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Choosing a mortgage lender matters. Community banks offer personal service, local expertise, flexibility, and faster decisions—advantages big lenders often can’t match.

Learn how to pick a checking account that fits your habits, avoids fees, supports financial goals, offers useful perks, and may benefit from the personal service of a community bank.

You’ve likely experienced the panicking feeling of losing a debit card. In a moment of stress, it can be hard to know what steps to take. However, if you act quickly, unauthorized transactions can be prevented even if your debit card is lost or stolen. Here’s what to do.

Online banking has made managing money faster and more convenient than ever. But with this ultimate convenience comes the large responsibility of protecting your accounts from scammers and hackers. Otherwise, you could find your account swarmed with unauthorized transactions or become a victim of identity theft.

If you think all financial institutions operate the same way, then you may be surprised to learn how different credit unions, community banks, and national banks are from one another.

We’ve all heard “bigger is better,” but when it comes to banking is this the best approach? Financial management is deeply personal, which means working with a large institution where you’re simply one of many may not be in your best interest.

Managing a farm requires much more than a green thumb and love of the outdoors. It takes business acumen, strategic planning, and an in-depth understanding of today's agricultural challenges. For the off-farm landowner, family-run farms, or large-scale operations, hiring a professional farm manager can deliver significant long-term value. These relationships can last for decades, and a good manager will put your farm's goals first while offering numerous key benefits.

A credit score is a three-digit number representing your creditworthiness as a borrower to lenders and how likely you will repay a loan. Though a small number, it has a major impact on finances, including how much you're approved for borrowing and what interest rate you'll pay.

A traditional IRA and a 401(k) have one major similarity: as excellent vehicles for retirement savings, they can offer tax-deferred growth and potential tax deductions.

There’s no shortage of advice on how to create a monthly budget, but the best guidance includes creating sustainable, actionable steps. A monthly budget is the foundation you need for achieving specific financial goals, no matter where you are on your financial journey.

Local banks may be smaller in numbers, but their impact on the local economy is as significant as other big-named institutions or companies.

Starting or expanding a farm can be an expensive prospect. From the equipment and barn to the livestock and fencing, it may require enormous capital and a sizable down payment. The good news is, if you don’t have the cash for a down payment, you may have some options.

Banking within your own community may come with more benefits than you might expect. From lower fees to exceptional in-house service, it can be a refreshing experience to feel like a valued member of your community.

The process of buying a home, whether you’re a repeat buyer or brand new one, can mean facing numerous questions you need answers to. One of the first questions you may face is whether you should work with a mortgage lender or a broker.

Businesses often turn to a commercial real estate loan at some point to plan for a start-up or an expansion. These loans are an essential part of commercial lending and can offer tremendous benefits to your company, but they operate differently compared to a residential real estate loan.

Secured loans generally offer lower interest rates, because they are backed by collateral. The collateral in the case of a mortgage is your home or property.

When you’re financing a home, you’ll likely come across the term “mortgage insurance.” It’s easy to confuse this with homeowners’ insurance, but it’s vastly different from insuring your physical property. Instead, mortgage insurance is put in place for the sole purpose of protecting the lender in case you can’t make your mortgage payments as agreed.

A personal loan can offer a simple borrowing solution when you need it the most. Because a personal loan can be used for a variety of reasons and typically doesn’t require collateral (such as your home or a vehicle), it can make a tough financial situation slightly easier. Let’s walk through situations where a personal loan may provide a beneficial solution.

Paying off your mortgage faster may feel like a daunting goal, but it offers a wealth of benefits no matter when you achieve it.