Pathfinder Magazine: Volume 1

FALL 2017 IHMVCU.org

HOW TO

GIVE

WITHOUT GIVING MONEY ALSO INSIDE >> Find the right account for your savings style >> Mobile wallets: A new way to pay

Free download! Plug & play

worksheet to make budgeting easy spend | save | borrow | plan

IN THE QUAD CITIES 2839 AAA Court Bettendorf, IA 52722 201 East 3rd Street Davenport, IA 52801 2102 East Kimberly Road Davenport, IA 52807 3646 West Kimberly Road Davenport, IA 52806 358 17th Avenue East Moline, IL 61244 801 Tech Drive Milan, IL 61264 1118 5th Avenue Moline, IL 61265 2101 52nd Avenue Moline, IL 61265 4206 5th Avenue Rock Island, IL 61201 685 Avenue of the Cities Silvis, IL 61282

OUTSIDE THE QUAD CITIES 1703 11th Street DeWitt, IA 52742 404 West Carl Sandburg Drive Galesburg, IL 61401 337 Tenney Street Kewanee, IL 61443 2 AmericInn Way Monmouth, IL 61462 334 Washington Street Prophetstown, IL 61277 403 South Gear Avenue West Burlington, IA 52655 309-793-6200 800-722-0333 Federally Insured by NCUA IHMVCU.org Equal Housing Opportunity NMLS #463074

2

PATHFINDER FALL 2017

SPEND

Giving back without giving money Have you ever felt this way?

You know that feeling when you spot someone raising money or selling something for charity outside the grocery store or pharmacy‌

IHMVCU.org

3

Whether they’re raising money for something meaningful to you or not, looking someone in the face and saying you can’t or won’t give can make you feel a little guilty.

It’s even harder when the cause tugs at your heartstrings and you can’t afford to help.

We’ve all been there, and if we didn’t have to buy groceries and gas, pay bills and save for retirement we’d all have plenty of cash to give to every bell ringer, scout and relief fund. But, unfortunately the world doesn’t work that way and we need money to live.

So how do you support the charities that are important to you without giving cash you don’t have? Here are some easy ways you can give to the causes you care about, without giving money.

Give your time

You may think that charities are overrun with people volunteering their time to help, but oftentimes nonprofits are scrambling to find the people they need to be successful.

According to Volunteering in America, only 32.5% of people in Iowa and 24.9% of people in Illinois volunteered their time in 2015. And while it’s unreasonable to expect that 100% of the population volunteer in some capacity, it’s proof that there’s always room for more.

4

32.5%

24.9%

Percentage of people in Iowa and Illinois who volunteered their time in 2015.

Call up your favorite nonprofit and see what you can do to help – sort donations at your local food pantry, walk dogs at the animal shelter or

PATHFINDER FALL 2017

serve meals at a soup kitchen. Even if you can only give one hour of your time, it’s enough to make an impact on an organization in need.

someone who needs it?

Your local domestic abuse shelter or thrift store would be more than happy to take all those old kitchen items, appliances and clothes. Your local animal shelter is probably always in need of more blankets and towels for bedding and cleanup.

If your kids gave up band or orchestra after high school, there are organizations that will gladly accept (and repair!) musical instruments you’re not using anymore.

It may look like junk or clutter to you, but to someone in need it’s just what they’re looking for.

Give your skills

If you have a skill, there’s a good chance there’s a charity looking for someone like you.

Outdoorsy or handy?

Team up with your local scouts or schools to teach wilderness or construction skills.

Give your stuff

If you had to guess, how many things do you think you have in your house that you just don’t use?

According to the Los Angeles Times, the average American home contains over 300,000 items. Research by the U.S. Department of Energy shows that 25% of people with two-car garages don’t have room to park cars inside them,

and 32% only have room for one vehicle because it’s used for storage. A study at UCLA concluded that the United States has only 3.1% of the world’s children, but consumes 40% of the world’s toys.

As Americans, we’re hoarding A LOT. Stuff that we’re not using and don’t need. Instead of filling your garage or renting off-site storage, why not give it to

Musical? Offer to give lessons or tune instruments at a local music nonprofit.

Creative? Try an online search for nonprofits in need of marketing, social media or graphic design volunteers.

There are plenty of ways to give back without giving money. If in doubt about what you can do, call your favorite charity and ask what they’re in need of.

You might be surprised by the answer. n IHMVCU.org

5

SPEND

6

PATHFINDER FALL 2017

Mobile wallets

A new way to pay Haven’t heard of mobile wallets yet? Mobile wallets are a fairly new technology that allow consumers to make purchases using their phone. More commonly referred to as Apple Pay, Android Pay, or Samsung Pay (depending on what type of phone you have), mobile wallets allow you to pay in store without ever taking out your credit or debit card.

Security advantages

As you might imagine, not having to take out a physical card has a lot

of security advantages.

The main benefit of using a mobile wallet is that your information is never shared with the merchant. This is possible because of a technology called tokenization.

When you pay by swiping a debit or credit card the old-fashioned way, all your card’s sensitive data (like your card number and expiration date) is transmitted through and saved within the vendor’s payment system. Which means if a hacker breaches that system, they have access to the information necessary to IHMVCU.org

7

Using Apple Pay

Step 1. Open your Apple Wallet and select the card you’d like to use.

Step 2. When the cashier is done ringing up your transaction, hold your phone up to the terminal and enter your passcode or use your TouchID.

Step 3. Take your receipt from the merchant and be on your way!

8

duplicate your card and start making purchases.

With mobile wallets, the vendor only receives a randomly generated number called a token, which is enough to complete the transaction but doesn’t actually carry any of your card’s sensitive information.

Because your information is never passed to the vendor, a hacker can’t get your information by gaining access to the vendor’s data storage.

Another great security feature of mobile wallets is your phone itself. Unless someone has stolen your fingertips or knows

PATHFINDER FALL 2017

your phone’s pin code, possession of your phone won’t give thieves access to your stored cards. If you do happen to lose your phone, most cell service providers have a feature that allows users to go online and mark a phone as lost, disabling all mobile payment features.

Quick & easy

If you’ve ever made a payment with a chip card, you know that even though it actually only takes a few extra seconds to process a transaction it can feel like much longer than that. But there’s good news – not

Ready to start paying the faster, more secure way?

All IHMVCU credit and debit cards are fully functional with Apple Pay, Samsung Pay and Android Pay. Learn how to set up your cards based on your phone here. only are mobile payments extremely secure, they also process extremely quickly. Walk up to the register, get your phone out, hold it up to the card reader & enter your passcode or scan your finger. Done! It really is that easy.

Loyalty rewards programs

Mobile Wallets don’t just make paying easier, they can help you manage your various customer loyalty programs, too!

Starbucks, Walgreens, Kohls and a host of other companies make it easy

to rack up rewards points or get discounts by using your mobile wallet. Just add your loyalty card to your digital wallet the same way you would a credit or debit card, and stop digging around for that piece of plastic in your purse. n

Apple, the Apple logo, and iPhone are trademarks of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries. Apple Pay and Touch ID are trademarks of Apple Inc. Android, Android Pay and the Android Logo are trademarks of Google Inc. Samsung, Samsung Pay, Samsung Galaxy, Samsung Knox and Galaxy S (and other device names) are trademarks or registered trademarks of Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. Samsung Pay is available on select Samsung devices.

IHMVCU.org

9

SAVE

Picking the right savings account You know you need to save. But trying to decide what kind of account to use for that savings can be a little more complicated – not to mention that reading account brochures is kind of a snoozefest.

10

PATHFINDER FALL 2017

Whether you’re just starting on your savings journey or you have a hefty emergency fund tucked away somewhere, putting your stash in the right kind of account is crucial to your savings success. So we broke it down to the essentials to give you exactly what you need to find the right account for your savings style.

Regular Savings

A plain Jane, no fuss savings account.

Generally speaking, a basic savings account probably doesn’t have a lot of earning power. But the upside is that at IHMVCU the minimum balance for a regular savings account is only $5. Unlike some other accounts there’s not penalty for taking funds out of the account, so

you have access to your money whenever you need it.

A regular savings account might be a good choice if: >> You’re just starting to save >> You need to withdraw your money whenever you want

Certificate of Deposit (CD)

CDs usually offer the highest rate of return of any deposit account, but they come with a few more rules. In exchange for the better rate, you agree to keep the funds in your account for a specific amount of time, called the term, or pay a penalty.

Unlike a regular savings or money market IHMVCU.org

11

account, there’s a minimum balance required to open a certificate ($500 at IHMVCU).

A certificate of deposit might be a good choice if: >> You already have some money saved up >> You want a higher rate of return than a regular savings >> You don’t need to withdraw your money right away

Money Market Account (MMA)

Money market accounts allow you to save while earning a higher rate of return than a regular savings account, without the rigid timeline of a certificate. Money market accounts at IHMVCU allow you to write up to six checks per month, and make unlimited withdrawals in a branch.

Learn more about savings accounts at IHMVCU. However, in order to actually earn any interest you have to meet minimum balance requirements – usually $10,000+. The rate of return on a money market account is usually tiered – meaning the more money you have, the more you earn.

A money market account might be a good choice if: >> You already have a significant amount of money saved >> You want a higher rate of return than a regular savings >> You don’t want to lock your money in a termed deposit

Still feeling overwhelmed? Here’s a chart.

Account type

How’s the interest rate?

Why should you get one?

Savings account

Competitive with money market accounts

The minimum balance requirement is usually very low You can quickly and easily access your money There aren’t a lot of account restrictions

Money Market account (MMA)

Competitive with savings account

Certificate of Deposit (CD)

Usually the highest rate of return on any deposit account

12

You might earn a higher rate of return than a regular savings account with a larger balance You want to be able to write up to six checks a month or withdraw your money whenever you want.

PATHFINDER FALL 2017

You don’t need quick, easy access to your money You have enough money to meet the minimum deposit requirement

SAVE

Savings so good they’re scary.

Fall Member Advantages are here!

IHMVCU.org/MemberDiscounts

IHMVCU.org

13

BORROW

Common credit misconceptions

People think they know a lot about credit.

And they’ll tell you what they know – whether it’s true or not.

Working with credit union members every day, we’ve heard some crazy misconceptions about credit cards, credit scores and credit in general.

One amazing thing about human culture is that we love to share knowledge with other people. One bad thing about that is often what we think is helpful information is actually not very helpful at all.

When it comes to credit, we hear a lot of really incorrect things like:

14

PATHFINDER FALL 2017

>> You should close a credit card when you pay it off >> Store credit cards are worse for your credit than other cards >> Using a debit card can improve your credit score >> Checking your credit is bad >> You have to be rich to have good credit And just in case you didn’t know: none of those things are true.

So we sent Jon Shrader, a Financial Advocate here at IHMVCU, on the street to find out what people really know about credit & credit cards. n

BORROW

How much good credit can save you Thinking about taking out a loan? As a consumer, it’s important to be aware of the interest you’ll pay when you borrow. Knowing the principal amount (the amount you want to borrow) and the interest rate (a percentage you pay to the financial institution for borrowing money), you can figure out how much you’ll pay for your loan.

Here are some examples of how much you can save by improving your credit:

Credit Great (750+) Good (700) OK (650) Bad (<650)

Loan Amount $10,000 $10,000 $10,000 $10,000

Interest Rate 3% 5% 10% 15%

Monthly Payment $179.70 $188.75 $212.54 $238.02

Total Interest paid over 5 years $781.78 $1,324.60 $2,752.40 $4,280.60

Credit Great (750+) Good (700) OK (650) Bad (<650)

Loan Amount $15,000 $15,000 $15,000 $15,000

Interest Rate 3% 5% 10% 15%

Monthly Payment $269.55 $283.12 $318.82 $357.03

Total Interest paid over 5 years $1,172.71 $1,986.91 $4,128.43 $6,420.97

Subject to credit approval. Rates and payments listed above are examples only.

IHMVCU.org

15

PLAN

Get smart You need a budget, and you know it. But actually creating one is kind of the worst. So we made one for you. Download this free plug & play 50/30/20 budget worksheet and start reaching your money goals.

Learn more about the 50/30/20 budget on the MoneySmarts blog.

Click here to get the free 50/30/20 budget worksheet.

COMMUNITY IMPACT

Whatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s new at IHMVCU? Everyone loves a free t-shirt, right? Look for your favorite IHMVCU Team Member & the T-Shirt Cannon at community events and see if you can catch one!

Tell us where you want to see the t-shirt cannon next!

IHMVCU.org

17

Upcoming events Bettendorf Halloween Parade Saturday, Oct. 28 Free pumpkins at Kewanee Saturday, Oct. 28 Free pumpkins at Prophetstown Saturday, Oct. 28 All locations closed for Veteran’s Day Friday, Nov. 10 Galesburg Christmas Parade Sunday, Nov. 19 All locations closed for Thanksgiving Thursday, Nov. 23 Prophetstown Lighted Christmas Parade Saturday, Nov. 25 All locations closed for Christmas Eve Sunday, Dec. 24 All locations closed for Christmas Monday, Dec. 25 All locations closed for New Year’s Eve Sunday, Dec. 31 All locations closed for New Year’s Day Monday, Jan. 1

Let’s Connect