Credit monitoring
The Equifax data breach struck fear in many hearts. That panic sounds like dollar signs to the companies that sell credit monitoring services. Don’t go there, advises Money Talks News founder Stacy Johnson.
“Monitoring your credit is marketed as if it’s a burglar alarm that keeps bad guys out. But what it more closely resembles is an alarm that’s tripped as the bad guys are leaving,” he says.
“By definition, credit monitoring can only monitor transactions that have already occurred. What you want is to prevent them from happening in the first place.”