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Ten tips for Y2K
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December 20, 1999: 7:23 a.m. ET
Check this list to prevent your finances from getting bitten by the 00 bug
By Staff Writer Alex Frew McMillan
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - Russell Hall has heard it all when it comes to Y2K. A friend of his figures all the computer chips that control cars will fail after Jan. 1. So his buddy ran out and bought a 1982 Chevy Monte Carlo, the last model not to carry a chip, and has pumped good money into getting it into good shape.
Hall, a financial planner in Wichita, Kan., said he had to keep himself from laughing as he heard his friend’s plan. "Somebody is going to get a good deal on a Monte Carlo sometime in February,” he said. His friend claims Hall will clamor for him to pick him up when he is unable to get to work early next year. "If he’s right, he’ll have the last laugh.”
Are you digging a large hole? Stockpiling spam? Arming the claymores? Probably not, unless you like that sort of thing anyway. Instead, you are probably sick of hearing, thinking and talking about the attack of the computer bug, that catchy symbol without vowels that threatens to be the hangover that will gatecrash after we have partied like it’s 1999. Y2K.
But, what if the doom and gloomers are right? And, what if that nagging doubt is getting under your skin like an unwanted holiday guest high on eggnog? What if you don’t know what’s going to go wrong but you figure something has to - like Murphy’s Law -- it always does?
Consider taking these 10 steps suggested by financial-planners and Y2K trackers to ensure that you will enjoy your Yuletide glee and that your gold will still glisten well past New Year’s day.
No. 1 - Keep a paper trail.
Yes, the digital society makes a paperless world possible. But the digital society made the Y2K bug possible, too. However modern you are, now is the time to try things the old way one last time. "Hard copy is the name of the game for this problem,” Hall said. Keep bank statements and bills from the last three months of 1999 and the first three months of 2000, save your last monthly or quarterly investment statements, and keep receipts for credit-card purchases and bank withdrawals for these last two weeks before year end and for a few weeks after it, regulators suggest.
No. 2 - Prepare for a storm.
Financial advisors recommend thinking of Y2K as a blizzard or a bad ice storm. Getting around might be a little harder, stores that are usually open might be shut and the bank might be more difficult to reach. Whether it is because of actual glitches or panicked hordes worried about glitches, lines will likely be a little longer, Eileen Dorsey, a certified financial planner with Money Consultants Inc. in St. Louis.
"Be prepared for two weeks that things are not going to be totally normal,” she said. Of course if you prepare for a Y2K "blizzard” and there actually is a blizzard you could be in double trouble. But Dorsey and Hall both recommend taking out one or two week’s worth of spending money for standard expenses like food and gas. Others warn against taking out too much because of the risk of theft and the temptation to overspend. Analysts expect a boom in retail sales next year as relieved consumers let their crisis money burn a hole in their pockets.
No. 3 - Don’t panic.
Douglas Adams had it right in The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy. Don’t freak out if little things don’t work after New Year’s. The President’s Council on Year 2000 Conversion released a set of benchmarks in mid-December that point out that malfunctions and mishaps happen all the time without any help from Y2K whatsoever.
Note these finance-related percentages:
One percent to 2 percent of the 227,000 ATMs in the country are normally down at any one time, either due to malfunction or lack of cash. And the problem might be you, not Y2K;
Eight percent to 10 percent of the time, customers can’t use an ATM on their first attempt because they make a mistake, entering the wrong pass code, trying to withdraw money they don’t have or accessing the wrong account.
And, about 10 percent of all credit-card transactions fail, for a variety of reasons including equipment breaking down, shoppers being over their credit limit, a mistake by the user and so on.
The rest of the benchmarks are on the council’s Web site, which also has a free checklist for Y2K preparation.
No. 4 - Check on companies you work with.
In the heavily regulated financial-services world, this checking should have been taken care of for you. The Securities and Exchange Commission required all broker-dealer companies, mutual fund operators, investment advisor firms and transfer agencies to become Y2K compliant or cease doing business by Nov. 15. Though 13 brokerages and one transfer agent filed notices of noncompliance in the fall, all have since responded and are now set for Y2K, according to John Gannon, acting director of the SEC’s Office of Investor Education and Assistance. If they have Y2K-related problems that hurt you financially, you could have grounds for a liability suit, he said. You can check up on the companies you work with through four databases, one for each kind of company, on the SEC’s Web site. If you’re worried about public companies that you invest in, you can read their Y2K statements in their annual 10-K filing on the SEC’s Edgar database. Banks and savings and loans are now 100 percent compliant, according to federal bank regulators.
In fact, the biggest threat may come from scam artists trying to play on fears about Y2K. Don’t fall for con artists who try to persuade you to transfer all your money into a special Y2K compliant account, regulators warn.
No. 5 - Don’t change your investing strategy.
"If you were willing to ignore it up until now, just ignore it for the next three or four months,” said Mary Malgoire, a registered investment advisor with The Family Firm Inc. in Bethesda, Md. The tax consequences of selling stock-market positions will likely outweigh any benefit, she said, unless the sales are in tax-exempt retirement accounts. What’s more, the three months of December, November and January have posted the best returns for the stock market over the last 50 years. Investors that sell out risk missing those returns and any New Year boost as money flows back into the market and new retirement-fund money enters.
No. 6 - Think global.
There’s always an exception to a rule. The year-end fallout is likely to be most severe outside the United States. So even though you should likely leave your investments alone, if you feel anxious about any international investments, check with the managers of any emerging market or international mutual funds you hold. Downscale if you feel worried. "I have kept a low profile in the international [investments], both in the developed and developing world,” Malgoire said. She has reduced her clients’ exposure throughout the year. Of course, "the international market has been finned this year,” she said.
The U.S. State Department gives a country by country rundown of Y2K preparations in every nation in the world on its Web site, mainly designed for travel information. It advises against Americans traveling to 31 nations, for a variety of reasons, mainly political rather than Y2K-related. But significantly, the State Department in October authorized the withdrawal of all its nonessential employees from four countries - Belarus, Moldova, Russia and Ukraine - due to potential Y2K disruptions.
No. 7 - Don’t tempt fate.
Yes, you can place a trade on the shortened trading day of Dec. 31, 1999. Perhaps it would be nice to place one for posterity’s sake. But why take the risk? The mail confirmation could end up missing and a computer could malfunction. "Should you do a trade on the 31st of December, without getting your confirmation ... as the calendar clicks over? I don’t know if that would be the wisest move,” said Barbara Roper, director of investor protection for the Consumer Federation of America. "That probably depends on whether you feel lucky or not.” Why be left feeling like a punk? If you absolutely, positively have to trade, take good paper notes and make sure you’re clear with your broker or print out any online trade confirmations.
No. 8 - Pay early.
Financial advisors suggest making your January mortgage payment in December anyway, to get the tax benefit on your 1999 rather than 2000 filing. This year there’s all the more reason to make important payments early, to avoid any mail snarl up or handling mistake. Keep a close eye on any direct debits and deposits, too. Find out if your bank has tested the link, Malgoire suggests.
No. 9 - Check your head substitute.
Make sure that any items that you own and rely on are Y2K compliant. Particularly when it comes to computers and software, check the manufacturer’s Web site to see if the product is Y2K ready or if there’s an update. Records could go awry if you use financial-management software that doesn’t respond to the date change. "And even if the firm that you do business with is Year 2000 compliant, if your PC is not, it won’t help you,” Gannon at the SEC said.
No. 10 - Chill out.
The biggest disaster might be that nothing will happen. The blasé attitude that seems to have developed toward Y2K may prove the right one. In that case, Americans will forget how much time and effort went into making sure that was the case, Roper said. If there are inconveniences, lie low and wait until they get fixed, Dorsey said. "Be prepared to take a couple of weeks where you’re taking it easy and rest,” she said. Rest easy in the knowledge that it’s a one-time, short-term hassle. After all, unless someone figures out that cryogenic freezing thing in a hurry, at least no one reading this is going to be around to worry about Y3K. 
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