News

The Equifax Breach: Resources for Protecting Your Personal Information

A person typing credit card information into their laptop

The Equifax Breach You may already be aware of the fact that Equifax recently announced a possible cybersecurity breach that may have exposed the private information of 143 million consumers in the United States. Equifax believes the breach occurred  from mid-May through July of this year. Protecting Your Personal Information Many consumers have elected to have a security freeze placed on their credit reporting. A security freeze places a hold on releasing of credit information by a credit reporting agency.  Before…

Personal Banking

How much should I be saving?

Plant growing out of a pile of coins

Savings. It’s a word that evokes mixed feelings from each and every one of us. On one hand, we all know we should be doing it—allocating a percentage of each paycheck into your savings account helps you not only prepare for retirement, vacations, and hobbies, but also prepare for unexpected expenses. On the other hand, saving money is just plain difficult. You may not be able to put a flat amount into your savings each month, or you might just…

Business Banking

Top reasons to bank local

Field of flowers

Banking Local: How Local Banks Assist Your Business Taking your money to a national or worldwide bank has its advantages. These banks have often pioneered advancements in banking technology. They also offer an extremely wide array of financial services, sometimes including stock trading and peer-to-peer banking. But for all their pros, there are many more cons. It can sometimes take hours to get on the phone with a representative. Don’t even think about talking to a personal financial advisor that’s…