Published: September 03, 2008 12:06 pm            

Riggle speaks to Economic Class At NHS

NEWTON — East Central Mississippi Credit Union Assistant Manager Sherry Riggle was at Newton High School speaking to Coach Henry Booth Economic Class on the different services offered by them on savings, loans, checking and how to protect your identity.

“Identify theft is the biggest thing going on right now,” Riggle said. “You don’t think you have anything but you will realize how much you do have when someone steals your identify and uses your social security number to make loans and get credit cards.

Riggle also showed the students what creditors will be looking for on a credit report when they start to purchase a car or another item.

“This is a sample credit report I have given you,” Riggles said. “They will be looking for personal information, like your name, different addresses, employers and different collectors.” “One of the things you need to be aware of is not every place reports to the credit bureaus.”

Riggles told the students when they come in to apply for a loan with the credit union they will fill out a risk assessment sheet to determine how much income they have coming in against how much they have outgoing monthly.

“The best thing you can do at this age is to prepare to be responsible, watch your spending,” Riggles said. “For an example if I buy a soda at $7.50 a week times a month is $30, times 12 is $360 a year I spend on sodas.”

There is a lot of unnecessary spending we do because you think it doesn’t cost much but over an all over period of bad habits spending can cost you a good bit Riggles said.

“A good history with a merchant has a lot to do with how they look at you,” Riggles said. “You may not be the most popular, the most giving in the community but if you are responsible with your finances people will look at you in a different light.”

        

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