Opting Out

Getting unsolicited junk mail and telemarketer calls is all too common now-a-days.  But, there are some things you can do to help eliminate some or all of these annoyances.

If you would like to opt-out of telemarketing, you can register your phone number at www.donotcall.gov or call 1-888-382-1222 from the phone number you would like to register.  This should remain in effect until you disconnect the number or you choose to remove the number from the do-not-call registry.

If you would like to receive fewer unsolicited commercial mailings you can visit www.dmachoice.org to register for 5 years.  This will stop mailings that use the Direct Marketing Association for the outgoing mailings.  You may continue to receive some bulk mailings.

If you would like to be removed from the prescreening offers for credit and insurance, you have two options.  The first option is to opt-out for 5 years; the other is to opt-out permanently.  Visit www.optoutprescreen.com to choose one of these options.  The permanent option will require you return a signed form.  You can also call 1-888-5-OPT-OUT (1-888-567-8688).

As annoying as some of this “junk” may be, we would like you to make an informed decision about opting-out.  Of course, the benefits of opting-out are that you will receive fewer phone calls and credit/insurance offers in the mail, which can also help thwart off identity theft as well.  One benefit of receiving such mailings is that you may receive special credit offers that would not be available to the general public.  This is truly a personal decision.  Please do what you think will be best for you.  The websites above can also give you more information to help with your decision.  And remember, you can opt-out using any one or all of these.

Jenn Wendorff, Client Services Rep.

Security Tip

Security research firm creates website to check for compromised accounts:

Two researchers from HP Tipping Point have created a website http://www.pwnedlist.com to help determine if a username or email address has been compromised by hackers and dumped to the Internet.  The hacker term is pwned, which is a computer gaming term spoken as “owned”.  The website is a secure resource and will not give any of the account details.  It is simply a way to raise red flags so that compromised account passwords are changed, etc.  There are almost 5 million records in the database!

If anyone has a positive hit please feel free to contact me at Citizens Bank Minnesota. It is good to let your bank know, but I am also more than willing to be an advisor: https://www.citizensmn.com

Anyone who wants to see more news about current investigations and top IT security issues can also follow these resources:

• Brian Kreb’s Blog: http://krebsonsecurity.com/
• Dell Secureworks Blog: http://www.secureworks.com/research/blog/
• HP Tipping Point DV Labs Blog: http://dvlabs.tippingpoint.com/blog/
• Trend Micro Malware Blog: http://blog.trendmicro.com/
• Sourcefire Vulnerability Research Team: http://vrt-blog.snort.org/
• Symantec Security Response Blogs: http://www.symantec.com/business/security_response/weblog/
• Juniper Networking and Security Now: http://forums.juniper.net/t5/Networking-Security-Now/bg-p/networkingnow
• Fortinet Research Blog: http://blog.fortinet.com/tag/research/
• Watchguard Security Center: http://watchguardsecuritycenter.com/category/security-updates/

By: Jason Wieland, IT Manager

What’s your net worth?

Put in the simplest form, your total assets (cash, checking, savings, etc.) minus your total liabilities (credit cards, car loans, home mortgage, etc.) = net worth. Now, more than ever, people are taking a hard look at their finances to make ends meet.  Many find themselves on a downward spiral and have a tough time getting back on track. You may be asking yourself “where do I start?”   

I feel the best way to move forward is to know where you are currently at, figuring out your net worth and putting together a personal balance sheet.  You probably have done this several times on applications for credit, but may not have kept a copy for yourself.  Once you do this, you can create a plan to make the most of your situation.  By knowing where you currently stand, you can budget to help you stay within your means and hopefully continue to build your net worth over time.

To start, you will need to collect all your financial records to input into the balance sheet.  The following link is just one quick calculator to help you figure out your net worth.  Enter your assets, then your liabilities, and click on “calculate” your net worth.

 http://cgi.money.cnn.com/tools/networth/networth.html

You may also do an internet search for personal balance sheet, business balance sheet or net worth and you will find many options to choose from. 

 By: Scott Tauer, Asst. Vice President

Personal Umbrella Policy

During certain circumstances, basic insurance is not enough. That is why a Personal Umbrella Policy (PUP) is a necessary addition to insurance protection for most people. 

If an unfortunate accident should happen that is your fault, do you have enough liability insurance from your current policies to cover your costs for negligence? Since no one can predict how much a judge may award the injured person, umbrella insurance is not just for the wealthy, but a needed protection for every policyholder. 

Umbrella insurance is designed to give added protection above and beyond the limits on homeowners, auto and watercraft personal insurance policies. With an umbrella policy, an additional $1-5 million can be added for liability protection. This protection is designed to “kick-in” when the liability on other current policies has been exhausted. 

Listed below are actual claims. These claims show the very real consequences of situations that quickly exhaust underlying liability limits and threaten the net worth of the people involved. 

Claim Scenario:

The Insured’s 18-year-old son was driving the Insured’s car on a short trip to the store with his girlfriend, the Claimant. The car left the roadway and struck a tree. The Insured’s son told the police that a vehicle cut him off, but there were no witnesses and no evidence of any impact with another car. The Claimant has no recollection of the accident. 

The Claimant, a 19-year-old college student, was hospitalized for over a month with multiple fractures and internal injuries. She was in a wheelchair, but is now able to walk with crutches and continues with physical therapy. She has a right foot drop as a result of the injuries. The Insured’s personal umbrella policy limit was paid.

 Claim Scenario:

The Insured hosted a party at his home. Among the guests was the Claimant, a family friend. The Claimant brought his wife and children, an infant and 2 year old child to the party. 

The Insured gave the Claimant a jug of spring water for him to use to mix the formula for the infant. The 2 year old child also had a drink.

Shortly thereafter, both children became ill. The family left the party, and took the children to the hospital. The hospital requested the water jug which was found to contain arsenic. An old label was found wrapped around the handle with the word “weed killer” printed on it.

The Insured had apparently mixed a solution of weed killer in a jug similar to the ones used for spring water and mistakenly given it to the Claimant.

The infant died and the 2-year-old survived after being in critical condition. The Personal Umbrella policy limits were paid out.

For more information on the Big I endorsed RLI Personal Umbrella, check it out today at www.iiaba.net/umbrella.

By: David Hirth & Deb Raschke of Citizens David Hirth Agency

Citizens Bank Minnesota – One of The Strongest Banks in the Nation!

Citizens Bank Minnesota is proud to be awarded the Bauer Financial’s 5-Star SuperiorRating for safety and soundness.  Bauer Financial, an independent bank rating company, consistently awards Citizens Bank Minnesota their highest 5-Star Superior Rating.  This rating is based on liquidity and several measurements of safety and security.  Because this is an independent rating company, every bank in the United Statesis rated.  For more information on ratings and what they mean, go to www.bauerfinancial.com. 

Citizens is 100% focused on your needs.  Our management team is always available to you to answer your questions directly and make timely decisions.  Safe ~ Sound ~ Secure, and celebrating 135 years in community banking and here to help with all your financial decisions. 

 By: Citizens Bank Minnesota Marketing Department and Jean Geistfeld, GWiz Consulting

Diabetes – Why We Walk

Diabetes, a disease that affects the body’s ability to make insulin, affects nearly 8% of theU.S.population and ranks in the top 10 for leading causes of death. Type-1 diabetes usually develops in the childhood and teenage years while Type-2 diabetes often develops later in life. It costs billions of dollars each year in treatment and related costs. The average diabetic spends 2.3 times more on medical expenditures than the average person. There have been many advances in recent years for the treatment of diabetes. Glucose meters, insulin pumps and medications have definitely helped doctors and patients improve their quality of life and take better care of themselves. But, we are still looking for a cure and many promising research projects have demonstrated that we may be getting closer all the time.

2011 marks the 11^th year the Joe Walkers team has participated in the Mankato Walk for Diabetes. The walk, sponsored by the American Diabetes Association, raises funds for research to find a cure and for diabetes education. My family has three members battling the disease, myself, son Matthew and daughter Randi. Because of the way that diabetes affects our family, our son, Mike, organized the Joe Walkers team in 2001 to help raise funds to support research. The Joe Walkers team is named to honor Mike’s uncle Joe who passed away at age 39 from complications of diabetes. Other employees of Citizens BankMinnesota affected by this disease have also joined the team along with many friends and family members. Including 2011, our team has raised close to $50,000.00 through pledges and fundraisers. Together with similar walk teams acrossAmerica, we are raising millions of dollars each year to make a difference and find a cure.

We would encourage everyone, whether affected by this disease or not, to find out more about diabetes, the promising research that is being done and to help support the search for a cure. More information can be found at www.diabetes.org.

By: Robert Wise, Vice President

Understanding My Escrow Analysis Statement

If you have a mortgage with an escrow account, it is required by regulation that your escrow account be “analyzed” yearly.  It is analyzed yearly to determine if a shortage, deficiency or surplus exists.  

How does my escrow account affect my monthly mortgage payment?

 Every year, disbursements are made from your escrow account on your behalf to pay items such as property taxes, homeowners insurance and private mortgage insurance.   Every month, a part of your monthly mortgage payment goes into your escrow account if you have chosen to escrow.

1. Ideal World: 

                a.  All of the actual disbursement amounts are known.  To analyze your escrow account, the total cost of the items you are escrowing for are added together and then divided by twelve months. 

                b. This provides the projected amount needed on a monthly basis to cover your annual escrow disbursements for the current escrow year.  This amount is added to your regular monthly principal and interest payment to come up with your monthly mortgage payment.

                c. An example may help. 

                          i. Let’s say you have property taxes of $500.00 due in both May and October, and insurance of $900.00 due in December.  Therefore, the total amount of disbursements from your escrow account will be $1,900.00. 

                          ii. To figure the monthly escrow payments, we take the total of the property taxes and insurance of $1,900.00 divided by twelve months equals $158.33.  This is your monthly escrow payment.  This amount is added to your principal and interest payment to equal your new monthly loan payment.

2. Real World – Shortage:

               a. In the real world, we will not have the actual amount to be paid in the next year for all of your escrowed items.  An example would be homeowners insurance payable in December.  An estimated amount or the same amount as prior year (also known as the projected disbursement) will be used to anticipate how much your insurance will cost.  The projected insurance amount is factored into your monthly escrow payment and therefore affects your monthly mortgage payment.

                b. In December, if the amount paid for your insurance is greater than what was projected, it will cause a shortage in your escrow account.  This shortage will need to be paid back to the escrow account. 

                 c. When escrow analyzing occurs next year, the shortage caused by the insurance will be added to the annual amount needed for your escrowed items for the next year.

                 d. Again, an example may help. 

                           i. Using the same example as in the “Ideal World” above, we have property taxes of $500.00 due in both May and October, and projected insurance of $900.00 due in December, again for a total of $1,900.00.  The escrow payment collected each month is $158.33. 

                          ii. However, the insurance paid is $1,000.00 instead of $900.00 causing a shortage of $100.00 in the escrow account. 

                          iii. When the escrow account is analyzed next June, the analysis will add the $100.00 shortage to the annual escrow amount needed for that year’s property taxes and insurance. 

                          iv. We take the annual escrow amount needed, divide by twelve months to figure the monthly escrow payment amount. 

                          v. Assuming the property taxes stay at $500.00 for both May and October, and insurance of $1,000.00 plus the $100.00 shortage from the prior year, the total annual escrow amount is $2,100.00.  The monthly escrow payment is $2,100.00 divided by twelve months for $175.00.  This amount is added to your principal and interest payment to equal your new monthly loan payment.

3. Real World – Surplus:

                 a. Again In the real world, we will not have the actual amount to be paid in the next year for all of your escrowed items.  An estimated amount or the same amount as prior year (also known as the projected disbursement) will be used to anticipate how much your insurance will cost.  The projected insurance amount is factored into your monthly escrow payment and therefore affects your monthly mortgage payment.

                 b. In December, if the amount paid for your insurance is less than what was projected, it will cause a surplus in your escrow account. 

                 c. When escrow analyzing occurs, if the surplus caused by the insurance it will be deducted from the annual amount needed for your escrowed items for the next year. 

                 d. Example – Surplus Check Issued: 

                          i. Using the same example as in the “Ideal World” above, we have property taxes of $500.00 due in both May and October, and projected insurance of $900.00 due in December, again for a total of $1,900.00.  The escrow payment collected each month is $158.33. 

                          ii. However, the insurance paid is $875.00 instead of $900.00 causing a surplus of $25.00 in the escrow account. 

                          iii. When the escrow account is analyzed next June, the analysis will deduct the $25.00 surplus from the annual escrow amount needed for that year’s property taxes and insurance. 

                          iv. We take the annual escrow amount needed, divide by twelve months to figure the monthly escrow payment amount. 

                          v.  Assuming the property taxes stay at $500.00 for both May and October, and homeowners insurance of $875.00.  The total annual escrow amount is $1,875.00.  The monthly escrow payment is $1,875.00 less the $25.00 surplus divided by twelve months for $154.16.  This amount is added to your principal and interest payment to equal your new monthly loan payment.

 When you receive your yearly escrow analysis statement

1. Be sure you review it. 

                 a. The Projection sheet is a projection of what will be disbursed for your property taxes and insurance over the coming year.  The projected payments needed to cover those disbursements.

                  b. The Account History sheet is what actually happened in your escrow account in the past year.  It includes the actual payments paid into it and the actual disbursements for property taxes and insurance.

                  c. Keep in mind that your escrow account is a cumulative account.  Therefore, if you were short in your escrow account last year, the shortage will cause an increase to your monthly  escrow payment for this year and your monthly mortgage payment.

 By: Judy Johnson, Assistant Financial Officer

 

Four Tips for Building the Better Business Plan

Are you thinking about starting a business?  Whether you like it or not, it’s important that you create a business plan.  Why?  A written business plan helps you to think through your business ideas so that you see the weaknesses and strengths of your venture more clearly—and it gives you the opportunity to address any concerns ahead of time.  Plus, you can use your plan when meeting with advisors, business partners, banks, and more so they can objectively and constructively help you with your business.  

Here are four tips for building the better business plan:

Be thorough.  Cover all of the details of your start-up business.  Go to http:///www.citizensmn.com/business/getting-started/how-to-prepare-a-business-plan.html for additional information on this topic.

Use candor.  Don’t idealize your circumstances.  Be forthright and identify your critical factors for success.  Don’t be afraid to identify your weaknesses, and then address how you plan to overcome those weaknesses.

Be conservative and identify contingency plans.  Everyone knows that projecting sales in the first year is difficult.  Thus, identify your assumptions, and perhaps show “worst case”, “best case”, and “most likely” case scenarios, and how you will succeed in all three cases.

Make the case for why your product/service will be successful.  Why will the market change its behavior and buy from you vs. what it is currently doing?  This is a critical question that is often overlooked.

Finally, don’t forget to pull your initial business plan out frequently during your first year or two in business.  Use it to perform a “check-up” on how you’re doing, and to make sure that you haven’t overlooked any strategies for success.  

 By: Julie Baumgartner, Vice President

DEVELOPING A MOTIVATED TEAM!

Managing People & Developing a Highly Motivated Team!

Managing people is one of the most difficult tasks because every human being is different.  You may successfully manage one person in a particular way, but that does not mean you will be successful with the next person.  Humans are the most complex and complicated pieces of machinery that you will ever have to deal with.  They all have similarities but they all work in a different ways.  Here are some tips to keep in mind when motivating a team.  It is not the huge things that make a difference but the small things leaders need to do well everyday.  Developing a motivated team starts with the leadership and remember…attitudes are contagious, hopefully yours is worth catching!  

Lead by example ~ you have to demonstrate the kind of behavior you expect from them. 

• Keep in mind – Monkey see – Monkey do!

Listen ~ to understand what is really going on listen and allow people to talk to you about their concerns without any initial judgment.

Communicate ~ to be a good leader, you must be able to clearly communicate.

• New procedures, products, services…don’t expect to know without clear communication.
• Expectations.
• Happenings at the business.

Believe ~ empower, support and have confidence in your employees.  If you expect them to not do well and do not support them, they won’t do well. 

• If staff feels that you don’t believe in them they will sense it and get a “why should I even try” attitude. 

Appreciate and thank your employees – continually!  Statistics show that 90% of feedback that is given to staff is only when they are performing poorly! 

• People like to be appreciated.
• When people are praised, they step up and continue to improve their performance.

Feedback ~ if a staff person needs critical feedback on an error or if improvement is needed, it is important to follow these steps.

• Meet with the employee privately.
• Discuss as soon as possible after the event.
• Ask for their side/opinion etc.
• Explain why their behavior/actions caused concern and were not acceptable.
• Find out if the problem was caused by lack of knowledge, sloppiness, and misunderstanding of project.  Then discuss a game plan for it not to happen again.
• Feedback

LAST BUT NOT LEAST……Have fun!  People are more productive when they enjoy their job and are having fun.  Always remember:

Don’t take life too seriously; you’ll never get out of it alive.

~Elbert Hubbard~

By: Jean Geistfeld

 

How to Back up Your Computer

The modern home computer stores a wealth of information. Losing information is more painful now than ever before and this fact has driven some to back up a home computer much like a business.  Consider the pictures, videos, emails, documents, homework, tax information, and more that we all store – what would you lose? The good news is that there are powerful backup tools to help you today.

There is a new generation of tools that can simply and automatically synchronize all your computers together.  Services like Dropbox or Trend Micro SafeSync can even sync between your computers and your phone.  No more digging through 4 different home computers to find that one file you need.  This type of solution is powerful with even one computer because the service also backs up your information. This way, you can always access or download the files back to any computer.  These services also encrypt your data so there is solid security protecting you.

Dropbox has a free tier for the first 5GB of data, which covers 80% of all home users and Trend Micro is more cost effective in the paid tiers:

https://www.dropbox.com/pricing

http://us.trendmicro.com/us/products/personal/safe-sync/

By: Jason Wieland, IT Manager