

  • Check on your elderly loved ones to make sure they aren’t being taken advantage of or abused. Whether it’s online, over the phone, or a regular visitor, there are many people out there who prey on the elderly as targets to take advantage of.

No matter what your family unit looks like or what precautions you need to take, making sure that everyone is being safe when online and social media is imperative. As the world progresses and the internet becomes more and more entangled in our daily lives, scammers and con-artist find new ways to try to take advantage of us. Being aware of what you are clicking on and who you are responding to is the biggest way you can keep yourself and your personal information safe. If you get an email, text message, phone call, or friend request; from some you don’t know, don’t respond or take any action that they are urging you to take. Creating a sense of emergency is how scammers push you to give them access to your personal information. If what you have received looks like it is someone from you know but you weren’t expecting, then call that person and verify if they sent it or not. These steps will ensure that you are doing your best to stay safe. Beyond scammers that reach out to you, you want to be cautious of where you are sharing your personal or financial information online. You want to make sure websites are secure before you entering your bank information when shopping, and you want to confirm it is a legitimate business. This is especially important when shopping on social media because anyone can make a business page to sell things, but if they don’t have a physical location or website to back them up then you should be cautious when shopping.

It can be scary sometimes to think about all the ways that things can wrong in life; but being open and honest with your loved ones is important to ensure everyone knows what the safety plans are. When talking to your kids, you can share with them the basic safety measures like where to go if there is a fire and as they get older continue to add on to the information they need to know in case of emergency. This is a great way to create a good line of communication with your kids and helps prepare them to make their own safety plans when they are on their own. From financial and online safety to everyday safety, everyone can live life a little freer when they know they have a plan for any situation.

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