In these tough economic times, it is more important than ever for families to develop a budget and stick to it. Rainy-day funds, savings for college, or just making your rent payment can all be made easier with a budget. American Trust supports its clients’ efforts to budget and save by offering expert guidance. 

A financial goal can be very motivating. Whether you are saving for a family vacation, a down payment for a house or a new car, if you stick to a plan, you’re likely to achieve your goal.

• Putting together a household budget requires time and effort. American Trust offers the following steps to create a budget:
• Track every penny you spend for a month. Keep receipts and write everything down. This will be an eye-opening experience and will help you see where you can cut back.
• Determine the total amount of money coming in. Include only your take home pay (your salary minus taxes and deductions). Your income may also include tips, child support, investment income, etc.
• Review the records and receipts you’ve been collecting over the last month. Categorize your spending using a budget.
• Set a realistic financial goal and develop your budget to achieve that goal. Subtract your monthly expenses from your monthly income. Find ways to cut spending and set limits on things like entertainment expenses.
• Make one of your financial goals to save a certain dollar amount each month. Start an emergency fund if you don’t already have one. You never know when you may need it.
• Keep track of your spending every month. Update your budget as expenses or incomes change. Once you achieve your financial goal, set another.

Make life more rewarding with RewardChecking and RewardSavings from American Trust. Save more with two great rates and ATM rebates up to $25. Each month your checking interest and ATM rebates are automatically transferred to your savings where you earn interest again.

American Trust
www.americantrust.com

Some of the money “basics” are confusing to those just starting their financial future. Financial lessons are learned at many different times in life, including youth. 

Here is a humorous twist to ten lessons that make for a good conversation starting point with your young person.

1. Money doesn’t grow on trees. Learn to earn. It develops respect.

2. Saving for the future starts immediately, not when you grow up. Saving early builds a strong habit and a strong future.

3. Checking accounts do have limits. You can’t keep writing checks just because you have them.

4. Interest rates are at about a 45-year low. Review your debt to insure proper interest rates are in place. Early payoffs are not always recommended in the current rate environment.

5.  Credit cards should not be used as long term loans.  There are better ways to finance. If you don’t have a good payment plan, one maybe you should re-evaluate the purchase.

6. The telephone banking line doesn’t have ESP. The balance information given has no way to recognize checks written but not presented for payment.

7. Online banking operates 24/7 so you can bank anytime. No more sleepless nights worrying about your banking.

8. The vault has no mercy. Don’t put your item in your safe deposit box if you need it after business hours. The vault won’t open no matter what your emergency.

9.  Auto payments don’t originate from the ignition of your car. It’s easy to get auto-pay started and guarantees on-time arrival of your payment.

10.  Generally, no one under 18 can own a bank account alone. It doesn’t have to be a parent, just someone 18 or older.  Choices include joint, custodial, uniform gift to minors, or
conservatorship accounts.

Money matters are complicated. These tips are a healthy start to a strong financial future, but they are just a beginning. Meeting with a banker to understand your personal situation is always a good idea.

American Trust
www.americantrust.com

What are my financing options?

In today’s housing market it is a great time to consider buying or building a new home. While we have seen rates increase slightly in the past year, rates are still at historic lows which makes building or buying a new home more affordable. 

Traditionally, building a home would mean 2 separate loans for the consumer; one loan for the construction phase of a homebuilding project and another loan for when the project is finished,
or what we call “permanent financing”.

Today we are seeing growing popularity with construction loans called “construction-to-permanent financing,” also known as the “all-in-one” or “one-time-close” loans. These types of loans have become popular due to the convenience for the consumer having only one application, one set of closing costs, and a single closing. A huge factor when considering construction-to-permanent financing is that it can protect you from rising interest rates.

The construction phase often takes 6 months or longer to complete. Without construction-to-permanent financing, this is a period of time when the consumer is at risk for interest rate fluctuation. Luana Savings Bank helps customers lock in a great long term interest rate right up front during the construction phase. We work with our customers to estimate the time period for construction and when it is completed monthly payments will start. This allows consumers to eliminate the risk of rising interest rates during the construction phase. Not all lenders offer these types of construction loans. However, Luana Savings Bank specializes in this type of lending as we see the great benefit for our customers.

Luana Savings Bank also specializes in home mortgages for those who are in the market to buy a home, rather than building which can be overwhelming. Our “No Cost Mortgage Special” has become a very popular loan product that Luana Savings Bank offers for both purchases and refinances. Again, not all lenders are able to offer this type of lending. This special product is a limited time offer that allows our customers to lock a competitive rate at no cost. Eliminating closing cost fees protects the consumer from being overcharged.

Luana Savings Bank also stresses the importance of quick loan approval and local loan decisions. We are unique because we approve and service loans locally. We strive to build close relationships with our customers beyond numbers which leads to a much more fulfilling experience for the customer as we work to meet their needs.

We welcome you to stop and talk to our real estate experts at Luana Savings Bank with any questions and see if our Construction-to-Permanent Financing or No Cost Mortgage Special products fit your needs.

Luana Savings Bank
www.luanasavingsbank.com

How do I keep my personal information safe?

Security has received a lot of attention recently with breaches of passwords, personal information and card data affecting hundreds of millions of Americans. Personal security should no longer focus solely on preventing breaches, but also accepting that our information will be breached and formulating techniques to mitigate further damage.

The first step remains the same – we need to be diligent in preventing as many simple attacks as possible. Believe it or not, today’s computers are more secure than ever due to multiple levels of firewalls, encryption, anti-malware suites and automatic updates. That leaves us – the operators – as the new weakest link.

Last year, almost all infected computers were compromised due to opening a web page – not from viruses or criminals trolling the internet. According to Cisco’s 2014 Annual Security Report, Java was used to compromise the computer in 91% of cases, followed by Flash.  Java and Flash are both wonderful technologies that helped transform the internet and many devices into the multimedia sensations they are today.

The complexities of those technologies, however, became their weakness.

Many websites no longer require Java or Flash.  If these technologies are installed, consider removing them, along with any unnecessary internet add-ons or toolbars.
We also recommend that PC-based customers try the free Google Chrome web browser in place of Microsoft’s Internet Explorer. In addition to its proven security benefits, we’ve found Chrome to perform significantly faster and render pages more accurately – including our own website.

Next, make a habit of examining a link’s destination (URL) before clicking. Most web browsers and e-mail applications will expose the URL simply by hovering over the link.
If the URL doesn’t lead to a reputable website, and especially if the site doesn’t end with a well-known ending like “.com,” think twice before clicking.

Finally, you can mitigate the effects of compromised usernames and passwords by using a unique password for each website or service.  Each password should consist of at least 10 characters. If a criminal uncovers your Facebook credentials, be assured they’ll try to use them to log into Yahoo! Mail, Etsy, Pinterest, Twitter, etc. Desktop and mobile password storage apps like LastPass and KeePass are designed to create and securely store complex credentials, and may increase your efficiency while decreasing your risk. Consider memorizing a handful of passwords (e-mail, online banking, etc.) in case you don’t have access to the password store.

We recommend NOT changing your password more frequently than every 12 to 18 months. It doesn’t matter if a criminal is in possession of stolen credentials for one minute or one month, the same amount of damage can be done. When forced to change passwords often, individuals often develop a predictable password sequence, record passwords in an insecure location, or begin sharing passwords among sites and services, which undermines security.

Please visit us online at LuanaSavingsBank.com for additional information on security, identity theft, credit and much more!

Luana Savings Bank
www.luanasavingsbank.com

Luana Savings Bank is leading the Des Moines market with competitive interest rates and a “No Origination/No Closing Cost” loan special.

No matter where you are in the home buying process, Luana can help you explore your financing possibilities. Whether you’re a first-time home buyer, or you’re upgrading or downsizing, Luana has a variety of mortgage products to fit your needs for a single family home, investment property or condo/townhome purchase.

Our no-cost mortgage special is very popular for both purchases and refinances. This special limited-time offer allows customers to lock in a competitive rate at no cost. Eliminating closing cost fees protects you from being overcharged. Not all lenders are able to offer this type of lending – but we do!

Luana’s In-House opportunities set us apart from our competition

Our lending guidelines go further than those directed by Fannie Mae’s guidelines. We have our own programs and products to meet each individual’s needs. This allows a “common sense” approach and enables us to be more accommodating with our clients’ needs and situations.

We offer local decisions with a local service approach 

Luana also understands the importance of quick loan approvals and local loan decisions. We’re unique because we approve and service loans locally. We retain the servicing on all of our mortgage loans. Our customers know upfront that their loan will not be sold to another company after the loan is closed. This means our customers make local payments and can call anytime with questions and get the answers they need.

We strive to build close relationships with our customers beyond numbers, which leads to a much more fulfilling experience for our customers as we work to meet their needs. 

Luana Savings Bank
www.luanasavingsbank.com

What are some things we should be looking at?

No matter the industry, there comes a time when a business may want to expand and grow. Whether they need to buy equipment, want to purchase a new building, purchase an existing business or grow their existing customer base, a need for bank financing may exist.

As the economy has continued to recover, more options and possibilities have become available to businesses.

There are three things to think about when financing needs exist: return on investment, equity position, and cash flow. In the end, they go hand-in-hand.

Return on investment (ROI) measures the gain or loss generated relative to the amount of money invested. Does having a larger or more productive work area allow your workforce to be more efficient or produce more results that could drive the bottom line? Does updated or additional equipment allow you to complete more jobs and do so more profitably? ROI is one of the most commonly used profitability ratios.

On a company’s balance sheet, the equity position can refer to a business’ assets in relation to their liabilities, or the business’ net worth. For a business owner, building equity in their company is important in both the short and long term. Some business valuation models are derived from a company’s equity position. If the business purchases additional real estate or equipment, what will that do to the value of
the business?

Cash flow refers to all the revenue or income coming in to the business versus all the expenses or debt payments going out. Depending on the industry, a business’ cash flow can vary day to day and month to month. How will new investments in real estate or equipment affect the business’ ability to take care of their other day-to-day expenses?  Will those short or long term investments end up adding profit to the bottom line, which helps build equity and create a desired ROI?

A lot of any business’ successes are built on the relationships they develop and maintain day to day. Providing great products and services and developing trust equals retaining good customer relationships and the possibility of referrals. At Luana Savings Bank, we are no different. From the beginning, we work hard to understand our customers’ wants and needs, set obtainable expectations so both parties know the game plan and work hard day after day to earn our customers trust.

We welcome you to visit with our commercial loan experts at Luana Savings Bank to see how we can help your business continue to grow, service your customers profitably and efficiently, and obtain the successes you are working hard to achieve.

Luana Savings Bank
www.luanasavingsbank.com

What are my financing options?

In today’s housing market, it’s a great time to consider buying or building a new home. While we’ve seen interest rates increase slightly in the past year, rates are still at historic lows, which makes building or buying a new home more affordable.

Traditionally, building a home would mean two separate loans for the consumer –one for the construction phase of the homebuilding project and another for when the project is finished, or
what we call “permanent financing.”

Today, we’re seeing rising popularity of construction loans called “construction-to-permanent financing,” also known as “all-in-one” or “one-time-close” loans.
These types of loans have become popular due to the convenience for the consumer having only one application, one set of closing costs and one single closing.

A huge factor when considering construction-to-permanent financing is that it can protect you from rising interest rates. The construction phase often lasts six months or longer. Without construction-to-permanent financing, the consumer is at risk for interest rate fluctuation during this time. For example, longer term treasuries increased a full 1 percent from May 2013 to today’s current rates. This correlates to roughly the same increase in mortgage rates. This increase can add thousands of dollars to a home loan.

Luana Savings Bank helps customers lock in great long-term interest rates right up front during the construction phase. We work with our customers to estimate the time period for construction, and when it’s completed, monthly payments begin. This allows consumers to eliminate the risk of rising interest rates during the construction phase.

Not all lenders offer these types of construction loans. However, Luana Savings Bank specializes in this type of lending, as we see the great benefit for our customers.

Luana Savings Bank also specializes in home mortgages for those who are in the market to buy a home, rather than building. Our No-Cost Mortgage Special has become very popular for both purchases and refinances. Again, not all lenders offer this type of lending. This special limited-time offer allows our customers to lock in a competitive rate at no cost.

Eliminating closing cost fees protects the consumer from being overcharged.

Luana Savings Bank also stresses the importance of quick loan approval and local loan decisions. We’re unique because we approve and service loans locally. We strive to build close relationships with our customers beyond numbers, which leads to a much more fulfilling experience for our customers as we work to meet their needs.

We welcome you to visit with our real estate experts at Luana Savings Bank to see if our construction-to-permanent financing or No-Cost Mortgage Special fit your needs.