Safety Net Part II: How to Determine How Much to Save
The easiest way to determine how much money you need to put aside is to do an honest monthly budget. The worksheet below will help you get started. What does it really cost for you and your family to get through a typical month? This isn’t about replacing your entire income. This is about keeping the lights on […]
Build Up Your Safety Net
Every family should build up their emergency fund to an amount equal to 3 – 9 months of living expenses. Why? With this reserve, you are building your safety net against major life events so that you can avoid going into debt. When you have 3 – 9 months of income in savings, there aren’t too […]
Tips for Painless Saving
Every household should have an emergency fund of at least $1,000. Emergencies come up and you need to be prepared. You don’t want to finance emergencies with your credit cards. Having a fund set aside will help you avoid the trap of credit card debt. How Do You Get to That $1,000? Start out small. Most families […]
Traveling? Keep Your Debit Card Safe and Secure!
Information to insure that access to your account is protected. As incidents of fraud continue to escalate, the security of your card-purchases is an important consideration. To protect West Bank debit card holders, West Bank continually monitors risk factors and blocks geographic, vendor-type and transaction-type purchases commonly targeted by criminals. We are observing increased counterfeit […]
3 Steps to Easily Build Positive Credit While in School
As new college students across the nation head back to school, they face a new reality of financial responsibility. Living away from home comes with many temptations, but indulging too much can do serious harm to a student’s credit history. “It’s easy for incoming freshmen to become overwhelmed with the options available to them when […]
Credit Score: Your Adult GPA
In high school and college, a grade-point average (GPA) is one of the most important numbers that will help determine your future. There is another number, however, that is even more important as an adult: your credit score. High School students work hard to maintain a high GPA, as it will help determine scholarships they […]
7 Tips for Shopping Safely Online
Protect yourself from cybercriminals The internet has opened a new world of convenience, but with that convenience come new threats to cybersecurity. As the holiday season fast approaches, increased online shopping activity means that your personal information may be at risk if you are not careful. As cybercriminals continue to grow more and more sophisticated, […]