Home Emergency Preparedness

This is an article I have updated a few times over the past few years.  I thought that it is worth posting again.

Are you prepared for an emergency?  There are some areas of the world where they have become accustomed to evacuating their homes at a moments notice.  Hurricanes, tornadoes, and forest fires are just some of the   natural disasters that affect people’s lives annually.  As a result, people who live in areas plagued by these events have 72 hour kits that allow them to leave home quickly, and be prepared to live away from home for at least 3 days.  Many have suitcases packed to help them live for up to a week without access to their home.

The basics around a 72 hour emergency kit are:
1. Know the risks
2. Make a plan
3. Get a Kit

Detect and Prevent fraud Against Seniors

Unfortunately we see our seniors taken advantage of too many times.  Financial abuse can come in many different ways, but it seems to be several main types over and over again.

Globe and mail has printed an excerpt from Financial Care for Your Aging Parent by Lise Andreana, Published by Self-Counsel Press.

It is worth a read.  Even this short excerpt would be worth the 5 minutes it takes to read through it.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-investor/personal-finance/retirement-rrsps/how-to-protect-your-parents-from-fraud-and-financial-abuse/article19334909/

5 Ways For Your Business To Have Good Credit

Often, as a commercial lender, I have companies inquire as to how they can make their organization credit worthy.  Many times lenders struggle getting financing approved due to the lack of some key required information.  I would like to take this opportunity to go over some basic information that may help your company secure financing.  Also note, much of the information I request is also very useful information for yourselves and the management of your company.

   1.  Updated Information

The most important step is keep up to date financial information.  Most lending institutions require at least annual financial statements.  This will include the minimum of an Income/Expense Report and a Balance Sheet.  This reporting provides a snap shot of your business year to date and needs to be completed within 90 to 120 days of your company’s yearend.  Completion of the same will also result in reporting to CRA (Canada Revenue Agencies) as required and is typically completed by your accounting firm.

RCU Response to Heartbleed Bug

There has been a lot of news about the Heartbleed bug over the past week.  Here is what you need to know in a nutshell:

1. The Heartbleed bug did not affect Rocky Credit Union’s online banking site.  Information was properly encrytped at all times on our online banking site.
2. The Heartbleed bug is a bug that affects technology used to protect online accounts for email, instant messaging and e-commerce.
3. The Heartbleed bug has been able to read “encrypted” internet links on many websites for just over 2 years.
4. The type of encryption that the bug was able to crack is called OpenSSL which is used on about 17% of encrypted sites throughout the world, including Facebook, Pinterest, Gmail, and Twitter. 
5. A new release for OpenSSl  has been released, but it is up to the encrypted sites to perform the update.  
6. Because of the prevalence of the use of OpenSSL encryption on so many of the world’s most popular sites, we recommend that members change their passwords for all sites that require you to login and use a password.  If you do not, there is potential for someone to access your information, and possibly to even steal your identity.

This is a major event in the world of cybercrime.  Again, Rocky Credit Union’s online banking site was not affected by the Heartbleed bug, but if you use the same password on our online banking site as well as any others, for the safety of your information we recommend that you change them all.  Jerry

7 Tips to Protect Your Identity and Cards While on Vacation

7 Tips to Protect Your Identity and Cards While on Vacation

The time for people to escape out cool climate for warmer regions is now upon us.  Wherever you go, chances are that their standards for security regarding cards and accounts may not be great as those here at home.  The following are 7 tips that can help you protect your money while travelling abroad.

1. Use credit, not debit.  Credit cards usually have zero liability policies which can protect you if they are copied or stolen.  Debit cards give direct access to your account, which you want to avoid in areas where identity theft is likely.
2. Change PINs before your trip.  As you leave on your trip stop by the credit union and change your PINs on your debit and credit cards.  You can change them back upon returning, which blocks use of any possible stolen/copied cards after the PIN change date.  You can change your PIN in branch or at your credit union’s ATM.