Last night I had the great pleasure of attending an event about “Safeguarding Your Life”, which was sponsored by Staples and hosted by Bill Stanton, a former New York City police officer, and NBC’s Today Show and Dateline Security Expert. Bill was an engaging and entertaining host who gave us informal hands-on demonstrations of the hottest security items on the market. He also shared many horror stories with us about identity theft and robbery that made me nervous even though I live in a low-crime neighborhood and have 3-50lb dogs who are very vocal and not fond of strangers, especially men.

So, a day after the event I am heeding Bill’s advice and passing it along to you because it is so important that you always remember to put your safety first both during and after divorce. According to Bill, here are just a few precautionary measures you can take to “Safeguard your Life.”

Protecting your person

1. Always lock your doors!! - As obvious as this may sound, you’d be amazed by the number of people who forget, or choose not to lock the doors of their homes and cars.
2. Keep your garage door closed and locked. Also, make sure the lock is properly installed inside (not outside) the garage.
3. Don’t rely on your dog as a safety mechanism. Most hardened criminals won’t be deterred.
4. Teach yourself and your children that in the presence of strangers it is always better to be rude than wrong. If you’re approached by a stranger who makes you feel uncomfortable, trust your instinct and head for safety immediately - for example, run into a populated store or onto the sidewalk of a busy street.

Protecting your identity

1. If you don’t already have one, buy the Staples MAILMATE cross cutting shredder. Shred all documents, discs or credit cards that contain any of your personal information before recycling or trashing them. This awesome machine cuts up DVDs, credit cards and paper in a way that makes it impossible for a thief to reconstruct the information contained on the documents or discs.
2. Don’t give out your home address, credit card numbers, social security number, driver’s license number or other personal information while talking on your cell phone in a public place.
3. Don’t show your driver’s license to a stranger, lock the glove compartment in your car so your registration and insurance aren’t easily accessible, don’t carry your pins or social security number in your wallet or purse and never give a parking valet your house keys.
4. Back-up the data on your computer daily and store it on a portable hard drive, like the Maxtor. Place the portable hard drive in a safe or other secure place that is not easily accessible by burglars.
5. Don’t leave your laptop computer, purse or files unattended in a coffee shop, restaurant or your desk at work!!

If you follow these recommendations you’ll be well on the road to “Safeguarding your Life!” Take good care and please feel free to share any additional recommendations you have.

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