Year: 2019

What is VPF?

VPF is a Voluntary Provident Fund. An employee can build such a provident fund with the preferred amount of contribution. VPF is also known as the Voluntary Retirement Fund. VPF is an investment option for saving. The investor can decide the amount, and it is quite flexible.

Some important facts about VPF

• VPF or Voluntary Provident Fund is a monthly savings scheme. Just like other savings schemes, it has an interest rate.
• The rate of interest is 8.65% per annum.
• VPF is a secure investment option with low-risk. And it is also easily transferable as per the change of the job.

Who can invest in VPF?

People who get salaries every month get a chance to start with an investment in VPF. So, you must be a salaried person for getting eligibility for investing in VPF.

Why do you need to invest in VPF?

VPF account provides many benefits to the investor. Employees will get tax benefits. And it is a popular finance scheme for in-service people planning for their retirement. The benefits of VPF are here:

Safe and secure

VPF is a low-risk investment option. It has a back of the government of India. As there is a little risk, almost every employee wants to invest in it.

Lucrative rate of interest

The rate of interest is 8.65% per annum in VPF. This rate is in the year 2019. In the financial year 2018-2019, it was a little lower. It was 8.55% per annum. So, the rate is increasing every year. And, once you start investing here, you will never regret it.

Easy processing

Opening a VPF account is quite simple. You need to ask your employer finance department to open a VPF account. And if you already have an Employee Provident Fund (EPF) account, this can also work as a VPF account.

Easy Transfer

The account of VPF is easily transferable. If you change the job, you can transfer the account, as well. Only there are some simple steps to follow for switching accounts.

Tax benefits to avail with a VPF account

A VPF account comes under section 80c of the Income Tax Act, 1961. You will get tax benefit up to Rs. 1.5 lakh with a VPF account.

Money withdrawal from a VPF account

You can withdraw money from a VPF account for emergency needs. But you must avail of this benefit after submitting Form-31. You need to provide some details, also like your PF number, bank details, and full address. You might also have to attach a cancelled cheque.

What is the difference between EPF, PPF, and VPF?

Who can avail?

Any Indian can open a PPF account if he or she is an Indian. But only an employed Indian can avail EPF and VPF account.

Interest rate

PPF interest rate is around 8% per annum. And EPF interest is 8.75% per annum. VPF interest is also the same as EPF.

Duration of investment

PPF is a long-term investment option. It has a lock-in period of 15 years. But for EPF and VPF, the tenure is up to retirement. And if one resigns, the duration will complete till the working period.

Tax benefits

There is no tax deduction on the maturity amount of either of the account. So, with PPF, VPF, and EPF, you get a lot of tax benefits.

Withdrawal

After five years of opening a PPF account, you can withdraw 50% of the investment. And for EPF and VPF, the withdrawals are partial. But there is no such lock-in period of EPF and VPF like a PPF account.

Final note

PPF is an entirely different type of investment option. And you need not be a salaried person to open a PPF account. VPF and EPF have lots of similarities in function. And only an employed or salaried person can open VPF and EPF accounts. If you have an existing PPF account, you can open EPF or VPF account. There is no boundary for keeping even all three accounts (PPF, EPF, and VPF) if you are an employed person.

Moving to a new house is expensive, but there are ways to save money while you move.  If you plan out the relocation and be patient, you can keep yourself from being financially drained and stressed.

Through planning, you can also make sure that the things that are important to you don’t get left behind by opting for a reliable service like movers and other similar moving companies.

1.  Donate or sell things that aren’t important 

The fewer things you’ve to move, the less expensive the relocation is going to be. You should start unloading things that you don’t need weeks or even months before your actual move.

You’ll also find some things that were an expensive purchase, but you don’t require them in your new house. The best option would be to sell them, and the money that’s generated can be used to finance your move. You’ll also be able to get a fresh start at your new house.

2.  Find free boxes

You don’t need a lot of new cardboard boxes while moving. Why spend extra on something that is most of the times used during big moves. Before you splurge the cash on cardboard boxes, try to get as many free as you can; from neighbours, friends and relatives.

You can also visit local stores to look for any free boxes. Some people who’ve just moved also list their old boxes on websites like Craigslist, so you can get them from there and return them after your move is complete.

3.  Pack yourself

You may be tempted to hire someone for packing, but that will only lead to extra cost. Why not pack most of the things yourself? The early you start, the more things you can get packed before the moving day comes.

Inexpensive packing materials should be used wherever possible such as old newspapers. You’ll be able to unpack quickly after the move if you label the packages and place them for moving in an organized manner.

4.  Don’t neglect the post office

The post office can help you to save money for books and magazines. You can opt for this service when there are a lot of books, newspapers you want to keep and magazines in your house. The U.S. Postal service has reasonable rates for magazines and books.

The postal service will get the books and magazines at your new house pretty slowly, but it’ll save you a lot of money in the process.

5.  Get people you know ready for moving day

Try to round up friends, relatives and other people who would be willing to help on the moving day. You can start telling about the big day in advance, and if you can also agree to return the favour yourself later on.

Talk to the people you know weeks before, because if you do so in the end, they may not be able to find time instantly, but talking before can allow them to schedule other tasks for later than on your moving day.

Plan everything ahead of the moving day if you’re serious about saving money. Waiting for long to plan and make decisions can cost you in the form of having no help or the required equipment when the time comes.

I belong to a women’s networking group for entrepreneurs. We get together every few months to share ideas, experiences, vent… etc. It’s not a large group, but we always have exciting gatherings because most have completely different businesses and therefore, very different experiences. Some of the stories are priceless.

We recently had a brilliant woman join our team. After being a Financial Analyst for years, she decided that she was tired of trying to climb the corporate ladder and started a residential cleaning company. She’s very candid about her experiences, which I love, and goes into great detail about some of the challenges she faces every day. Because I’m nosy, I found her stories fascinating. The reality is that her stories are quite entertaining.

To solidify that even when we’re adults, we can still act like kids, one woman asked the question “cleaning toilets can’t be much fun, can it?” Her response…

“You know what fun is? Getting paid to clean them.”

Her business has been a success in less than a year. In the first seven months of being in business, she’s had such a steady stream of new clients that she’s already hired, 9 people. Her business is growing so fast that she’s had to turn away clients until she expands her team.

How many of us have ever had to turn away business in the first year?

Her days are hectic. Not only is she cleaning along with her staff, she’s also responsible for employee management, marketing, customer service and business development. She barely sleeps, and when I asked her how she does it, she said that in another five months, she’d be able to stop cleaning and focus on the operations of her business. She plans to hire another ten people at that time.

I was impressed.

Fast forward a few days – I have a friend who’s been looking for a job for close to 2 years now. Unfortunately, she chose a field that is quickly dying. She’s thought about starting a business but can’t quite decide what to do. Thinking she would be excited and inspired, I told her about the woman with the cleaning business and how well she’s doing

“I’m not that desperate” was her response. She was visibly grossed out.

It’s not about desperation; it’s about making money.

Don’t we all want to make money? I thought my friend would jump on this. This is one business where other than insurance, bonding and cleaning supplies, you don’t have to put much capital into getting started. But the stigma was too much for her to overcome, which is pretty sad.

Sure there is a lot of elbow grease that goes into every job, but if you’re making money,  isn’t it worth it? If I weren’t working on a side business already, I would honestly think about getting into this. Even doing it alone can bring in a decent side income.

My friend still doesn’t agree. She’s still trying to find business ideas.

Would you consider this type of business?
How do you feel about the stigma of cleaning someone home?

Years ago when I was starting my first job out of school, I got the worst piece of money advice from my boss.

“Charge something big on your credit card to motivate you to make your sales quota.”

Horrible advice!

It was great for my boss because it meant that I made her more money, but worthless to me because it meant that instead of making money I was just breaking even because my income would go right to paying off my credit card.

I didn’t take her advice. But I remember a girl who took it and ran with it.

Her first week on the job, she bought a $4000 purse. That’s 20% of a decent down payment on a home and she spent it on a PURSE!

She sat in the cubicle next to me and I can remember how desperate she sounded talking to potential clients. Desperate to land a big client in the hopes of paying off her useless debt. Clients don’t respond to desperation and the less they responded to her, the more she pestered them.

She never did make her sales quota and was let go within two months. The only thing she gained from that job was stress of having to pay back her debt.

This is an example on a small scale, but a problem I see with new college graduates. They get their first job and go from make $8 an hour at a part-time job to $40,000 a year and go crazy! They rent expensive apartments, buy new cars and max out their credit cards.

With the ‘last in, first out’ lay-off approach and our economy the way it is, new grads are usually the first to go and they’re left with consumer debt they piled on assuming they’d have this job for a few years.

Some are smart enough to sell some of their new purchases (at a loss) to pay off their debt, but most are now used to living beyond their means and…

The life of debt is born.

I made these mistakes myself. The more money I made, the more I spent attempting to keep up a lifestyle rather than plan for the future and ended up with a $34,00 debt and very little to show for it .

If I could go back, here’s what I would do to save more money as a new grad:

1. Live at home for another year or two

We all want our freedom when we get our first jobs, but the ones who are most free are the ones who continue to live at home at almost no cost for a few more years and save their money so that when they are ready to move out, they’re not strangled by debt.

2. Start an emergency fund

Lay offs, accidents and all kinds of unexpected things happen all the time.  I didn’t start an emergency fund until I was 30 and I regret this. Even if I had saved $100 a month when I was 25, it would have turned into $6000 by 30.

3. Start paying student loans ASAP

I have friends who are paying their student loans into their late 30′s because they’ve been making tiny payments or deferred them as long as they can. By this age, they have mortgages, insurance and kids to pay for. Why include a student loan as well?

Some suggest not paying your student loan and investing instead. I disagree. You don’t know what will happen with your investments. You could easily lose most of that money.

4. Don’t use more than one credit card

This is the time that most people acquire credit card debt. Using 3 or 4 credit cards and paying the minimum on each is a sure way to create a nightmare. Instead, stick to one card and pay it off every month.

5. Save, save, save

This is the easiest time to save money, especially if you’re living at home. Saving money now doesn’t only create excellent money habits, but it prepares you for a much better life in the future. If you’re living at home and making a decent income, there’s no reason not to save half of your monthly income.

These days, it seems like it’s getting worse and students are piling on debt even before graduation. In 2005, 69% of first year students had no debt, today that number is less than 15%.

Based on my own experience and what I see new grads do, I know we’re not adequately prepared upon graduation. We’re taught how to find jobs and identify careers we’d like to pursue, but not how to manage money and as a result, most of us start out with pesky debt.

What did you do right or wrong as a new grad?

We all want to save money but our tight budget and too many expenses are not allowing us to do but once you have started to take action in the right direction, you can save a good amount of money each day. Yes! Righty heard you can save money daily.

You don’t need to take bold actions for that but all you have to do look carefully your daily money outflow and start managing or cutting down expenses.

I have some money-saving tips which will surely help you to save money from your day to day activities, they all are incredibly simple to follow and if you start implementing few of the tips from these, you will see a good difference:

1. Set Saving Goals: One can achieve something once he makes a goal. Thinking about saving is a part of our life but setting goals to set aside a small amount actually in a day will help you to achieve your goal. For instance, if you can save let say Rs. 500 per day, then you have a saving of Rs. 15,000 in a month and approx Rs. 1,80,000 in a year.

Wait, the saving is not ending here. Now, think to double it. Yes, invest your savings now in FDs, SIPs, etc. This will ultimately help you to save a good amount of money.

2. Benefit of Cash backs and discounts: Before making any purchase, compare the prices of different sites, look for the benefit of maximum cashback every month you can avail. For making bills payments also, there are various sites like Paytm, Freecharge, Phonepay, etc.which gives you discounts on every month’s payments and additional cashback also.

Similarly, if you use a credit card then you can avail the benefit of Interest-Free EMI also when some companies offer zero interest EMI in the peak shopping season.

3. Investment plans: Investment in different instruments is one of the best alternatives to invest and save your money along with getting a good return. It’s always good to diversify your investments with higher return plans.

People generally limit their investment in saving account and Insurance-linked plans but there are other options which give you much higher return when you distribute your money in Fixed Deposits, PPF, Bonds, ELSS, Mutual Funds and Equity Market.

4. Curbing your spending: Cutting off your expenditure is a mostly heard option to save money which is possible with a good financial budget only, but we are too lazy to spend our time in making a budget and free enough to spend without thinking about savings.

You just need to keep a track of daily expenses like rent, travel, education, shopping, Bills, etc. and start cutting off your unnecessary spending. Next month again you can use the same revised budget.

5. Prepayment of Loans: Mostly families are under the debt of personal or home loans, which is a financial burden on them to repay. Prepayment of loans can help you to save a huge amount of interest. Prepayment will only give you the benefit of early disposing of your loan but also various tax saving options.

Make a good plan with the help of your lender to repay your loan and take advantage of saving interest.

6. High-Interest Savings Accounts: Having a saving account is common for each individual now but having an account offering higher interest and other benefits is still a lack of understanding for a few people.

Most people look about the minimum balance or zero balance saving accounts but they offer low interest. It is recommendable to compare the interest rates while opening a bank account as various banks offer a good rate of interest.

We all are aware that saving money is a priority rather than spending it but failed to get good ways to save money to secure our future or to deal with some emergencies. On average a person can save 25% of their earnings without disturbing their routine life. Now, it’s your time to check how much you can save by following the above simple and practical ways.

In the era of technology, if we talk about social media, academic, personal development, young people are well prepared in advance, but what about financially?

Are they fit and prepared financially for securing their life in the future or after retirement? We all know about the day to day expenses to be incurred, it can be college fees, education loans, or how can someone forget about online shopping and Entertainment?

Yes, I’m talking about personal Finance responsibility. It’s your turn to secure your future by making yourself financially independent while taking other duties.

Now, the question arises from where you can get all the excellent advice when it comes to your finance so that you don’t end up with the middle age.

Here is some best financial advice for young people to follow to become financially independent without relying on anyone else.

1. Keep money inflow and outflow track: People don’t like to keep records of their earning and spending but keep looking for the options to save money. You must be aware where you are spending your money and is it worth to spend it or save it?

For keeping a track, monthly budgets are always recommendable. Everyone is addicted to smartphones now, and you can take benefit of creating a checklist of daily expenses and Income by using any app. It will also generate interest and encouragement when you start saving form your salary.

2. Start Investing: Following Investing advice at a young age is the best advice. If you haven’t yet started to invest, you are making the biggest mistake of life. Only the problem is people afraid to take the risk, but this risk is worthy of taking at a young age. Investment is something creating money out of your own money without making efforts.

Depending upon your choice, you can invest in the long term, medium or short term plans to diversify your investment for availing the maximum benefit.

There are many investment plans like Mutual Funds, SIPs, Equity instruments (stock), etc. which will help them again to manage their finance and the get maximum benefits not only in terms of money but also availing many other offers of discounts, higher rate interest benefits, tax saving, etc.

3. Buying a Home: At your young age, you can make a plan to buy your home and avoid paying higher rents and shifting from one locality to another. Surveys also revealed that 15% of the young generation said buying house is the best financial decision they have ever taken.

It is also the best investment plan as renting out a part of the property can bring an extra source of income. Investing in real estate now and sell it in the future will let you enjoy an unbelievable amount of profits.

4. Earn extra with the Internet: Risky !! One should be aware while earning the income online as there is no doubt that scams held, but a proper research about making from online can surely help you to earn and learn more like with the help of freelancing work, selling an E-books, Teaching online, etc are few of the reliable work you can do to earn extra income in your idle time.
5. Take care of Health: You must have heard “Health is Wealth” but how many of you are taking care of it? The fact is that taking care of your physical health will help to save you a lot of money over time. You won’t have to pay high premiums on your health and life insurance.
6. Retirement Savings: Make sure to have enough savings to live your life after retirement. After a stage, you are somehow not much capable of earning as much as you are earning now. You need to prepare your retirement in advance.
7. Prepare Emergency Fund: The future is unsustainable, so the emergencies are! It’s always a good idea to have an emergency fund for some medical issues or sudden huge expenditures than to run for a loan and create a financial burden of paying EMIs. An emergency fund will help you to come out of the problems smoothly without being stuck in a bad situation for a long time.

Property agents review listings frequently to learn about brand-new real estate for sale. Usually, they all begin to appear alike, apart from a few variable details. A vibrant listing makes use of original language to produce a tempting mental photo of the property.

Find out exactly how to leave weary cliches behind as well as resonate with prospective purchasers. Make use of these savvy suggestions to create local property listings that obtain discovered and motivate people to take action.

Comply With the Fundamental Listing Format

The first step is to recognize the pattern every listing follows, regardless of the web content. Each listing should have a fundamental layout that consists of:

• a compelling heading developed to get focus as well as make the viewers wish to know more;
• an opening statement that provides a clear summary of what the property advertisement is about;
• a comprehensive description of the features that make the property preferable and special; and also
• a conclusive contact us to activity that discusses why viewers must act now and exactly how to contact you.

Each aspect calls for a focus on information and also using descriptive language. Keep a synonym replacement tool useful and utilize apps to assist with punctuation, grammar, as well as syntax. Precision reveals an agent is capable, focused, and trustworthy.

Home is Where the Heart Is

Plenty of listings make claims such as “stunning sights” and also “upgraded cooking area.” Neither of these descriptions motivates imagery in the reader’s mind. Instill each description with emotion. Tell a story regarding the house as well as what makes it interesting to live there. Rather than stating beautiful sights, set a beautiful scene. “Wake up to marvelous sunup over attractive Smith Bay.

Absorb the sounds of washing water and singing seabirds while you drink your early morning coffee.” Elaborate on a statement such as “upgraded kitchen area.” As an example, “Prepare gourmet dishes in your modern-day kitchen area with clever state-of-the-art devices as well as a roomy kitchen to save all your key active ingredients.” Verify to the viewers why the home is their desire home.

Interest Their Practical Side

Once the listing pulls on a viewers’ heartstrings, it’s time to appeal to their functional side. People intend to be comfortable in a home that fits their everyday needs. While a spa bathtub and in-ground swimming pool are offering factors, remember to note the practical functions of a house.

Allow possible buyers to understand the home has an assigned washing area with an energy-efficient washing machine and dryer. State the all-season area that can double as a den, office, playroom or added a living room. Envision you are a buyer and display the attributes that help make life very easy.

A Beautiful Day in Your Area

Customers always need to know more regarding the space of a residential or commercial property. Provide truths concerning the surroundings, such as “located in the historic location of the village,” or “located near institutions, shopping, and also transportation.”

Most real estate agencies are including neighborhood pages to their web sites, offering details regarding certain towns as well as what they use. Web link to these neighborhood pages within the listing. These web links supply beneficial local information to possible customers and drive even more targeted website traffic to the site.

Sprinkle Localized Keywords Into the Content

With site website traffic in mind, know search engine optimization opportunities to assist draw in more purchasers to the listing. Make a decision which key phrases would certainly fit best into the listing description.

Include short and long-tail search phrases that pertain to your home and also its area. Add these search phrases normally into the web content. If a keyword phrase does not fit, search for one that does. A selection of cost-free and also paid tools exist to execute basic keyword study.

Consist of these search phrases in the listing as well as articles is advertising it, such as a tweet or Facebook upgrade. Make sure all the online listings are on mobile-friendly platforms, so they are easily obtainable via smartphones.

Optimum Exposure

It takes more than one or two advertising and marketing approaches and sources to offer a house quickly. Give every listing maximum direct exposure. Listings need to show up on MLS, the firm website, as well as all of the firm’s social media sites accounts.

Offer to send out prospective customers the current listings by means of e-mail and also sms message. Release listings in cost-free as well as paid local magazines. Schedule an open house occasion as well as advertise it via local news sources. Develop a separate web site or touchdown page for high-profile listings.

Create a blog write-up regarding the listing and what makes it one-of-a-kind. Include sharing switches on all your online blog posts and also motivate visitors to share the listing. The goal is to get as numerous eyes on the listing as possible.

Captivating Strategies

Go beyond words to make a listing compelling as well as remarkable. Add professional photographs of every space to the listing. Offer an online tour of the property to draw in busy customers and also out-of-state investors.

Harness ingenious technologies, such as drone photography as well as 360 video clips, to offer buyers a complete photo of the residential property. Concentrate on distinctive components, such as colorful gardens, shining wood floors, as well as modern-day appliances.

Capture the home’s most phenomenal functions on film then share them on websites such as Pinterest, YouTube, as well as Instagram. Take a streaming video clip of the initial trip of your home to share survive Facebook. Discuss the property as if you are revealing it to buyers in-person. Bring them into the home virtually, so they intend to see extra.

Include An Incentive

A well-crafted listing highlighting the most useful facets of a home acts as a soft call to action. Add a time-sensitive declaration to the end of the listing, such as, “be the first to see this desire home and make an offer now.” Consider including a reward, such as, “reduced closing costs for a minimal time just.” Get people to act prior to they browse away to an additional listing.

Usage creativity and also good sense to write tempting local real estate listings that get noticed. Prove your worth to sellers quickly by developing a professional, well-written listing summary. Enter the customer’s footwear and provide all the information required to get them to act currently.

About the Author:  Antonio is just one of the most experienced realty advertising and marketing consultants on-line today. He runs the Real Estate Marketing Headquarters website where he develops the most effective of the most effective web content for those that are looking to dominate online. 18 years of realty investing as well as advertising and marketing is been shared with those who prepare to come to be # 1 in any kind of offered market.

Dealing with a salary cut off or losing a job or Living a good lifestyle are some common reasons for developing the second source of Income. These incomes are usually known as Passive Income also. While the earning from your job or self business is known as active Income.

How will the second source of Income help you?

• Helps you to increase your savings.
• Losing a job or pay cutoff situations can be managed easily.
• No need to worry, you can earn it even after retirement.

Let’s move further where many of us think that we have to bind for another part-time job to earn as a second source, but it’s not that much true. You can devote time as per your convenience, daily or weekly and still make a handsome income.

Now in the era of the Internet, it is simple to generate a second source of Income, you need a Laptop or Mobile phone and a Good Internet connection.

So, here I’m sharing with you the best sources, which I’m also using to develop another source of income besides my active income.

1. Freelancing: Freelancing is the most recommendable stream for the second source of Income. It merely means devoting your few hours in a day to earn by using your skills, hobbies. Here, you need to complete short term projects, and once you complete it, you will get paid. Many websites are there like Fiverr, which allow you to connect with people who will hire you for work and pay.

You can take freelancing writing work, software development, website designing, App development, SEO services, etc.

2. Online Tutoring: The education sector is a broader sector where you can teach someone at home, can associate with some institutes to teach or even the most suitable which parents prefer is to teach online. Online teaching demand is not limited to foreign country’s students but highly increasing in India as well. You can devote 3-4 hours daily or weekly and earn on per hour basis.

Apart from this, you can also create an online course or content which can be sold through the online platforms Udemy.com, Lynda.com or skillshare.com. You can make an insane amount of money by selling courses.

3. Blogging: You must have heard about Blogging, if not. Then let me tell you in simple language blogging mean writing about something. It could be anything like health, lifestyle, food and many more. However, one should have good writing skills and patience to earn a good income through blogging. Many people also opt for it as their full-time career and now earning lakhs of rupees in a month.

Not sure, how to start? Contact bloggers or content development companies, they hire you for work from home-based even and pay a good amount of money for your quality articles.

Moreover, those who are thinking to start it from your website, here’s the idea, if you can consistently create a lot of value for people with your blogs, and you can generate an unbelievable amount of passive income. Continuous posting of blogs will start bringing in traffic whether you devote any additional time or not.

4. Affiliate Marketing: This is an excellent way to earn passive income who has a website or blogs. Through an affiliate program, you can promote amazon, eBay, Clickbank products wherein case of every sale through your site; you will earn a fixed amount of commission.

It’s always best to sale those products you are either very interested in or one which is highly relevant to your website. This will genuinely help to build trust in the product.

5. Online Business: There is no doubt the tradition of buying and selling things on a store has been gone, and E-commerce has taken its place. Now, with the help of various E-commerce platforms like Shopify, eBay, Amazon, Flipkart, you can quickly start your business with little investment and earn a handsome side income along with your active income.
6. Write an E-Book: Higher efforts in your free time will result from you with higher income. Once you have written an excellent trendy e-book, you can publish and sell it on your website or at Amazon, kindly (highly recommendable platforms) and earn a recurring income for many years.

You can choose any of the alternatives depending upon your skills to generate a second source of Income. Opportunities are everywhere; you need to grab it before your competitor. Proper planning and experience of different types of passive income streams will never let you down at the time of recession.

Title Insurance, should you get it or not? Title Insurance is a type of insurance that most homeowners get when they purchase their home. It’s quite different from homeowner insurance or life insurance. Title Insurance protects the ownership of your home for as long as you own your home.

Why is Title Insurance important?

There have been many situations where individuals have lost their title due to theft. Here’s how it works. Let’s say you own your home, and your identity was stolen. Identity theft is when one person pretends to be someone else by assuming that person’s identity. This is most often done to obtain credit in that person’s name. Your identity can be stolen in several different ways. Some of the ways are a lost wallet with all your identification and your credit cards, unshredded mail, and inputting personal information on a fraudulent website.

Check out Susan’s story. What happened to Susan is very unfortunate. Her identity was stolen, and her title for her home was taken without her knowledge. This can happen to anyone. Here are some tips on how to protect yourself:

• Check your title annually to make sure no changes have been made – a real estate lawyer can check this for you
• Check your credit bureau periodically, you can obtain one free credit report at Equifax or Transunion. Look for any inaccuracies. If you discover you are a victim of identity theft, report it to the authorities immediately and to the credit bureaus to add a fraud alert on your file. Also, contact your banks and credit card companies
• Get Title Insurance with identity theft protection

First Canadian Title is one of the more popular title insurance companies in Canada. The price varies depending on the province, value and type of home.

First Canadian Title’s price includes the following:

• Fraud and forgery – protection against fraudulently registered mortgages against your title
• Duty to defend – the legal fees associated with resolving insured title issues will be covered
• Building permit coverage – coverage for renovations completed without a permit that result in a loss
• Zoning coverage – protection should a property not meet municipal zoning requirements
• Competing interests – protection in the case of someone claiming an interest in your land; for example, an easement for a driveway or a builder’s lien
• Problem-solving/facilitates closings – First Canadian Title will frequently provide coverage for known defects such as encroachments, delays in registration and zoning violations (these are directly from FCT’s website)

Title fraud can be a nightmare to deal with if you’re not protected. It is a shame that we have to think of protecting the title to our home. Whatever happened to just buying a home legally and assuming that the house is yours. I guess those days are over.