We were recently asked our advice about Identity Theft Protection – what should they look for and what should they avoid.

Good news! Identity Theft Protection plans aren't too expensive.

Based on the reading/research we’ve done, and our experience in talking with people that are familiar with the risk here where we live (e.g. we had a police detective come in to talk to us a few years back about identity theft), I would put this type of protection in the "peace of mind" category.  

It doesn't appear that this sort of protection is absolutely necessary based on the risk for most of our clients, but at the same time, we know that often times it helps people to sleep better if they know they have some back up.  

If you decide you want it for peace of mind, we would suggest a family base plan...that should give you adequate coverage.

And there are other things that we recommend for people to make sure they are being smart in protecting their identity/other kinds of fraud:

·        Sign up for some sort of credit monitoring service, e.g. Credit Karma (free), that alerts you if someone tries to open an acct, et al. using your SSN and tracks your credit rating overall (note: often times credit cards have this sort of service, too, as part of our membership mgmt, so you could start by contacting them to see what they offer for free as well)

·        Be watchful in how/when you use any debit cards  - the detective told us that far and away the biggest incidences of fraud that they see is stolen debit card info...the biggest tip for avoiding that was to never use a debit card when you can't see the transaction processed right in front of you.

·        Never respond to or give away personal information over the internet or via email until you have verified, reverified and verified again the entity or portal that is asking for it (this is probably the most common way we know of that people have their information stolen.) A good rule is to run it by someone else before you respond to any inquires for personal information as a sort of check.

One of the great joys I have experienced in the past few years has been being able to be a volunteer in the E-Learning Friendship English Conversation Program through the Awakening Lives to World Missions (ALWM) organization.  This is a small web-based English conversation ministry for nurses and medical professionals in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. 

I had the pleasure of meeting with two nurses during the year and a half that I participated in the program.  I met with my assigned nurses once a week via Zoom/Messenger (or whatever web-based application worked!) for about an hour.  Initially we chatted about a variety of topics that allowed us to get to know each other better, but we soon moved to topics that were relevant to each of them including basic nursing terms in English.  Volunteers (both the Vietnamese nurses and English speaking volunteers) agree to participate in a session which usually lasts about 10 to 12 weeks.  

The program is currently looking for volunteers who will invest an hour a week to build a cross cultural relationship and friendship with a Vietnamese nurse/medical professional while sharing the love of Christ as the Lord provides an opportunity.  A background in ESL is not required; the most important requirement for volunteers is to love people.


The next session this year will start on October 17 and last until mid-December.  The nurses are really encouraged by the volunteer visits because, as health care professionals all over the world,  they too are facing fatigue and increased pressure as a result of the COVID situation in Vietnam.   

For more information and application information please contact the EFEC Coordinator at EFECCoordinator@alwn.org.  I would also be happy to answer any questions you may have about my experience as a volunteer in the program.  You may contact me at DFS 815.842.4393 or denise@douglassfinancial.com

The “empty nester” phase is such a fun stage of financial planning. (And near and dear to my heart because we have just moved into this stage!)

By now, the hope is that we have passed some financial savvy along to our children and launched them successfully into the “young adult” phase. We have hopefully gotten into a rhythm with our spending patterns, helping us to manage the month-to-month and find more places to build in margin more easily. We typically have a bit more freedom with our time and maybe even can begin envisioning what an “Act 2” (what is typically called “retirement”) might look like for us. Often, the financial focus in this phase can be ramping up retirement contributions to provide greater certainty in retirement outcomes. In addition, thought can be given to what kinds of buckets we will want in retirement: qualified, tax-deferred (traditional IRAs, 401k’s, etc.) vs. qualified tax-favored (Roth IRAs or Roth 401k’s) vs. non-qualified assets (brokerage account, real estate, etc.).

A good plan will often incorporate all of these, and this is the time to begin discussing how each will be used in the future to maximize after-tax income. In addition, it will be vital to make sure we understand other income sources that will be available, such as pensions and Social Security, and start thinking through how and when it might make sense to drawing each of them (and make sure we haven’t forgotten any =).

Transition to Act 2, or retirement, is in sight…this is the time to finish the planning journey well!

We want to let you know that we are switching to a new phone system during the month of September. The new system will allow us to receive and respond to your phone calls more effectively and expediently. Please continue to reach our office at the following number 815-842-4393. We’d ask that if you have been reaching David and Darrell via their cell phone numbers that you would instead begin using the 815-842-4393 number. We are hopeful that you will not encounter any difficulties in reaching any of us during this time but in the case you do, we ask for your patience.

Dear friends,

There are moments in your life when you feel like God is trying to teach you something. As we reflect on the past 16 months, this seems to be one of those times. COVID has changed how we work & study, how we interact with one another, how we travel…the list goes on. As we approach the 4th of July, it strikes us that COVID also has impacted how we think about the word “freedom”.

We, as Americans, treasure freedom. And COVID surely took some of that away, at least for a time. We have been challenged to figure out what our freedom means, what it costs, and how we prioritize it when other factors are at play. Difficult stuff, and it reminds us of how challenging our forefathers must have found it to balance and address all the issues facing a young country as it strove for freedom. So many of the tenets that were laid then are still fundamental to our lives today, and yet we also know that the pursuit of freedom was not a perfect endeavor. We live, we learn and hopefully we keep growing…as a country, as communities, as individuals.

So, as we get ready to celebrate Independence Day it is our hope that we are building a community at Douglass Financial Services that believes in the collective power of remembering and learning from our past, admitting to times that we haven’t lived up to what we aspire to, extending grace, embracing joy, and committing to growing.

Freedom is part of DFS’s mission statement…we hope what we do in some small way allows you to experience more freedom in your lives. And our prayer is that the way in which we go about our business encourages and inspires you to wield that freedom to make your community, country, and world a better place.

Happy 4th everyone!!!!

Darrell & David