A New Year means a new opportunity to take charge of your identity, to take a closer look at yourself much as an identity thief might, and to make sure that if a thief does stumble across you or your personal information, you offer little temptation.

It seems ironic that a new year’s resolution should include anything to do with personal security. But because our financial identity is so closely tied to our financial well-being, ignoring personal identity security is tantamount to ignoring personal financial planning. And you know where that can lead.

So maybe this year agree with yourself that you’ll take a more active role in your own security, because if you won’t then why should anyone else bother? Determine to take more time to evaluate your behavior and habits so that you reduce your vulnerability profile – in other words make yourself less visible to a potential thief.

A little security goes a long way. So too can even the smallest of identity thefts. Happy New Year!