My Wallet Was Stolen! What Do I Do?

Over the weekend My Azuca, our neighbor, and their friends had their purses stolen. Besides the fact of being scared due to the events that occurred, everyone had to worry about their financial lives being stolen. The most important part being that everyone is ok, physically. But there is a lot to be done about their financial information being in the hands of someone else.

Most people don't know what to do when their bank cards, credit cards, Social Security card, and other valuable financial information is stolen. The process of taking care of your financial information after it is lost or stolen doesn't make the experience of being robbed any better but it has to be done.

So, what should you do if your financial information is stolen?

* Take inventory of what is missing. Making a list of everything that was stolen.

* File a Police Report.

* Call your bank and credit card companies to report the information stolen. The bank or credit card company will either place a hold on your financial accounts or close them and issue you new information.

* If your Social Security card was also taken, you will need to contact the Social Security Administration. Replacing your SS card is free, so that isn't an added worry. Go to the SSA's website for information on what to do to replace your stolen (or lost) SS card. You can also call the SSA at 1-800-772-1213 from 7am to 7pm Monday-Friday to speak to a representative.

According to the SSA website, you should:

Complete an Application For A Social Security Card (Form SS-5);

Present a recently issued document to show your identity;

Show evidence of your U.S. citizenship if you were born outside the United States and did not show proof of citizenship when you got your card; and

Show evidence of your current lawful noncitizen status if you are not a U.S. citizen.

Your replacement card will have the same name and number as your previous card.

What should you do to protect yourself if this should every happen to you?

* Keep a list your your financial information (numbers to call, your account number, and any other information that might be important), in a safe place.

* Keep track of your bank and credit cards.

* Keep your bank information in a safe place (a lock box works great!).

* Carry your money and ID in your front pocket (wise advice from my dad).

* Check your credit report to see if there has been any fraudulent activity under your name and ssn.

* Most importantly, be smart and safe about where you keep your information, who has access, and how you protect your information. 

Be SMART with your money and your money will WORK for you....

Guest Post - Morality versus Legality

Sanni Kruger, of Holistic Money Manager, is a finance coach helping people to become competent and confident money managers who live within their means without stressful money concerns. She assists her clients in reducing their debts whilst building up savings, as well as clarifying their desired long term vision and learning how to expand their resources to reach it. Her self-help book “Making Friends with Money – How to start feeling wealthy without waiting till you’re rich” is available from http://www.holisticmoneymanager.com/self-help/ Sanni is also a motivational speaker with over 30 years experience of speaking to groups of any size on a variety of subjects.

When this cartoon appeared in the Financial Times in August (http://dld.bz/awCmT#), it drew an outraged response.

A reader criticized Ingram Pinn, the cartoonist, for daring to compare bankers, who earned their bonuses legally, with the illegal inflation of MPs expenses and the criminality of rioters.  However, when I saw the cartoon I immediately thought: “At last, somebody put their finger on it.” In my mind the common element in these figures is quite simply a lack of morals. (Oh, what an old-fashioned word.)

As far as I’m concerned, a bank which rewards its employees with cash incentives for giving credit to customers who may be already struggling (and punishes staff with a cabbage if they don’t meet their targets) acts immorally.  Whether it is legal or not is beside the point.  So does an MP who inflates their expenses, no matter whether they’ve “stuck to the rules” or not.  To my mind it seems that the rioters responded to that immorality with their own immorality in the only way they could to vent their rage and frustration.

Now this rage and frustration seems to be expressed in more constructive ways through the Occupy movement, and especially through the camp outside St. Paul’s Cathedral in London.  The Occupation might be illegal, for instance the Occupation of College Green in Bristol is trespass, but in my opinion it is moral. The Occupiers have been criticized for citing diffuse causes.  Yet, I see the common thread: morality,  because I think most of the causes they cite are based on immoral practices and ideas.

But it seems that the message is finally getting through.  Ingram Pinn published another telling cartoon in the FT.

On the very same day professor Ken Costa (former chairman of Lazard International, “one of the world’s preeminent financial advisory and asset management firms”) wrote in the FT (http://dld.bz/awCkA): “Despite the diffuse agendas, one theme clearly unites them: the conviction that the capitalist system is fatally flawed and past its sell-by date.”  He believes that “resentment at asymmetrical rewards and risks is … justifiable.”

Professor Costa goes on to say: “The cure is not more legislation, or increased regulation.  It is the pressing need to reconnect the financial with the ethical.  Free markets … do not exist in a moral vacuum … they need somehow to be nurtured and sustained by a moral spirit …  Ultimately … economies cannot function and societies cannot flourish without mutual trust and respect, or without fundamental honesty and integrity.”

I can’t put it better than that.  The whole thing reminds me very much of the events in East Germany in 1989, when increasing frustration and resentment with the immorality of their leaders brought more and more citizens into the churches to join the Monday prayer meetings.  Initially their prayers and concerns where just as diffuse as they ones of the Occupiers until they gradually turned into demonstrations and the one cry: “Wir sind das Volk (We are the people).”

I hope that the protesters will be able to create a similar common call to bring about real change and a return to the kind of morality which truly reconnects the financial with the ethical.

Iyanla Vanzant Daily Stimu-Mail – SUPPORTING THE EVIDENCE FOR ME

Iyanla Vanzant is the founder and executive director of Inner Visions International and the Inner Visions Institute for Spiritual Development. She is the author of 13 titles—including five New York Times bestsellers—and the Inner Visions CD Series. Peace from Broken Pieces: How to Get Through What You’re Going Through has been published by SmileyBooks and available here. Iyanla is a Spiritual Technician. She is a Master Teacher. She is a woman of passion, clear vision and purpose, with a wicked sense of humor. Ordinary? Maybe. We think Dr. Maya Angelou's description is much more appropriate. Iyanla is, by many accounts, a Phenomenal Woman!

I will realize my own worth when I accept
 .  .  . what I do says a lot about who
I believe I am. 

You have probably heard this statement before.  This time, really hear it.  Take it into every fiber of your being with the desire to really understand what it means. "Your life is a testimony of who you are." Your response to every experience in your life is a witness to your character.  Do you react defensively? In anger?  Or, do you respond lovingly? How you treat yourself and others will convict you or exonerate you. Do you care about yourself?  Do you provide good, loving care for yourself? How you present yourself to the world is the judge of your character.  Are you a hangman? An executioner? Or, are you a caring, compassionate comforter? What you do and how you do it is your jury. Are you biased or balanced?  Are you open or judgmental? The conditions and circumstances in which you live are your courtroom. Are you free? Or, are you mentally, emotionally or spiritually imprisoned?

    

As you review and examine the testimony your life is making to the world, you gather the evidence of who you really believe you are. You are the only one who can testify for you or against you! The evidence you present either builds a case for your worthiness or, against it.  What you believe about your own worthiness determines how the evidence is presented. The amount of freedom you experience, as well as the length and degree of your mental, emotional or spiritual imprisonment is determined by the evidence you present. Perhaps it is time to overturn some of your decisions.

Until today, you may not have been aware of how the conditions in your life and how you live your life demonstrate what you believe about yourself. Just for today, review the evidence and bring in a verdict. Are you worthy?  Are you not worthy?

Today, I am devoted to supporting the evidence for me and changing the evidence against me that is me!

From Until Today!  

by Iyanla Vanzant

Iyanla Vanzant Daily Stimu-Mail – MY MONEY VIBRATES

Iyanla Vanzant is the founder and executive director of Inner Visions International and the Inner Visions Institute for Spiritual Development. She is the author of 13 titles—including five New York Times bestsellers—and the Inner Visions CD Series. Peace from Broken Pieces: How to Get Through What You’re Going Through has been published by SmileyBooks and available here. Iyanla is a Spiritual Technician. She is a Master Teacher. She is a woman of passion, clear vision and purpose, with a wicked sense of humor. Ordinary? Maybe. We think Dr. Maya Angelou's description is much more appropriate. Iyanla is, by many accounts, a Phenomenal Woman!

Don't show an indifference to money.
- Reverend Ike 

My money vibrates, drawing like unto like.

From Acts of Faith    

by Iyanla Vanzant

How many times have you passed a penny on the street without bending down to pick it up? Don't you think a penny is money? Penny has a mother, her name is dime.  Dime has a father; his name is dollar.  Dollar has many relatives in all different sizes. Dimes and dollars are very peculiar about how you treat penny.  A person with a million dollars who loses a penny is no longer a millionaire. A person who needs a penny to buy a loaf of bread may not eat. We pick and choose the kind of money we want.  We may not realize money has a vibration, and if we treat money right it will draw like unto it.  The next time you find a penny, do not be indifferent; pick it up, value it, take it home and realize you now have in your possession a close relative of the dollar.

Iyanla Vanzant Daily Stimu-Mail – LIVE WITHIN THE BOUNDARIES OF THE LAW

Iyanla Vanzant is the founder and executive director of Inner Visions International and the Inner Visions Institute for Spiritual Development. She is the author of 13 titles—including five New York Times bestsellers—and the Inner Visions CD Series. Peace from Broken Pieces: How to Get Through What You’re Going Through has been published by SmileyBooks and available here. Iyanla is a Spiritual Technician. She is a Master Teacher. She is a woman of passion, clear vision and purpose, with a wicked sense of humor. Ordinary? Maybe. We think Dr. Maya Angelou's description is much more appropriate. Iyanla is, by many accounts, a Phenomenal Woman!



If you do not re-verse ways of thinking, speaking and doing, you will remain on the wheel of no motion.
- Ralpha 

There are universal laws that govern our ability to multiply and have supply. The law of forgiveness, when put into action, infuses the mind with natural, healthy ideas that take away the darkness and bring in the light. The law of obedience governs our movements, requiring that we act in order to receive. For everything we give must be returned, as a sacrifice never goes unnoticed. The law of increase requires that we give praise and thanks for all that we have.  The law of receiving gives us exactly what we expect. The law of attraction brings to us without delay the desires and thoughts we hold in our minds. The law of supply provides all of our needs and desires, based on our belief of its existence. When our efforts do not multiply, when our supply is not sufficient, it is quite possible that we are breaking the law.

I live within the boundaries of the law.

From Acts of Faith 

 by Iyanla Vanzant

Iyanla Vanzant Daily Stimu-Mail – LEARNING TO COOPERATE WITH MYSELF

Iyanla Vanzant is the founder and executive director of Inner Visions International and the Inner Visions Institute for Spiritual Development. She is the author of 13 titles—including five New York Times bestsellers—and the Inner Visions CD Series. Peace from Broken Pieces: How to Get Through What You’re Going Through has been published by SmileyBooks and available here. Iyanla is a Spiritual Technician. She is a Master Teacher. She is a woman of passion, clear vision and purpose, with a wicked sense of humor. Ordinary? Maybe. We think Dr. Maya Angelou's description is much more appropriate. Iyanla is, by many accounts, a Phenomenal Woman!

I will realize my own worth when I accept
.  .  . everything I set out to do
begins within me. 

In order to accomplish anything in life you must have cooperation among all of the forces involved. The mind must cooperate with the body. The body must cooperate with the heart. The heart must cooperate with the desire. The desire must cooperate with the vision. The vision must cooperate with will power.  The will power must cooperate with the ability. The ability must cooperate with the opportunity. The opportunity must cooperate with the timing. The timing must cooperate with the order. Order must cooperate with the outcome. The outcome must cooperate with the mind.

The point is, you must have inner, as well as outer cooperation in order to accomplish anything in life. The level of innercooperation is determined by your sense of worth.

This means that what you think you can do, you believe you will do.  In response to what you believe you can do, you take consistent action toward that end. When you undertake any endeavor harboring a conscious or unconscious belief that you are not worthy of doing it, you will find that you are unable to move forward.  

The desire to do anything is Divine. The ideas you receive are God's ideas for you. Until you believe that you, with all of your faults, can still receive Divine inspiration, it will be difficult to get your head, your heart and your body to move in one direction together.  

Until today, you may not have been able to get the various aspects of your being to cooperate with your desire. Just for today, examine resistance. What are you telling yourself?  This represents mental resistance. What are you feeling? This is emotional resistance.  What steps are you taking toward manifesting your dreams and goals?  This is physical resistance. Once each is identified, ask the Holy Spirit for support in bringing each of these aspects into cooperation with the others.

Today, I am devoted to learning how to cooperate with myself!

From Until Today!

 by Iyanla Vanzant

Sneakers and the American Dream

Each year Jordan Brand schedules releases of past sneakers, they call them retro, and every year these releases cause mass hysteria. Case in point, the December 23rd, 2011 release of the Concord XI's. We all know how that turned out.  Everyone from the "average Joe" to the sneakerhead rushed out to buy this overpriced, replica of a shoe that had been released previously. Imagine Black Friday, but everyone is after the same thing. Seems pretty silly, but these releases have become an eye opening look at the way Americans view material items. This overhyped need for a pair of shoes has lead to injuries, theft, and even killings...over a shoe. And, this happens almost any time a Jordan Brand sneaker is re-released, or some other shoe that has been made to be the next Holy Grail for sneaker collectors and those who simply want to keep up with the "Jordan’s'".

All for some shoes!

Take a step back. Look at the way society has financially risen and fallen, all in the name of material items and keeping up with the Joneses (Jordan’s'). We all want a piece of that American Dream we have been sold and have bought into. We want the next best thing and we want it before everyone else. Even if we cannot afford to keep up the appearance, we try. The housing and automobile industries were first, then the banking industry, then went the jobs (and the houses and cars and money), next, possibly, student loans. All because we want to give the illusion that we are living the American Dream when our dream has turned into the American Nightmare.

The American Dream, few ever truly reach it, most fake it well, and the rest of us - we get caught up in the hype and overextend our finances on material items with the promise that if we play the part people will believe we actually live the part. We forget our priorities and choose to spend on our wants leaving little money for our needs.

Our generation and generations following us, just like generations before, have bought into another form of the American Dream, without knowing how to responsibly reach it. The dream of the dream is possible. Take something like the Jordan Concord XI's for example; these shoes (and others) have always been a status symbol for urban youth. Our shoes are our houses, cars, retirement funds...literally. We spend our rent, grocery, and gas money on shoes in order to keep up with what our friends and celebrities. We place shoes at the top of our priorities because we do not always see our family, neighbors, and people we associate with placing their priorities in order of importance of their needs, not their wants. This is fine if you are content to live that life, but if you want more out of life you must change your priorities and how you reach them.



Shoes but no gas...smh



If I said with some planning, we can have everything we want in life. Jordan Brand always sets release dates months ahead of the actual release. Enough time to SAVE for the shoes. Saving lets you get the shoes AND make sure your priorities are met. Let's say you need $300 for the shoes, and a new outfit to rock with them, of course. You find out about the release four months in advance, more than doable. You would only have to save $75 a month to have the $300 by the time the shoes are released. You can even reserve the shoes with your favorite sneaker store since you have been saving and do not have to deal with the craziness of the release, unless you want too.

The same is true for big, more important items like a car, house, or vacation. The key is to set your priorities and stick to them. Get a jar. Plan for what you need, save for what you want.

When the next shoe is released will you be among those who can easily buy them with a clear conscious or will you be taking for your needs to fund your wants?