I use sequences of random letters and numbers. Throwing in a symbol increases the strength of your password greatly. If it's a non standard symbol, damn near unbreakable. The number of possibilities you have introduced just skyrockets. Just be careful as most fields don't accept the characters. Probably overkill anyways. You're more likely to get hacked by someone pretending to be you and resetting your password. Or using your security questions against you. I.e. what's your pet's name? Anyone who knows you personally would likely be able to answer that question. You'll have to live a second fake life when it comes to security questions as most of them aren't something you'd think twice about telling another person in an elevator.