Joe Cyax

Comments:

• To be fair, it is a pain to set up. BUT... years ago, perhaps about 20 years now, I read an interview with someone who had their identity stolen. This was before most people knew this could happen. Anyway, this person, due to the laws at the time (and I think still) was made "whole" again by the various accounts that had been created or hacked or stolen from - so, she ended up losing very little if any money. BUT, the thing that struck me most, as she recounted, was that it took her about a thousand hours on the phone and over a year to get it all straightened out. That is time I would rather spend doing anything else but what she had to do. Anyway, in short order I sent letters to all credit bureaus to freeze my credit, as it has been ever since. So, everyone assesses their own risks they are willing to take, and acts accordingly. Personally, I would rather have spent the (guessing here) 15-20 hours over the past year putting in place the stuff above then having to go thru some of the nightmares I have read about. And I didn't do it all at once. I thought about how I could implement fairly consistent measures across all my accounts that I will not have to change (too) often. Now that it is all in place, there is no more effort to access and use the money than before. And, every time I see another data breach, I don't get flustered, as I have done most all I can do up to this point. In the end, if some gang of cyber thieves wants my money, I am not likely going to be able to stop them. So, OTOH, because of my defenses, if your accounts are more attractive to them, well, just sayin' :). Remember, your house does not have to be "Fort Knox" to deter the burglars, it just has to be more secure than your neighbors...

  Post: Stay Safe Out There

  Link to comment from September 22, 2024

•  Adam, Thanks for another one of your periodic articles on good security practices. Your article of last year (https://humbledollar.com/2023/09/stop-bank-robbers/) got me moving to change some of my account access procedures. Regarding item #1 in your list about check washing, someone else on HD had posted a suggestion that I subsequently did and I think bears repeating. Since I have one primary account where most money comes in and goes out of, it would be quite a mess if that account got caught up in a check-washing scheme – if the account was frozen all my automatic deposits, bill payments and such would have to be reconfigured. The answer was to establish another checking account, at the same institution, and use the 2nd account ONLY to write checks from. I keep only a small amount in the second account. If I am about to write a check, I transfer that amount into it to cover the check. Another issue is 2FA (2nd factor authentication) using cell phones because of the potential for SIM-swapping. As you pointed out in your 2023 article, cell phone numbers can be hijacked and used to reset your account passwords. And yet, not all financial institutions allow use of non-text based 2FA. While my cell carrier requires a PIN over the phone for verification of the caller about the account, that still relies on a human to accept the PIN or not, and humans are generally subject to social engineering, so I don’t want to completely count on that. Anyway, a solution to that is to establish and use a google voice number for 2FA that it itself is only authenticated using a password and a hard authenticator such as a yubi-key. I have done so for all my financial accounts. Thus, if someone were to hijack my and my wife's cell phone numbers, they still could not get 2FA to any of our financial accounts. On accounts that allow use of it, I use only a password and yubi-key for 2FA, with no phone numbers involved. I also use passkeys when allowed, but, quite frankly, I am still not sold on the safety of biometrics for validation, and so have avoided all use of biometrics thus far. Perhaps someone can enlighten me, but I still see the potential for fingerprints, facial recognition, et al., to be spoofed, and, I don’t know how one could recover from that since I can’t change my face (as much as others might want me to). On item #8, debit cards are just a fraud waiting to happen. I agree to not use it for purchases. I only use it for ATM withdrawals, and, when I am not withdrawing from an ATM, I “lock” the debit card using the online feature at my bank. Unlocking it prior to a withdrawal takes only a minute. On item #10, I think, in light of all the huge security breaches in the past year or so (I have received at least 3 letters this year advising me of my data potentially being compromised, one at a company I have had no interaction with in perhaps 15 years), I believe it is now realistic to assume that all bad actors have my Social Security Number, name, home address, email, cell phone number, probably even the name of my dog and pet gerbil, and, to design/use protections for ones accounts accordingly. In my former life, I did some work in security where the focus was on the concept of “defense in depth”. The idea is that nothing is completely secure, and, it would be virtually impossible to use (and cost prohibitive) if it was. So, you keep adding layers to make it harder, so the thief hopefully gives up and goes somewhere else. It is a continuing battle – I have little doubt that I will need to continually change security practices and procedures, trying to always keep one step ahead.

  Post: Stay Safe Out There

  Link to comment from September 22, 2024

• You mean including the $3.4M I cashed out of the market this past Monday and stuffed in my mattress? (kidding). Seriously, when the power goes out in an area due to storms or fires or whatever, not a lot of the merchants are going to be able to accept much else than cash. So, have some for a few days of that. Or, at least, when the storm is a cumin, hit the ATM well before (well before everyone else that is). And of course, nowadays, cyber crime is something that could impact cash flow too.

  Post: Cash On Hand

  Link to comment from August 7, 2024

• Perhaps the proverbial "cash stuffed in the mattress" ? (I'm kidding, I think)

  Post: Paying the Piper

  Link to comment from July 7, 2024

• Thanks for your detailed insights. There is nothing like experience from someone with skin-in-the-game to help get past all the smiling, happy, and oddly young people in the colorful brochures.

  Post: Pluses and Minuses

  Link to comment from July 5, 2024

• So, let me start this by saying I think CCRCs are good in concept, and my wife and I will certainly consider them in the future, but there are some aspects that may not be apparent to those without direct experience. My parents are in a CCRC, for about 5 years now, and have just transitioned from a single apartment to assisted living and nursing care, due to different health concerns for each. The CCRC they are in is non-profit, and, based my and my siblings multiple visits and meetings with the staff and management, I believe it to be well run and in good financial shape. I think it is important to understand though, that when one moves in to a CCRC, generally, you give some power over when and where you transition within the CCRC to the CCRC directors, i.e. ,you give up some of your rights of self-determination. So, let’s say you think you are competent and able stay in your current CCRC apartment. If the directors decide otherwise (due to physical and cognitive abilities), you are likely going to have to move. The other option would be to leave, and perhaps forfeit your initiation fee. Once again, I am not against CCRCs, but a contract is a contract, and should be reviewed carefully to ensure you are willing to abide by its terms, especially if the circumstance arises where you and management might disagree in the future.  

  Post: On the Move

  Link to comment from July 4, 2024

• All of the sudden, every one of my problems seem trite and quite frankly, ridiculous. I'm not even sure I could justify calling them problems anymore. So, you have cancer, and yet, I guess you just gave ME a gift. Thank you. I wish you and your family the best.

  Post: The C Word

  Link to comment from June 15, 2024

•  I believe you to be spot-on on two points: 1. "Few memorize facts anymore, “why – I can just Google it…” ": The thing is, it is not really possible to actually "think" without facts already in your head. Of course, real thinking, being laborious, is perhaps what many are trying to get away from. 2. "We need experts in all fields to monitor AI results." : Even beyond that, we need experts in all fields to actually generate the facts and ideas that AI uses when it draws from the existing body of knowledge (on the web). As AI takes on more and more tasks, it may descend into an echo-chamber, where less and less person generated data is used by AI generate more and more. Scary times ahead.

  Post: Man vs. Machine

  Link to comment from May 25, 2024

• I think you are correct about not making bad decisions: bad decisons can totally screw up an otherwise good life. However, I think your attribution to luck is not high enough: even the best decisions cannot overcome really bad luck. 

  Post: Luck Would Have It

  Link to comment from May 23, 2024

•  yes, yes... Which is why I do not have amazon prime, and, have another "fake" account where I keep my "wishlists". Buying anything takes a lot more effort that way. "One-click ordering" is about as advisable as running across a minefield.

  Post: Need or Want?

  Link to comment from January 11, 2024