Archive - April 2021

David Jones, Lender - Spring Green

One of the most underrated products in banking today is the Home Equity Line of Credit or HELOC.

What is it? How can you use it? Why would you want to?

Consider this, in lending a crucial component of whether a loan is approved or not is collateral. The greater the value of the collateral, the less risk the financial institution must assume, the better the rate and a greater likelihood that the loan will be approved. A HELOC is exactly...

In a perfect world, every parent hopes to give their child the best start in life. You’d send them to a great school and watch as they enter the “real world”, debt-free, leaps and bounds ahead of their constituents. But, the reality is that college costs aren’t what they used to be. In fact, in 1984 the average annual cost of tuition for a 4-year institution was $5,160 (in current $)*. In 2014 that average cost grew to $25,409 per year*, according...

Each year on the second Sunday in May we celebrate the important women in our lives. The ones who raised us and taught us right from wrong and the ones who brought our children into this world. On this mother’s day we asked our team what is the best financial advice that they’ve given their children, what advice they planned to give, and the best advice their mothers gave them? We got some great answers.

The days are feeling a little shorter…

The kids are heading back to school…

Labor Day has come and gone…

Summer is officially winding down. And if you’re like many of us at the bank you’re not quite ready for it to end. How can you squeeze every last drop out of these remaining days? Here are a few suggestions:

If...

Likely not. Without your personal identification number (PIN) or other account information, which was not part of the Equifax breach, it would be difficult for someone to get into your bank account. You’re more likely at risk of bank fraud as a result of phishing which happens when someone poses as a financial entity and talks you out of personal information such as your username, password or credit card information. In such an instance we offer our standard reminder - If you suspect...

Thanksgiving is usually that signal on the calendar that the year is quickly winding to a close. It’s a time to be introspective — what did I accomplish this year? It’s a time to make plans — how do I get better in 2018? And it’s a time to be grateful.

There may not be a more perfect embodiment of this premise than our local...

Financial literacy is a skill that impacts everyone throughout their lives, yet many people are not exposed to essential money concepts until they become adults—sometimes after they've made serious financial mistakes. You can help by introducing the concept of saving and spending wisely to your children or grandchildren and now's a perfect time. Here are some ideas on how to teach sound financial habits to the children in your life.

Read...

By Joe Gorman  Posted: 2/22/19

It was one day after my 30th birthday. My fiancé and I had a showing scheduled for a house that we’d found online. This house was not all that different from the fifteen or so other homes that we had viewed over the course of the previous nine months. It looked great on paper (and in pictures). Most importantly, it checked all of the boxes on our wish list: 

More than 70 percent of taxpayers received a tax refund in 2018, averaging nearly $3,000, according to the Internal Revenue Service. As you receive your refund you may want to consider how you can spend that money wisely.

Prioritizing your tax refund to create an emergency fund or to pay off debts will help position you for improved financial comfort. Financial challenges can arise quickly and it's critical to have money set aside for those unexpected expenses. 

To...

By Mary Lynn Johnson, Mortgage Lender | Posted: 4/23/19

There are few financial decisions that are larger and more daunting than buying a home. I’ve worked with hundreds of home buyers over the years and one of the biggest questions I hear from my clients is, “How much can we afford?”. There are many factors that go into the “affordability equation”, but the advice I give most often is to live with it for a while. In other words, pretend that you’re...