Your Credit Score and How to Improve It

Family Wealth Decisions Group

FAMILY WEALTH DECISIONS GROUP

Registered associates of Family

Wealth Decisions Group are

registered representatives of Lin-

coln Financial Advisors Corp.

Securities and investment adviso-

ry services offered through Lin-

coln Financial Advisors Corp., a

broker/dealer (member SIPC) and

registered investment advisor.

Insurance offered through Lin-

coln affiliates and other fine com-

panies. Lincoln Financial Group

is the marketing name for Lincoln

National Corporation and its

affiliates. Family Wealth Deci-

sions Group is not an affiliate of

Lincoln Financial Advisors Corp

Branch address-6900 Jericho

Tpke, Suite 101E, Syosset, NY

11791

CRN-1565357-080816 Doug Lemons

Beth Tinelli

Tyler D Simmons

Roy S Gilbert

Apr-Jun 2016

score may lead to higher

interest payments over a

lifetime and increased

stress. Fortunately, there are

actions you can take to im-

prove your credit score. But

first things first—

A recent survey from the Na-

tional Foundation for Credit

Counseling determined that

people are more embarrassed

to admit their credit score

than their weight.1 But embar-

rassment may be the least of

their worries. A poor credit

Continue on page 2

Our Team

2016 began with markets fix-

ated on global issues. Equity

markets dropped in January

and February as oil prices

slumped due to fears of a

weakening Chinese econo-

my. As the Fed held interest

rates steady, these concerns

eased. Markets rallied and

most equity markets made it

into positive territory for the

year.

As the first half drew to a

close, many thought the

global macroeconomic is-

sues that had captivated the

interest of market partici-

pants were behind us. In-

stead, in the final days of

June, markets were jolted by

yet another macroeconomic

issue: In a highly anticipat-

ed vote, British citizens

stunned the world when

Quarterly Market Commentary

Continue on page 4

dictions. The initial reaction

has been a sell-off in global

equities. As your advisors,

we would like to offer addi-

tional information that may

put Thursday’s vote into

perspective.

So, what exactly is the Eu-

ropean Union?

July 28, 2016

After weeks of speculation

and debate over the so-

called “Brexit”, British citi-

zens have voted to withdraw

from the European Union.

As is often the case when it

comes to an ominous head-

line, media outlets are abuzz

with “experts” making pre-

“Brexit”

Continue on page 6

Elena Sanoudakis

Inside This Issue

Your Credit Score 1

and How to

Improve It

Brexit 1

Quarterly Market 1

Commentary

Cybersecurity 7

Update

Ira’s IRA Tip 10

Aesop’s Corner 11

Continuing 12

Education

This credit score is proba-

bly the only credit score of

yours that you are aware

of. However, this is not

your only credit score.

There are a total of 49

credit scores issued by FI-

CO! The good news is that

this number is not very

relevant. There are only 28

FICO scores which are

commonly used by lend-

ers. Also, these 49 differ-

ent credit scores are all

under a large umbrella of

categories of scores dis-

tributed by each of the

three major credit bureaus.

There are a total of six cat-

egories that all these

scores fall into, including:

The Generic FICO Score,

There are three major

credit bureaus, each

gathering data about an

individual’s bill paying

history, especially in re-

gard to loans and credit

lines. These bureaus pro-

vide information to com-

panies who are in the

business of making loans

to the public. The three

major credit bureaus are

TransUnion, Equifax and

Experian. When you ap-

ply for credit, one or

more of these bureaus is

usually contacted. This

data is used to determine

your credit score using

analytic models created

by the Fair Isaac Corpo-

ration (FICO).

Page 2

The FICO Mortgage

Score, The FICO Auto

Score, The FICO Bank

Card Score, The FICO

Installment-Loan Score,

and The FICO personal

Finance Score. Essential-

ly, depending on the

kind of transaction you

are looking to pursue, a

lender may focus on one

of your credit scores

within one of these spe-

cific categories (i.e. A

car dealer looking at a

FICO Auto Score).2

How Can You Im-

prove Your Credit

Score? It is very important to

keep tabs on your credit

Your Credit Score (cont. from p. 1)

scores, particularly the

widely used credit scores

of the three main credit

bureaus. These scores are

what lenders use to ap-

prove or deny a loan.

They are used to set terms

on accounts, such as cred-

it limits and interest rates.

Insurance companies use

them to determine the risk

of insuring you. Employ-

ers may check your score

for security purposes. The

list goes on.

The first thing you should

do is to review your credit

report. You can obtain a

free credit report from

What is a Credit Score? It is a numeric scale of an individual’s creditworthiness, usually ranging from 300-850, the higher the num-

ber, the better.

What goes into the makeup a credit score? The first credit scores, created by the Fair Isaac Corporation

(FICO) in 1989, predicted the likelihood that someone would be ninety days late on payments over the next

two years on several different types of debt. Over recent years, these calculations have been tweaked. Alt-

hough there is no single formula today, the following categories and their relative importance may be used

as guidelines:

Payment history Total amount owed Length of credit history Types of credit in use New credit accounts Consistency of making Includes what you How long you have Your outstanding and inquiries

Payments on time owe to the amount been using credit credit accounts, e.g., Accounts you’ve opened

of credit available credit cards, install- and inquiries from

ment loans, mortgage creditors

(Source: www.myfico.com/CreditEducation/)

300-499 500-579 580-679 680-729 730-799 800-850

Very poor Poor Fair Good Very good Excellent

35% 30% 15% 10% 10%

Continue on page 3

Page 3

Your Credit Score (cont. From p. 2)

ment history may in-

crease your credit

score.

If you have questions

about your credit score

and how it may be af-

fected, please feel free

to contact us at Family

Wealth Decisions

Group.

Geoffrey Browne

Dominick Santise

Doug Lemons, CFP®

Geoffrey Browne and

Dominick Santise are interns

currently working at Family

Wealth Decisions Group 1https://www.nfcc.org/press/

multimedia/news-releases/poll

-respondents-more-

embarrassed-to-admit-credit-

card-balance-and-credit-score-

than-age-or-weight/

2 https://www.myfico.com/

Downloads/Files/

myFICO_UYFS_Booklet.pdf

and

http://

www.businessinsider.com/

what-to-know-about-your-49-

different-credit-scores-2012-8

3http://www.experian.com/

blogs/ask-experian/credit-

education/score-basics/

improve-credit-score/

CRN-1550335-071916

no longer using may

negatively affect your

credit. This is because it

may reduce your overall

credit limit and increase

your overall credit utili-

zation rate. Your overall

credit utilization rate is

calculated by adding up

all your credit card bal-

ances and all your credit

card limits and then di-

viding total balances by

total limits.

Refrain from applying

for new credit needless-

ly. Applications for

credit show up as in-

quiries on your credit

report. This indicates to

lenders that you may be

taking on new debt. Of

course, it may be neces-

sary to apply for new

credit, such as applying

for a home mortgage or

an auto loan. But in

some cases it may be

preferable to use the

credit you already have

to prove that you may

manage ongoing credit

responsibly.

Your credit score con-

siders the mix of credit

that you have, for exam-

ples, credit cards, retail

accounts and mortgage

loans. Having a mix of

accounts with good pay-

cards often charge high

interest rates, and why

would you want to in-

cur additional interest

if there is no reason to

do so.

You should not “max

out” your credit cards,

even if you pay on

time. You should be

doing just the opposite.

Your “credit utilization

rate” should be no

more than 30% of your

limit and even less. For

example, if your Visa

card has a limit of

$2,000 and you rou-

tinely charge $1,500

per month, it may not

matter if you pay it all

off before it’s due.

What matters is the

credit bureau’s percep-

tion—it may consider

you a spendthrift who

uses three-quarters of

his available credit

routinely. One option

here is to raise your

credit limit, for exam-

ple, asking Visa to

raise your limit to

$5,000, thereby meet-

ing the 30% guideline.

Of course, this doesn’t

work if your spending

increases commensu-

rately.

Sometimes closing out

a credit card you are

each of the three major

credit bureaus once eve-

ry twelve months from

https://

www.annualcreditreport.

com/index.action. You

should review these re-

ports for errors. Make

sure there are no late

payments incorrectly

listed and that the

amounts owed are cor-

rect.

Second, pay your bills on

time. As you can see

from the above illustra-

tion, paying bills on time

is the most important

contributor to a good

credit score. Delinquent

payments and collections

can have a major nega-

tive effect on a credit

score. According to the

Experian website, delin-

quencies remain on your

credit report for seven

years.3 To assist paying

your bills on time, you

may want to consider

setting up payment re-

minders or automatic

payments.

If possible, you should

pay off the entire bill

each month, or as much

as you can possibly af-

ford. Not only may this

help to improve your

credit score, but credit

Undoubtedly, you have

seen refrigerator magnets,

mugs and other items at

knick-knack shops dis-

playing the “keep calm

and carry on” message.

Because these items are so

prevalent, the message

might seem tired and com-

mon. The origin of the

phrase is anything but

common. As Europe faced

rising tensions leading up

to WWII, British leader-

ship felt massive air at-

tacks by the Luftwaffe

were increasingly likely.

Such attacks would not

only bring damage and

casualties but could result

in widespread panic, fur-

ther crippling the econo-

my. In 1939, the British

Ministry of Information

designed posters bearing

the message in an attempt

to calm and unify the peo-

ple. While the air raids did

come, the panic did not.

Often people can be far

more resilient in the face

of adversity than ever im-

agined.

One of the most important

they voted to withdraw

from the European Un-

ion. Soon the so-called

“Brexit” dominated

most people’s attention.

Ominous headlines and

dire “expert” predictions

were suddenly every-

where.

Given the unknown ef-

fects of a potential Brit-

ish exit, markets were

hard-hit. In the two

trading days following

the vote, the S&P 500

fell 5.34% and the

MSCI Developed Mar-

kets International Index

dropped almost 10%.

Some predicted this was

just the beginning. So

far, it looks like it was

not the “beginning” the

experts had expected.

As of the date of this

letter, the S&P 500 has

surged to new highs for

the year and internation-

al markets have regained

much of the Brexit loss-

es. While we still have a

long way to go and

many twists and rever-

sals are possible, it is

clear knee-jerk reactions

don’t often work. As

we have noted earlier, it

is too early to tell the

long-term effects of

Brexit. It is possible that

the Brexit issues will

take months or years to

play out.

Page 4

factors in successful in-

vesting is the ability to

put things into proper

perspective. Of course,

the Brexit issues are in

no way comparable to

the scope, impact and

tragedy of the London

air raids. There are,

however, potential par-

allels to human reactions

to fear and uncertainty.

Our stewardship of

wealth model seeks to

combine several factors

toward achieving re-

sults. Among them are a

thorough knowledge of

financial history and

emotional discipline.

These principles were

built into your portfolio

well before the Brexit

issues occurred and will

be there long afterward.

Domestic Equities: As

noted, U.S. stocks were

buffeted by various extra-

neous factors throughout

both the latest quarter and

the year-to-date period.

This is nothing new.

Since the recovery from

the 2009 lows, the mar-

kets have been beset by

the Greek debt crisis, the

Ukraine invasion, the

Ebola scare and many

others. In the end, domes-

tic equities carried on.

The S&P 500 advanced

2.5% for the quarter and

is up 3.8% through June.

Recovering from general

weakness last year, small-

er stocks did even better:

the Russell 2500 index

rose 3.6% for the quarter

and is up 4.0% for the

year.

Quarterly Market Commentary (cont. from p. 1)

Continue on page 5

% Return as of 06/30/2016

Equity Indexes 2nd Q YTD 3 Yr

S&P 500 2.5 3.8 11.7

Russell 2500 3.6 4.0 8.6

MSCI EAFE -1.5 -4.4 2.1

Emerging Market 0.7 6.4 -1.6

Wilshire REIT 5.6 11.1 13.6

Bond Indexes

TIPS 1.7 6.2 2.3

Aggregate 2.2 5.3 4.1

Governments 2.0 5.2 3.4

Mortgages 1.1 3.1 3.8

Investment Corporate 3.6 7.7 5.4

Long Corporate 6.6 13.9 8.6

Corporate High-Yield 5.5 9.1 4.2

Municipals 2.6 4.3 5.6

Cash Equivalents

3-Month T-Bill 0.1 0.2 0.1

Consumer Price Index 0.7 0.6 1.1

International Equi-

ties: Obviously, inter-

national equities faced

significant challenges

during the first half.

The threat of weakness

in China during the

first quarter and all of

the Brexit uncertainty

dominated the head-

lines. The actual num-

bers to date are not

nearly as bad as the

headlines might imply.

Even considering the

significant Brexit-

related sell-off, the

MSCI Developed In-

ternational Index

edged down just 1.5%

for the second quarter.

For the year-to-date

period through the end

of June, the index was

down 4.4%. A consid-

erable bright spot was

seen in the emerging

markets. As you likely

recall, due to China-

related fears, the

emerging markets un-

derperformed other in-

dexes by a considera-

ble margin last year.

As is sometimes the

case when an asset

class becomes out of

favor, emerging mar-

kets snapped back. In

spite of the troubles

Page 5

Quarterly Market Commentary

(cont. from p. 4)

with international mar-

kets, the Emerging

Markets Index man-

aged to eke out a 0.7%

gain for the quarter

and is up 6.4% year-to

-date.

Recently, we have

heard, “given the chal-

lenges to international

equities, why include

them in allocations at

all? Why not just put

all of the money in the

best-performing asset

classes and call it a

day?” The answer is

diversification. Histo-

ry has shown that di-

versification often

leads to less volatility

for the overall portfo-

lio with the same re-

turn opportunity over

the long run.

Fixed Income: When

things get scary, mon-

ey often flows to as-

sets considered a safe

haven. Bonds, particu-

larly U.S. bonds, are

often where the money

lands. This, coupled

with the Fed’s appar-

ent softening stance as

to future interest rate

hikes, all added up to a

strong performance for

us. Some see the

world as suddenly

filled with risk and un-

certainty. We know

the world has always

been this way. Fortu-

nately, there are things

we can and have done

about it. We know it is

our job to listen to

your goals. Then we

use the principles of

mathematics,

knowledge of history

and intelligent alloca-

tion to prudently pur-

sue your goals. We

remain committed to

this approach in all

market environments.

Please call if you

would like to discuss

anything. We are al-

ways here to talk.

CRN-1546986-071416

DROUGHT - San Diego

last won a profession-al sports title in 1963 (AFL football title). Between the Padres, the Chargers and 2 former NBA fran-chises, San Diego has gone 109 sport sea-sons without another title, the longest stretch in American sports now that the Cleveland Cavaliers have won the 2016 NBA title (source: ESPN).

bonds. The Barclay’s

Aggregate index rose

2.2% for the quarter

and 5.3% for the first

half of the year. Mu-

nicipal bonds also

turned in a solid per-

formance, increasing

2.6% for the quarter

and up 4.3% year-to-

date. While these re-

turns are strong, bear

in mind that interest

rates are at all-time

lows.

Looking back over

2016, one is reminded

of a quote from famed

investor, Warren Buf-

fett. He once said,

“Investing is simple

but it is not easy.” We

certainly agree. Inves-

tors are bombarded

with information. This

will likely increase as

the upcoming elec-

tions will only add to

the volume. While

some of this infor-

mation is valuable,

much of it is often

laced with speculation

and fear.

It is likely the volatili-

ty will be with us for a

while. These move-

ments are not new to

The European Union is

a political/economic

union of 28 member

states located primarily

in Europe. Current Eu-

ropean Union mem-

bers represent about

7% of the world’s pop-

ulation. Member coun-

tries seek united poli-

cies to help promote

common stances on

trade, capital and de-

velopment. Legislation

and regulations are in

place that govern eco-

nomic interaction

among members, re-

sulting in a single mar-

ket objective. As a re-

sult, the U.K.’s gov-

ernment and economy

are intertwined with

other member coun-

tries in very complex

ways.

Has the U.K. left the

European Union?

No, not yet. The elec-

torate has voted on a

non-binding referen-

dum to exit. For now,

the U.K. remains a

member but negotia-

tions will begin lead-

ing to a possible with-

drawal. It is possible

that given the agree-

ments that are neces-

Page 6

Brexit

sary for a withdrawal,

the separation could

take months or even

years.

What happens next?

Frankly, it is too early

to tell with certainty.

The somewhat surpris-

ing result of the vote

was only announced

late Thursday night. It

is too soon to put for-

ward reliable esti-

mates. This situation

will go on for a very

long time and certain-

ly have many unex-

pected twists and re-

versals. However,

there are some things

we do know. While

the U.K. is a major

world economy, it rep-

resents just 4% of

global GDP. Also, if

the exit does proceed,

the U.K. will not have

to withdraw from the

euro currency as they

have continued to use

the British pound.

That is not to say that

this should be ignored.

An event like this war-

rants attention and we

are continuing to mon-

itor it.

responsibility of help-

ing you, through good

times and bad, very

seriously. We stand

ready to help and are

willing to discuss your

portfolio at your con-

venience. Please call

with any questions or

concerns you may

have.

The content of this material

was provided to you by Lin-

coln Financial Advisors

Corp. for its representatives

and their clients.

Source of data – – Morn-

ingstar, U.S. Department of

Commerce, ECB, The Feder-

al Reserve.

CRN-1533094-062416

IMPACT OF BREXIT - 71% of economists surveyed after the 6/23/16 UK referen-dum vote believe that the United King-dom will slip into a recession within a year (source: Bloom-berg).

ELECTION YEAR 2016 –

16 of the last 18 presidential election years have produced a positive total return for the S&P 500 stock index. The on-ly “down election years” dating back to 1944 were in 2000 and 2008 (source: BTN Research).

Regarding your goals

and your portfolio

It is likely that there

will be considerable

volatility over the near

term. While some will

be happy to react to

uncertainty with fear

and speculation, you

deserve better than

that. It is important to

have a strategy during

times like these. That

is what we do here. As

the fall and recovery

from the sub-prime

crisis and other crises

have shown, panic is

not a strategy. It is of-

ten a recipe for magni-

fied losses. Any altera-

tions to our strategy

and portfolio should

be weighed rationally

and with restraint. As

stewards of your

wealth, we intend to

continue to rationally

evaluate the challeng-

es and opportunities

that uncertainty in the

capital markets pre-

sents. We will work

with you to make any

needed adjustments to

your investment port-

folio, always focusing

on your long-term

goals and personal sit-

uation. We take the

Happy official start of

summer! Vacation may

be on everyone's mind

but it's important to re-

member these cybersecu-

rity tips when traveling.

Think twice about what

you post on social

media. Hackers and

thieves may be lurk-

ing online and waiting

to attack your ac-

counts while you are

away. Knowing that

you are out of town

can also tip off home

thieves. It may be best

to share your fun pho-

tos after you return

from your trip.

If you need to connect,

think about a VPN.

If you need to get

some work done or

access sensitive ac-

counts (such as your

email or online bank-

ing account) while

you are away, be sure

you have a secure and

private connection. A

VPN (Virtual Private

Network) creates a

private, encrypted In-

ternet connection for

you on the go.

Read on to learn more

about cybersecurity news

from this month, includ-

ing:

Page 7

The trouble with re-

using passwords

New skimmers at

Walmart

Sites to change your

password at immedi-

ately

And more

Wave of hacked ac-

counts stems from

password reuse Websites, like Twitter,

Carbonite, and GoTo-

MyPC, have noticed an

uptick in hacked ac-

counts following last

month's news of a 2012

LinkedIn breach. These

sites, among others, say

the hacked accounts are

not from a breach of its

networks but rather an

effect of people reusing

passwords from other

hacked sites, such as

LinkedIn.

This wave of password

resets raises a serious

cybersecurity problem.

We have so many online

accounts that it becomes

impossible to remember

a unique username and

password combination

for each, so we end up

using the same password

on countless accounts.

But, as we can see, that

causes a problem. We

make it easy for the

hackers. If you use the

accomplish in the near

future and turn it into a

password!

Let’s say you want to

drink more water every

day. You can make your

password, Dr!

nk>W@+er or Dr!

nk8gl@$$e$. That’s a

pretty tough password

and it will remind you of

your goal every time

you type it.

Be sure to have unique

passwords for any ac-

counts that contain sen-

sitive information. Reus-

ing passwords make the

hackers’ job easy and

makes your information

even more accessible.

Emerging Threat: Mo-

bile phone account

identity theft

Scammers have found a

new target: your mobile

phone account. The

number of mobile phone

account hijacking vic-

tims has nearly doubled

in recent years. In Janu-

ary 2016 alone, 2,658

people reported a case of

cell phone account hi-

jacking to the Federal

Trade Commission

(FTC).

The scam involves a

person purchasing new

same login and pass-

word combination for

many sites, they can ac-

cess many facets of your

life by knowing one

password.

Coming up with a pass-

word strategy that works

for you is a personal de-

cision. One method we

recommend is creating a

mnemonic password. A

mnemonic uses a phrase,

song lyric, or poem. You

take the first letter from

a line you can remem-

ber, add some numbers

and symbols, and you

have a strong and mem-

orable password.

For example, say you

pick “Jack and Jill went

up the hill to fetch a pail

of water.” Take the first

letters and get: Ja-

Jwuthtfapow. Now, add

strength by using sym-

bols in place of some

letters:

J&Jwu+h+f@pow. Last-

ly, sandwich the pass-

word with a memorable

date (but not your

birthdate):

09J&Jwu+h+f@pow17.

The goal setting meth-

od

Another way to create

memorable passwords is

by using your goals.

Take a goal you want to

Cybersecurity Update-June 2016

Continue on page 8

mobile phones or tablets

on your mobile phone

carrier account. You are

charged for the devices

and the thieves either use

the devices or quickly

sell them to make mon-

ey. Lorrie Cranor, FTC

Chief Technologist,

found herself a victim of

this scam earlier this

month. After her cell

phone stopped working,

she investigated and was

told that two new

iPhones had been added

to her account—and that

her phone had been de-

activated.

Her mobile carrier gave

her little information on

how the theft occurred.

So, Cranor requested her

account records from

identitytheft.gov. She

soon discovered that the

thief used a fake ID with

her own photo but

Cranor’s name.

You can protect your

account by adding a se-

curity PIN or password,

which will make it more

difficult for someone

else to make changes to

your personal infor-

mation. Each mobile car-

rier is slightly different

but you can learn more

about the process (and

Cranor’s story) here .

Page 8

Cybersecurity Shorts

Cybersecurity reports

obtained by Reuters

say the U.S. Federal

Reserve detected over

50 breaches from 2011

to 2015, four of which

were deemed acts of

"espionage." The re-

ports, redacted by offi-

cials before public re-

lease, did not mention

any hackers by name.

Security analysts believe

that foreign govern-

ments are in a position

to gain from obtaining

inside Federal infor-

mation. The National

Incident Response Team

found that no infor-

mation had been dis-

closed, but the Federal

Reserve continues to be

under assault.

Lawmakers are con-

cerned about a possible

cyberattack on the So-

cial Security Admin-

istration (SSA). In a

recent test, an external

auditor succeeded in ex-

tracting large amounts

of information from the

agency’s networks.

While its acting admin-

istrator argues that the

SSA is continually ana-

lyzing and testing its

networks, these actions,

according to the agen-

cy’s Inspector General,

Sixty-five million Tum-

blr accounts found for

sale online. The infor-

mation is believed to be

from a 2013 breach that

exposed emails and

passwords. The pass-

words were salted and

hashed by Tumblr, mak-

ing them nearly impossi-

ble to use. Salting and

hashing passwords is a

form of cryptography

that better protects pass-

words. Hashing means

your password is not

stored in plain text, ra-

ther an algorithm is used

to disguise your pass-

word. Salting random-

izes those hashes, mak-

ing brute force attack

even more difficult.

Tumblr users are en-

couraged to change their

passwords regardless,

and to look out for

phishing emails in the

near future.

Mark Zuckerberg's

Twitter and Pinterest

accounts hacked. Our-

Mine, a Saudi Arabian

hacker group, found

Zuckerberg's account

information in the latest

LinkedIn breach. Zuck-

erberg repeated his

LinkedIn password—

"dadada"—at the other

social media sites. Tsk,

are not enough.

Skimmers hit Walmart

self-checkout lanes. The skimmers found in

Walmart stores in Vir-

ginia and Kentucky are

known as "overlay skim-

mers." The devices are

placed over the actual

card reader and only

take minutes to install.

At quick glance, the

skimming device looks

just like a payment card

reader. Consumers with

EMV cards should dip

their card rather than

swipe whenever possi-

ble. However, according

to the Mercator Adviso-

ry Group, only 60% of

credit cards in the US

have the EMV chip.

House passes a bill to

help prevent tax identi-

ty theft. The Stolen

Identity Refund Fraud

Prevention Act of 2016

would: create an office

within the IRS to help

victims, stop the use of

Social Security numbers

on W-2 forms, and re-

quire that the US Treas-

ury Department notify

consumers of unauthor-

ized use of their identi-

ty—among other things.

The bill will be voted on

by the Senate.

Cybersecurity Update-June 2016

(cont. From p. 7)

Continue on page 9

tsk, tsk,

Average enterprise

stores over 200 unen-

crypted password

files in the cloud. A

new report by Skyhigh

Networks analyzed

cloud data usage for

over 600 companies

and found that the av-

erage firm stores 204

files with the word

"password" on Mi-

crosoft OneDrive. Se-

curity experts warn of

the dangers in storing

unencrypted files con-

taining passwords ei-

ther on your computer

or in the cloud as they

could be accessed. Us-

ing a password manag-

er is a safer option.

University of Calgary

pays $15,000 ransom-

ware. More than 100

computers at the uni-

versity were affected

by the hack—all files

were locked and en-

crypted. Since paying

the ransom, the univer-

sity has been working

on decrypting the files

with the key but it has

been time-consuming

and difficult. Police

warn that the decryp-

Page 9

tion keys do not al-

ways work

Facebook chat logs

could have been

changed by hackers.

A researcher at Check

Point Software Tech-

nology discovered a

flaw in the messaging

app that would have

made it possible for a

hacker to modify or

delete past messages.

For example, they

could change a link

going to a YouTube

video to a ransomware

link. They could also

incriminate users by

changing details in

conversations. The

changes would have

also been made on Fa-

cebook’s servers. Fa-

cebook has fixed the

flaw.

Software Updates

Adobe: If you use

Adobe Flash, stop

reading this and up-

date to version

22.0.0.192 immediate-

ly. This version closes

over 30 security

holes—one that is al-

ready being exploited.

If you do not need

Flash, you should un-

(source: Social Secu-rity Trustees 2016 Re-port).

LONG-TERM ISSUE - The estimated Social Se-curity shortfall today (i.e., a present value number) between the future taxes anticipat-ed being collected and the future bene-fits expected to be paid out over the next 75 years is $11.4 tril-lion. The entire $11.4 trillion deficit could be eliminated by either an immediate 2.58 percentage point in-crease in the com-bined Social Security payroll tax rate (from 12.40% to 14.98%) or an immediate 16% reduction in benefits that are paid out to current and future beneficiaries (source: Social Security Trus-tees).

MEDICARE - Per a 6/22/16 report, the trust fund supporting Medicare Part A (hospital insur-ance) is projected to be depleted by 2028. The long-term (75-year) present value shortfall in the trust fund could be correct-ed by an immediate 0.73 percentage point increase in combined Medicare payroll taxes (from its current 2.90% to 3.63%) or an immediate 16% reduc-tion in Medicare ex-penditures (source: Medicare Trustees 2016 Report).

install or disable it. If

you do, you can down-

load the update here .

Microsoft: This

month, Microsoft

pushed 16 bundles

closing nearly 50 se-

curity vulnerabilities

in Internet Explorer,

Edge, Microsoft Of-

fice, and more. A

handful of the holes

are labeled, “critical”

and you should update

immediately. You

should be prompted to

update your software

but you can learn more

here .

CRN-1550331-071916

IN THE YEAR 2035 - Social Security trustees an-nounced on 6/22/16 that the trust fund backing the payment of Social Security benefits (OASI retire-ment benefits) would be zero in 2035. A zero trust fund does not mean the payment of Social Security benefits would also go to zero, but rather would drop to 77% of their originally prom-ised levels through the year 2090. When the trustees released their report in 2007 (i.e., 9 years ago), the Social Security Trust Fund was projected to be depleted in 2042

Cybersecurity Update-June 2016

(cont. from p. 8)

Page 10

Ira’s IRA TIP

Ira's IRA TIP

The maximum contribution to an IRA in 2016 is

$5500. You can add $1000 “catch-up contribution if

you will be 50 or older and under 70 ½ by 12/31/16.

You may not be able to contribute to an IRA unless

you have “compensation” in an amount at least equal

to your contribution. Compensation includes earned

income (from work) and taxable alimony. It may not

include investment profits and gains – even if that is

your “work”. You should speak to your tax advisor

to see if your income qualifies.

Finally, nothing above addresses whether or to what

extent your IRA contribution may be deductible. An-

other reason to talk with your tax advisor.

Ira, the IRA man

CRN-1550346-071916

Page 11

The Milkmaid, a good girl, was carrying her milk on her head to market. All the while she was dreaming about the eggs she would buy, the chicks that would hatch and grow and lay more eggs and the money she would make as a result. She continued dreaming about the hat she would buy with the money and the boys that would notice her and how she would toss her head…when suddenly her practice head toss caused the pail of milk to fall and spill all of its contents on the ground. Goodbye to the eggs, chickens, money, hat and boys.

The Moral of this Fable is: Don’t count your chickens before they are hatched.

The fable’s moral suggests that it is imprudent to count on daydreams as reality. This has been a common theme in stories about poor people daydreaming about future wealth. We all do it to some extent. Have you ever thought about what you’d do if you won the lottery?

From a planning perspective, perhaps there is a lesson to be learned about understand-ing that dreams of success are great, but dreams are not plans and generally are not sufficient, by themselves, to facilitate the dreamed of success.

What are your dreams for the future? What specific actions have you taken to “move the needle” in that direction? Have you thought about engaging an advisor to assist with this?

CRN-1550349-071916

AESOP’s CORNER

Page 12

We continually try to offer some basic education

to professionals as well as to our clients and others

who are interested.

Please examine the topics below and sign up for

any presentations that interest you. Refreshments

will be served at each presentation.

You may sign up by calling Beth Tinelli at

516-682-7564. You may also email her at

BethT@FamilyWealthDecisions.com or contact her

on our website:

http://www.familywealthdecisions.com/contact

If you would like to arrange for a private or closed

educational event, please contact us.