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Catherine Gacad

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All Posts, Finances & Retirement

Money Monday: Security Tip

I got a message that someone was trying to get into one of my savings accounts because my password had been entered incorrectly three times. Access my accounts? Never gonna happen.

I have a generic password that I use for stupid stuff: signing into the NYTimes, Yelp, Bloglovin. Sites you really don’t care whether someone gets a hold of your secret password. It’s something like, ‘icecream1.’ Very generic.

At one point, my main password was something like, ‘ch!cago,’ but the problem with that was some sites don’t allow you to have symbols in your password. I thought that password was very clever, but it proved to be a pain. Had to ditch it.

Now I have my highly-confidential, no one’s ever going to crack this password. It’s a jumble of letters and a number. It’s something like, ‘gbaltil3.’ How do I remember that? It’s the first letter of the words to God Bless America, specifically God Bless America Land That I Love. You too can have a no-fail password. Just pick a favorite song or poem. What I have now I’m going to have for life. No more changing my password every year. This is it.

I encourage everyone to spread the word and reach out to older people (like your parents) who aren’t as tech savvy as our generation.

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10.16.12

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Welcome to my site, derived from an advice column I wrote while getting my MBA. I live in the San Francisco Bay Area. I give helpful, opinionated advice based on my own experience and from the expertise of my extensive network. For more, click here.

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