Halloween per Person Spending to Hit Record High. How Do You Compare?

Halloween is a well-loved holiday in the US.  It was popular back when I was a kid, but it is way more popular now—seemingly gaining popularity with each passing year. Part of its appeal is that it offers a lot of bang for your buck. Comparatively speaking, it doesn’t even make the list of top five when it comes to holiday spending.

According to the National Retail Federation’s annual survey Halloween retail spending will be $9 billion this year. That’s a little less than last year, but those planning on partaking in the festivities—175 million—plan to spend a record $86.79 each.

According to the survey 68 percent of Halloween shoppers will spend $3.2 billion on costumes. Seventy-four percent will spend $2.7 billion on decorations and a whopping 95% will be spending $2.6 billion on candy. I’ve already done my part on that one, but since I’ve also already broken into my stash I’ll have to purchase some more! Greeting cards are also a big part of this holiday, thirty-five percent of those celebrating will spend $400 million finding the perfect card that reflects their holiday sentiments.

Dressing pets in costumes is gaining popularity too—up 4 percent from last year. Almost 20 percent of Halloween participants plan to have costumes for Fido or Fluffy this year.

Interestingly the survey found that only 30 percent plan to take their kids trick-or-treating.  I guess I’m not going to be the only one who’s eating the candy they bought themselves. No matter, whether you plan to take to the streets with your kids, visit a haunted house, or partake in some type of spooktacular event, there are plenty of Halloween festivities to enjoy.

A. Alliance Collection Agency, Inc. is a full service, licensed accounts receivable management and debt collection agency providing highly effective, customized one on one management and recovery solutions for our business partners.  Founded in northern Illinois in 2005, we have been proudly improving the bottom-line on behalf of our business partners in and around Chicagoland for over 13 years.

image provided by:   David Menidrey on Unsplash

Winter is Coming: Freeze Your Credit Too!

Here in the Midwest, you can really feel it coming:  winter is pretty much on our doorstep.

I admit I have once again been spoiled by summer and need to be reminded that the coming of winter is right on schedule.  This really should not be a source of complaint.  If I could do something about it, however, I would.  Perhaps in one last act of defiance, while I have broken out the sweatshirts, I have yet to put away the shorts.

But I digress.

Winter does have advantages, not the least of which is some additional indoor time to help us focus on matters which perhaps have been put off by the lazy days of summer.

One thing we suggest that our clients and friends take a good look at is credit reporting, and the effect it can have on collections success. This is a very valuable tool and we use it to good purpose to encourage prompt payment of past due bills. Credit reporting can significantly affect the credit score of debtors and can only be relieved by payment of the debts that affect the score.  Recent changes to which debts can be reported have led to an increase in credit scores overall, but that does not mean it is any less an important tool.

That said, do you know that you can now freeze your credit for free?

We thought not.  This change is the result of a recent law which seems to be flying a bit under the radar.

So, in an effort to also encourage our clients and friends to protect their own credit standing, and take advantage of a consumer tool that can be effective in protecting them from identity theft, we want to make you aware that you can now initiate a credit ‘freeze’ for free through the three credit reporting agencies Experian, Transunion and Equifax.

First off, what is a ‘credit freeze’?

A credit freeze (or security freeze) allows a consumer to restrict access to their credit file which makes it much harder for identity thieves to open credit accounts in your name.  This is different than a credit ‘lock’ for which there is often an additional charge.

This law went into effect on September 21, 2018, and is related to the massive Equifax data breach last year.  At that time consumers who were identified as having their personally identifiable information stolen from Equifax were given free credit monitoring and the ability to freeze their credit to prevent further financial damage. However, given the scope of the breach, and the widespread impact data theft can have on everyone, the law was enacted to provide at least some protection to consumers in the event someone tries to establish credit, or other type of financing, illegally in their name.

Further detailing the law is a blog authored by Andrew Smith (Federal Trade Commission, Director, Bureau of Consumer Protection) and Gail Hillebrand (Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection, Associate Director, Division of Consumer Education and Engagement) which you can read here.

They point out that enabling a credit freeze is very simple.  You only need to contact the three credit reporting agencies using either their web site or by phone (the blog has specific contact information for all three) and they will put the freeze on your account.

How does it work?  Here is an example.

Say someone has acquired your personally identifiable information, and attempts to apply for a credit card.  Without a credit freeze, it is possible that the thief can apply and receive a credit card based on your good credit rating and proceed to run up debt to their hearts content.  Or at least to the credit limit established for the card.  And they could do this a number of times.  You would never know unless you were regularly monitoring your credit reports, or you went to establish a new source of credit on your own and were denied due to a unexpected decline in your credit score.

By establishing a credit freeze, the bank would look up your credit report, see there is a freeze on it, and ask the thief to take the credit freeze off so they could have access to the report. Failing that, they would not issue a new credit card or other line of credit.

So, what happens if you want to apply for a new card or open a new line of credit for yourself and you have a freeze on your account?  The bank sees the freeze, asks you to unlock it for them, you do, and once they have the information they need you can apply the freeze once again.

Doesn’t that take a long time?  No, in fact the law requires the credit reporting agency to unfreeze your report within one hour of the request, and likewise put it back on when you ask to put it back on.

Is it easy to do?

Yes, it is. I have personal experience with it and it works quite well.  For example, one day I received a letter from my insurance agency regarding their need to access to my credit report to do a new quote for our insurance.  This is quite common, but before I put on a freeze they could just access it.  Now I have to lift the freeze for them to see it.  I called the insurance company’s service number and while the agent was on the phone with me I unfroze my report, they got their information, and then I put the freeze back on, all on-line through their web site.  Very easy.

Does this impact the effectiveness of us using credit reporting on your behalf?

No, it does not.  We continue to report information to the credit bureaus as always.  Credit scores are based on delinquent account reporting and apply to a credit score regardless of a freeze or lock on the consumer’s account.

Protect yourself!  Use this free tool to make your financial world just a bit safer.

A. Alliance Collection Agency, Inc. is a full service, licensed accounts receivable management and debt collection agency providing highly effective, customized one on one management and recovery solutions for our business partners.  Founded in northern Illinois in 2005, we have been proudly improving the bottom-line on behalf of our business partners in and around Chicagoland for over 13 years.

The Sonic Boomers: Facing Tough Choices When Enough is Enough

Have you heard a ‘sonic boom’?  I have, many times when I was a kid.  I remember the windows of our house rattling, dogs barking and that deep ‘BOOM’ sounding like a bomb dropped right next door.

This memory should immediately identify me as part of the tail end of that great generation known as the ‘boomers.’  With that has come the realization that there are many significant decisions coming at me at supersonic speed. At least that is the way it feels.  Actually I guess you would call me a ‘tweener’—that is, too young yet to collect Social Security, yet close enough to need to be prepared to make intelligent decisions on a number of important lifestyle and financial choices when the time does come.

Before I go any further:   I am not a financial advisor (heck, I don’t even play one on TV!), am making no recommendations and this is not intended to provide any guidance whatsoever.  What I did want to share was a perspective on how individual these choices are and how much our heart, head–and bodies–play in making them.

With that disclaimer, I think it is fair to say that the general consensus of advisors I have read suggest taking Social Security benefits as late as possible, or at all events as close to full retirement age as practical.  The monthly benefits we receive increase nicely the longer we wait.  Yet there is an argument that goes in the opposite direction. That is, for many of us beginning to collect at the earliest possible moment, at age 62, is really the right thing to do.

This somewhat contrarian opinion came up in an article “Extending retirement age falls heavily on sore backs.” by Brad Allen, writing in the Minneapolis StarTribune.

Allen’s article initially focuses on the fact that for some of us taking benefits as early as possible is really not a choice.  Many of us have had hard, physically demanding jobs that preclude us from working longer due to injury or extensive wear and tear.  Putting up with more job related stress and strain can not only impact our quality of life, it can also be dangerous.  Yet I thought that most Americans waited until at least until full retirement age to ‘retire’.

Not so, apparently.  According to Allen: “Even though the proportion of older workers staying in the workforce past retirement age is increasing, according to government statistics, 58 percent of men and 65 percent of women applying for Social Security benefits in 2014 did so before reaching full retirement age of 66…So extending the retirement age even beyond its current limits is pushing against the overwhelming practice and expectations of the majority of older workers.”

He goes on to quote Phyllis Moen, a sociology professor at the University of Minnesota, who has studied the issue in more detail.  Her findings were that “…it’s not just the physical wear and tear from manual labor that causes people to retire early. Escaping the emotional toll of stressful work situations, providing care for an aging relative and being caught in corporate downsizings all force people to retire earlier than they otherwise might…”

Realistically, Moen contends, “…most workers are faced with only two options, full-time employment or full-time retirement…”  Allen says Moen “…advocates increased employer flexibility and policy options such as greater availability of phased retirement and prorated benefits for part-time or seasonal employment. Such moves, Moen argues, would make it easier for older workers to embark on an “encore career.”

Truly, I think that our definition of ‘retirement’ in general is changing as is the image of a ‘senior’ given improvements in health care and longer life expectancy.  These decisions are not easy, however, and they can also be complicated. Allen brings up many good points, and are worthy of consideration as we ‘rocket’ toward that point in our lives when we simply ‘do something different’ than retire in the classic sense of the word.  Knowing, though, that there is a reasonable alternative to stretching our work lives beyond reason is helpful, especially when the alternative could be very harmful.

A. Alliance Collection Agency, Inc. is a full service, licensed accounts receivable management and debt collection agency providing highly effective, customized one on one management and recovery solutions for our business partners.  Founded in northern Illinois in 2005, we have been proudly improving the bottom-line on behalf of our business partners in and around Chicagoland for over 13 years.

 

image provided by: U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Jarod Hodge