Monthly Archives: March 2025

Mar 15 2025

Protect Your Social Security Number

Identity theft is one of the fastest growing crimes in America. Scammers use your Social Security number (SSN) to get other personal information about you. They can use your SSN and your good credit to apply for more credit in your name. Then, when they use the credit cards and don’t pay the bills, it damages your credit. You may not find out that someone is using your SSN until you’re turned down for credit, or you begin to get calls from unknown creditors demanding payment for items you never bought.

 Your SSN is confidential.  The agency protects your SSN and keeps your records confidential and it does not give your number to anyone, except when authorized by law. You should be careful about sharing your number, even when you’re asked for it. You should ask why your number is needed, how it’ll be used, and what will happen if you refuse. The answers to these questions can help you decide if you want to give out your SSN.

How might someone steal your SSN? Scammers get your personal information by:

• Stealing wallets, purses, and your mail (bank and credit card statements, preapproved credit offers, new checks, and tax information).
  • Stealing personal information you provide to an unsecured site online, from business or personnel records at work, and personal information in your home.
• Rummaging through your trash, the trash of businesses, and public trash dumps for personal data.
• Buying personal information from “inside” sources. For example, a scammer may pay a store employee for information about you that appears on an application for goods, services, or credit.
• Posing by phone, email, text, or direct messages in social media as someone who legitimately needs information about you, such as employers, landlords, or government agencies.

For more information, click here.

Teaching Suggestions

  • Ask students to make a list of actions they can take to protect their Social Security number.
  • Ask students if they or their family members have their Social Security number stolen.  What was the outcome and how they might be protecting their number now?

 Discussion Questions

  1. Why is it important to protect your Social Security number?
  2. How most people discover that their Social Security number has been stolen?  What should they do?
Mar 8 2025

IS AN ADD-ON CD RIGHT FOR YOU?

An add-on CD (certificate of deposit) is a specialty CD that allows you to add more money to the account after the initial deposit. Similar to a standard CD, the additional deposits earn the fixed rate until the CD matures. Add-on CDs are offered by some banks, credit unions, and online financial institutions.

The main benefits of add-on CDs are: (1) a fixed interest rate, especially important if market rates decline; (2) a lower initial deposit may be required than with a traditional CD; (3) additional deposits can be made to grow your long-term savings.

Potential drawbacks are: (1) the fixed rate will be lower if interest rates rise during the term of the CD; (2) a traditional CD may have a higher rate; (3) early withdrawal penalty may apply; (4) add-on CDs may not be available at many financial institutions.

For savings flexibility, consider a CD ladder.  With this plan, instead of buying one large CD, buy several smaller CDs with varied maturity dates. For example, instead of buying a one-year, $4,000 CD, buy four separate $1,000 CDs maturing in three, six, nine, and twelve months. This action provides flexibility to be able to access funds when needed without paying an early withdrawal penalty. Then, you can use the funds as needed or renew the CD. If interest rates are high, you might consider a longer-term CD to lock in the higher rate.

To open an add-on CD, search online for financial institutions that offer this savings plan, which will be especially beneficial if you don’t initially have all the funds necessary for a traditional CD.  CDs are most recommended when interest rates are high, to lock in a good rate for a longer period. Also consider deposit amount requirements and penalties when comparing CDs and other savings plans.

Your emergency fund should be kept in an account with more liquidity than a CD.  Also, once you have an adequate savings amount, be sure to consider higher return investments such as mutual funds and stocks.

For additional information on add-on CDs, go to:

Add-on CD Information
CD calculator

Teaching Suggestions

  • Have students talk to others to learn about actions they take regarding their savings programs.
  • Have students create a visual (poster, video, or slide presentation) that communicates factors to consider when comparing CDs.

Discussion Questions 

  1. What features of a savings account do you consider to be most important in relation to your financial goals?
  2. Describe situations when an add-on CD may be an appropriate savings instrument for a person’s financial goals.   
Mar 1 2025

USE THE NUDGE THEORY TO CUT SPENDING

  • Useless spending can crush your savings goals.
  • The easier it is to spend money, the more likely you will spend it. 
  • Making things difficult can actually be a good thing.
  • Small changes can result in significant improvements over time.

These principles make up the nudge theory, which suggests that behavior can be shaped through small, subtle changes. Making spending harder can discourage spending and increase your financial awareness to achieve savings goals.

Adding friction to your spending activities can force you to make more deliberate purchases. To nudge your savings by reducing spending, consider the following actions:

  • Only pay cash for several weeks or months. The inconvenience of obtaining cash and keeping track of it for payments can reduce spending on frivolous items. Seeing cash in your hand can also make you more aware of its value.
  • To be more disciplined, write out a list of purchases on paper or using a notes app. While this can be annoying, it can result in immediately having more money for savings.
  • Account for all spending to avoid wasting money on silly and useless things such as empty calories and products you may not use.
  • Before making a credit card purchase, check your current account balance to help deter unneeded purchases and increased debt. 

These strategies are useful for those who are concerned about their spending and who live paycheck to paycheck. While companies make every effort to remove barriers for your spending, don’t make it simple for your money to leave you…put up obstacles.

This approach may not be for everyone. However, taking some action might save you $1,000 a year, which over ten years could be worth over $15,000 when the money is placed in an index fund or other stable investment.

For additional information on the nudge theory, click here.

Teaching Suggestions

  • Have students talk to others to obtain suggested actions for controlling their spending.
  • Have students create a podcast to communicate actions to control spending.

Discussion Questions 

  1. What aspects of the nudge theory might be useful for your money management activities?
  2. Describe actions a person might take to place barriers on their spending.