Good morning Dinks. Do you know what the one most important part of your financial well-being is? It’s not your net worth, it’s not your income and it’s not the value of your stock portfolio. I will give you a clue…the most important part of your financial life is actually the item that holds your money. That’s right, key to your financial life is your wallet.
What does your wallet say about you?
Think about it for a minute. Your wallet holds your money, it holds your credit cards and it holds your debit cards. Without your wallet you wouldn’t have any access to your money. That’s why it’s always a good idea to keep your wallet safe at all times.
I actually love my wallet; it’s my favourite accessory along with my sunglasses. As a banker I am always intrigued to see people’s wallets because it says so much about them. Whenever someone opens their wallet and pulls out a credit card or debit card I always try to sneak a peek at their wallet. I like to see if a person’s wallet is well organized, how many credit cards they have in their wallet and I always check to see if people keep old papers and receipts in their wallet. Oh yes someone’s wallet says a lot about them as a person, so what does your wallet say about you?
Be careful about identity theft
Your wallet holds your personal information. If you ever lose your wallet you will also most likely lose your driver’s license and other important identification. Being pick-pocketed is about so much more than just losing money and credit card fraud, there is also a danger of someone stealing and taking over your entire identity. When I first moved away for college I lost my wallet and it was a total nightmare to try and get back all of my personal documents. Needless to say I learned my lesson and now I only keep the essentials in my wallet.
Your wallet is the keyhole to your entire financial life.
Your wallet holds your debit card and your debit card is the doorway to your entire financial life. If someone steals your wallet they not only have access to your debit and credit cards which gives them access to your money, they also have access to your online banking. Through your personal online banking portal a thief has access to your personal information as well as all of your accounts. This is why it may be a good idea to have your personal banking with one institution and your investment accounts with a discount broker or another institution.
Do you protect yourself against fraud on a daily basis?
Carrying only the minimum amount of identification and personal information in your wallet is a great way to protect yourself against identity theft. It also limits the number of phone calls you have to make and panic that you have if your wallet is ever stolen.
How are you protecting yourself against fraud?
Photo by jake
Kristina Tahnyak
Tahnya is a Certified Financial Planner and former Investment Advisor turned marketing and communications professional She holds a degree from Concordia University, is debt free and currently works in the field of digital marketing.
This is a great point. I am pretty protective of my wallet and I make sure to only carry the necessities. I carry 1 credit card, 1 debit card, my ID, $20, and another membership card. Granted, if I were to lose it the person who found/stole it would have access to almost all my money, but I rarely ever take it out of my pocket. I’m not a fan of the huge wallets that barely fit in my pocket, so I just carry a metal card holder because it’s so small.
My wallet has quite a bit in it, but I am so protective of it that I rarely have to worry about it. The only time I almost lost it was at my bachelor party. That’s a story for another comment :P
It is amazing how easily one’s identity can be stolen in this technologically advanced society. Do you have identity theft protection? I’ve been thinking about getting it but haven’t pulled the trigger yet. Your article got me thinking of how I (and many) others need to have this protection in place.
Great Article!
J.P.