Banknotes

For many university students, freshman year is their first time living away from home and making daily spending decisions without much supervision or guidance. It may also be the first time they have access to their own credit card or use a debit card regularly.

Some of the best advice we’ve heard on this topic came from a college orientation presentation: 

“Live like a college student while you’re in college so you don’t have to after you graduate!”

Our college financial planning experts will tackle some of the most common mistakes families make and offer tips for handling this transition smoothly (or at least with fewer bumps in the road!).

Employee email addresses have also changed, effective July 27.

Our website address conversion is complete, with the official domain name changing from www.crossplainsbank.com to www.SBCP.bank on Tuesday, July 24.

Please note that employee email addresses will also change to reflect the new website address, using the format: firstinitiallastname@sbcp.bank.

Mark Debiasio, Executive Vice President – Chief Financial Officer

We have all heard of the benefits of shopping local, well that holds true for obtaining financing for your home mortgage needs as well.  In today’s extremely tight housing market, bidding wars are common. You may be competing with many potential buyers and any advantage that you can garner may be the difference between inking a deal on a home or going home empty.  Many real-estate agents agree that using a local lender is best.

By Jeff Supple, Vice President and Trust Officer

Do all of these describe you?

• You are over the age of 70.5
• You have Traditional IRA assets
• You used to itemize your deductions but will not anymore because of tax reform
• You give to non-profit organizations on a regular basis

If you fit this profile you can take advantage of Qualified Charitable Distributions from your IRA.  Since the standard deduction nearly doubles ($24,000 for married individuals filing a joint return) for the tax year 2018 many individuals will not be able to deduct contributions that they made in the past.

Jeff Ellestad, Treasury Management Sales Officer

Remember the days when making a trip to your local bank was required just to make a deposit or withdraw funds? Thanks to advances in technologies throughout the years, bank customers have been able to avoid those trips to their local branch through mobile banking. It has become a convenient and time saving method to monitor and manage money.

By Kim Schaller, Card Services Officer

Thieves need only a minute, sometimes a second to steal your card data.  Not all card schemes are complicated; many are simpler than you’d imagine.  

By Dennis Haefer, Vice President - Business Relationship Manager

The popular CNBC Realty TV Show, Shark Tank, has heightened financing discussions among many people, including young entrepreneurs, on how to go about funding their ideas.  From my vantage point this has been incredibly positive in helping to foster new business ideas and technology-based ventures.  The only negative is that the “sweat equity” that was invested by the founders is glossed over somewhat, and viewers sometimes wrongly conclude that it’s very easy to obtain financial backing.  Bringing a shark into your company has lots of potential upsides related to growth and new relationships, but of course there is always a “catch."

By Carol Kando-Pineda, Attorney, Division of Consumer and Business Education

You’re working on your computer when, suddenly, a message pops up on the screen: “Virus detected! Call now for a free security scan and to repair your device.” That’s a tech support scam. Don’t call, text, or email. Legit tech support companies don’t operate that way.

Adam Marshall, Vice President- Trust Officer & Portfolio Manager

In times of crisis, you don't want to be shaking pennies out of a piggy bank. Having a financial safety net in place can ensure that you're protected when a financial emergency arises. One way to accomplish this is by setting up a cash reserve, a pool of readily available funds that can help you meet emergency or highly urgent short-term needs.

When discussing how to pay for college, one topic never fails to run the gamut on opinions and differing philosophies:

Whose responsibility should it be to pay?

Our college financial planning experts will share a wide range of options to consider and offer personal experience regarding what worked for them.