AR
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VILL
E
UPDATE
ServicesCOSTCO
TO LEARN MORE ABOUT OUR COMPLETE SUITE OF COSTCO SERVICES, CLICK ON
THE “SERVICES” LINK AT COSTCO.COM OR CALL TOLL-FREE 1-800-220-6000.
A MESSAGE FROM
DAN MARTINEZ, MANAGER
OF COSTCO SERVICES
SINCE I started with
Costco 32 years
ago, I have always
been a believer in
our company’s philosophy. One principle in particular has
driven me from day
one: adding value
and saving members money and time
while providing a great experience. This is
especially true in my current role in
Costco Services, overseeing our
Complete ID program, which has taught
me a lot about identity protection. Now
that the holidays are over and tax season
is coming, this is a good time to take
action to help protect your identity. Here
are a few tips.
• It’s easy to overlook miscellaneous
charges during the holiday season. With
the holiday spending wrapped up, check
your latest bank and credit statements to
ensure recent purchases are legitimate.
• Beware of email phishing scams that
could lead you to a site that looks legitimate but is not. Be aware of misspellings
in communications and too-good-to-be-true deals from a retailer. Never click on a
suspicious link. Go to the site by typing
the URL into your browser. Delete suspicious emails and mark them as spam.
• The earlier you file your taxes, the
earlier the IRS processes them and the
smaller the window for identity thieves to
file using your information.
If you are a victim of identity theft,
Complete ID may be able to help. Membership in the service supports you
through full resolution of identity abuse
or breach, whether the threat is real or
merely suspected. Go to CompleteID.
com/JanUpdate to get started. Members
can enroll for a free trial ( 90 days for
Executive Members, 30 days for Gold
Star members).
FROM INTUIT
New Year’s
resolutions for
small businesses
COSTCO SERVICES
WITH THE NEW year upon us, it’s time
to make annual resolutions. Here are a
few ideas for small-business owners to
consider for more success than ever
in ;;;;.
Re-evaluate. If you’ve been in business for a while, chances are things
have changed since you began. What
you set out to do may not be what you
ended up with, and that’s OK. Pull out
your original business plan and see how
your long-term goals stack up against
your real-world experience.
Ask for feedback. Soliciting feedback from employees, suppliers, family
and customers may lead to criticism
you’re not prepared for, but it can lead
to improvements or changes that will
make you more successful.
Plan ahead. Take a moment to really
look at the next ;; months and plan
what you can. Many things will happen
throughout the year that you cannot
possibly anticipate, but marking spe-IF YOU’RE in need of health insurance
and have yet to home in on a provider,
now is the time. Open enrollment for
individuals and families ends on
January ;;, ;;;;. The Costco Health
Insurance Marketplace provides access
to plans for individuals, families and
small and large businesses.
Licensed health care ambassadors
cial dates in your personal life and sketch-
ing out annual promotions around
various holidays are things you can han-
dle early.
Achieve balance. Many people will tell
you trying to achieve a good work-life balance can be a descent into madness, especially for a small-business owner or
entrepreneur, yet doing so is possible.
Start by committing to a set of working
hours and hold firm. Make sure that
everyone—employees, clients, family
members—understands when you’re
working and when you’re not. You can
make exceptions to be available outside
these hours, but making too many can create a slippery slope. If you don’t set boundaries, no one else will.
Intuit’s QuickBooks Online can help
you meet these goals. If you’re already a
user, make sure you’re using all the tools
that would work for your business. If
you’re not, try ;; days free. For more
details, see
QuickBooks.com/costcobiz.
FROM THE COSTCO HEALTH INSURANCE MARKETPLACE
Open enrollment for individuals ending
C
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Don’t forget to
use your Reward
on your next
trip to Costco.
provide expert, unbiased assistance with
coverage comparisons, plan bene;ts and
eligibility, plan-related billing and claims
issues, the A;ordable Care Act and much
more. For more information on the marketplace and health care ambassadors,
see the article on page ;;;.
See
costcoquote.com for more details
or to ;nd a plan that’s right for you.
