The security of your computer passwords is one of your utmost concerns, and for a very good reason. Without protection, all of your financial and personal information is vulnerable, which could cause serious consequences for you, your family and your finances. Simply keeping your passwords written on scraps of paper or saved in a document on your computer is incredibly risky, as these can easily viewed by anyone, whether in person or online.

And attempting to simplify the password process by using the same password over and over for a host of sites and systems creates the possibility that someone could figure out that one password, and then ultimately have access to every part of your personal and financial life.

This may then result in the sickening nightmare of having your identity stolen, which would cause you to spend untold hours struggling with credit card companies, mortgage companies, and other financial institutions, and may well result in a significantly negative impact on your finances.

An excellent solution to this problem is a password manager. The benefits of using a password manager are myriad, and the security they provide can prove to be outstanding.

A password manager is software that, once installed on your computer, remembers and stores your passwords and PIN numbers. It can then instantly log you into sites by filling in login and password fields automatically. The software encrypts the data, storing it on a local database or in files.

Password managers, as a rule, use a master password selected by the user to form the key used for encryption. An online password manager is a web-accessed site that is used to securely store login details, such a username and password, which are used when logging into third-party websites.

One of the benefits of using a password manager located on a website is the reduced risk of losing passwords if a personal computer is destroyed, lost, or stolen, as well as the convenience of being able to access your passwords from any computer, anywhere. Another benefit of using a password manager is the added feature of the bookmark manager, which allows you to bookmark and store your favorite websites, allowing access to them anytime.

The benefits of using a password manager cannot be overstated. The combination of all of the listed features will greatly enhance your online browsing experience, reduce your frustration, and ultimately save you time, worry and money.