Take it to the Bank

Critical Items To Avoid Carrying In Your Wallet

Three Angels Broadcasting Network

Program transcript

Participants: Cordell Thomas

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Series Code: TITTB

Program Code: TITTB000032


00:01 On Take it to the Bank,
00:02 you'll find ways to get out of debt.
00:09 Solve your credit card problems.
00:14 How to make and stick with the budget?
00:19 Simple ways to save.
00:24 Buying or selling a home and many more financial matters
00:29 on Take it to the Bank.
00:31 Hi, my name is Cordell Thomas,
00:33 and this is Take it to the Bank.
00:35 Welcome to you and I have my wallet out
00:37 so there's a purpose for it being out.
00:40 We're discussing today about some of the things
00:42 that you should not carry in your wallet,
00:44 some of the things you should not do
00:46 from a financial standpoint.
00:48 What is the critical think on money that you have
00:50 that you would like to share,
00:52 and I would ask you to even to go to our website,
00:54 you know, sign in, give us some contact information,
00:57 give me some feedback, which you have been doing.
01:00 Some of you have called about items such as credit,
01:04 my credit repair, credit rebuilding,
01:07 many of these type of issues which are important issues
01:10 as we look at our overall look at how we deal with our money,
01:16 and what are critical thought processes
01:19 in buying something and doing things.
01:22 Now, many of us have concerns about custom service
01:25 when we go and buy something,
01:27 we didn't get what we expected.
01:29 Those are some of the top customer complaints
01:31 that we have and warranty items.
01:34 We were told at some point in time
01:36 that cars, the quality of cars didn't start going up
01:41 until competition started happening.
01:44 People are competing all the time
01:46 and they are competing for your attention,
01:49 so no matter who you are, they are willing to talk to you
01:53 because if you have the revenue or the money,
01:57 the funds, cash is king.
02:02 Did you know
02:04 that there are things that you can get for free?
02:08 Did you know there are programs that are out there
02:10 that are target towards people
02:11 who make between 30 and $45,000 a year
02:15 that provide them access to free money?
02:17 Wow! What did I just say?
02:20 Free money, which is a great investment.
02:23 There are programs out there that provide you an opportunity
02:26 to actually have your savings match to, two to one,
02:30 three to one, four to one in some instances.
02:33 We have some programs in southern California,
02:34 where we had people line up and begin the process
02:37 of getting to habitual savings process.
02:41 And once they save a certain of money
02:43 what get to their objective,
02:44 their money is matched two to one.
02:47 So, you could save a $1000
02:48 and you have $2000 match to that,
02:50 you have a total of three,
02:51 and we are knowing now that it works, it works.
02:55 And people in your--
02:56 in some of our situations where we may be challenged
03:01 from a revenue or income standpoint,
03:05 I think there are several things that can be done
03:07 to help you change the mindset that you have
03:10 and move towards becoming more, taking more ownership
03:14 of who you are as a father,
03:17 as a caretaker of the home that you've been given to do.
03:22 So, many of these things that we talk about,
03:25 I'm throwing out hints right now to you
03:27 because all you need to do is connect with me on the website,
03:30 give me a call, and I will share with you
03:32 specifics about websites and places you can go,
03:35 to get access to these type of services.
03:38 Did you know that if you buy glasses,
03:42 how much they typically cost?
03:44 You can buy glasses for 150, $200.
03:48 There are places that you can go
03:49 to get free eye glasses or glasses that cost 695,
03:55 and these are not cheap glasses
03:56 and it just, and it does include the lenses.
03:59 Did you know there are ideas,
04:02 there are different hints that you can find out
04:06 about how you can bypass all of the messaging
04:11 then when you are calling your bank for example.
04:13 There are simple tools you can use.
04:14 There are apps that are out there
04:16 that help you wait in the sequence,
04:19 so you don't have to sit on the phone
04:21 and listen to music.
04:22 You can go do your thing and it will call you back
04:25 when you are ready,
04:26 they are ready to speak with you.
04:28 Did you know that if you go to any major type of building
04:33 type of retail store that they have the ability
04:36 right there in front of you to give you discounts,
04:39 if you ask for them?
04:41 Did you know that medical billing organisations
04:44 hate to bill through the insurance company,
04:47 and are willing to check with you
04:49 and give you up to 50% discount on the services
04:52 that they provide from the medical standpoint?
04:54 For example: If you wanted to get a medical check up,
04:59 you could go to specific website
05:00 and check what typical physicals cost.
05:04 And then you go into that organisation
05:07 and talk to the biller, talk to that individual
05:09 and say, "Hey, you know what,
05:10 I don't want you to bill this through the insurance,
05:12 but I would like to pay cash for it,
05:13 can you give me discount?"
05:15 And guess what they can do.
05:16 They can give you up to a 50% discount.
05:18 Many little things that we don't know about
05:21 that can give us an opportunity to save in many different ways
05:26 moneys that we will typically pay out
05:28 or could be charged through our bottom-line.
05:32 One of the other things that people are not quite aware of
05:35 is the opportunity you have not only to save,
05:39 but to think through the different items
05:43 on your budget and figure a way to save.
05:46 Do you really need a landline if you have smartphone?
05:51 Because people can find you wherever you are at
05:53 with your smartphone,
05:55 and you can take calls at home also.
05:57 So why do you pay for both a landline,
06:00 and a smartphone?
06:03 Little things if you think about
06:04 or the context of I have internet access
06:09 with the super speedy type of broadband,
06:13 so I can get downloads very quickly
06:16 and also at the same time I can get Voice over IP,
06:20 which means internet based phone service,
06:23 which can be a lot less expensive
06:26 than land based phone service.
06:29 And many of us,
06:30 when you take a look at the budgets that we do,
06:31 we see people that have all three,
06:34 and they are spending well over $250 a month
06:38 for just phone when they could limit their costs
06:41 maybe $90 or $100 a month.
06:43 When you look at what's out there
06:45 and you research of what you need,
06:48 then you can make decisions accordingly.
06:51 And those are the things
06:52 I want us to start thinking about,
06:54 as we look at making decisions
06:56 about what we carry in a wallet,
06:57 we go back to the critical think on money.
07:00 Why do we ask that additional question?
07:03 Why do we talk to these different elements
07:06 of what are important to have with you
07:08 and what are important to avoid?
07:10 The reason why we do it this way
07:12 is because we go back
07:14 to the same context of a question
07:16 I always ask people in our classes.
07:19 What question would you ask
07:21 if you were asked to invest in a barber shop
07:24 for someone that is bald?
07:26 Those are the major questions
07:28 and the thoughts that I bring to your attention
07:30 because as we begin to think
07:32 about how we handle the money in the investments,
07:34 the things that Christ has given to us to manage.
07:38 We begin to get an idea that it's not about the money,
07:44 it's about how we utilise the funds that we're given.
07:48 And then it becomes a big, big process initially,
07:52 a difficult process to make a decision
07:54 about what are my needs.
07:56 What are my wants? Why am I buying this?
07:58 Why should I get this? Why do I need this?
08:01 And now we get to the context
08:03 of some of the important questions we should ask about,
08:07 what do we carry with us? And why do we carry it with us?
08:10 And what should we avoid carrying with us?
08:12 And what, why we decide
08:14 not to carry those items in our wallet?
08:17 Now, a wallet could be, a wallet could be a murse,
08:19 it could be a purse, it could be anything
08:21 that someone carries with them
08:22 with a lot of valuable information in there.
08:25 Ask the question, same question I've always ask,
08:28 is it valuable to carry an extra key in your wallet?
08:33 If your wallet gets stolen,
08:35 they not only have your home address,
08:36 they have an extra key to get into your address, right.
08:39 So little things that you should ask along the way,
08:42 what if someone say, "Hey, why don't--
08:44 I need to bring in a lottery that I won
08:48 and I need to pay a fee to get access to that lottery,
08:51 can you help me out?"
08:53 This is something I got involved with.
08:56 Someone came to me
08:58 and asked me that same question,
09:00 and then you begin to ask the typical type of questions
09:03 that are necessary to say
09:04 is this something that's legitimate?
09:06 Is it something that I should get involve with?
09:08 Should I help out with it?
09:10 And I actually didn't ask the critical question.
09:12 I just accepted the fact and heard what the person said,
09:15 and I began and I helped the individual initially
09:18 to get access to whatever cash they had coming in.
09:21 And guess what?
09:22 If I would have thought about it at that time,
09:25 I wouldn't have done it.
09:26 After the fact I thought about,
09:27 "Why did I just give that person some money
09:29 to help get something
09:31 that you shouldn't have to pay for?"
09:33 'Cause legitimately
09:35 if you're getting money transferred
09:36 into your bank account,
09:38 all the bank would do is take from the proceeds
09:41 that go into your account, the fees that are necessary,
09:44 and it's a smooth process.
09:45 So I always ask those type of questions
09:48 and I ask you to ask the same legitimate questions
09:52 that are necessary to get down to the core of the matter
09:57 which is,
09:59 what is the critical question I should ask of you,
10:01 if you are asking me for money?
10:04 Those are the issues.
10:05 So now, I go to what we're talking about
10:08 the critical think on why we should carry,
10:11 we shouldn't carry certain things in our wallet.
10:13 What are some items that we should avoid carrying,
10:16 and we went to those same young people and said,
10:19 ask the same question.
10:20 What are the items
10:23 that you should avoid carrying in your wallet?
10:26 And it's interesting how they responded,
10:28 and we will go from their answers
10:31 and explains in more detail.
10:34 Do not carry my social security card number,
10:37 I memorise that,
10:38 so if I ever need it, I just know it.
10:41 And I don't carry any passwords like reminder words,
10:47 so I keep that and as well,
10:48 I don't carry like any personal information
10:51 like a birth certificate or passport.
10:53 I don't carry any of that in my purse either.
10:57 Should avoid carrying in your wallet,
10:59 your passport, your social security card,
11:01 those are like very critical elements
11:03 you need to survive in this country.
11:06 And you don't want to lose that very easily.
11:08 You also don't want to carry
11:09 like your checking book information,
11:11 your bank information
11:12 or any other information that it's very personal
11:14 and then, it can be harmful to you
11:19 if somebody were to get that information.
11:23 You should avoid carrying in your wallet
11:25 any extra personal information such as social security number,
11:30 alien identification number,
11:33 any, probably too personal credit card information,
11:37 you know, birth certificates and too much cash
11:43 I believe it's very dangerous for you to be carrying,
11:47 you know, thousands of dollars in your--
11:49 I mean in your wallet
11:51 because, anyone can rob you at any time.
11:58 You should avoid carrying
11:59 your social security number card,
12:01 and your banking information,
12:06 like your account number and all that.
12:11 And that's on your birth certificate
12:14 because you don't need anybody knowing that
12:17 unless you really, really need it for
12:18 like a job interview or something,
12:20 which I doubt it but, yeah.
12:23 Do not carry a pocketknife in your wallet for sure.
12:33 That answer caught me off guard.
12:35 He is a very smart young man,
12:37 and what he says is very accurate.
12:40 I'm little redundant here, but you don't carry things
12:42 that make you uncomfortable specifically in your wallet
12:44 or whatever you carry those important documents in.
12:48 But what's true
12:49 is the fact that we establish certain type of guidelines
12:54 that protect us as individuals,
12:56 and you've heard what most of those young people said,
12:59 about social security number or social security card.
13:02 One of the biggest issues that we have to be aware of
13:04 is that people are looking for information for us.
13:06 So you begin to see the changes
13:08 that have happened in the environment
13:10 such as retailers now
13:13 cannot keep your MasterCard
13:18 or credit card information available.
13:21 So the numbers that they have
13:23 when they print out your receipts,
13:25 only show the last four numbers of your credit information.
13:29 But then of course,
13:30 they are not able to really retain that information
13:33 and specifically some of these things
13:36 that you now are educated on, you can make certain
13:39 that people don't keep your information
13:41 and that you're in control of that important documentation
13:46 that you should have and carry in your wallet.
13:48 So now, we talk about that list of things you should not carry.
13:54 Social security number, why? That information is critical.
13:58 A person gets your social security number,
14:00 that means they can get your ID,
14:02 they can open up credit in your name.
14:05 They can do a vast number of things
14:08 and stealing your identity.
14:10 One of the big things that I try to warn people
14:12 about in this era of technology is that,
14:15 I don't even make calls from my cell phone
14:20 when it has to do with important transaction
14:23 such as talking to the bank.
14:26 That information is not on a landline
14:29 and so that information is out there in the atmosphere,
14:33 if I can call it that,
14:35 and so people could typically pick up on your conversations.
14:38 There is a vast danger there.
14:40 We know of individuals that have technology
14:44 that can follow you in cars
14:46 and listen to your conversations.
14:48 Yes, that is available,
14:50 and would you wanted to have someone
14:52 you have no ideas out there
14:54 finding out information about you
14:56 and using it to develop other person,
14:59 other identities that can come and haunt you
15:02 in the near future.
15:03 Another concern about social security numbers
15:06 are about our children.
15:08 The young people that can't get access to credit as yet,
15:12 your two, three, four, five, six year olds
15:15 are having, constantly you're seeing stories of companies
15:19 having their databases being hacked into,
15:22 and people stealing that information.
15:24 You know what's interesting, they will not report
15:28 that the database has been hacked into four,
15:31 at least two, three weeks up to two to three months.
15:36 And then, you get a letter from them in the mail saying,
15:38 "We are sorry to say
15:39 that our account has been hacked into,
15:41 and your personal data was stolen."
15:45 And then you have means to worry,
15:46 and then they tell you,
15:48 "Hey, but we are providing you a free service
15:50 that will help lock your information,
15:52 so in case somebody is trying to utilize it,
15:55 you are able to control it a lot better."
15:57 Well, a couple of weeks
15:58 or up to two months have gone by,
16:00 so how secure is that?"
16:02 And there are many people now that are reporting in
16:05 saying that their children over the years
16:09 as they reach a certain age,
16:10 once they check on the credit information,
16:13 they find that their kids have a credit file.
16:16 It's not the kid's credit file,
16:18 someone has taken the information,
16:21 and used it to their benefit,
16:24 and or sold that credit information
16:27 all over the globe,
16:28 so other people are using it to get access to credit.
16:31 And it's a next big wave of concern,
16:34 that most of us should be quite aware of.
16:36 So that's social security number
16:38 is one of critical concern, and we should be well aware of
16:44 how we handle that information and what we do with it.
16:47 There are some that advice
16:49 that you take your social security card
16:51 and put it in a bank lock box.
16:54 Well, it creates a little inconvenience
16:56 when you have to apply for a job
16:59 that needs your credit--
17:01 your social security number.
17:03 But as the young lady on--
17:05 in our interview said, she has hers memorized.
17:09 Unless you need to show it to any one
17:11 from an employment standpoint,
17:13 you should also make certain
17:15 that you know the employer is a credible employer,
17:19 and it's not just somebody that's out there
17:21 saying that they will employ you,
17:23 just to get access to your social security information.
17:26 Big things going on from that standpoint
17:29 and the more people know,
17:30 and more technology proliferates,
17:33 there's a more reason we to stay actively involved
17:36 in protecting our information, and protecting our data.
17:39 So don't carry a social security card
17:43 around with you
17:44 because if you lose that type of information,
17:47 it creates a major, major problem
17:50 as you try to resolve and straighten out that issue.
17:54 Number two on the list are business cards,
17:56 and now I don't know how I can,
18:01 say that a business card is something
18:03 you should avoid carrying with you
18:04 except to save that if someone steals your wallet,
18:07 what do they have?
18:09 That's the thought process that I like you to think of
18:12 is now what do they have of you.
18:14 They have your driver's license,
18:16 if you carry your driver's license
18:18 in your wallet, and what does that tell people.
18:21 Well, it gives people your address,
18:23 where you live, gives the picture of who you are,
18:28 so now all of that information is out there on you.
18:31 Now, they can have some means of putting together a profile
18:35 of who you are.
18:36 They not only have your driver's license,
18:37 they probably have a debit card of yours,
18:39 and they have a credit card of yours.
18:41 They also have some other information
18:43 if you carry coupons with you and receipts.
18:45 They can put together a really unique profile
18:48 of who you are as an individual.
18:50 And then of course,
18:52 if you have a business card in there,
18:53 they not know where you live at home,
18:55 but they now also know where you work.
18:57 So it gives them a complete profile
19:00 of not only what you do, where you work but it can--
19:04 they can infer how much money you're making
19:07 based on the job title you have on the card.
19:09 So I would tend to think, there are other ways
19:11 of carrying around personal information
19:13 such as a business card.
19:15 And typically you can put your business information
19:18 in a contact form,
19:19 electronic format on your smartphone
19:21 and you can share with people that way.
19:23 I would tend to think, the most important
19:26 and most valuable outcome of keeping in that way
19:30 is that people can't put together a complete profile
19:34 of who you are,
19:35 if in fact they are able to take your wallet
19:37 and walk away with it.
19:39 Okay, the next thing
19:40 that I would probably tend to ask people to look at
19:42 would be, what amount of cash
19:47 do you think is necessary to carry with you.
19:49 Because if you carry too much of one thing,
19:53 it can be a major loss.
19:54 So I definitely think that as we look at what we are,
19:59 think of as an adequate amount of cash,
20:02 consider that type of element, consider where you live.
20:05 Remember,
20:07 that insurance on a car is based on where you live.
20:09 If you are an urban, in more dense area,
20:11 you're typically likely to pay more money for insurance
20:14 than if you live in a rural area.
20:15 The same applies for if you live in a dense
20:19 or urban community,
20:21 you are going to have to think more of your safety issues.
20:25 More people, studies have been done,
20:26 more people in a dense compact area
20:29 is more likelihood
20:30 of having some type of criminal type of behavior happens.
20:35 So watch yourself, protect yourself,
20:38 carry those things that are only necessary,
20:41 and don't provide necessary details of your life,
20:45 either electronically online
20:48 or keeping that type of information with you
20:51 in your wallet.
20:52 One of the other things
20:53 that are really important to think about
20:55 is how many credit cards you carry with you,
20:57 or debit cards you carry with you.
20:59 If I asked you that question,
21:01 the statistic show that people were carrying
21:04 more like three to five different type of cards
21:07 in their wallet with them.
21:08 They carry not only the credit card,
21:10 they carry a debit card,
21:12 they carry a retail store chain card,
21:14 they carry a gas card,
21:15 they carry a variety of those things in their wallet.
21:18 So if people take that,
21:20 they have taken a lot of information from you
21:22 as an individual,
21:24 and it could create a crisis at that time.
21:28 Now, the last thing that we, we talk about
21:32 is to avoid carrying a check leaf.
21:35 You know, I used to do that,
21:37 just drop a check leaf in there,
21:38 because I'm gonna probably need to use it
21:39 as I go and do certain things.
21:42 But I would say, avoid that, because why?
21:45 They have access on a check. What does a check have?
21:48 It not only has your address, it has routing numbers,
21:51 it has your checking account number,
21:53 that has information that they can utilize
21:56 to get access to your bank information,
22:00 this is crucial.
22:02 Many people have had their savings
22:05 and their banking information taken to whole new level
22:09 and it's--
22:10 They have taken the money out,
22:11 and they have lost it completely.
22:14 I suggest that we do one other thing.
22:17 The one other thing that I ask you to do,
22:19 with your wallet
22:21 and the information that's in it
22:22 is make a copy of every thing you carry with you.
22:26 Why?
22:28 Because if it is lost,
22:29 you can actually put together a puzzle
22:31 of what you had and what is now gone
22:34 and you could put it together in a viable way
22:37 so that you can know who to call
22:39 as quickly as possible to close down those accounts
22:42 before any major damage can be done on your account.
22:46 Many people have asked the question
22:48 of what's the right time to it.
22:49 Well, as soon as somebody,
22:51 you find out your wallet is lost, do something.
22:54 But there are many people that walk around with
22:57 assuming that their wallet is in a certain specific area.
23:00 I keep my wallet in my murse, my man's purse
23:03 or I keep my wallet in my back pocket.
23:06 For me, I always have to be in connection
23:09 with my wallet somehow if I'm on a trip, why is that?
23:13 Because people can take it out of your pocket at any time,
23:16 and the quicker you know it's gone,
23:19 the better of you will be,
23:21 although, it can be a very stressful situation.
23:25 The longer that happens,
23:28 the longer they have to do damage,
23:30 and the longer they have to create a whole new identity,
23:35 and create lot, a lot of other problems.
23:39 One of the major items
23:40 I also ask people to do is this.
23:43 Check your credit report, check your credit profile,
23:46 take a look at what's going on with your personal information.
23:51 It will be interesting to find out, if something is there
23:53 that's not supposed to be there.
23:55 You can fight it, you can find out
23:57 what's going on with your specific profile.
24:00 Check on specific items in your profile.
24:05 Check on what's going on with your personal data,
24:09 phishing scams,
24:10 and other type of scams are out there all the time.
24:13 People are sending viruses all over the place,
24:17 and they can get on your computer.
24:19 And what do they do?
24:20 They track your key strokes,
24:22 and can find out information from that standpoint.
24:25 I cannot emphasize enough,
24:28 that as we talk about the items to avoid in your wallet,
24:31 these are items to avoid carrying around with you
24:34 all the time,
24:35 it can provide you a sense of peace of mind
24:37 if you know what's going on with your information
24:41 on a real time basis.
24:42 And most people don't have the time to do it,
24:44 until it's too late.
24:46 There is a statistic out there
24:48 that many people may not know something is going on
24:51 with their personal data until it's way too late.
24:54 And it takes a long time to unravel all of the things
24:59 that can cause damage to your information.
25:03 So those are the major things that I would emphasize to you,
25:07 as somebody that dwells in an inner city area,
25:10 in an urban area,
25:12 and it is of utmost importance that you understand
25:17 how this all fits into your personality in your profile.
25:20 If you are discouraged about working
25:22 and you can't find work,
25:24 there are things that can be done for you.
25:27 I will tell you this,
25:28 that the study that's been done on self sufficiency
25:30 has told us this, that if you can get a coach,
25:33 somebody you can rely on, somebody you can talk to,
25:35 somebody that can give you good advise
25:37 about critical think on money.
25:40 Then you have somebody that will mentor you,
25:44 you have somebody that will talk to you,
25:45 and someone who will give you the right answers
25:48 and keep you motivated.
25:50 But there is one other important element
25:51 that you should be aware of, regardless of what issues
25:55 and barriers you have to employment,
25:57 you can overcome those barriers.
25:59 You can do a lot of great things in your life
26:02 and you can become a happy person,
26:05 by being able to give back
26:08 and do something for other individuals.
26:11 The thing that's most important
26:13 whatever your barrier is, is this.
26:17 We found out that if you can get a coach,
26:20 and you can get access to four specific services
26:25 for your personal life,
26:27 you have a 100 percent likelihood of succeeding.
26:31 So if you need information on child care,
26:33 if you need information on tax credits,
26:36 if you need information on, on free money access
26:40 or matching savings amounts, those answers are there.
26:45 The critical think on money is here
26:46 to provide you those resources,
26:49 and when you have those resources available to you,
26:54 and someone there to motivate you
26:56 and stay with you,
26:58 as you make those changes in your life,
27:00 you are 100 percent likely to succeed
27:03 in this issue called money.
27:05 So I take you a step back to the beginning
27:08 and I ask you to look at where you are at,
27:13 and then figure out where you want to be,
27:16 whether or not right now it's paying off that debt,
27:19 target getting it out of the way.
27:22 Secure a budget.
27:24 You can get one off of the website.
27:26 Download that budget and fill it in.
27:29 Know where your money is coming from,
27:31 know where your money is going.
27:33 The third step I ask you to do is look into your wallet,
27:37 look into what you carry with you on your smartphone.
27:40 Look into all of these elements that personalize your life
27:44 and that people are looking to take from you
27:47 to benefit themselves.
27:49 Think about it, make those changes,
27:52 call the people that can help you.
27:55 Call your pastor and then, Take it to the Bank and save.
28:00 God bless you.


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Revised 2016-07-18