Best Bet Banking Tips
Best Bet Banking Tip – Free Credit Report
Did you know that you are entitled to a free credit report? It’s true you can get your individual credit report once a year at no charge. The FACT Act allows all individuals to obtain a credit report from each of the credit reporting agencies. You can review and print each report once a year. Visit AnnualCreditReport.com to go to the official site to help consumers obtain their free credit report.
Best Bet Banking Tip – FDIC Insurance
What is FDIC insurance? How much is offered at my bank? The FDIC is the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and they are responsible for insuring customer’s deposits in FDIC banks up to $100,000. However, recent changes have increased this coverage to $250,000 until December 31, 2013. If you are not sure if your deposits are fully insured visit EDIE the Estimator on the FDIC website. The information you get from EDIE is only as accurate as the information you enter so before you begin, make sure you have the following:
- All the deposit accounts you have at FDIC-insured banks
- Current balances
- Names of all account owners and beneficiaries
And for businesses – all of the above plus:
- Name of the business
- Employer Identification Number (EIN)
Best Bet Banking Tip – 1st Credit Card
Are you a first time credit card user? Being approved for your first credit card can be exciting, tempting and intimidating. Abusing your credit card can have a long term affect on your credit score so be responsible when using your card, pay your bill on time, track your expenses to avoid fraudulent charges, and keep the credit limit low. You can also check out these guidelines.
Best Bet Banking Tip – CD Investments
Are you getting the most out of your CD investments? No matter how much you have to invest in certificates of deposit one of the best ways to earn more for your investment is to ladder the maturity dates. Since no one can accurately predict the future of interest rates, this technique allows you to divide your funds into pieces so you have several CD’s maturing at different times to help you earn good rates or higher rates as interest rates change. Come by Peoples State Bank and we will provide you with a free analysis of your CD portfolio to help you get the most out of your investment.
Best Bet Banking Tip – Financial Check Up
Have you had your annual checkup? While we all have an annual medical exam, we seldom consider examining our finances. Anytime is a great time to review your investments, insurance, mortgage, retirement funds, and more. Come by Peoples State Bank for a free financial check up. What’s the worst that can happen? We just might be able to save you save some money! Click here for more things to think about.
Best Bet Banking Tip – Online Banking
Do you own a computer? Do you e-mail? Do you shop online? If you answered yes then you are ready for online banking, online bill pay and eStatements. All three of these services make it easy for you to bank at home 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Most banks offer these services for free and rest assured they are easy to use and your information is secure. Signing up for PSB Online Services are as easy as clicking here.
Best Bet Banking Tip – Mortgage Needs
Does your mortgage match your needs? Do you want to refinance? Are you a first time homebuyer? Mortgages can be scary whether it is your first or fifth. The type of mortgage that is best for you depends on your income, lifestyle, needs and length of residency as well as the terms and rates of the loan. Before you decide on your mortgage, shop around not only for the best rate but for the institution that has your best interest up front. Contact one of our Certified Mortgage Planners for more information on Home Loans.
Rachele at 903-793-7417
Sheila at 318-256-2071
Kathryn at 318-445-7069
Best Bet Banking Tip – Simplify Your Finances
Do you need to simplify your finances? Time is a precious commodity for all of us. What if I told you there were 8 simple steps to reducing stress and anxiety over your personal finances…Here are four easy ones: First, enroll for direct deposit of your payroll, social security or retirement check. Second, establish an automatic savings plan. Third, use online bill pay and fourth consolidate your financial relationships to just one bank. Find our more by clicking here.
Best Bet Banking Tip – Money Smart Kids
Do you have a child or grandchild? Do you want them to be money smart? One way we have found for kids to learn is by doing. Opening a savings account Just 4 Kids is a great way to teach them not only about working for their allowance but also about spending and saving. According to a 2007 survey by CUNA 89% of high school seniors never received formal education in personal finance. Let’s teach our kids and teens about money and give them the opportunity to grow into financially responsible adults. Visit our Savings page to learn about our special accounts Just 4 Kids and Teens.
Best Bet Banking Tip – Secured or Unsecured & The 4 C’s
Secured or unsecured? What does that mean? The first thing to remember about a loan is that it is not free money. A secured loan is backed by one of the four C’s of credit – collateral. An example of a secured loan is a car or home loan. Unsecured loans are not backed by collateral. An example of an unsecured loan is a credit card. Interest rates are usually lower for secured loans. Credit is a useful tool to pay for college, a home, a car and more. Bankers look at the four C’s of credit to determine if someone is eligible for a loan. So what are the four/five c’s – Character, Collateral, Capacity, Capital and Condition. Learn more about the four/five C’s of credit or visit one of our locations to talk to a loan officer.
Best Bet Banking Tip – Credit Scores vs. Credit Reports
What is the difference between a credit bureau score and a credit bureau report? In order to manage your credit wisely, you should understand how it is reported. The major credit reporting agencies – Equifax, Trans Union and Experian – each compile their own reports about you. They include where you live, how you pay your bills and whether you’ve been sued, arrested or filed bankruptcy. Banks and credit card companies, insurance companies and even employers use these “credit reports” to evaluate your applications for credit, insurance, employment or renting a home. A “credit score” is a three digit number that measures the risk lenders take when they lend you money. The higher the score the more you can usually borrow and the lower the interest rate you’ll pay. You can review and print each report once a year. Visit AnnualCreditReport.com to go to the official government sponsored site to help consumers obtain their free credit reports. You can also click here for more information.
Best Bet Banking Tip – Increasing your Credit Score
Would you like to know how can you increase your credit bureau score? Credit scores can range from 300-850. Scores may be slightly different depending on the reporting agency due to the different data available in the borrower’s file. Over time a borrower can improve the information in his or her credit report by paying bills and credit obligations on time, getting and staying current on payments, not opening credit accounts just to have them, and using credit wisely. Raising your credit score is a lot like getting in shape – it takes time and there is no quick fix. In fact, quick fix efforts can backfire. The best advice is to manage credit responsibly over time. Be aware of credit repair agencies that charge a fee to improve your score. No one can force credit reporting agencies or lenders to remove accurate information from a credit report. Learn more. You may also want to read: Understanding Your FICO Score.
Best Bet Banking Tip – Extra Mortgage Payments
Looking for a simple way to make extra mortgage payments? Homeowners can save thousands of dollars in interest on 30 year mortgages by making extra payments on the principal balance of their mortgage each month. An easy and cost free way to do this is to indicate that you are making an additional principal payment on your payment slip each month. Divide your total monthly payment by 12 and add that amount to your regular monthly payment. Be sure to check with your lender that there is no penalty for early payoff. Making extra payments will cut down on the length of your mortgage and the amount of interest you pay over the life of the loan. The specifics depend on the size of your loan and your interest rate. But before you rush to make the extra payments, think about how else you could use the money…there may be better places to put that money. Paying down high interest credit card debt, making sure you have enough money in an emergency fund and contributions to your 401k just to name a few.
Best Bet Banking Tip – Stop Smoking and Save Money
Are you a smoker and want to quit? It’s hard to kick the habit, but thinking about how much money you’ll save and what else you can buy with that money might make it easier. The financial consequences of lighting up stretch far beyond the cost of a pack of cigarettes. Smokers usually pay more for health and home owner’s insurance, they usually lose resale value of their cars and homes, they spend extra on dry cleaning and teeth cleaning and long term they receive less in pension and social security benefits because of life expectancy. Let’s think about how many tanks of gasoline could you buy if you gave up smoking? If you smoke one pack per day you could save approximately $1,642.50 which could buy approximately 469 gallons of gas. When you quit smoking the savings start to pile up right away. Three million people in the United States quit smoking every year. You could be one of them! I may not be able to help you quit, but I can help you reach your savings goal. Learn more at SmokeFree.gov.
Best Bet Banking Tip – Saving Money with Your Vehicle
Small changes can make a big difference when it comes to saving money with your vehicle. Here are just a few – Save up to 34 cents per gallon by observing the speed limit and keeping your engine tuned. Keep your air filter clean since a clogged filter can reduce mileage as much as 10%. Be sure to check your owner’s manual for recommendation on the proper grade of gasoline and motor oil to use. Using a higher octane gas than your car needs is wasting money and the wrong oil can actually lower your mileage. A simple way to improve your mileage by about 3% is to properly inflate your tires. Plan your day. Several short trips, can use twice as much fuel as one trip covering the same distance. Have you thought about your auto insurance lately? Shopping around for the best rate could save you hundreds of dollars. Learn more.
Best Bet Banking Tip – MasterCard SecureCode
When you are done shopping online, are you sure your debit card is too? MasterCard Secure Code is an innovative service offering secure Internet shopping, using your debit card. MasterCard Secure Code lets you add a personal Secure Code™ to your existing card, getting added security and the reassurance that only you can use your card online. By registering your MasterCard debit card with MasterCard Secure Code you are enhancing the security of your Peoples State Bank debit card. This free service will give you peace of mind when you shop online. Rest assured that when you have this private code you have added protection against unauthorized use of your card. No code, no confirmation, no purchase. All it takes is three easy steps. Visit the Card Services page to learn more. Be sure to look for the secure code logo on your favorite sites. Sign up your card today.
Best Bet Banking Tip – Direct Deposit
What is direct deposit? Direct deposit is the electronic transfer of your paycheck, benefit check or other payment into your checking or savings account. Instead of receiving a check in the mail and taking it to the bank, you can rest assured that your money is in your account and available to you the morning of the payment date. Direct deposit is convenient because it means that you don’t have to worry about getting to the bank when you are sick, away from home or before a certain time. Direct deposit is secure so you don’t have to worry about your check being lost, stolen or misplaced. And direct deposit is very flexible so if you decide to switch banks you just have to set it up with your new bank and alert the agency or business of your new account number. Many times your banker will handle that for you. Direct Deposit has been around for almost 40 years. It has a proven record of success - 97 percent of people who get paid via Direct Deposit are satisfied with it. Learn more.
Best Bet Banking Tip – Banking Relationship
Are you looking for a bank? When you choose a bank, you are choosing what could be a lifelong personal and business partner. It is important to find a bank that will best fit your needs. There are many banks to choose from and most offer the same products and services – checking and saving accounts, personal and business loans, online services, debit and credit cards…but what sets one bank apart from another. You have to decide what is important to you – having a banker who recognizes you when you walk in the door, being able to call on the banker after hours for help or advice, the hours the branch is open, what kind of technology is available, are they community minded, are their locations convenient, are there fees for using services and probably most importantly how long has the bank been in business and are they strong. Shop around and compare, get opinions from family, friends and small business owners. Learn more.
Best Bet Banking Tip – Kids and Money
Among the most important life skills teens approaching adulthood need are those pertaining to money. Not just the ability to make change, budget, and save; but also attitudes concerning money. Young adults face significant financial challenges. From car payments, gasoline, insurance and repairs to tuition, rent, food, clothing and more! Many young people have never lived on a budget and many have trouble managing credit. Even before they get a first job they run the risk of racking up big debt. So how can you prepare your teenager or young adult? Start by discussing some basic principals on a weekly or monthly basis. Don’t be afraid to share your own good and bad experiences and help them take advantages of opportunities to gain real life experience on a small scale before they learn from the school of hard knocks. Talk about money in a proactive way that you are in control of the bills and that money management is a part of life. Talk about the choices they make with monetary gifts they receive and better yet talk about how they can improve their financial future through continuing their education. Learn more. You may also want to read these articles from Helium.com.
Best Bet Banking Tip – SPAM – not the canned meat!
Do you like spam? The kind of spam we are talking about today has to do with whether or not you receive a lot of junk e-mail messages from people you don’t know. As more people use e-mail, marketing people are increasing the use of e-mail messages. While information from reputable businesses can be useful and valuable, the spammers tend to create sales messages that can be found annoying, time consuming and even fraudulent. This “spam” e-mail is sent from the spammer from a list they have purchased from a broker who harvested your e-mail address from various places on the internet. You can reduce spam by trying not to display your e-mail address in public such as newsgroups and chat rooms and be sure to verify a company’s privacy policy to see if they could sell your address. The Federal Trade Commission suggests that you treat commercial e-mail solicitations the same way you would treat an unsolicited telemarketer call. Don’t believe promises from strangers. You can also report spam to the FTC and many e-mail providers also have policies on reporting spam. Learn more.
Best Bet Banking Tip – Identity Theft
Today we are going to share some simple tips on how you can avoid becoming a victim of Identity Theft. Here are just a few.
- Don't give your Social Security number or other personal credit information about yourself to anyone who calls you. Criminals use this information to open new charge accounts posing as you.
- Tear up receipts and unused credit card offers before throwing them away. Criminals can collect bits of information about by going through your trash.
- Watch for missing mail and don't mail bills from your own mailbox with the flag up. An identity thief may steal your mail and file a change of address form with your credit card company or the U.S. Postal Service.
- Review your monthly accounts regularly for any unauthorized charges.
- Order copies of your credit report once a year to ensure accuracy.
- When conducting business online, make sure your browser's padlock or key icon is active.
- Don’t open e-mail from unknown sources and use virus detection software.
- Protect you PINs and passwords and change them frequently.
Learn more. You may also be interested in this article on Skimming & Scamming.
Best Bet Banking Tip – What is the FDIC?
What is the FDIC? The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation is an independent agency of the United States government that protects against the loss of insured deposits if an FDIC-insured bank or savings association fails. Since the FDIC was established, no depositor has ever lost a single penny of FDIC-insured funds. FDIC insurance covers funds in deposit accounts, including checking and savings accounts, money market deposit accounts and certificates of deposit. FDIC insurance does not cover other financial products and services that insured banks may offer, such as stocks, bonds, mutual fund shares, insurance policies, annuities or municipal securities. There is no need for depositors to apply for FDIC insurance or even to request it. Coverage is automatic. To ensure funds are fully protected, depositors should understand their deposit insurance coverage limits. The FDIC provides separate insurance coverage for deposits held in different ownership categories such as single accounts, joint accounts, IRAs and trust accounts. Deposits accounts owned by corporations, partnerships, unincorporated associations, employee benefit plans and government entities also are covered by FDIC insurance. Learn more or visit the FDIC website.
