10 Things Retirees Should Never Keep in Their Wallets

One of the worst feelings is reaching for your wallet and finding it's not there.

A wallet juts out of the back pocket of a pair of blue jeans
(Image credit: Getty Images)

One of the worst feelings is reaching for your wallet and finding it's not there. Panic ensues: Did you leave it at home? Drop it? Were you the victim of a pickpocket? Following our advice won't salve that panic, but it may lessen it.

Because with every new bank slip that bulges from the seams, your personal information is getting less and less safe. With just your Social Security number, identity thieves can open new credit accounts and make costly purchases in your name. If they can get their hands on (and doctor) a government-issued photo ID of yours, they can do even more damage, including opening new bank accounts. These days, con artists are even profiting from tax-return fraud and health-care fraud, all with stolen IDs.

We talked with consumer-protection advocates to identify the 10 things retirees should purge from their wallets immediately. And when you're finished, take a moment to photocopy everything you've left inside your wallet, front and back. Stash the copies in a secure location such as a home safe or a bank safe deposit box. The last thing you want to be wondering as you're reporting a lost stolen wallet is, "What exactly did I have in there?"

Bob Niedt
Contributor

Bob was Senior Editor at Kiplinger.com for seven years and is now a contributor to the website. He has more than 40 years of experience in online, print and visual journalism. Bob has worked as an award-winning writer and editor in the Washington, D.C., market as well as at news organizations in New York, Michigan and California. Bob joined Kiplinger in 2016, bringing a wealth of expertise covering retail, entertainment, and money-saving trends and topics. He was one of the first journalists at a daily news organization to aggressively cover retail as a specialty and has been lauded in the retail industry for his expertise. Bob has also been an adjunct and associate professor of print, online and visual journalism at Syracuse University and Ithaca College. He has a master’s degree from Syracuse University’s S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications and a bachelor’s degree in communications and theater from Hope College.