One of my favorite parts of my job is talking to our clients about their goals. Sometimes their objectives are specifically related to money; at other times, not as much. Either way, understanding where clients want to go (their goals) allows us to help them get there (through careful planning).

In my family’s case, one goal we have set is to see our hometown St. Louis Cardinals play in a different city each summer. This is usually my favorite yearly trip. A few weeks ago, we had an opportunity to go to Chicago to see the Cardinals play the White Sox. We spent time on Michigan Avenue, Navy Pier, and other “tourist” spots. We were also fortunate to see our Cardinals pull out a 3-0 victory.

This year’s trip was especially memorable because we combined it with visiting some of our favorite long-time clients, Larry Baumann and Dana Brehm. While not from Chicago, Larry and Dana made it their goal years ago to have a place in Chicago. After they both retired, they realized that goal and have a beautiful home there.

Numerous studies have shown that making your goals known to others increases your odds of achieving them. We love doing our part in helping clients achieve their goals. And if you aren’t tracking your goals, please let us know. We’d be happy to help.

In today’s digital landscape, knowing what cyber risks to avoid and which red flags to look for are essential to protect you from evolving cyber threats. We’re sharing our top ways to protect yourself this summer.

3 steps you can take today to protect your email 

• Enable two-factor authentication. This is our top bang-for-your-buck recommendation: easy with a big security benefit. Two-factor authentication adds an extra layer of security to protect you even if your password gets compromised. For those of you who use Gmail – here is a link that shows you how to set it up.
• Don’t share private personal information. Opt for a good old-fashioned phone call if you ever need to share passwords, social security numbers, or bank details. Our team can help you create secure links if you need to share these over written communication.
• Have a long, strong, and unique password. We’ve said it before, and we’ll say it again – keeping your email (and banking) passwords ~15 digits long and unique from other passwords are simple ways to protect yourself. Why? Criminals will grab the username and password combinations from retailers and test them at banks and email providers. Unique passwords help prevent this technique from working. Here is an independent review of good password managers that can help you store your info securely.

A discussion of email security would be deficient without a mention of phishing. We think this is so important we’re highlighting three additional tips to help you identify phishing when you encounter it. What is phishing? Email phishing is a cyber-attack where scammers attempt to trick you into revealing your private information through email. They often use a combination of social engineering or malicious links to get you to share information. This is, unfortunately, becoming more common, and it’s important to know how to protect yourself.

3 tips to spot a “phish” in your inbox

• Suspicious email addresses. Phishing emails often mimic legitimate organizations but have slight variations or misspellings in the sender’s address. Check if the email matches the official domain, and be cautious of misspellings or unexpected differences.
• Urgent language and misspelled words. Phishing emails use urgency to create panic and pressure you into immediate action. They may threaten account closure or penalties. Beware statements like “Your account will be deactivated in 24 hours” or “Legal action will be taken if you don’t respond soon.” Misspellings are easy to spot and often indicate a phish.
• Requests for sensitive information, suspicious links, or attachments. Phishing emails ask for sensitive details like passwords or credit card numbers, which legitimate organizations rarely request via email. Avoid sharing personal information through email unless you’ve verified the request independently. When you see an email that you think is a phish, we recommend calling the institution directly to verify (using a phone number you look up instead of the phone number in the suspicious email).

At HIG, we work daily in the background to protect your information by raising awareness within our team, identifying vulnerabilities, evaluating security controls, and fostering a security culture. We have developed a comprehensive cybersecurity program that includes quarterly phishing testing of our team to fortify our internal defenses for your protection. Curious to learn more? Give me a call at 314-448-4023.

Earlier this month, the entire Hill Investment Group team spent an inspiring afternoon touring the world-famous Anheuser-Busch (AB) brewery in St. Louis. Why? We are always learning and have drawn myriad lessons from the way AB continues to set the bar for excellence – for product craftsmanship, knowing their client, and being a pillar of the community. Did we mention the attention to detail, timeliness, reliability, data and evidence, and hospitality? And, fun fact, both Rick Hill and Buddy Reisinger are former “Miller killers” themselves.

When Rick and I set out to form a brand new firm more than 15 years ago, we drew inspiration from AB, as well as other examples of excellence. Some of our clients may catch the subtle nod in the photo above to our founders’ vision: that Hill Investment Group should feel to clients like a combination of The Four Seasons Hotel and Cheers!… where everybody knows your name.

If you’ve never been to our world headquarters in St. Louis, we’d love to host you on a tour of our offices…yes, we’re open…and invite you to experience our hospitality!