What did you do with that envelope that used to arrive once a year with estimates of your future Social Security benefits? You might have reviewed the information. You may have even filed the statement away as a reference. Now, this powerful financial planning tool is as close as the nearest computer. "Often, people don't think of their Social Security statement when thinking of their financial well-being," says Rod Griffin, director of public education for Experian. "But your statement can be a valuable financial planning tool." Your SSA statement is now available online at www.socialsecurity.gov/mystatement. It provides an estimate of the amount of Social Security benefits you could receive upon retiring, but it can also help you with retirement savings strategies, estate planning and making decisions about disability insurance. Retirement Savings Knowing how much your Social Security payments will be can help you better understand how much you'll need to save in other vehicles to fund your lifestyle during retirement. After reviewing your statement online, you may decide to adjust your 401(k) contributions, open an IRA or seek other avenues for funding your retirement. The statement can also help you work with your current employer to ensure they're withholding the appropriate amounts. Estate Planning Your online statement will also give you an estimate of how much your survivors might be eligible for if you die. This information covers both spouses and minor dependent children. "This could be useful information when you're planning how you will financially take care of your loved ones if you pass away," Griffin says. Estate planning often involves considering what sources of income will be available to survivors, and knowing how much Social Security benefits yours could be eligible for can help in the planning process. Disability Decisions According to the SSA, 62 is the earliest age people can collect a reduced Social Security retirement payment, and the full retirement age is 67 for people born after 1960. But a 20-year-old worker has a three in 10 chance of becoming disabled before reaching retirement age, and the average age of people receiving Social Security disability benefits is just 53 years old. If you have a health problem that you know will lead to disability, knowing how much you could expect to receive from Social Security may help you make decisions about how much disability insurance you'll need. With the availability to access your Social Security earnings and benefit information online, it's easier than ever to make use of this important financial planning tool. The SSA uses Experian's fraud prevention services to securely authenticate and safeguard the identities of people accessing their earnings and benefits information online. To access your statement, go to www.socialsecurity.gov/mystatement, create an account and provide the information as prompted. You'll be able to access your benefit information and even see a history of your annual earnings for every year. For more information on how to live financially smart, go to www.livecreditsmart.com. Photo: Shutterstock
The Social Security Administration recently announced that in less than two months’ time, one million people have gone online, created a My Social Security account and viewed their Social Security Statement. The online Statement provides estimates for retirement, disability and survivors benefits. It also provides workers as young as 18 a convenient year-round way to determine whether their earnings are accurately posted to their Social Security records, which was not possible when the agency mailed paper Statements only to those 25 and older. On May 1, Social Security unveiled this new addition to its popular suite of electronic services at www.socialsecurity.gov/mystatement, which allows people to access their Social Security earnings and benefit information securely and conveniently. According to the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ASCI), users are giving the online Statement a score of 89 — making it competitive with Social Security’s other top-rated, best-in-government online services, such as the Retirement Estimator and online retirement application. The ASCI tracks trends in customer’s satisfaction and provides valuable benchmarking insights for companies and government agencies. As part of this online process, the SSA uses Experian's fraud prevention services to securely authenticate and safeguard the identities of people accessing their earnings and benefits information online. To access your online Statement, you must be at least 18 years old, have a Social Security number, have a valid email address and have a U.S. mailing address. To learn more or to create your own account, please go to www.socialsecurity.gov/mystatement. One Million People Go Online to Access Their Social Security Statement ex.pn/LWqzlG via @tronbueno — Experian News (@ExperianNews) July 3, 2012
Experian Automotive today announced that it will offer National Motor Vehicle Title Information Systems (NMVTIS) Reports to California auto dealers, enabling them to stay in compliance with new government regulations. “As of July 1, 2012, all California dealers are required to provide a NMVTIS report prior to selling a used vehicle,” said Scott Waldron, president of Experian Automotive. Being an authorized NMVTIS seller reinforces our commitment to our dealer customers, enabling them to get an AutoCheck Vehicle History report and a NMVTIS report through their current AutoCheck access point. NMVTIS reports provide basic vehicle information in accordance with California state law. When paired with an AutoCheck® vehicle history report, used vehicle dealers and shoppers can feel confident that they are getting the right information to better understand, compare and select the right vehicle. Used car and truck dealers can access NMVTIS reports through Experian Automotive’s AutoCheck. To learn more about the NMVTIS reports from Experian Automotive, visit www.Experian.com/NMVTIS. For more information on Experian Automotive’s other products and services, visit www.ExperianAutomotive.com. Photo: Shutterstock
Experian Marketing Services’ Hitwise® announced today that Google accounted for 65.02 percent of all U.S. searches conducted in the four weeks ending June 2, 2012. The combined Bing-powered search comprised 28.12 percent of searches for the month, with Yahoo! Search and Bing receiving 14.95 percent and 13.17 percent, respectively. The remaining 65 search engines in the Hitwise Search Engine Analysis report accounted for 6.86 percent of U.S. searches. Shorter search queries increase 1 percent in May 2012 Shorter search queries — one to four words — increased 1 percent from April 2012 to May 2012. One-word searches comprised the majority of searches, too, amounting to 29.93 percent of all queries. One-word search queries have increased 19 percent from May 2011 to May 2012. Longer search queries — those averaging five to eight words or more — decreased 4 percent from April 2012 to May 2012. “As automated search features have rolled out across the major search engines, we can expect to see one-word searches continue to increase as they have over the past year,” said Simon Bradstock, general manager of Experian Hitwise. “The long tail is not going away, rather just becoming more intensified within the shorter queries, and in turn marketers need to focus more on how consumers start their searches.” Learn more about search engine trends.
Last year, Rep. Heath Shuler (D-NC) introduced the Medical Debt Resolution Act (H.R. 2086), which would amend the Fair Credit Reporting Act to require the Consumer Reporting Agencies (CRAs) to remove paid or settled medical debt from a consumers’ credit file. The bill would require information related to a single fully paid or settled medical debt of $2,500 or less that had been characterized as delinquent, charged off, or in collection for credit reporting purposes, which, from the date of payment or settlement, antedates the report by more than 45 calendar days. As a general rule, expunging predictive information is not in the best interest of consumers or credit granters — both of which benefit when credit reports and scores are as accurate and predictive as possible. If any type of debt information proven to be predictive is expunged, consumers risk exposure to improper credit products as they may appear to be more financially equipped to handle new debt. It’s important to note that medical debts are never taken into consideration by the credit scoring company VantageScore if the debt reporting is known to be from a medical facility. The challenge, however, is knowing when a debt is medical related. For example, when a medical debt is outsourced to a third-party collection agency it is difficult to know the true origin of the debt. Collection accounts of lower than $250, or ones that have been settled, have less impact on a consumer’s VantageScore. The legislation also does not address medical bills paid with a credit card and there is risk that the current language could be interpreted to require that a credit card balance containing paid medical debt be expunged from a credit file. This is a growing issue as patients pay about $45 billion in medical costs with a credit card, according to a 2007 report by Mckinsey & Company. Share your thoughts … Congress Looks at Removing Paid or Settled Medical Debt from Credit Reports ex.pn/LTrVKn — Experian News (@ExperianNews) June 28, 2012 Photo: Shutterstock
Experian Automotive today announced that there were 17.3 million more light-duty vehicles seven years and older on the road in the United States than there were three years ago. According to its Q1 2012 Vehicles in Operation (VIO) market analysis, Experian Automotive also found that there were more than 245 million vehicles on U.S. roads, and that the age of vehicles increased when compared to Q1 2011, up 1.9 percent to an average age of 11 years. “An increase of later-model vehicles on the road is a positive sign for the industry because it creates growth opportunities in the important aftermarket sector,” said Jeffrey Anderson, director of consulting and analytics for Experian Automotive. “With lower scrappage rates, historically large sales of older-model vehicles and an increase in incentives for maintaining vehicle ownership, aftermarket part manufacturers and retailers will see an influx of shoppers looking to extend the life of their vehicle.” Additional data from the report showed Ford as the most prevalent make on the road in Q1, followed by Chevrolet, Toyota and Honda for both Canada and the United States. At the model level, the U.S. analysis showed that the Ford F-150 had the largest volume on the road, followed by the Honda Accord, Toyota Camry and Chevrolet Silverado. Other findings from the analysis showed that light trucks in the United States continue to grow and maintain a higher percentage of the total VIO than passenger cars. Light trucks made up 50.8 percent of the total U.S. VIO in Q1 2012, compared with 49.2 percent of passenger cars. Full-sized pickups make up the greatest percentage of VIO, at 14.6 percent overall, with General Motors, Ford, Chrysler and Toyota making up the greatest majority (98.7 percent) of those vehicles. Additional Q1 2012 findings for the United States include: Hybrid/Electric vehicles represent 0.9 percent of VIO in the United States 78.5 percent of all light-duty vehicles in the United States are 15 years old or newer The top five vehicle segments in the United States make up 50.1 percent of the VIO market Findings from the Canadian Q1 2012 VIO analysis include: More than 22 million vehicles were registered, up from 21.5 million in Q1 2011 The average age of all light-duty vehicles was 9.6 years The largest volume models were Honda Civic, Ford F-150, Toyota Corolla and Dodge Grand Caravan Passenger cars made up the greatest majority of VIO at 53.2 percent, and light trucks only encompassed 46.8 percent Small-economy cars were favored over full-sized pickups, with small cars encompassing 17 percent of the total VIO Hybrid/Electric vehicles represented only 0.4 percent of VIO 85.3 percent of all light-duty vehicles are 15 years old or newer The top five vehicle segments (small economy car, full-sized pickup, lower midrange car, standard midrange car and minivan) made up 60 percent of the Canadian market Click here to tweet this post. Photo: Shutterstock
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Today, we stand at the forefront of a digital revolution that is reshaping the financial services industry. And, against this backdrop, financial institutions are at vastly different levels of maturity; the world’s biggest banks are managing large-scale infrastructure migrations and making significant investments in AI while regional banks and credit unions are putting plans in place for modernization strategies, and fintechs are purpose-built and cloud native. To explore this more, I recently had the privilege of attending the annual Reuters NEXT live event in New York City. The event gathers globally recognized leaders across business, finance, technology, and government to tackle some of today’s most pressing issues. On the World Stage, I joined Del Irani, a talented anchor and broadcast journalist, to discuss the future of lending and the pivotal role of data and AI in building a more inclusive financial system. Improving financial access Our discussion highlighted the lack of access to traditional financial systems, and the impact it has on nearly 100 million people in North America alone. Globally, the problem affects over one billion people. These people, who are credit invisible, unscoreable, or have subprime credit scores, are unable to secure everyday financial products that many of us take for granted. What many don’t realize is, this is not a fringe subset of the population. Most of us, myself included, know someone who has faced the challenges of financial exclusion. Everyday Americans, including young people who are just starting out, new immigrants and people from diverse communities, often lack access to mainstream financial products. We discussed how traditional lending has a limited view of a consumer. Like looking through a keyhole, the lender’s understanding of the person in view is often incomplete and obstructed. However, with expanded data, technology, and advanced analytics, there is an opportunity to better understand the whole person, and as a result have a more inclusive financial system. At Experian, we have a unique ability to connect the power of traditional credit with alternative data, bringing a more holistic understanding of consumers and their behaviors. We are dedicated to leveraging our rich history in data and our expertise in technology to create the future of credit and ultimately bring financial power to everyone. The future of lending After spending two days with over 700 industry leaders from around the world, one thing is abundantly clear: much like the early days of the internet, today, we are at the cutting-edge of a technical revolution. Reflecting on my time at Reuters NEXT, I am particularly excited by the collective commitment to drive innovative, and smarter ways of working. We are only beginning to scratch the surface of how data and technology can transform financial services, and Experian is positioned to play a significant role. As we look to the future, I am excited about the ways we will create new opportunities for businesses and consumers alike.
The advertising ecosystem has seen significant transformation over the past few years, with increased privacy regulation, changes in available signals, and the rise of channels like connected TV and retail media. These changes are impacting the way that consumers interact with brands and how brands understand and continue to deliver relevant messages to consumers with precision. Experian has been helping marketers navigate these changes, and as a result, our marketing data and identity solutions underpin much of today’s advertising industry. We’re committed to empowering marketers and agencies to understand and reach their target audiences, across all channels. Today, we are excited to announce our acquisition of Audigent—a leading data and activation platform in the advertising industry. With Audigent’s combination of first-party publisher data, inventory and deep supply-side distribution relationships, publishers, big and small, can empower marketers to better understand their customers, expand the reach of their target audiences and activate those audiences across the most impactful inventory. I am excited to bring together Audigent’s supply-side network as a natural extension to our existing demand-side capabilities. Audigent’s ability to combine inventory with targeted audiences using first-party, third-party and contextual signals provides the best of all worlds, allowing marketers to deliver campaigns centered on consumer choices, preferences, and behaviors. The addition of Audigent further strengthens our strategy to be the premier independent provider of marketing data and identity, ultimately creating more relevant experiences for consumers. To learn more about Experian and Audigent, visit https://www.experian.com/marketing/ and https://audigent.com/.