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While data breaches are becoming more common and difficult to prevent, a personal game plan should be developed to minimize the impact of this risk. Our lead story will help you with this.
Chornyak is extremely honored to again be recognized in annual rankings by Barron's, Forbes, and Financial Times. We share the details in our second article.
This month's "What's Happening Now" section shares interesting stories on Apple's groundbreaking heart study, comparing time allocation and happiness for retirees, and 10 jobs that are being threatened by technology.
We'd like to hear from you. Please feel free to contact us by phone at 614-888-2121, toll-free 877-389-2121 or e-mail [email protected] with any questions or comments. |
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Devising a Data Breach Game Plan |
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As you've likely read in the headlines, many companies have been victims of data breaches in recent years. For many of us, this situation can feel overwhelming. If businesses can't protect themselves from cyberattacks, what chance does the average consumer have?
Time to plan
The bad news is that we likely can't stop these data breaches from happening. But the good news is that, depending on the breach, it usually takes only a couple of key actions to reduce how you'll be affected–if at all. The secret lies in pinpointing the specific information that's at risk. Ask yourself, if attackers were to get ahold of this account, what could they access? From there, you can devise a simple game plan for almost any breach.
Credit and debit cards.
A good place to start is by making safe choices when it comes to using your credit and debit cards. For example, enter payment information online only at HTTPS sites (as opposed to HTTP sites), never store your payment information on sites, and do business only with companies you trust.
Even when you make the right choices, however, your payment information will inevitably get out there. If you do catch wind of any breach of credit or debit card information, it's best to take the following steps:
- Review your recent card activity to see if any unauthorized charges have occurred.
- Report any unauthorized charges to your bank or credit card company.
- Request a replacement card.
Here, it's important to keep in mind that not all data breaches are properly disclosed. In fact, many aren't revealed until months (or even years!) after the compromise took place. Get in the habit of regularly monitoring your financial activity, and report anything suspicious as soon as you can. Read More
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Columbus, OH (April 18, 2019) – Once again, Joseph A. Chornyak, Sr., CFP® has been recognized by Barron's, Forbes, and Financial Times. Chornyak & Associates has learned that its Managing Partner has been named to Barron's list of America's Top 1,200 Financial Advisors for 2019. Included among other advisors named to the list within the state of Ohio, Joe Chornyak ranked 18 th out of 30 who made this list. Overall, 4,000 Advisors were considered, and 30 percent of the candidates were recognized for the Barron's Top 1,200 list.
With more than 40 years' experience in the financial planning field, Chornyak & Associates' financial advisory philosophy is based upon broad investment diversification and conservative risk taking. Joe separately holds Series 7, 63, and 24 registrations as an Investment Adviser Representative of Commonwealth Financial Network®. Over the past 9 years, he has been named among the nation's investment advisors by Barron's1, Forbes, and Financial Times and has been a featured speaker at several of Barron's past conferences.
Joe Sr., Bob Mauk CFP®, and Joe Chornyak Jr. CFP® have also been recognized by the Financial Times as 3 of the 14 top independent advisors in Ohio and included in the top 400 independent financial advisors in the country. Read More
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Strong April for markets
April took U.S. markets to all-time highs, continuing the streak of positive monthly results to start the year. All three major U.S. equity markets showed strong gains. Once again, the Nasdaq Composite led the way with a gain of 4.77 percent for the month. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 returned 4.05 percent, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 2.66 percent.
These positive results came from improving fundamentals. According to FactSet (as of April 26, with 46 percent of companies having reported), the S&P 500's first-quarter blended earnings should decline by 2.3 percent on a year-over-year basis. Now, this number does not sound great. But it is less than the 3.9-percent drop expected just a month ago. This improvement helped boost markets in April. If earnings at the remaining 54 percent of companies also beat expectations to the same degree, there is a real possibility for actual earnings growth for the quarter. This would be supported by strong revenue growth, at 5.1 percent. Regardless of this quarter's results, earnings are expected to grow throughout the rest of the year. Technical factors were also positive, as all three indices remained above their respective trend lines for the month.
The international story was much the same. Both developed and emerging markets had a strong start to the second quarter. The MSCI EAFE Index rose by 2.81 percent in April, and the MSCI Emerging Markets Index gained 2.12 percent. The United Kingdom and the European Union reached an agreement to delay the deadline for Brexit to October 31. This deal helped calm volatility and drew investors back to international markets.
Technicals were also supportive for international markets. Developed and emerging markets indices spent the entire month above their long-term trend lines. For developed markets, it was the first time in more than a year that this level was achieved. This technical support indicates that investors may be getting more comfortable with investing abroad after declines in 2018. Read More
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