In today’s world of online access, it is very important to be aware of precautions you should take and ways to avoid identity theft, email hacking, phishing scams and more. You may want to revisit our blog post that provides tips on ways to avoid identity theft: https://www.finplans.com/blog/best-practices-avoiding-identity-theft
There are also steps we take to protect your information. When our clients need to send us confidential information (tax returns, statements, etc.), we encourage them to use their “Vault” within their FPSLive portal, uploading information to the “Shared Documents” folder. If you ever request information from our office, we can also upload files to your Vault. Here is the link to your FPSLive portal: https://wealth.emaplan.com/ema/SignIn?ema%2fria%2ffinancialplans. If you need assistance accessing this site, please email Maryanne Hall with our office at maryanne@finplans.com. Your FPSLive account and Vault is under the umbrella of eMoney, a software which uses a 256-bit Secure Socket Layer to scramble your data. Additional details on eMoney’s security can be reviewed through this link: https://emoneyadvisor.com/security/. Alternatively, if you ever ask us to send you information via email that contains your confidential information, we will send it to you as an encrypted email.
You may also receive correspondence from the custodians of your accounts. Most investment accounts with our office are custodied at TD Ameritrade Institutional (TDA). Most of our clients have elected to receive statements and transaction confirmations via email, which is more secure than receiving hard copy statements through the mail. If you are set up with electronic delivery, it is important to make sure we always have your current email on file. If you ever change your email address it is important to notify our office. We will confirm with you verbally and then update our system, sending you the form necessary to update your email with TDA.
When documents become available, TDA will send you an email letting you know that your statement or transaction confirmation is available for your access. You will then log in to your TDA account through your TDA client access to view your statements. Here is the link to the TDA Client Access site: https://www.advisorclient.com/login. You can view the details of TDA’s security by logging in to your account, navigating to the bottom of the home page, and clicking on Security Center. Here is the direct link: https://www.advisorclient.com/security-center/overview.
You may also have 529 accounts, or you may be a participant in a 401k through our office, and the majority of those assets are custodied at American Funds / Capital Group. Here is a link to Capital Group’s Security information: https://www.capitalgroup.com/retirement/individual/education-site/learning-center/security.html.
Finally, we believe you will find an article from Financial Advisor Magazine an interesting read. We have provided the link to the article: https://www.fa-mag.com/news/scam-artists-are-increasingly-taking-over-your-client-accounts-62184.html?section=139&utm_source=FA+Subscribers&utm_campaign=6efa874e5a-FAN_FinTech+News_052521&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_6bebc79291-6efa874e5a-222073929
If you have any questions about correspondence you receive from Financial Plans & Strategies or your investment account custodians, please give our office a call at 317-882-7675.