My husband and I became recent victims of check fraud.

Our story begins a month ago when I wrote a check out to a company who will be doing some work for us later this year. The contract required a 10% deposit at the time of booking.

I mailed the check by depositing it in a US Postal Service collection box, (those blue boxes you can find throughout our community.)

I clearly missed the CBS News report on theft issues that have prompted the USPS to advise Americans to avoid depositing mail in blue collection boxes or leaving it in their own unlocked mailboxes for a carrier to pick up. Instead, the agency is now recommending that patrons come inside their local post office to securely send mail.

Recently, a female friend asked me if there is a book she can read to learn about the things she should be doing to plan now that she is getting older. She mentioned that she has other single female friends of varying ages, who are also wondering the same thing. 

The responsibility of planning for our future can be daunting, especially when you may not have close family to lean on for support, and the belief that we’ve covered all our bases is often a misjudgment.

As a society, we are not very good at thinking and planning for what may happen in the future.

I began by asking my friend what she had done around (what I consider to be) the two most important planning tools. First, I asked her if she had designated a medical power of attorney – someone her doctors could confer with if she were very sick or hospitalized and needed help in sorting out her medical options.