Blog

Reinvesting in your community sounds great, but how does one really put that into action? If you’ve ever wondered if it matters where you deposit your hard-earned money, let me assure you it does. Not only does banking locally support small businesses (community banks fund more than 60% of small business loans and more than

Customers value businesses that treat them well and do their best to deliver their products and services with courtesy and care. Small businesses who provide excellent customer service can create a high level of custom loyalty and even gain an edge over their larger competitors. Businesses can’t expect good customer relationships to just happen. Rather,

It seems like the holiday season is filled with things to do. Every day more and more gets added to the to-do list. As our list grow longer, we simply can’t do them all. Something has to go. There are many tasks that get left undone or put off for another day. But when it

In considering whether you are physically healthy and in good shape, there are a number of measures that you can evaluate. You can look at your weight, or for a more accurate picture, your BMI. Numbers like your blood pressure or resting heart rate can give you good information. Blood work can provide insight into

Over the past few months, rising interest rates have impacted different aspects of our economy. Additionally, inflation has been higher than in the past and talk of future economic uncertainty has made news. These factors have led to some to say that business lending will be negatively impacted. Recently, one famous TV personality made the

Wouldn’t you think that online scammers would run out of ways to fool us? Wouldn’t you think that they would get tired of running their scams? As you know, the answer to both questions is a resounding “No!” I’m afraid that scammers are here to stay and just a part of life as we know

Credit scores can have a big impact on a person’s ability to secure a loan, be approved for an apartment, or receive a favorable interest rate on a credit card.  These scores reflect a person’s ability to pay back the money based on their history of borrowing and repaying money.  But what if you don’t

  Having children changes your thinking about a lot of things, and finances are one of the biggest ones. Before you have kids who are depending on you for their care, you usually only have yourself to think about. Once you have dependents, you want to do all you can to make decisions that will

With interest rates higher than we’ve seen them in the recent past, you may be looking at your debt a little differently. While many loans have a fixed rate that is unaffected by rising rates, other debts, such as credit card debt or loans with a variable rate. These debts are costing you more than

With the cost of everything on the rise, some people may be looking at the prices of travel and deciding to scrap plans for a vacation this year.  Before you throw out your suitcases and resign yourself to staying at home, consider these tips for making travel less expensive. As you set out a budget