The holidays are right around the corner, and you likely already started your holiday shopping. As much as you’d like to give your loved ones everything on their wish list, the cost of gifts, decorations, travel, and other holiday festivities can really add up. However, with a little bit of planning and responsible spending, you can celebrate the holiday season and keep your budget intact.
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While the holiday season may be a time of tradition for many, changing economic factors will force many to adapt their habits to fit a tighter budget this year.
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International Credit Union Day ®, also known as ICU Day®, is celebrated on the third Thursday of October. This year marks the 74th anniversary of the day, with the theme “Empower Your Financial Future with a Credit Union™.” This special day is brought to you by World Council of Credit Unions (WOCCU) and Credit Union National Association (CUNA).
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Ghosts, goblins, witches, and vampires – everyone knows All Hallows’ Eve is full of creepy creatures. But the scariest of them all may be scammers who try to trick you into revealing your sensitive personal information. Millions of Americans have their identities stolen or compromised each year, and dealing with the aftermath of identity theft and fraud is no treat. In honor of both Halloween and Cybersecurity Awareness Month, check out these tips to stay safe online and protect yourself from cybercriminals.
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When you think of credit unions, what’s the first thing that pops into your mind? Maybe it’s the great deal you got on your auto loan or the great rate you earn with your savings. Maybe you think of your credit union’s strong ties with its community. All these things are hallmarks of the credit union experience. But your local credit union is also part of something much bigger. It’s a worldwide movement. You might be familiar with some of the things that make credit unions unique. They’re democratically controlled, not-for-profit financial cooperatives that are owned by their members. Instead of being driven by profits, credit unions are built on the philosophy of “people helping people” and focused on supporting their members’ financial well-being. It’s an idea that goes way back. In feudal Japan, lending cooperatives helped members pool money to access interest-free short-term loans. By the late 1800s, the earliest examples of modern-day credit unions were springing up across Europe. In both cities and rural communities, these cooperatives helped everyday people participate in a banking system for the first time.
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Purchasing a vehicle is a significant life milestone and financial achievement. Whether you’ve owned multiple vehicles during your life or are shopping for your very first set of wheels, American Heritage can help you from beginning to end of your purchasing journey.
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There are only twenty-four hours in a day, and how you spend each one can impact your entire life. If you frequently find yourself trying to magically turn back the clock, you may be in “time debt.” Ineffective time management skills can cause us to “borrow” time from other activities to try and catch up with obligations, such as canceling one activity to make time for another. This then creates a “debt” to the first activity that needs to be repaid, and the cycle continues. Unlike other forms of debt, time is a limited resource that is impossible to ever truly gain more of, and in the end, the bad habit of borrowing time will only lead to stress and neglected responsibilities. By utilizing financial debt management skills, we can’t gain more time, but we can tackle time debt.
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You already have lots of reasons to love your home. Here’s one more: Your home is also one of your most powerful financial tools — because of your home equity. Your equity is the portion of your home that you own (as opposed to your mortgage lender). If you’ve been making mortgage payments for some time, you’ve probably built significant equity. And thanks to home equity financing options, you can take advantage of your investment without selling your place.
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Money can’t buy happiness — is that even true? When it comes to wealth and well-being, great minds think differently. Arthur Schopenhauer once declared, “Money alone is absolutely good,” while Seneca the Younger cautioned, “Money has never yet made anyone rich.” Perhaps a balanced perspective is needed — and as the legendary financial commentator Louis Rukeyser once quipped, “The best way to keep money in perspective is to have some.” Indeed, while most research confirms that the constant pursuit of riches leads to diminishing returns, achieving financial stability can definitely make life better. Probably the best-known study on this topic, conducted by Nobel laureates Daniel Kahneman and Angus Deaton, found that Americans’ emotional well-being rises with annual income up to about $75,000, at which point more cash doesn’t equal more laughter or less stress. Meanwhile, other researchers have discovered that the relationship between money and happiness has less to do with how much you make than what you make of it. Wondering what financial habits are most likely to bring you joy? Here are five smile-inducing strategies to consider:
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Your financial institution’s digital and online service suite provides a unique banking experience that can set you on the road to financial freedom. No longer are you required to physically travel to a branch to have control over your bank account, so long as you have a computer, smartphone, or tablet.
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