It’s an iPhone cover. It’s a magnetic stripe scanner. It’s a digital wallet. It’s a fingerprint reader.

The iCache Geode is all of these things — and it just won two top awards at the CTIA E-Tech Awards in New Orleans for overall “wow factor.”

The Geode is entering a playing field already crowded by mobile wallets from Google, Isis and Square. Yet it’s attempting to address and surpass some of the problems that have made mobile wallets slow to catch on.

What makes the Geode different
Like other mobile wallets, the Geode lets users store all the cards currently in their overstuffed physical wallets — credit cards, loyalty cards, debit cards, ATM cards — anything that has a magnetic stripe or bar code.

The fingerprint reader is what gives the device an edge in security. No two fingerprints are the same, and the Geode needs yours to access your information, which reduces the chance for fraud. That also helps reassure merchants that the person paying is the rightful card owner.

Another thing that sets the Geode apart? Other mobile wallets rely on near field communication (NFC) technology, which allows your smartphone to communicate with NFC-enabled payment terminals. If the payment terminal is not NFC-compatible, you can’t use your mobile wallet.

The Geode, however, presents a unique solution to this problem, meaning no new infrastructure is required and retailers do not need to purchase new equipment. Mounted within the device is a rewritable card with a magnetic stripe. Your card information is temporarily stored on this “GeoCard,” which can be used at any payment terminal.

How it works
All of this technology is made user friendly through an iPhone app.

The first step is loading in all your cards by scanning them with the included card reader, which attaches to the bottom of the Geode cover. You can also use the iPhone’s camera to photograph loyalty barcodes.

While swiping captures most of the information on the card, you do have to enter your security code for each card to be stored. When you look up your card in the Geode app, you will see not only the card information but also the security code, toll-free number for the issuer, card issuer and the issuer website.

Once your cards are stored, you can access them through the iPhone app. You select the card you’d like to use for a transaction. With a tap, the selected card’s info is programmed onto the swipeable GeoCard. You pop out the GeoCard from the case, and the Geocard then acts as the selected card for the time you allow (the default setting is 20 seconds). After that time, the GeoCard goes blank again.

The Geode can’t store everything, of course. You can’t currently store your driver’s license or insurance cards, for example.

If you lose your Geode or someone steals it, it can’t be turned on or used by anyone else. Attempting to open the wallet or tamper with the insides without having the correct fingerprint will render it useless. iCache promises to overnight a replacement for a stolen Geode — with all the cards and information you entered intact.

The company says the Geode, currently priced at $199, will be available by the end of June on a limited basis with worldwide release a few months later.

Chances are, your mother taught you that “money doesn’t grow on trees.” If you’re older than 65, however, you probably grew up hearing your mom say, “A penny saved is a penny earned.” Between the ages of 18 and 34? Then you were more likely to hear your mom say, “Give generously to those in need.”

At least that’s what respondents reported in Charles Schwab’s most recent quarterly Retirement Survey. The survey asked participants to name the financial advice their mothers most often repeated. Other common pearls of wisdom? “Wait for it to go on sale” and “Spend like there’ s no tomorrow.”

I don’t recall hearing any of those phrases while growing up, but that doesn’t mean my mom’s money messages weren’t coming through loud and clear. My mother is both practical and creative, and those traits shaped how she taught me about money. Here are the lessons I still remember:

Avoid impulse buys:
My mom didn’t have any problem saying “No” to me.”I want that candy,” I’d say at the checkout counter, pointing at M&Ms.

“Nope, not today,” she’d say.

“Can I get a toy?” I’d ask when we were at the mall.

“No, Grandma and Grandpa just gave you a bunch, and you don’t need any more,” she’d respond.

From repeatedly hearing the word “no,” I learned to walk away from impulse buys. Even today, when I find myself eyeing a tempting bit of junk at the store, my own brain tells me “No.”

Splurge occasionally — within reason:
When I did get a special treat on a day that was neither my birthday nor a holiday, my mother would explain that I could name one small item that I wanted, and it would be mine. We would go to the store, and my mom would remind me that I could get only ONE toy and that I should think carefully about which one.As a result, I learned at a young age that it’s OK to splurge once in a while — but to limit my splurges to something I really want.

Money comes from hard work:
My mom was never a fan of giving me an allowance (free money). When I was in elementary school, she introduced the Chore Chart —  a graph of various chores and their monetary value. The amounts were small — $0.20 for wiping down the kitchen counter and $2 for cleaning the bathroom, for example. Yet it was a fortune to me at the time.

Each time I completed a chore, my mother inspected and approved my work and then allowed me to write my name next to the completed chore. At the end of the week, my work was tallied up, and I got paid.

As a result, I was getting a paycheck before I was old enough to have a “real” job.  And I quickly learned that the amount of money I had was directly proportional to how hard I worked.

What money lessons (good and bad) did you learn from your mother?

With Mom in mind, here are some of the best personal finance blog posts of the week:

So Over Debt confesses some of the biggest financial challenges of single parenthood.

MomAdvice suggests some affordable Mother’s Day gifts.

Charlie of Three Thrifty Guys has some tips for last-minute Mother’s Day shoppers — as well as a thank you letter for his own mom.

Sustainable Personal Finance proposes a creative alternative to buying toys for your kids — find (or start) a “toy library.”

Kelly Whalen of The Centsible Life is a bit worried about how she’s going to entertain her kids when school’s out for summer.

Christa Palm of MomVesting is selling unwanted clutter to make room for baby.

LivingSocial, the major competitor of daily deals giant Groupon, has teamed up with Chase Card Services and Visa to offer a different take on a rewards program.

The LivingSocial Rewards Visa Card will give LivingSocial users points on all purchases made anywhere, but the rewards will pack extra punch if the card is used to buy a LivingSocial deal.

The program is geared toward the daily deal addicted. Rules say card members earn five reward points for every dollar spent on LivingSocial purchases, three points for every dollar spent on dining and one point for every dollar spent on any other purchase.Essentially, LivingSocial fans who sign up for the card will get 5 percent back on all their purchases at the site.

“We are pleased to offer social-buying enthusiasts a product that enhances their shopping experience with the ability to earn rewards for their purchases,” Dan Dougherty, director of Chase Card Services, said in a statement.

For each 100 points, cardholders get one LivingSocial Deal Buck. As part of the first-year promotion, cardholders get 10 Deal Bucks for making 10 purchases each billing cycle. They’ll also get 30 Deal Bucks upon approval for the card.

Deal Bucks are applied to the cardholder’s next eligible purchase on LivingSocial, and there’s no limit on how many program participants can rack up.

Combining daily deals programs with their card offerings might be a good deal for issuers, as the daily deal crowd appears to be a safe bet in terms of creditworthiness.A September 2011 Lightspeed Research brieffound that, relative to the overall U.S. credit card holder population, Groupon and Living Social customers:

• Are about 50 percent more likely to have household incomes above $75,000.
• Have higher credit scores.
• Make three times as many credit card purchases.
• Are about twice as likely to pay their monthly credit card balances in full.

There are potential rewards for merchants, too, in the form of new and repeat business.
Daily deal companies, which offer online users everything from low-cost manicures to painting classes, to discounted international vacation packages, have been criticized because often the customer uses the deal and never returns.

The new credit card, however, will include incentives for repeat business, John Bax chief financial officer of LivingSocial, told Reuters. LivingSocial has not yet released specifics. Yet Groupon has approached the repeat-business problem by offering loyalty incentives (like extra discounts for returning to a business, or for spending a certain amount).

“We will use this as a platform to encourage people to come back to merchants,” Bax said. “Small and medium-sized local businesses will never be able to have their own credit card or loyalty program. We will be able to bring them the benefits of that.”The co-branded credit card is the first of its kind. Yet issuers and card networks have been making forays into the daily deals market for some time now. In March, for example, American Express launched a daily deals program with Twitter. MasterCard, meanwhile, announced in April that it would be partnering with the Chicago-based Local Offer Network.

As an exercise for a class I took six years ago, we were asked to write down where we wanted to be in five years: personally, financially and professionally. I left my paper blank. Asked that question today, I’d be able to jot down several things in the “professional” category, as my once nebulous career is now taking shape. But, financially, I still don’t have a five-year plan.

I don’t have a savings goal. I don’t have any plans to buy a house. I simply make sure there’s enough money in the bank to pay rent and other monthly expenses, and some of my paycheck automatically goes toward my 401(k).

That’s not to say I’m irresponsible with my money. I have an emergency savings fund that I contribute to religiously, a Roth IRA and a money market account. Yet I have no concrete plans for my money and no specific goals. That makes me all the more impressed by friends who track their savings on spreadsheets — and the brave personal finance bloggers who hold themselves accountable by writing about their money goals.

Still, having a money plan doesn’t have to be as complicated as spreadsheets — or intimidating as tracking your net worth for an Internet audience. NPR recently had a segment with financial coach Alvin Hall about how to set and reach financial goals.

The key, according to Hall, is giving yourself a long-term savings goal (a certain number of dollars by a certain age or point in time) plus a reward for reaching benchmarks along the way. Cut out the things that are draining money from achieving those goals and set what you save aside. Even if you’re setting aside nothing but pocket change each week, you’re still moving forward. Modest progress is still progress. And modest rewards for reaching short-term goals will only give fuel to that progress.

Sounds easy. Yet, still, my paper is blank.
Do you have a money plan? How do you track your progress?

With setting financial goals in mind, here’s some inspiration from the personal finance blogosphere:

The Simple Dollar explores the idea of starting a savings groupwith friends and family.

Good Financial Cents suggests five ways to reduce money anxiety.

Money Under 30 give some tips for “born spenders” who are trying to save.

Punch Debt in the Face admits a decrease in net worth.

Wise Bread shares some advice for going on a spending fast.

Mom’s Plans has some debt repayment motivation — take a peek at how much interest you’re paying.

Identity thieves routinely troll through obituaries and lurk about cemeteries, gathering information that can help them open fake accounts for credit cards, loans and cell phones.

But until now, the number of accounts opened by those misusing the information of the deceased were guesses.

A new survey shows that 2.5 million times each year, thieves use the identities of the deceased to apply for credit.

Consumer risk management company ID Analytics looked at names, dates of birth and Social Security numbers on 100 million applications during the first three months of 2011 and cross-checked them with the Social Security Administration’s Death Master File.

Here’s what the study found:

• Nearly 800,000 deceased Americans’ identities are intentionally misused on applications for credit products and cell phone services each year.
• In about 1.6 million applications every year, someone faking an identity unintentionally uses the SSN of a dead person.
• In several hundred thousand cases, a dying person’s identity is potentially being misused.

“This study brings to light a significant problem as we see fraudsters intentionally using identities of the deceased at the rate of more than 2,000 per day,” Stephen Coggeshall, chief technology officer of ID Analytics, said in a statement.

Thieves know families in mourning may not be paying attention to details that could help ward off identity theft. And in some cases, it’s a family member of the deceased who is doing the stealing.

A deceased loved one’s identity can be particularly difficult to protect, as their credit reports are likely not being monitored. Although a family member’s debts are usually not the survivors’ responsibility, an identity thief running up debt in the deceased’s name might spawn some unpleasant collection calls. Identity theft experts recommend these safeguards:

• Promptly notify the Social Security Administration that a loved one has died at 800-772-1213.
• Notify all three credit reporting bureaus of the death — Equifax, TransUnion and Experian — and mail them copies of the death certificate.
• Monitor a deceased family member’s identity for at least one year or longer if the estate takes a long time to close. Consider an identity theft protection service for this. Some are free.
• Cancel the deceased’s driver’s license with the motor vehicles department in his or her state.
• Report the death to every business with whom the deceased had a financial relationship. For example, banks, credit unions, insurance agents, pension administrators, brokerages, credit card companies, AAA and the Veterans Health Administration.
• Don’t give too much personal information in an obituary. Thieves may be most interested in date of birth, maiden name and address.
• Locate and secure personal and financial documents.

Staying a step ahead of identity thieves may be the last thing on a grieving family member’s mind. But taking the time to limit access to personal information right after the death may save countless hours of untangling compromised accounts.

I’ve lived in seven apartments over the past five years. That means, every eight months or so, I’ve packed my stuff in boxes, bribed friends with pizza to help with the heavy lifting, and started from scratch with clean carpeting and bare walls.

Now that I’m just a couple years shy of 30, this nomadic lifestyle is starting to concern relatives who remind me that now might actually be a good time to buy a home. For those who qualify for a loan, mortgage interest rates are at an historic low. Besides, why throw all that money at rent, when I could invest it in finally becoming a grown-up?

For now, though, renting feels safer. I feel so lucky to be debt free (for now), and my finances are pretty simple. Although having a semi-permanent roof over my head sounds nice, having a mortgage hanging over my head does not.

A friend of mine couldn’t move into his dream home because he couldn’t sell his old one — after it was on the market for nearly a year. If I hate an apartment (or just want to try a different neighborhood), I can simply move when my lease is up. Best of all, if something breaks, I simply use my apartment complex’s online maintenance system, which summons someone to fix the problem for free.

I’m not the only the only one who is sold on renting. Home ownership is declining, according to Pacific Investment Management Company (PIMCO). That decline could transform 4 million homeowners into renters. For many who owned homes when the housing bubble burst, renting is becoming a way to nurse their finances back to health. Meanwhile, the next generation of homeowners (Generation Y) is deep in debt and spooked by the recession. As a result, it’s renting, not owning, a home that’s increasingly being seen as a responsible move.

It’s not that I never want to own a home. In fact, owning is probably the best option if you want to have as many dogs as I want to have, want to customize your home, or want to plant a garden that’s bigger than a planter on a balcony and a sad-looking house plant. I also dread the inevitable triple-digit rent increases that come with living in a growing city like Austin, and I’ve known the frustration of being kicked out of a rental house when the owners wanted to sell it.

For now, though, I’m content to hit the snooze button on the American Dream and continue apartment-hopping.

With financial milestones in mind, here are some of the best money blog posts of the week:

Man vs. Debt invites readers to discuss the pros and cons of renting and owning.

Girls Just Wanna Have Funds challenges the idea that owning a home is always a savvy investment.

Evolving Personal Finance explores the complexities of spouses keeping separate bank accounts.

20′s Finances wonders why so many Americans are addicted to buying new cars.

Get Rich Slowly shares the best ways to buy a new car.

Frugal Dad provides some tips for planning a budget wedding that doesn’t look like a budget wedding.

The day when most consumers reach for their phones or tablets to pay instead of cash or credit cards could arrive in less than a decade, according to a survey of technology experts and stakeholders.

Nearly two out of three survey respondents (65 percent) told the Pew Internet & American Life Project that they think most people will have fully adopted mobile wallets as their preferred method of payment by 2020.

Some say the transition will be smooth. A number of respondents noted mobile payments are already the norm in many parts of the world, including, Japan Canada, Kenya and parts of Europe.

“The 2020 date might be a bit optimistic, but I’m sure that this will happen,” said study participant Hal Varian, chief economist at Google. “What is in your wallet now? Identification, payment and personal items. All this will easily fit in your mobile device and will inevitably do so.”

The momentum is clear. Recent Pew studies have found that:

• Nearly half of all Americans own a smartphone and one in five Americans own a tablet computer.

• One in 10 Americans have used their cell phone to contribute to charities via text.

• More than one-third of smartphone owners have used their phones for online banking services such as paying bills or checking a balance.

ComScore research cited by Pew also has found that 38 percent of smartphone owners have used their cell phones to buy something.

But some say this process will unfold slowly as the industry battles a combination of privacy fears, a desire for anonymous payments, a lack of infrastructure to support widespread adoption and resistance from those who have a financial stake in existing payment systems.

About 33 percent of the 1,021 survey respondents said they do not trust devices with near field communication (NFC) technology, which allows users to swipe their phones to make a payment at checkout, and believe mobile payments will not be the primary choice by 2020.

Some see the future as a combination of choices rather than solely mobile payments.

The size of the purchase may be factor into purchasing decisions.

As one respondent said: “I’m happy to buy my $2 Starbucks using my Android, but I don’t know that we will ever feel secure enough to make much larger purchases that way.”

Others say we’ll never be able to completely part with our cash.

Survey participant Robert Ellis at Peterson, Ellis, Fergus & Peer argued that, “Cash will never disappear because there will always be a demand for it — for anonymous transactions, illegal transactions and transactions in far-flung areas where the non-cash technologies haven’t been implemented.”

• Receipts: I save receipts in case I need to return things. I’m pretty sure, however, that Banana Republic isn’t going to take back that dress I bought in 2009. All 61 receipts in the box went into the shredder.
• Bank deposit slips: I had lot of these hanging around, although Martin says you can toss them as soon as the money appears in your account.
• Credit card and bank account statements: I’m ashamed to say I found a handful of bank account statements in unopened envelopes. From 2008. Martin says the expiration date of bank account statements is generally one year (although it’s a good idea to keep any that contain images of checks). As for credit card statements, you can toss them after checking them for accuracy.
• Old tax returns: Martin points out that the IRS has a period of limitations when it comes to reviewing old returns. To be on the safe side, I shredded only the returns from before 2006 — after scanning them and saving the images on two separate flash drives. The thick stacks of paper made a very satisfying noise as the shredder devoured them.
• Utility bills: I found a cache of electric and gas bills from St. Louis, which I left in 2009. It was a good idea to keep them for a few months (I had to dispute an inaccurate charge after I moved out). But three years? Into the shredder they went.