GreenBucks

The other day, I was listening to colleagues talking about investments.

One was explaining how her mother was able to earn a lot before the stock market started plunging. It was a very wise decision through the advice of a futures trading person that they trusted to handle the sizeable amount.

Of course, investing in the stocks market during these days does not necessarily mean can earn or even get back what has been invested.

Another one further explained that some banks have investment managers who will take care of the money a client will entrust the bank to be able to get a monthly interest that is quite higher than those regular banking transactions.

Hmmm…but the thing is, this is still questionable especially since the market is vulnerable right now.

One thing for sure though, no matter how one will invest his/her money, now is the time to live within one’s means. After all, a penny saved is a penny earned.

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Today, my family and I went to attend the Kiss Goodbye to Breast Cancer Cancer Walk at the SM Mall of Asia in Manila.

Breast cancer is what claims the lives of women ages 35 - 54 worldwide. The Philippines has the highest incidence of breast cancer in Asia . That in itself is an alarming piece of information.

The question usually that comes mind when these things affect a family member, particularly the mother is, “What would happen if I die?”

There are different ways to answer this questions and that would depend on how the parents, particularly mother has raised her children.

It is my belief that parents should teach their children about responsibilities of taking care of themselves and of their family members. Who else would, should do that, help each other but family?

Some try to secure the financial aspects of their family members by starting to get life insurance quotes that will help them in times of need.

There are those who draw their will for the family members even if they are still strong and young.

Much as we do not like to discuss this topic, we will all face the end of our journey here on earth so it is best to leave everything taken cared of.

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To be a victim of phishing is not a pleasant experience for anyone involved with any online transaction.

To be a victim of online identity thefts is definitely not pleasant.

There have been stories of people, bloggers and non bloggers whose online earnings or savings accounts have been violated and their monies victims of theft.

So how should one protect his online accounts?

• When suspicious emails arrive and there are links to open, check first if the links are legit. Put your cursor over the link and see what is being seen in the browser. If these are not matched, then it is suspicious and might be fraud.

• Now, why would you open a mail that asks you to confirm about an item that you ordered when you know you didn’t order anything? That is suspicious too.

• Change your passwords every now and then, every two weeks if need be. Go for passwords not associated to you and use letters and numbers and characters in the password. Do NOT store these passwords in your computer.

• There are identity thieves that use keystroke-logging software to know the usernames and passwords through emails, freeware and yes, instant messaging.

• Be careful when downloading anything from unknown sources for these files may contain malicious software programs that might be accompanied by spyware.

• Do not respond to emails requesting for your personal information.

I remember this episode from Psych, one my favorite (very funny) detective tv series. They were in a speed dating club and had to sit with other people and get to know them by asking questions. Shawn noticed that one woman’s questions were different. She was asking about these things:

• hometown where the guy grew up
• mother’s maiden name
• favorite color

So naturally, Shawn’s interest perked up. They finally got this woman and her husband who was also working in the dating club for identity theft.

These are just some of the things one has to look out for in order to protect online accounts. I am very sure there are a lot more different ways these thieves have that will enable them to do their illegal activities.

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I did not write these things because I assume I know everything. I wrote these things as a reminder that I too, need to beef up what I need to do to protect myself from identity theft.

If financial institutions and government offices have been victimized, we can be too. I hope not me, of course.

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A lot of people aim for “The American Dream”.

What is exactly the American Dream?

Living in the suburbs, having one or two cars, vacation, shopping sprees, credit cards and other luxurious and comfortable ways to live. These are good to do as long as one can afford to pay for all of this. What if one can’t pay for all of these?

But this scenario is changing.

They are losing their homes and their cars. The American government even gave out tax rebates. Fannie Mae, the largest mortgage buyer and Freddy Mac, the second largest mortgage buyer were given emergency rescue plans.

Women who used to be in the workforce are not working anymore. Banks are reporting billions of losses.

This is being forecasted as the “death” of the middle class.

Americans as well as the British are deep in debts and there is more to this than meets the eye.

Why does this happen? It is because they are spending more than they can afford, courtesy of the lending companies.

So what do they do? Get another credit to pay for a credit.

So who is to blame? The credit availability or the mindset of getting things that can’t be paid for in cash but through credits?

Read what happened to Diane McLeod in a NYTimes article entitled “Given a Shovel, Americans Dig Deeper Into Debt”.

May this serve as a lesson to everyone who loves charging their purchases to credit cards.

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Mark Cuban not only owns the Dallas Maverick but serves as chairman of the TV Channel HD.Net. He blogs too.

The finer points discussed in the NY Times article about blogging are the following:

1. Don’t expect to get rich.
2. Write about what you want to write about, in your own voice.
3. Fit blogging into the holes of your schedule
4. Just post it already
5. Keep a regular rhythm
6. Join the community, such as it is.
7. Plug yourself.

There’s this part in the article that fits exactly what I think sometimes:

In the end, the biggest threat isn’t that you’ll fail to learn to blog. It’s that if you blog regularly for long enough, and begin to get comments and links from other bloggers, you’ll have trouble doing your day job.

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This is the emblem of the Shelby GT500, a performance muscle car from Ford Mustang. Click here for the 2008 Shelby GT500.

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