People Helping People

The Best Reasons to Use a Credit Card

GenerationsFCU — Mon, 13 May 2013 16:39:04 +0000

Personal

We've all heard the advice: it's a bad habit to use credit cards. And that might be true... if you can't use them responsibly. Of course, this doesn't only apply to credit cards; if you abuse anything you're probably going to face trouble.

Home Equity: A Different Type of Investment

GenerationsFCU — Thu, 02 May 2013 20:26:26 +0000

Personal

We've been waiting six long years, but it looks like housing is finally climbing out of its hole. What does this mean for you? If you have a mortgage, and home prices have been rising in your neighborhood, chances are it means you have equity.

Prepare for Retirement by Understanding which IRA is Best for You: Part 2

GenerationsFCU — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 17:49:00 +0000

Personal

This is the second of two articles comparing Roth and Traditional IRAs. Click here to see the first article.

In our previous article, we discussed the differences between Traditional and Roth IRAs – hopefully giving you some ideas about how to move toward your retirement. But knowing what these accounts are isn't the whole story, and you're probably (rightly) asking how you will know which IRA is best for you?

Prepare for Retirement by Understanding which IRA is Best for You: Part 1

GenerationsFCU — Sat, 13 Apr 2013 15:44:00 +0000

Personal

This is the first of two articles comparing Roth and Traditional IRAs. Click here to see the second article.

Everyone looks forward to retirement. We daydream about where we will travel, how we will spend our spare time, and what books we'll read. But in order to get there, we have to ask ourselves some pretty important questions, including:

4 Tips for Eleventh Hour Tax Preparation

GenerationsFCU — Tue, 02 Apr 2013 17:53:23 +0000

Personal

You can’t avoid it much longer. The deadline is drawing nearer. It’s time to buckle down and do your taxes. But don’t let that growing sense of urgency rush you into making some unfortunate errors. Before you put pen to tax form, or key strokes to e-file, it will serve in your best interests to do some leg work first.

Gaining a Member's Trust

GenerationsFCU — Mon, 25 Mar 2013 12:39:52 +0000

Personal

When our member James wanted to set up a trust fund for his 90-year-old grandmother, he faced the task of consolidating several of her accounts from various banks and credit unions.

4 Common Mistakes That Can Tax Your Income

GenerationsFCU — Fri, 01 Mar 2013 13:40:59 +0000

Personal

Nobody likes to prepare their taxes. Stress is always high, the rewards are usually low. We all want to get it over and done with so we don’t have to think about it for another year. But there are some common mistakes that should make us pause and reflect before moving forward. At the least, these seemingly minor mistakes can ruin our day. At the most, they can have devastating effects on our bottom line…

Decoding Tax Brackets

GenerationsFCU — Fri, 22 Feb 2013 14:12:07 +0000

Personal

With all the talk in the news about the looming sequestration cuts and the heated debates over tax and entitlement reform, there’s bound to be some confusion about taxes. Specifically, many people are simply struggling to understand how much each of us pays in taxes. To gain a better understanding, we have to break the concept down into three crucial steps…

How Do I Love Thee? Let Me Count the Score

GenerationsFCU — Thu, 14 Feb 2013 20:47:29 +0000

Personal

You’re sitting at a table, still on the fence about the date sitting across from you. Suddenly, you receive a message and the date is over. No, it’s not your best friend calling so you have an excuse to skip out. It’s an email displaying your date’s subpar credit score!

As outrageous as that sounds, it’s now a reality. A credit score is used to buy a house, approve a loan, and determine an offer of employment. So, it should come as no surprise that it’s now used in matters of romance.

Tax Series: Top 5 Tax Deduction Myths Exposed

GenerationsFCU — Fri, 08 Feb 2013 22:22:26 +0000

Personal

This time of year, we’re all talking about taxes. When to file, what to file and, most importantly, what’s changed. The changes have increased and become so complex it’s challenging to know what to do. In this tax series we’ll start with debunking these tax myths, move onto whether to file your own taxes or use a professional and, finally, explain tax brackets.

A popular topic and source of much misunderstanding are the following five deductions myths that continue to persist to this very day…