Hey! Did you know that 529 Plans can help cover your higher education costs?

529 Plans are savings plans sponsored by states, state agencies, or educational institutions. They help manage savings for the long term, can offer tax benefits, and generally provide a variety of investment options.

The choice to open a 529 plan involves making an investment decision to set aside a small amount of money each month to be used for college expenses. What happens if your child doesn’t go ...

Hey! Do you know how to protect your Social Security number?

Social Security numbers are a common target for identity theft phishing scams. One way thieves pull this scam is by pretending to be a representative from the bank.

These numbers are, essentially, your identity. They’re used to open financial accounts, borrow money, apply for jobs, apply for a place to rent — pretty much any important financial decision.

To keep your Social Security number safe, avoid giving the number to anyone over ...

Hey! Do you know how to make your money work for you, simply by using the power of time?

Compounding interest is, essentially, interest on interest. Interest accumulates on what you put in as well as any interest that came before. It adds up faster than you might think.

For example, say you start with $10,000 and contribute $500 every month for five years at 10% interest rate that compounds annually. In five years, you will have around $38,000. In 15 years, ...

Hey! No matter how old you are, every day brings you closer to retirement. It’s never too soon to plan. Here are three steps to help you with your retirement strategy.

Step 1: Set your goals. Decide when you want to retire and how much money you will need by estimating the monthly expenses you’ll have down the road.

Step 2: Develop your strategy. Open a retirement savings account or accounts. Talk to an advisor to help you decide how to invest ...

TRANSCRIPT

(Kristen) Welcome to Money Matters at 757 with Justin Chastain. And Justin, there’s a lot of ways to pay the bills these days, so is it still important to know how to use checks as an option?

(Justin) It is because certain vendors still require a paper trail, and checks do provide that. But I do highly recommend, you know, in order to have checks, you have to have a checking account. This is a great way to receive direct deposits, ...

TRANSCRIPT

(Kristen) Welcome to Money Matters at 757 with Justin Chastain. And Justin, today we are going to talk about saving for the future. It’s a new year, so are saving accounts still the way to go?

(Justin) They can be, but not necessarily, because there is multiple options you can have within savings accounts. So it really depends on what the client or you’re looking for and how long you’re looking to save and invest for.

(Justin) So we have a money ...

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(Kristen) Welcome to Money Matters at 757 with Justin Chastain. And Justin, for those who want to buy a home, how do we know if we’re financially ready or if we’re ever ready?

(Justin) Are we ever ready? There always usually seems to be something that comes up. But the key to this is to make sure you have a mindful spending account, create a budget, and make sure that whatever your payments are — that you are looking at in ...

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(Kristen) Welcome to Money Matters at 757 with Justin Chastain. And Justin, we are thinking about our credit scores today. So let’s start with the basics: what is it, and why is it important?

(Justin) So it’s important because your credit score is a calculation of how risky you are to default on payments. The score’s calculated by how well you’re making your payments — that’s the biggest bulk of it — how much credit you’ve used based on your credit ...

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(Kristen) Welcome to Money Matters at 757 with Justin Chastain. And Justin, if folks are thinking of buying a home right now, what are some of the things they need to be considering?

(Justin) So, there’s several things, but let’s start with the positive, right? New Year, let’s start it off on the right foot.

(Justin) The positives would be, over time in the average, home ownership and the value of your home appreciates. The other thing is you get to be ...

TRANSCRIPT

(Kristen) Welcome to Money Matters at 757 with Justin Chastain. And, Justin, we are looking at the difference today between credit and debit cards. So, we have both in our wallet. What’s the difference?

(Justin) Well, the major difference is a credit card is going to be based off your credit score and credit report, and they’re going to give you a credit limit. Your debit card is going to be based off of the amount you have in your checking ...