Business Tips and Notes

It is important to know that an identity theft is a criminal activity and if you want yo safeguard your identity, it is better to get an identity theft protection plan. Identity theft can be compared as having a terminal cancer and that strikes at anytime and at any place as well as strikes anyone.

Most people believe that they are safe from being an identity theft victim, and it can only happen to other people. However, when it strikes, it can be disastrous. So, it is wiser to have in place a good identity theft protection plan before it hit you hard.

Do You Need A Wakeup Call

According to the current numbers, identity theft are rising at an accelerating rate in the US and the rest of the world, and therefore, it is important to have a good identity theft protection plan in place. This will serve as a wakeup call and keep you on toes to beat the odds against identity theft, before becoming the next identity theft victim.

How safe are you from identity thieves?

Without a good identity theft protection plan in place you will have little chance to combat identity thieves that operate with stealth and with great speed and ingenuity. Whats more, by the time you wake up to the fact that your identity has been stolen you will be in deep financial and emotional trouble.

Are You Putting Safeguards Into Positions?

The 1st step of a good identity theft protection plan is to make sure you do not misplace your old bank and credit card statements into the dumpster before having to shred these statements.

The 2nd step is to make sure you secure your Social Security number and card properly, and should not give any chances to be fallen into the wrong hands.

The 3rd part of this plan is never to release your personal information over the phone, through the mail and even via the Internet, unless you have to start a conversation.

If you are using the Internet, this protection plan you are following must ensure that you do not click on unsolicited emails that have dubious links, or wise you are open to more damages by identity thieves. Also, your computer should be equipped with the latest firewalls and a quality anti-virus software with a cautionness of releasing any credit card details.

Also, before throwing away your old computer makes sure to format and erase your hard drive and only then discard the computer.

Are You Alert Enough?

With regards to your credit card identity theft protection, there is a need to be as alert when using your credit card. It will be disastrous when it is fallen into the wrong hands. You have to take note that when your credit card statements do not arrive suddenly, you have to be alert too. You have to call the financial institutions to immediately to ask them why.

When in you are public places, do not leave your wallet or purse unattended. This is one part of a good identity theft protection plan. Another part of the protection plan is to replace your signature on your credit card with a photo ID.

Tags: industry

Back in 2003 we went to California on a business trip. Along with myself, I went with two other enrollers; Debbie and Sherry to work on a school corporation to sell whole life insurance. Since the cost of hotels was rather high and we were going to be out there for at least two weeks, we decided to rent a furnish apartment. Under the short term lease we had to get renters insurance to cover not only our belonging but the contents of the apartment and liability in case we caused any damage.

Apartment renters insurance was available through a few companies, so we got quotes from; Geico, Nationwide and State Farm. Nationwide was the cheapest, so we bought a policy and only paid for one month.

While we were staying there Debbie accidentally knocked over the television set that was in her bedroom. After reading the Renters insurance contract, we figured the liability section would cover the cost of a new set or repair without a deductible. The liability section stated that it would provide coverage for bodily injury or property damage which you or an insured under the policy are legally obligated to pay. We called the insurance company and made the claim.

But you wouldn’t believe what else happened….since we travel a lot we liked the chance to stay somewhere different, and the best thing about this apartment was the waterbeds. The very next day, Sherry was using a knife to peel an apple and accidentally stabs the waterbed causing a small leak. Fortunately, we had purchased the endorsement for waterbeds for an additional premium. Not only did we have a repair bill, we also had some water damage. The waterbed endorsment states; Optional Endorsments you may request for your policy.

Extension of Liability Coverage Endorsement-Waterbeds

This optional coverage pays for damage to property of others that results from sudden and accidental discharge of water from your waterbed. It does not pay for structural damage which results from the weight of the waterbed; slow, gradual leakage from the waterbed or damage to the waterbed itself.

I am sure glad we looked over the renters insurance contract before we purchased it. Other coverages that were included, but subject to a deductible were:

Personal Property Coverage:

Your policy will cover loss or damage to your property when caused by the following perils:

1. Fire or Lightning 2. Windstorm or Hail 3. Explosion 4. Riot or Civil Commotion 5. Aircraft 6. Vehicles 7. Smoke 8. Vandalism or malicious mischief 9. Burglary 10. Falling objects 11. Weight of ice, snow or sleet 12. Accidental discharge or overflow of water or steam from within a plumbing, heating, air conditioning, or automatic fire protective sprinkler or from within a household appliance 13. Sudden and accidental tearing apart, cracking, burning, or bulging of a steam or hot water heating system, and air conditioning system, or an appliance for heating water. 14. Freezing of plumbing, heating, and air conditioning systems or automatic fire protective sprinkler system or of a household appliance. 15. Sudden and accidental damage from artificially generated electrical current 16. Volcanic eruption

Remember to add the Replacement Cost endorsement to your Renters Insurance policy.

The Personal Property Replacement Cost Endorsement:

The Declarations Page states under Additional Coverages that your policy has Replacement Value coverage.

Without acquiring this endorsment your personal property will be subject to Actual Cash Value (ACV) for a covered loss. ACV means the cost to replace an item with another item of similar kind and quality less an allowance for depreciation.

Replacement Cost (RC) coverage allows full cost to repair or replace a damaged item, as long as the replacement item is purchased within 180 days.

LOSS OF USE

If you can not live in your residence as a result of a covered loss, this coverage will pay for temporary living for a time period for reasonable and necessary extra living expenses you incur over what you have normally spent to maintain your standard of living if no loss had occurred.

Your Renters Insurance policy will have exclusions, along with other optional endorsements. Please read or review your policy with your insurance agent. We were glad we did. I couldn’t imagine our boss getting the repair bills with our expense reports. Our Renters Insurance policy probably saved our jobs.

Tags: market

Attending an interview is one of the most stressful things that you can do. Candidates have been know to get so anxious that they forget everything that they thought they had prepared. So make sure that you have prepared properly for your interview and that your skills are sharp!

The interview for the job is extremely important. Usually it will make the difference between being hired and being passed over for someone else. So, it’s imperative that you work to develop those skills to the best of your ability so you are the one that ends up landing the job.

Want to know how to begin improving your interview skills? Have a look at this interview tips sheet to help you prepare better for your interview. Remember, though, that reading is not enough - you have to use them too!!

One way to prepare and develop your interview skills is to develop answers to likely questions. Come up with questions that they will likely ask you. Then work on coming up with well structured answers to those questions. Include an intro, middle, and an end, when developing your answers.

It’s also important that you work on speaking clearly. Make sure you don’t rush when speaking. This not only makes you look nervous, but it makes you difficult to understand. Spend some time working on making sure that you speak in a clear and confident manner.

Critical components of a good interview body language system are a high smile rate and maintaining strong eye contact. Practice achieving this in the mirror and then with friends and family members. They will help you to come across as honest, trustworthy and likeable.

Practice, practice, practice. Unfortunately, most skills need to be repeated before they can be improved. You could just start answering questions to yourself and try to work out where you could install improving tweaks to your technique. However, it is far better to ask family members, friends or work colleagues to fire questions at you and listen to your responses. They will tend to be polite in their feedback - so listen actively for hints on how you can improve.

When you are answering questions during an interview, always give answers that are honest. If you don’t, you’ll probably show it in your body language. You are better off to answer honestly. The last thing you want is to give an answer, only for the interviewer to find out later you were lying. This is sure to take away any chance of you landing that job.

You also need to make sure that you sell yourself during an interview. Work on figuring out how you can do this before you actually have the interview. When you have the interview, you should work on selling yourself for the job, just as you would a product. Make sure you leave no doubt in their mind as to why they should choose you for the job.

Tags: biz