Century 21 LSB Real Estate agents provide superior service in finding you a home.

As a community bank serving Central and Northeast Iowa, we are proud to help our neighbors and others in our communities work toward purchasing a new home. Through a partnership between Lincoln Savings Bank and real estate company Century 21, we are also able to help people find the home that is perfect for them and their family.

Operating as a franchisee, Century 21 LSB Real Estate manages two different offices in the Cedar Valley in an effort to help people find the home of their dreams. We are continually growing our services to become the leader in the Cedar Valley real estate market.

As a Century 21 franchisee, we always enjoy taking some time to point out sponsorships and other public highlights of our real estate partner. The most noticeable and exciting development for Century 21 has been the sponsorship of the no. 21 Indy Racing League car that will be driven by Josef Newgarden in the 2013 Indianapolis 500 on May 26.

“Our sponsorship of the No. 21 car in the Indianapolis 500 provides another outstanding opportunity to highlight our Smarter. Bolder. Faster. campaign,” said Bev Thorne, chief marketing officer, Century 21 Real Estate LLC.  “Whether it’s the Super Bowl, the Olympics, U.S. Soccer or the Indy 500, we want to showcase the capabilities of our sales professionals in front of the largest audience possible.”

Not only are we excited about how this marketing showcases the abilities of the Century 21 LSB Real Estate agents, but it also goes to show the type of resources that are available to them through Century 21.

We can’t wait to see Newgarden and the no. 21 Century 21 Indy car flying around the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on May 26! We also look forward to helping you find a home that suits you and your family, so be sure to contact us today!

Our security measures prevent others from stealing your password, PIN or other secure information.

Scams. Hackers. Phishing schemes. You hear about all of these threats nightly on news broadcasts or on news websites. You may have been the target of one already. But things can get really scary when you start thinking about these threats and if they go after your banking information with Lincoln Savings Bank. We are here to assure you that, despite the advances in efforts by these criminals to access and steal your personal information, we follow the best practices in keeping it out of reach.

When it comes to personal information, account numbers and other vital bits of data, only the Lincoln Savings Bank employees that need to use them for transactions have access to them. Through special training and education programs, our employees learn the value of confidential information and how to protect against data theft.

Our physical, electronic and procedural safeguards meet federal security standards, and our technology is regularly tested to make sure that any weaknesses are pinpointed and fixed. If we notice discrepancies in any information or account, we act swiftly to correct them.

It is important to us that your personal information stays secure. You trust us with valuable financial and personal information. We take our responsibility in keeping this data private and out of other people’s hands seriously, and work every day to protect it.

You can also take steps to prevent this from happening. Never send any emails with account information or personal information. If you haven’t seen our blog post or video about identifying phishing scams, you can see it here.

At Lincoln Savings Bank, we want you to have a great experience with us, and keeping your personal and account information safe and secure is a huge part of that process. If you have any questions, you can contact us directly or look over our privacy policy.

Life insurance helps to protect and support what you hold dearest to you.

There are things in life that we hold dearer and closer to our hearts than most: our families, our homes and the futures of our loved ones. All of these things take financial support, which you are willing to give. But what if something happened where you weren’t able to keep them floating financially? This is where having a life insurance policy can be a lifesaver. 

“Do I really need life insurance?” is an age-old question that has a relatively simple answer: yes, you do. To further demonstrate this point, if you answer “yes” to the any of the following then life insurance is something you need to have:

• I am married
• I have kids
• I own a home
• Our family recently had a baby
• I own a business
• I am single, but have people who depend on me financially
• I have debt
• I am the only breadwinner in my household
• I am paying for my child’s college education 

Quite a few yeses, right? This just goes to show how invaluable life insurance is. Here are a few tips to get you started:

• Start young- this allows a cash-value policy to grow over time. Premiums are also generally cheaper because younger people are generally healthier provided that you…
• Live healthy and don’t smoke- smokers pay about twice the amount on premiums. Keeping yourself in good shape or improving your health can help to enhance your insurability as well.
• Get the right amount- how dependent is your family? An 8-year old is more dependent than a 20-year old, so make sure you pay for only what you need.
• Know what policy you need- learn the differences between term-life and whole life policies, as well as cash-value and annuity (we can help with this). Know what you need, then go after it.

Life insurance can be complicated; our investment representatives can work with you and your spouse to help figure out which type of policy and how much insurance you need to take out. We look forward to helping you and your family!

There are some "hidden" Social Security rules that can help OR harm you.

Social Security. Those two words don’t mean a whole lot to someone still in their 20s or 30s and working a full-time job, But to those who have started looking towards retirement, the amount you expect to get monthly from Social Security plays a massive role in how you plan your other finances for retirement, i.e., IRAs, investments, 401(k)s, etc. The point is that if you want to be able to count on a solid number from Social Security, you need to know about a few special rules.

Here are five of them, along with a way that Lincoln Savings Bank can help you get prepared for your retirement:

1. It’s all about your age- you need to know your “full retirement age.” It varies based on when you were born. You may begin receiving benefits at age 62 before full retirement, but this can result in a permanent reduction of up to 25 percent of your benefit!
2. The benefits of being a spouse- the “spousal benefit” is another great feature of Social Security. It allows one spouse to receive 50 percent of what the other spouse’s benefit is worth. Again, waiting until full retirement brings better advantages with this rule.
3. It pays to delay- delaying getting your benefits can result in a big bonus. For example, if you delay receiving your benefits until age 70, your benefit can grow up to 8 percent per year (including COLAs as well)! You must be secure in your other finances to implement this strategy, however.
4. Your benefits are taxed- yes, you pay taxes into Social Security, and you also pay taxes on the benefits you receive based on your income.

Lincoln Savings Bank offers seminars to help you better understand Social Security in order to receive the highest benefit. Stever Tscherter, President/CEO of Lincoln Savings Bank, had this to say about the seminars:

“If you are planning for retirement or you are just interested in knowing what level of Social Security benefits you are building for yourself, make a date with your spouse to attend one of the locally provided LSB seminars on Social Security.  My wife and I did and we were pleasantly surprised to learn our annual Social Security retirement benefits will be thousands more than we had anticipated.  You will be provided an invaluable take away brochure to help guide you through the Social Security and Medicare sign up process.  Most important, the LSB experts presenting the seminar are very knowledgeable in every respect and very warmly lead you through the retirement decision process.”

You can view seminar times and RSVP for them here. We hope to see you and your spouse in these classes soon!

It's never too early to begin teaching your kids good financial habits.

The bags are packed and loaded into the car.  The day you thought would never come is here: you are sending your child off to college.  You have taught them to study hard, how to do laundry and even boil water, but are they truly ready to live on their own?  Do they know how to make and manage a budget?  Do they know how to balance a checking account?  These might seem like pretty easy things to learn, but have you truly given them a solid financial foundation to make it on their own? 

It is never too early to teach your child how to manage money.  It can start as early as you want by having a savings account at your local Lincoln Savings Bank that they make deposits into.  Have your child set goals for themselves on how much they want to save in a certain time, or set a goal to save enough for that one item they want to buy.  As they get older, have them learn to keep track of their account and record when they deposit and make withdrawals.

Around the age of 14 to 16 is a great time for them to possibly get a summer job or part-time job and be able to track their income. They will start driving, needing gas money and possibly a car with insurance. They will want to hang out at the mall, and go out to eat with their friends.  Whether you give them an allowance or they have a job, now is a great opportunity to have them get a checking account.  

This will give them the chance to learn how to record their transactions, reconcile their account to their statement, and the chance to set a budget of what they can spend and what they want to save.   This also gives you as a parent the opportunity to sit down with them and discuss the difference between needs and wants, what expenses they can expect as they prepare for adulthood and how to budget their income to set some savings aside.  Setting up a checking account while they are still at home allows them time to make mistakes while under your watchful eye.

Sending your child off on their own for the first time is a huge step for both of you. You worry if you have taught them well enough to adventure out on their own.  By teaching your child how to save, balance their own account and manage their own income and expenses you can give yourself some piece of mind. 

The ATM is never the best representation of you account balance.

How many times have gone to the ATM to check the balance of your account before going out to meet friends after work?  It says you have $100 in your account, all is good, you won’t eat/ drink that much, right?  Yet when you check your balance the next morning you are overdrawn! How did that happen?  You only spent $60 last night, so it must be a bank error, right? 

Wrong!  While ATM’s are convenient, save you from waiting in line at the drive up window or having to actually get out of your car and walk into the bank, they are not always current with your balance.  ATM’s only tell you what they have been communicated at the time you swipe your card.  To keep an accurate balance of your account you need to balance it yourself and keep a running total, otherwise you run the risk of being charged overdraft fees.

ATM’s only track what your account is at that exact moment.  If you have written checks, but they haven’t been processed at the moment you swipe your card; that doesn’t mean they won’t be processed in an hour or two.  Maybe you just filled your gas tank up at the gas station next door. Depending on the processing time, it may not yet be reflected in your balance.   There are even times when there is a communication breakdown and the ATM can not give you a current balance.

 

The best way to keep track of your account is to balance it yourself and not rely on others or ATM’s to do it for you.  You can manually balance your account with a check register or use LSB’s online banking. Either way you know what you spend, so you should know exactly what you have in your account.  It only takes a few minutes to do, and with LSB’s Budget Plus you also get the added bonus of seeing exactly where you are spending your money.

ATM’s are great time savers, making it possible to withdrawal or deposit money at any time of day or night.  But they are not a crystal ball. They only know what has been entered into the system at that time.  So, the next time you need a quick balance check, take a minute and think about what you have written for checks or where you have swiped your debit card because those aren’t always reflected in the balance on that receipt you just took from the ATM.

What are you dong with your tax return?

With tax season coming to an end, many of you may have sent in your taxes and gotten your refund. What are you going to do with your check? Some of you may know, others may not have the slightest clue. For those of you looking to use that check before it burns a hole in your pocket, Lincoln Savings Bank has come up with a few suggestions. Who knows? Maybe some of you with plans for your check will be swayed!

Pay Down High Interest Debt- credit card debt can rack up quickly, especially with the national average interest rate on credit cards being 14.96 percent! You can use all or some of your refund to pay off your high interest debt from credit cards or other debt that has been accrued from student or personal loans.

Build an Emergency Fund- with the financial markets as they are now, you can’t afford to be without some money to lean on in case of hard times. Markets may drop out, you may lose your job, or prices can (and most likely will continue) to increase. A separate savings account for emergencies only should contain about 6 months of expenses to be completely ready for use.

Invest…in your Vehicle- take care of the things that take care of you, right? If you’ve been putting off repairs or maintenance for your car, a tax refund may be the best way to get them made. We’re no mechanics, but better maintained cars are more efficient, meaning you’ll also pay less for gas. Double bonus!

Treat Yourself- you don’t have to be completely responsible with your tax return. If your finances are pretty sound, take the family out for a nice dinner and a movie. Or, better yet, you can invest in your community like Erik Skovgard, President of our LSB Financial Services, suggests: “If your refund is burning a hole in your pocket, then I encourage you to buy local.  Step away from your computer and drive past the big box stores and chains.  Check out a locally owned establishment and make your purchase an experience of Iowan hospitality and caring service.  You might even make a new friend in the process!”

Whatever you decide to do with your tax refund, make sure it serves a purpose in your life so you’re not just throwing your money away. If you wish to use it for your finances, the experts at any of our locations can help you out. We look forward to seeing you soon!