Blogs

Why You Shouldn’t Be Spooked by Student Loans If you’ve heard common student-loan horror stories, you might think that borrowing for school will leave you owing six figures, facing arrest for failure to pay and shackling your family to your debt even if you die. But those are extreme cases. Student loans are a smart career investment as long as you borrow in moderation and graduate. In the media: Ghoulish debt examples Your perception of the normal amount of student…

This Money Habit Makes All the Difference Planning ahead is hard when you’re broke. But planning ahead may be the best way to stop being broke and start building a solid financial future. People who have a strategy tend to save more money and be financially healthier than those who don’t, studies have found. For example: Those who thought about retirement — “a lot,” “some” or even “a little” — approached retirement age with twice the wealth of non-planners, according…

How to Buy a New Car The number of decisions you have to make when buying a new car can be dizzying. And while many of them will depend on your individual needs and wants, there are some steps you should take no matter what to ensure you get the best deal. Assess your credit and financing options Unless you plan to pay cash, your credit will matter a great deal as you look for financing. Get your (free) credit…

Deciding Which Bills to Pay First Food, Medicine and Child Care Paying for food, child care, and essential medicine should be your first priority. You should always be a good steward of your money and spend wisely here. Don’t overspend for food and unnecessary medicine. Housing If possible, keep current on your mortgage or rent payments. A home financed with a mortgage is a secured debt, and the lender expects timely and consistent payments. If you own your home, real…

Five Tips to get your Personal Finances on Track in 2017! As we turn the calendar page to June, it’s hard to believe how much of 2017 has gone by. If you made a New Year’s resolution to clean up your finances, have you saved as much as you wanted? Have you paid down any debt or has your debt actually increased? As we head into the month of June, this is a good time to check in and see…

Beware of Scams! By Leo HopperInformation Security Manager It’s tax season and this is the time of year that IRS scams and fraudulent tax filings are on the rise. Here are some suggestions to avoid becoming a victim: ThreatThe adversary calls or emails you alleging to be with the IRS in order to get you to give them personal information or money. Defense1. The IRS will never send you an unsolicited email requesting information. You can report unsolicited email to…

The days are getting longer and the temperature is starting to rise! Spring is coming! This month GreenPath provided us with a helpful article on what to do after the taxes have been filed! Spring Cleaning Your Finances Springtime means opening the windows, sweeping out the dust from over the winter and starting anew. It is also the opportune time to clean out your wallet or purse, that junk drawer full of receipts and those overflowing file cabinets. But where…

Have you enrolled your account for Bill Pay yet? It’s the quick and easy way to make sure all your bills are paid on time electronically! We offer this service in your online banking. GreenPath and Forbes have some helpful tips this month for using this service to its best ability!Four To-Do’s for Effective Bill PayingThe Federal Reserve recently estimated that nearly half of US households are unable to pay their credit card bills in full each month, and owe…

For the month of February GreenPath has brought us a few tips for what to look out for during tax season. Check out what they have to say!Four Tax Scams to AvoidThe 2017 tax season is underway and the Internal Revenue Service has issued four scams to avoid, when it comes to individuals claiming they are from the IRS.Note that the IRS will never:1. Call to demand immediate payment using a specific payment method, such as a prepaid debit card,…