Summer 2011
July
3
CCCU’s 48th
Anniversary of
Members Helping
Members
4
Independence Day
CCCU closed
6-10 Jefferson County
Fair
29
2nd Installment
Real Estate Taxes due
September
Character Trait - Responsibility
5
11
16-18
23
Labor Day –
CCCU closed
Grandparents Day
Gemuetlichkeit Days
First Day of Fall
48 Years of Members Helping Build a Financial History
Many high school and college
Members!
graduates lack the financial
Congratulations to Don Jaeger, Chairman
and Dale Lutz, Treasurer for being elected to
three-year terms on our Board of Directors
at County-City Credit Union’s 48th Annual
Meeting held on April 17th at Fairview
Sports Bar in Jefferson. Everyone enjoyed
a brunch by Capn’s Catering as well as
many nice door prizes. Thank you to all who
attended! Other volunteer Board members
include: Kelly Stade – Secretary; Patricia
Achilli – Director, Richard Schocker – Vice
Chairman, Andrew A. Bare – Director, and
Shannon Statz – Director.
We Give You the Tools
Walking into a dealership with a guaranteed
auto loan in your hand gives you bargaining
power and flexibility. It helps you avoid the
common sales tactic of mixing up the vehicle
price with financing costs.
A dealership may be able to offer you good
financing terms. But how will you know
unless you do your homework beforehand
by checking with CCCU so you have a
comparison point?
County-City Credit Union has low interest
rates. We can pre-qualify you so you’ll know
what you can afford and discuss your best
payment plan. Then you can look, compare,
analyze and make good financial decisions.
Using CCCU’s ‘toolbox’ instead of letting
your emotions lead you at the dealership will
assure that you get the best ride possible!
Financial Resources
Looking for a financial resource
on the Web? Be careful what
advice you follow. CCCU has a
section on the website called
“Financial Resources” under the “Other
Information” tab. Among the resources
listed, you can find Auto Buying and Vehicle
Information, Home Buying and Mortgage
Information, Financial Calculators, Consumer
Information, Government contacts and
many other reliable resources. Check out
www.countycitycreditunion.com today!
help to establish credit, get
their first checking account,
purchase their first car and
possibly buy their first home. Open
County-City Credit Union’s H.Y.P.E. (Helping
You Prosper Everyday) checking account if you
are 18 to 28 years old and receive:
• FREE Checking – no minimum balance
• FREE Check Card – no annual fee and no
transaction fees from us
• FREE – first order of checks up to 150
• FREE – personal home buying presentation
• FREE – two checking account balancings
• FREE – credit analysis
Who says you can’t get something for nothing?
Once you have the account, it’s yours to keep
forever … no matter how old you are! You have
to start somewhere to establish a financial history
and CCCU wants to be there with you from the
beginning!
Rent, Buy Or Build?
Whether renting is better than buying,
depends on many factors, particularly how
fast prices and rents rise, and how long you
plan to stay in your home. Even with the
tax breaks of home ownership, you will still
be incurring out-of-pocket costs that you
wouldn’t encounter as a renter. Compare
the costs of buying and renting a home
with CCCU by your side. Compare whether
buying a home or building a home is the
better route to take.
Based on your own personal situation and
finances, County-City Credit Union will work
with you to find out how much house you
can afford and what price range to shop in.
Then YOU make the decision to rent, buy or
build a home!
Really KWIK Cash?
County-City Credit Union’s KWIK Cash loan
program is a revolving credit line, usually
up to $5,000. Once your KWIK Cash loan
is approved, see one of our tellers to get an
advance on your line of credit. Stop by or
visit our website for a loan application. Make
it your line of credit!
If all the cars in the United States were placed end to end,
it would probably be Labor Day weekend.
PLEASE, don’t get ripped off! Over time,
several of your fellow members have
been duped by crooks, and you could be
next. Whether it is over the internet, or
through the mail or a knock on your door,
these jerks are after YOUR money. They
are very smooth and very good at it! You
must be vigilant and constantly leery. If it
seems too good to be true, IT PROBABLY
IS. If YOU have not initiated the contact, it
is most likely a scam, so please do not give
out personal information.
They call this type of fraud ‘social
engineering.’ It sounds sexy, but it is just
a euphemism for defrauding decent
trusting people by tricking them. Innocent
people, who cannot afford to lose $500,
$1000, $10,000 or much more. Yes, some
of our members have been defrauded
of tens of thousands of dollars! It DOES
happen and it DOES happen here. To
compound the problem the victims often
feel embarrassed because they were
duped. They were robbed by criminals
and should not be embarrassed. They
are victims of a crime. Please know that
we understand and empathize. We also
maintain confidentiality.
We try to help by putting articles in our
newsletters and on our web site and it is
why we have a “Scams” page on our web
site.
Also, check the “Other Information” page
on our web site for more resources. Our
tellers try to catch a fraudulent check,
but these crooks have four color presses
and make the check look authentic, some
even have security features. So, if a teller
asks about the check you are depositing,
they are just trying to protect you. As a
side note, counterfeiters also are getting
more sophisticated, so we can’t trust
‘currency’ like we used to.
If you receive a check in the mail, ‘out of the
blue,’ be suspicious. Be VERY suspicious.
If they ask you to cash the check (or
travelers checks or money orders) to keep
some of the money for yourself and then
send the rest back to them or someone
else, it is most likely a scam. You will have
already sent the money back to them,
usually through Western Union, before
the check comes back as fraudulent.
Then YOU are on the hook for the whole
check … which could be for thousands of
dollars. The crooks are probably from a
foreign country, so you have virtually no
recourse. YOU are stuck.
Stay vigilant,
Tom Pinnow
• In the late twentieth century, a person’s wallet might
have held five or more types of currency in denominations from
three cents up to $10,000.
• There are 293 ways to make change for a dollar.
• A penny weighs 2.5 grams which is the average weight of a hummingbird.
Money Changes
Everything
Most of us have
dreamed of winning
the Lottery or coming
into a windfall of cash.
But would it make you any happier?
Maybe for the moment, maybe for a
few years, but for a lifetime?
The way we feel about money says
more about us than we realize. We
usually see money as having enough
or not having enough. But money
is also very emotional. It touches on
almost all aspects of our lives and
reveals our vulnerabilities.
Money affects career and relationship
choices, and shows up in issues of
control, safety, self esteem and wellbeing. Just about every decision we
make is formed by our beliefs around
money. We live in a jet-age. Many
change this to a get-age. Aligning our
earning and spending habits around
our values instead of the other way
around is critical.
Think about it this way. You know the
odds of a coin toss resulting in heads
are 2:1. Chances of winning the Lottery
can be 76,275,360:1 depending
on what type of game, how many
people play and how many states are
involved. There’s nothing wrong with
dreaming of a windfall, but the reality
is, that may never happen.
Decide what values are important
to you and your family. Then decide
what money issues are standing in the
way. Act your wage. Live within your
means. There are only two ways to
get rich – spend less than you make
or make more than you spend. It’s not
the amount of money you have but
how you spend it that really matters.
Invest the time today to figure out
what you truly value, and then align
your money with those values. Live
your dream now!
ed
Fre
om is never
fr
.
ee
If you have any questions about a check
or other monetary instrument, please
stop in and ask us about it. My parents
always told me ‘to know who you are
dealing with.’ This is more valid today
than ever. PLEASE don’t get ripped off.
Please educate your family and friends as
well. All of us are susceptible.
Did You Know?
Beware of “Easy”
Payments
What does “debt consolidation”
mean to you? Beware of those
advertisements that make it sound like
they take all your bills and put them
into a neat little bundle, making a
“manageable” monthly payment for
you. Remember the old saying that
tells you that if it sounds too good to
be true, it probably is? Often these
monthly payments last a lifetime and
if you miss one, your already high
interest rates will now skyrocket.
Take a step back and consider CountyCity Credit Union. We are here for
you, we have a vested interest in your
financial well-being, YOU are an equal
owner of YOUR not-for-profit financial
cooperative. We want to see you get
your financial legs back under you
and have no “hidden agenda”. Stop or
call us today!
This Card Fits
Your Lifestyle
Have you been looking for a credit card
that fits your lifestyle and budget? Make
the switch to CCCU’s Platinum Visa Credit
Card. Has the bank raised your credit
card interest rate? Added a fee for paying
your balance each month? Increased the
annual or late-payment fee? Now is the
time to compare our card and then carry
the one that works for you! No annual fee,
no balance transfer fee, no over-the-limit
fee, rates as low as 6.24%* and a rewards
program!
* Based on credit score, variable rate can
change quarterly, 6.24% to 9.24% initially.
Christmas Is Coming
At least you can get a jump on your
Christmas shopping if you had a
Christmas Club with CCCU this past
year. Clubs will be disbursed into your
checking or savings account October
1st! A Christmas Club can be the
answer to a budget shortfall. Sign up
today and start saving to reduce next
year’s holiday financial
strain, use it for a winter
vacation, second semester
tuition or anything you
want. You decide how
much to deposit, how
often and what you’ll get
back next October 1st. It’s
a painless way to save!