Couples and Money: Truth or Friction?

The prospect of getting married is so exciting! You’re in love and your whole world now revolves around the one person you’ve decided to spend the rest of your life with. It’s a wonderful feeling, full of promise and possibility and plans for your future together.

It’s wonderful to enjoy this time while you can see your whole future as a never-ending parade of love and happiness, but don’t close your eyes to the day-to-day challenges that will surely come.

One of the biggest sources of conflict in a relationship – perhaps the biggest source – is about money. Be sure you have an open and honest discussion about how you intend to handle financial matters long before you actually tie the knot. Some things to consider:

Should we have separate accounts or put all our money together?

Only you can decide what will work best for you. Whatever you decide, be sure that you both have a good idea about how much your spouse is earning, spending, borrowing and investing. There are simple things that any couple can do to figure out what will work best.

First, talk about your budget. If the word makes you cringe, start by calling it a spending plan, and agree to look at it as a flexible, working document – subject to periodic review as your needs and circumstances change. A budget really is just a plan, so once you define your goals, the plan simply outlines the steps you’re going to take to achieve them.

How do you start? Track all of your expenses for a month. You should each keep track of all your expenditures for thirty days, then categorize them and add it all up. Be honest about your spending, and don’t try to hide anything – it’s kind of like lying to your doctor. If you don’t recognize the things that are wrong, you’ll never be able to fix them.

Once you know how much money you have and where it’s going, set some goals. Do you want to save up a down payment on a house and move in two years from now? Determine how much money you’ll need for the down payment, divide it by 24 months, and you have your first goal. Be sure to maximize your contributions to retirement and 401K plans. Contribute at least enough to earn your company’s match.

Perhaps you agree to merge the money for your household expenses, but also to keep your own individual checking accounts that you’re allowed to spend from with no questions asked. Just be sure you both agree on what constitutes a household expense and what constitutes personal spending.

Set a threshold for “big” expenses that you need to agree on – say, you both have to agree to buy something if it costs more than $200.

Don’t criticize each other over money matters in public. Keep financial discussions private.

Where should we keep our money?

In a credit union? Credit Unions are not-for-profit, member-owned cooperatives, governed by a volunteer board of directors who are accountable to the credit union’s membership. Generally speaking, credit unions offer every product and service you’ll need to run your household, plus tons of convenient services like internet banking, online bill pay and apps that allow you to do your banking from your smart phone. Credit unions tend to be smaller than banks and offer more time, attention and personal service. At a credit union, fees and interest rates on loans are usually lower than at other institutions and dividend rates on your deposits are usually higher. Be sure you understand the terms, conditions, restrictions and fees associated with every account you open.

In a bank? Banks are for-profit corporations, governed by a paid board of directors who are accountable to their stockholders. Generally speaking, banks offer the same products, services and convenience features as a credit union. Be sure you understand the terms, conditions, restrictions and fees associated with every account you open.

Banks and credit unions are both required to have either a federal or state charter, and in either case, your deposits are insured up to $250,000 and backed by the full faith and credit of the government of the United States.

More resources

Naturally, there are lots of books about the best ways to manage your money. Here are a few recommendations:

Smart Couples Finish Rich by David Bach
The Automatic Millionaire by David Bach
Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki

You ask why did we locate it inside of a church? Well the answer is that our missions match. Mount Pisgah and MICU are both striving to serve the entire community with the objective to create a positive change in people’s lives. People need to feel better and naturally want to do better but may need help whether they ask for it or not.

In our previous post, Serving the Needs of People – Not Just Words, we talked about how it would be nice if something could actually be done to help the entire community.

Well no more words – we are taking action! Different than the typical service you can get from just about every banking center, what MICU is creating is a more pleasant experience in relating to the public and it is based on the understanding that we will treat others the way we would like to be treated. That means that everyone that comes into our facility will receive the utmost of care from everyone. From our greeting to our smile, from our conversations to our counseling, from our gifts of giving to the products and services we can provide, MICU will transcend and strive to be joyfully different than any other banking experience anywhere else in town!

MICU is launching new products and services to address old common problems faced by families caught up in unfortunate circumstances. The industry calls this the “underbanked”, “unbanked” or “underserved” market. Well not in our house! We will call them members and will provide the products, service and leadership that will allow them to pull themselves up with fairness and dignity! Our new services will:

• Provide accounts (not respectfully available before) that will allow people to cash their pay checks
• Provide small loans (payday loan alternative) at a respectful interest rate to help people in an emergency situation
• Teach and counsel people how to better manage what they have and grow the finances to a level that supports them.

All of this is different, but at Mid-Illini Credit Union we live by our motto “Where Different | Is Better”.

So, please feel welcome to come on by and see us at our main office and at our new branch! MICU at Mount Pisgah is open from 10:00am – 6:00pm; M-F and 8:00am – 1:00pm on Saturday!

Every business likes to say that they serve the people and provide the best service possible. I am sure that you have heard that statement a million times over. I mean – if you corner a manager of a company and ask the question pertaining to their mission or strategic plans – you are most likely to hear a response toward the top of the list that includes something like “we are the leader in customer service”, “we are striving to be the best in customer service” or “the customer is our #1 objective”.

Well is any of this true? Do you really believe it? I think the answer is “yes” and the answer is “no”.

You see, if you are a customer of a business or organization, then the chances are strong that you are being taken care of just up to the point that they don’t upset you enough to leave. Most companies, by default, provide just enough to keep you from leaving. Wouldn’t it be nice if a company would anticipate your needs and serve you with what is absolutely in your best interest regardless if you ask for it or not? With all the expertise they have in their respective industry about the publics’ needs, wouldn’t it be great if they would just provide free advice to their customers on matters that would make everyone’s lives better and simpler?

Now all of this has been about the customer – but what about the prospect that is not a customer simply because they don’t qualify per some set guidelines. This group is basically left out of many services, to just fend for themselves. Can you imagine being in a situation like this? This group is often referred to as the un-served or underserved. Unfortunately, this group is overlooked or not even considered as a target market because it is perceived that they have no economic, political or social power. Mistakenly, this group is mostly the opposite. They are leaders, hard workers, patriotic – for the most part, just like you and me. The majority are in this group because of unfortunate situations and things beyond their control. Income and education is plentiful in this group but society overlooks them.

In the banking industry, like all other industries, the norm is to provide just-barely-good-enough service – as described above – and not to serve the group of people that do not qualify by our pre-established rules. Here in Bloomington/Normal, there are pockets of our community, neighborhoods and groups of people that do not receive the best available service and in some areas no service at all. As a result, a lot of people have to resort to very expensive, alternative financial providers just to survive. Many cannot cash their pay checks and rely on Currency Exchanges or worse measures. Hundreds of our friends and neighbors, some earning $50,000 or more, can’t secure a small $500 loan for emergencies and must turn to payday lenders, where they get trapped in a debt spiral because the payment terms involve balloon payments and outrageous interest rates. Others who own a car free and clear – become desperate to get a small loan and put up their car’s title as collateral, taking a big chance that they might not be able to keep their car if they default on the loan!

Wouldn’t it be nice if some financial institution could just set up a branch in the most overlooked areas and do something to help serve the people in need? The community needs service in all areas for all people. Wouldn’t it be fantastic if someone would finally come up with products and services to address old common problems? We need a way to set up accounts so that people can cash their pay checks. We need a service that can provide small loans at a respectful interest rate to help people in an emergency situation. We need a way to teach and consult people how to better manage what they have and grow the finances to a level that supports them. Biblically, this is described as teaching the people to fish.

If we can find a way to do these things, then I think we can honestly say that we serve the people and we provide the best service possible!

Stay tuned and get prepared!

Your favorite foods-including garlic? Musty smells seeping up from the basement? Fresh laundry? Your best perfume?

Every home has its unique combination of smells, and since you become used to it, it’s difficult to identify yours. If you love the way your home smells, then I say don’t worry about it. However, if you are concerned about what others may be saying or if you just don’t like the smell yourself, then consider what a difference it would make if you could change it to a more pleasant and pleasing smell.

Scent is one of our senses, and nothing says “home sweet home” like apple pie baking in the oven. Since you’re probably not baking cookies all the time, though, walk from room to room and consider if you’d be happier with a fresh new scent-in one room, or your entire house.
The options today are dizzying, so spend a little time sniffing around at your local “Shop Small” stores. In addition to the actual scent, you need to decide what you want to use: old fashioned air fresheners, candles, incense, or one of the many newer forms of bringing wonderful smells into your home.Start by thinking of smells you enjoy and see how you can upgrade your space with wonderful aromas.

Because the costs are low, you can try different things, and, when you get tired of one scent, switch to another. Keep in mind that you want to start with a blank canvass, so make sure garbage cans are cleaned regularly, curtains and dust ruffles are washed often, and rugs are aired out. Nothing in your home should carry its own smell-unless you want it to.

Here’s a thought – “all smells are free but stench may cost you dearly”.

Happy Smelling!

Have you ever wondered why the day after Thanksgiving is often referred to as “Black Friday”?

As much as you’d like to think so, it’s not because our wallets go into mourning as soon as they notice the thrill of the hunt in their owner’s eyes. One theory states that the day was thus labeled because of the heavy traffic and stress that are synonymous with Black Friday.

The accountant’s theory is more enlightening. Retail stores used to operate at a financial loss until that fateful day, when they would record a profit. Negative amounts were recorded in red ink and positive amounts in black. In simple English this means that Black Friday, for many stores, was the day they actually made money on their merchandise. Your money.

There are many reasons not to catch the Black Friday fever. Sure, holiday shopping is on the yearly to-do list. But getting up at an early hour of the morning to shiver in line at your store of choice and then get jostled by ravenous crowds to wait in another line is described as fun, adventurous, and worth the effort. It is also described as crazy, cold, tiresome and ridiculous. Regardless of how you describe it, there are certainly other ways to do your shopping.

Besides the much-advertised Black Friday sales, many stores get the jitters earlier. You can find great bargains, calmly and peacefully, a few weeks before the madness begins. The internet also provides an array of websites where you can check for bargains and compare prices on goods weeks before the shopping season officially kicks off.

You can even do all your shopping online, and save yourself the hassle – not to mention the gasoline. You’ll probably end up saving money too, since shopping online lets you select exactly what you know you’re looking for and your eyes aren’t drawn to every other item on display. The same goes for using good old catalogs. If you’re worried about breaking tradition, start a new one. You’ll be happy to know that retailers have even coined a name for online shopping.

The first weekday after the Thanksgiving weekend is now known as Cyber Monday. Doesn’t that sound a little less ominous than Black Friday?

So this year, don’t set your alarm clock for five in the morning. Get a good night’s sleep, and do all those things you never got to do on your day off. After all, there are so many other things to do besides waiting in a line.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

The Holidays are supposed to be a time of joy and celebration. But too many of us find them to be a time of great financial stress too. How can you give gifts to so many loved ones while balancing the need to spend but not put yourself into a financial bind?

• Make a plan. Just because it’s the holidays, it doesn’t mean you need to spend on impulse. Start well before Thanksgiving by writing out your gift list. Don’t worry about picking any of the gifts just yet. But you can assign dollar amounts. Have a maximum amount you think you can afford, and dial that number back just a bit. Once you have your list and the number of dollars you’re planning to spend on each recipient, add it all up. If it’s too high, refine the dollar amounts on your list and recalculate. Repeat until you have landed in your spending comfort zone.
• Start early. By starting well before Thanksgiving, you give yourself more options. You have more sales to choose from and you have more time to shop. But starting early gives you another valuable advantage as well: time.
• Make gifts by hand. If you have more time than money this year, making hand-made gifts is an ideal solution. Indeed, it’s more than ideal – a store bought gift isn’t always appreciated for very long. A handmade gift is frequently kept and treasured for a lifetime.
• Send Cards. Cards are cheaper than gifts. Cheaper still if you create them by hand. And cheaper still if you give them in person to people you see regularly than if you spend money on postage. Need to save even more on stamps? Scan and email your cards. But personalize each of them so they don’t look like a mass mailing.
• Join a Christmas Club. Back before nearly everyone had a credit card, people joined Christmas Clubs at credit unions. Their credit union would help them set aside money each month for 11 months. Then, at Christmas time, that money was available – with the interest earned – for holiday spending. You can join a formal Christmas or Holiday Club at the credit union, or you can create your own personal Christmas Club simply by adding another savings account and exercising a littler personal discipline to contribute regularly and not dip into it throughout the year. Yes, now more people have credit cards – but they aren’t necessarily better off. Credit cards help with evening out your cash flow over the course of the year. But with credit cards, you pay interest on your purchases. With a Christmas club or other savings account, the credit union pays interest to you!
• Try alcohol-free holidays. Alcohol adds quite a bit to holiday expenses between Christmas and New Year’s. Rolling back or eliminating alcohol can easily save $30 to $100 (or even more), for some families, between all the holiday expenditures. That’s enough to buy quite a few cards and stamps.
• Keep it simple. Remember – the first Christmas was quiet modest. They didn’t even pay for a room at the inn. There’s nothing wrong with a quiet Christmas at home with your family. Indeed, there’s a great deal about that idea that gets it exactly right.

Without a doubt the big storm “Sandy” delivered a damaging punch to the Caribbean and on into the United States east coast. Millions of people were, and many still are, without power, water, shelter and fuel. Thousands have been displaced due to the complete destruction of their homes and tragically, the storm claimed over a hundred lives.

In spite of the damaging punch of Sandy, it did not knock us out. Due to the humanity efforts of people helping people, society is sticking together, working hard and fighting back!

Regardless of politics, ideology, gender and race, we as a society of Americans work together when a crisis attacks our shores. Here are some ways that we do it:

• Everyone working together
• Neighbor helping a neighbor
• People taking in families, friends and yes, strangers
• Sharing supplies
• Assisting children and the elderly
• Checking on one another throughout the day and especially through the dark and cold nights
• Helping others to gather their belongings, file insurance claims and wait out rations
• Sharing food, money, clothing and even our own personal labor
• Providing a shoulder to lean on and of course sharing a prayer for healing, strength and comfort

Businesses and individuals give and make ways for man to survive, rebuild and live on. From the government to the homeless; from Wall Street to Main Street; from the healthy to the sick and shut in, we all ban together and create our own Big Storm! As the east coast now prepares for a current Nor’easter, Athena, traveling up the coast, the community will have to ban together again to fight back and claim victory.

We need each other more than ever. A community cannot exist without the efforts of others from afar. When it comes to the community, Mid-Illini Credit Union works along with you to support, grow and build. More importantly, there are millions of other businesses and individuals that do the same! In reality, we as the people are The Big Storm.

Did you know…

…That 2012 is the International Year of the Cooperative?
…That the third week in October is International Credit Union Week?
…The third Thursday in October is International Credit Union Day?

International Credit Union Day was celebrated this year on October 18 -  by more than 196 million members (!) at over 155,000 credit unions (!) in more than 100 countries!

It’s hard to believe, but unless you’re involved in the credit union movement, you may have missed this important news.

In the industry, we refer to the credit union “movement” because the democratic, member-owned structure of our institutions allows us to invest and give back to our communities in ways that most other businesses just can’t.

At their most basic, credit unions are:

• Member Owned
• Not for Profit
• Democratically controlled
• Financial Institutions

We operate in the same space as the banks, of course, and most credit unions offer pretty much the same products and services as a bank. BUT -  with lower fees, lower mortgage and loan costs and generally better returns on savings and fixed investments.

How can we do that? It is a fundamentally different business model:

Banks are structured to raise money by appealing to investors who expect a return on their investment. Bankers are beholden to their investors and must return a profit. That’s why they exist.

A credit union, on the other hand, is owned by its members. So, while there is a need to make profits to make sure the credit union is self-sustaining, there isn’t the pressure to squeeze as much profit as possible from every transaction just to satisfy the appetite of shareholders for better returns.

Instead, credit unions reinvest profits in the communities they serve and into making sure people’s banking needs are taken care of.

So credit unions can:

• Reach out to underserved markets right here at home
• Offer non-traditional products that help people learn to manage their money properly
• Provide financial literacy classes and programs for our members and our community
• Work with local companies to make sure their employees have access to convenient, affordable financial services
• Consider character as well as credit scores when making lending decisions
• Donate time, service and dollars to events and organizations that positively impact our members’ everyday lives

At Mid-Illini Credit Union, we’re proud to offer these services to our members and our community every day. Since 1940, we’ve been helping McLean County families build strong financial foundations. In the end, it’s the people we can help, not the profit we can make that drive our actions. Members matter most – that’s the philosophy that we live and breathe every day.

So while we’ve had fun offering sweets, treats and giveaways this week to show our members how much we appreciate their business, the fact is that in the end, it really is the people we can help every day that drive our actions. Members matter most EVERY day at MICU.

So, to our members: we know that you have a choice about where to do your banking. We thank you for choosing MICU. And we appreciate your business.