ka-Ching!: Peer Review
Peer review
Q I received an offer from my credit card company for identity-theft protection. Is this type of protection a good idea to have?
LINDA
A Companies that offer identity theft protection usually do so for a monthly or annual premium. The services they provide typically include credit report monitoring, alerts when credit applications or inquiries are received, notification of negative information, an amount to cover the costs of cleaning up an identity theft, resources for help in the case of identity theft, quarterly updates to your credit report, and aid in correcting errors.
These sound like useful features. However, this type of protection usually is not cost-effective or necessary when considering the premium and the resources that are available to you at no cost.
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Peer review
Q I am a newly married 40-year-old female with no credit card debt but a healthy mortgage on our new home. Our employer offers a 403(b) account to which we have contributed to reduce our income to avoid the lower end of the next tax bracket. I know if we had 401(k) accounts, we'd be wise to contribute what our employer matched. However, since it's only a 403(b), are we doing the right thing by contributing to it or would some sort of IRA be the better choice? Lastly, would we be better off putting money right into paying off the mortgage sooner?
Peer review
Q I have the option to save money in a 403(b) plan or a 457 plan at work. These seem like the same thing to me. What is the difference between them?
