Author Archives: ISBTC Blogger

3 Keys to Managing Your Money When You’re Self-Employed

If you’re similar to 10 percent of the active American workforce, you are self-employed. Those who enjoy going into business for themselves find a great degree of freedom and empowerment. You have more value for your work, no uniforms, get to choose your customers, not to mention unlimited vacation days. However, these benefits can be quickly overshadowed by the effects of poor money management. In order to make your dream successful, there are certain key habits and skills you should have or develop in order to help your business thrive.

Organization

You may have already thought about the most exciting aspects of your new business such as the products you are selling and your logos. However, in order to keep the things you are passionate about alive, you need to keep your finances highly organized.

Taxes – Many self-employed people forget about Uncle Sam until they are hit with a shocking letter. Unlike the days when your employer would automatically deduct taxes from your paycheck, you will need to do this all yourself. This should take priority over everything else because the costs of not doing so can shut you down. Keep in mind that you may need to pay an additional 15 percent self-employment tax in addition to your regular income taxes.

Budget – In addition to a personal budget, you need to create a business budget to allocate expenses like postage, childcare or insurance. Calculate the basics of that you will need to make ends meet. Decide what salary you are going to pay yourself every month. These are the items that many forget about that could cause your business to fail. Decide what percentage you are going to spend on what categories each month and stick to them.

Tracking Expenses – It may be easy to dismiss a small business lunch here and there, but not having a system of tracking can severely disrupt your budget.

Open Separate Accounts – We can’t stress the importance of this enough, but the secret to staying organized and on track is having your business accounts separate from your personal accounts. You can create an account where you put a percentage of your income in just for taxes so you never have to sweat when the quarterly taxes become due. Come see us at Iowa State Bank & Trust Company to look at our business account options.

Plan Ahead

While there are many items to stay on top of for your business, you shouldn’t neglect your own goals for the future such as retirement or emergency savings. While it may be great you are your own boss, you no longer have the matching 401k contributions that many employees receive as benefits. This means you will have to make it even more of a priority to save for your post-work life.

Self-Control

There may be some months where you make double or even triple the amount of profit you had estimated. When this happens, take out the same amount that you always do towards the items in your budget and anything extra put into the Emergency Fund. We recommend doing this in percentages, so no matter if you make a lot or a little you are still funneling money into every priority you have.

On months when you don’t make as much money or even if you make no revenue, you’ll be thankful that you saved your profits from the high income months. Eventually, you should aim to hit the point where you can go 3-6 months without a salary because you have built up a significant savings. This takes diligence and self-control. It takes doing the little things right, every month.

Adopting these key habits into your business plan is going to set you up for success, so you can focus and enjoy the fruits of your labor.

Cyber Security for College Students

So you think you’re all set for your first day of classes. Backpack, books, IPad and smartphone in hand – you think you have everything you need for success this semester. However, learning proper cybersecurity habits are just as important to your college success as the friends you make or the assignments you accomplish.

You’re well acquainted with technology and internet scams, and think you are far off from being duped or scammed online. However, technology is ever changing which means the tactics hackers use to access your personal information can be even sneakier. In 2014, there were 13,500 burglaries reported in on campus crimes across the US. Here are some basic tips to keep in mind while on campus or use as a refresher, you smarty pants!

Keep Your Friends Close and Your Devices Closer

You’re constantly sharing a workspace with your peers. From the dorm room to the library, you’re devices are always accessible to others. Never leave your devices unattended. Always have a passlock on each screen, and make sure no one is lurking over you when you enter the pin. Look into purchasing a laptop lock to secure the physical safety of your device.

The Value of a Number

If you’re like most college students, you’re eating ramen and shopping at the nearest thrift store. This might be why you haven’t been worried about cyber security in the past. You can barely afford proper nutrition, so you don’t have anything worth stealing. WRONG. Your social security number is incredibly valuable to a hacker who can sell it on the dark web. They can use this to open various credit accounts in your name or hold other precious online information like family photos hostage until you pay their ransom.

Back, Back, Back it Up

We know you have a million other things on your plate right now, but be sure you are backing up your data on a secure cloud system or an external hard drive. Consistently setting a time to backup all of your important documents will help protect you against ransomware and file corruptions.

PDA: Public Displays of Access

Who doesn’t like free stuff? One of the perks of college is that you are probably going to have a lot of freebies thrown at you. This means free WiFi that you can gulp down without having to dry out your data usage while catching up with friends back home. However, even your dorm WiFi can be infiltrated by hackers who access the network’s router, create fake login pages to steal your information or take data from your device. You can protect yourself by not using public WiFi, or purchasing a VPN.

Shhh, Mums the Word

Although it might be easy and sweet to use fido in your password, make sure to keep your password on each account different and complex. You don’t want to allow a hacker to open Pandora’s box after they figure out your one password. Keep your password private and unique. We recommend incorporating special characters, acronyms or even sentences at random.

We hope that these tips will be helpful in keeping your identity safe in your college adventure!

The Lessons of a Lemonade Stand – Teaching Your Children the Fun Way

Warm, sunny weather calls for a glass of ice cold lemonade. Now that the kids are out of school and looking for activities to entertain them, now is the perfect chance to teach them a little about finances. Here are a few quick tips to help teach your children how to be fiscally responsible.

Have them buy the materials.

When deciding to have a lemonade stand, it is important that your children know the value of money. By having them calculate the cost of the lemonade, sugar, cups, sign, sunscreen and pitcher, they will begin to understand the importance of the dollar. You may help them out with costs if they haven’t begun to save from chores, but teach them with our next tip that money isn’t just handed to them.

They can ask you to lend or invest.

If your child is looking for a little cash to start up their business, feel free to teach them about lending and investing. Show that mommy or daddy can lend you $10.00 for ingredients. When you make $20.00, you owe them $10.00 and get to keep the rest – no matter how much you make! Mommy could also invest in your stand with $10.00. If you make $30.00, Mommy gets half and makes a $5.00 profit. However, if you make $16.00, then mommy gets $8.00 and loses money.

Show them how to take inventory.

Teach your child how to track their items and what each ingredient costs. They will be able to see how much each cup of lemonade costs and the profit they make from selling. They can learn about accounting by subtracting their total expenses from their sales to see the profit they accumulated. Remember to send an email or call the neighborhood before the launch of the stand, so your child can feel like a success. Helping them accrue a little extra business will excite them for their next business venture.

Review the sales.

Going over how well you did and what can be changed for next time is a great way to learn about business. Cover a few positives your children did well, and then hit on one or two improvements that could be made.

Let them decide where the proceeds go.

Giving your children the opportunity to choose where their money goes is a great way to allow them the feeling of independence. They can decide to give it to a children’s hospital, pet shelter or into their own savings account. If they choose to save, then you have the opportunity to segway into different approaches to saving!

A lemonade stand is a perfect way for your child to learn about money without boring them. Creating a lawn mowing business or other summer activities can also be an option if lemonade stands aren’t exciting to them. Give us a call to discuss different savings options for your children and their lemonade money!

The Brief Beginner’s Guide to Boosting Your Car’s Value

Your car is your baby, but have you really been treating it as well as you should? If you’re in the market for a new vehicle or just looking to make your automobile look its best, then you’ve come to the right place! Iowa State Bank & Trust Company offers wonderful ways to boost your car’s value on the inside and out.

Shine Bright

Dull headlights seem to be a recurring problem with cars. Luckily, there are many cheap products you can purchase to make those lights shine bright again. By giving your car a little love, it’ll look years newer. This means you can ask more for your fresh vehicle if you’re looking to sell.

Fancy Floors

Buying new floor mats or paying to have them cleaned can make all the difference in the world. You can also invest in the heavy duty rubber mats, so stains will be a thing of the past. Freshening up your interior will make your ride feel new and improved.

Quick Fixes

Any little issues that can be improved will help heighten your car’s value. Replace a burned out taillight, change the oil, make sure no warning lights are flashing and so on. If you’re looking to sell, this will be a big attraction to the next guy who will feel like no work will have to be done after buying. People are willing to spend more in order to start fresh with no troubles ahead.

New Shoes

Replace your car’s tires to give it the update it needs. Buyers will be willing to pay more if they know they won’t have to be buying new tires right off the bat. The buyer will often expect a significant discount ($300-$700), depending on the model, if the tires are old and worn.

Scratches and Dents

Don’t think fixing a dent or scratch won’t do you any good. Paying a little now to buff out that scratch and pop out the dent will make your car much more valuable. Just one or two dents/scratches can mean the difference of a fair payout or big bucks. A paintless dent repair specialist can usually buff out the issue for a small price, leaving your potential buyer willing to pay more since you’re saving them the headache of going to a body shop.

If you’re looking to make your current car last longer or sell it for top-dollar, use these simple strategies. Giving your baby the attention and love it deserves will help stretch its value higher. If you’re looking to buy, give us a call – we offer great auto loans to help you buy the vehicle you want!

4 Standard Safety Tips for Social Networking

“Technology and social media have brought power back to the people,” Mark McKinnon. Whether or not you fully agree with this statement, social media has become ubiquitous to all ages on multiple platforms. It’s not only the pre-teens who are at risk of becoming victimized by hackers, as even corporations are finding themselves in costly predicaments. Because of this, Iowa State Bank of Fairfield has gathered basic standards that everyone should adopt into their social media safety.

The Big No-No’s

With much of social media, the purpose is to share the highlights of your life with others. However, there are certain facets of your identity that you should never, under any circumstances, share. You may not even know you are outright sharing this information, as it can manifest in basic profile information or slight comments on a friends post. It may seem obvious, but never share your:

-Social Security Number

-Birthdate

-Passwords

-Home Address

-Cell Phone Number

-The State Where You Were Born

Review Your Privacy Settings Frequently

Social Networking sites can change their privacy options, so it is good to check in to ensure that you are only sharing the information you want shared. There are multiple ways to manage who sees what posts and even who your other friends are. While you are reviewing these settings, be sure to change your passwords to ward off hackers seeking access to your most privileged information. A great option would be to have your password in sentence form. It’s been recommended to have a positive sentence that’s easy to remember like, “I love my puppies!”

Only “Friend” Those You Know

Although there is a social praise towards those who have a lot of followers, or friends, it is a better standard practice to ensure you are only allowing those you know into your web life. Keep in mind that if you’re posting about your friends, others who you have friended are seeing it, too. It isn’t only your identity that is at risk, so friend responsibly.

Avoid Oversharing

We all have that one friend that shares EVERYTHING on social media, even down to the smallest detail like what flavor of coffee creamer they had this morning. We don’t want to be this person, but we may be doing similar dangerous behaviors without even thinking.

For example, if you are going on a great vacation, wait to share those photos until you are home. The last thing you want to be doing is advertising that your home is empty for the week. Even miniscule details here and there can be pieced together by predators for a large picture of your life. Review your professional sites like LinkedIn, and be sure you are not sharing your entire work history. This data can be gathered by hackers to fill out applications for things on your behalf.

Don’t make yourself an easy target! Stick to these standards to provide yourself with a digital wall of protection.

What Sports Can Teach Your Kids About Finances

sports

As a parent, you want to do your best to give your children a great childhood and prepare them to be successful, contributing members of society. One of the ways that many parents are doing this is by encouraging youth sports. They realize that there are great lessons learned from athletics like how to be a part of a team and physical health. It’s also a good way to get kids away from the screens! By the same token, you may not realize that sports, particularly pay to play, have additional benefits of teaching your children about money, if handled correctly.

Spending on youth sports has grown incredibly high. So high, in fact, that it has prevented many kids from being able to participate at all. It’s estimated that, spending has grown up to 10.5 percent of gross income. While we certainly don’t recommend you sacrifice your retirement for your children to play, developing a spending plan within your budget, and including your children in the process will help them to understand that this does come at a cost. Yet, spending too much may have the reverse effect, putting extreme pressure on youth to perform worthy of the costs. It’s important to set boundaries, and stick to one or two sports. The more you involve kids in your finances, the more comfortable they will be with money in their adult life.

Earn

Most schools don’t teach financial literacy to minors, and even if they do, the national average of financial literacy is still at 59.6 percent. Instead of throwing money at the costs, have your children earn the money for participation or athletic gear. They could complete additional chores around the house, mow neighborhood lawns, or even help with training others younger than them. At any age, this is setting them up for the simple realization that things cost money, a concept muffled for many younger children.

Save

Encourage your children to save at least 15 percent of what they earn for next season, or incidentals. No matter what they are working for, it is incredibly important to teach them the habit of saving a portion of their earnings. This provides opportunities for them to understand spending on what you want now vs. what you may need in the future.

Give

Whether in time or their finances, helping your child understand that not every youth has the means to participate in pay to play sports, will be relatable to them in various ways later in life. If they would like to give a small percentage towards helping others pay for gear or participation it would be a relatable opportunity for them to understand how much meaning there is in giving. They could even give of their time to help mentor others refine their skills.

In whatever way you want to teach your children about finances, getting the conversation started is the most important step for them being comfortable and competent with money!

Landscaping: 5 Tips to Increase Your Home’s Value

landscaping

Home improvement projects can be overwhelming and who wants to spend their free time camped out inside covered in sawdust on a beautiful spring day? Whether you want to put your home on the market now or in the future, here are a few simple tips to get you outdoors while increasing the resale value on your house!

Have a Strategy in Mind

Before taking a shovel to your whole yard, have a strategy in place for the design you want. You could even hire a professional landscaper to come up with a design for you. You don’t typically have to hire them to complete the design, but do it yourself. Think about what goes with the design of your home, what plants might need the most time to grow and how to stay on budget. Some of your ideas might take some time to accomplish, so break up what you want to get done within different spurts.

Keep it Green

Planting trees is not only great for the planet, but will appreciate with time as well as cut down on energy costs from the shade they provide. They make your home more attractive to visitors and potential buyers. Did you know that one study even shows that neighborhoods with a lot of vegetation report less crime? That sounds like a win-win to us!

Think Low Maintenance

While you may want to go all out in landscaping your home, less is more. Unless a potential buyer is a master-gardener, a majority of people will translate a yard with extreme detail as more work. Focus on simplicity and utility to attract a wide range of spectators.

Frontside Curb Appeal

Some experts say to spend 10 percent of the value of your home into landscaping. However, this might not guarantee a 15 percent increase in resale value as suggested, nor be in your budget. There is curb appeal for a reason, and we recommend starting with the first side of the home that people see. It doesn’t even necessarily have to be with vegetation. Paint your front door or upgrade the numbers on your home. These are easy updates that will draw your visitors in.

Consider All Seasons

When deciding on plants, try to have an array of species that will make your home stand out all year long. From tulips in the spring, to chokeberry bushes in the winter, having an assortment will make it easier to draw potential buyers in all year long-whenever you decide it’s time put the house on the market. Try opting for plants that are drought-friendly, so you are not having to worry about daily watering.

When the time comes and you are ready to move onto your next home, Iowa State Bank of Fairfield will be right beside you.

Protecting Older Americans Against the Top Scam: IRS Impersonations

older

No age group is immune to scams. It can happen to any age group, income level and gender. Scammers are no respecter to persons when it comes to getting your money. However, seniors should be protective of their finances, as they are more likely to have significant life savings and great credit. They also may be unsure of who to report fraud to, or don’t out of shame. This makes them a great target for scams. Unfortunately, the top scam among older Americans is IRS Impersonations.

Why IRS Impersonations?

Taxes and money are linked, so being able to access someone’s tax account gives them extensive amounts of highly personal information.
This information can be serviced into capital.

Telephone Scams

They may receive a phone call from the scammer, claiming to be from the IRS. They will give a fake name, badge number and even call from a Washington area code so they seem more legitimized. This is called Caller-ID spoofing. They say they are following up on letters sent by mail and threaten arrest, home foreclosure or deportation for immigrants if they are not paid. Seniors should be aware that the IRS will never call to demand immediate payment, nor will they ask for credit card information over the phone. These scare tactics are working far too well, so education, not shaming, is needed to prevent victimization. If they receive a suspicious call, hang up and call the U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging’s Fraud Hotline at 1-855-303-9470.

Text Messages

Unfortunately, text messages seem to be more trusted than email. Scams by text are called smishing. Some criminals may only have access to the internet through their smartphone, so they will use this to target other phones as well. They may even send a link to a fraudulent site to intake your private information like a social security number so they can steal your identity.

Here is an example of what a text might say:

“IRS NOTICE: Your Tax Return is overdue! Click here to prevent penalty by law.”

Email Phishing

This term means the scammers are fishing for information through email, conning people into thinking they are someone they are not. The emails look like they have the branding of the IRS and they are leading to a legitimate website. They might request the same information that is requested by phone, but might be more prone to believe the emails to be valid with the fake IRS branding.

Key Takeaways:

Inform your loved ones of these IRS facts:

The IRS will never call to demand immediate payment.
They will never threaten to immediately arrest.
You will never be told that the taxes must be paid without the opportunity to appeal the amount owed.
They will never ask for payment information over the phone.

Data has shown that increased knowledge on scams makes a difference, so share this information with your loved ones, creating a safe place of discussion and education!

Can You Save on Groceries From Gardening? What You Should Know Before Digging In.

garden

Gardening isn’t for everyone, but if you are looking for ways to cut down on one of your greatest expenditures, your own home garden might be a great place to start! You don’t need to be a Master Gardener to see returns on getting your hands dirty. However, it helps to know a thing or two before digging in!

Plan Your Space

Getting your garden started can require a large input of costs. While you may be excited to begin, you can easily end up upside down in this hobby by not planning your tools and the plants you need. The average gardener invests $70, so if you are just starting out, aim for even less. Start small. Anybody can find room for a few plants, even if you live in an apartment, it just takes some creativity. Your goal should be to minimize costs and maximize yield. How wonderful would it be to only eat veggies grown by YOU?

Try to choose a location that has full sun and well drained soil. Use any of these garden planners to help figure out the layout of your plot. If you pick too large of a plot to fill, you may easily be overwhelmed and less likely to take great care of every vegetable. Efficiently use your garden space by succession planting or companion planning to get the most bang for your buck! You’ll have a variety of plants and waste less money running to the grocery store.

Pick Your Plants

One of the most important things you can do to make this a success is to plant vegetables that you actually like! Why spend your time and money on produce that won’t get eaten? Take a look at your grocery receipts. What veggies do you spend the most money on? Which items seem to cost the most? These are all questions you should take into consideration. Stick to mastering a few this season, and tackle more next year!

You can begin early in the spring by starting some seeds indoors – even herbs if you favor the delicious fragrance they offer. Plant cool season plants (carrots, beets, lettuce) early spring and warm season (squash, tomatoes, eggplant) after there is no chance of frost.

Preserve & Prosper!

If you’ve gardened correctly, you may have a higher yield than what you can consume. Congratulations! Some items, like potatoes and squash, can last a while if stored at the right temperature. However, other items such as beans, tomatoes, cucumber and even herbs can be canned or frozen to carry you through this winter. Once you get into the swing of things, you may hardly ever need to run to the store for your veggies. If you’ve planned, planted and preserved your produce correctly, you can have significant savings to your grocery bill – and a delicious BLT.

3 Things You Need to do for a Successful Garage Sale

garage

Hosting a garage sale is not for those who are afraid of hard work. Like most things in life, in order for it to be a success, you need to be willing to put in the time and effort to make the experience pleasant for buyers and yourself. You need to be sure that the items you want to sell are going to be worth the time it’s going to take. If you don’t have any big ticket items, it is less likely that your sale will do well, as it will not be as attractive to buyers. Your time has value and we want to ensure you make the most of yours! If you have decided to move forward with the garage sale, utilize these three tips to make yours a smash!

Prepare

Start by going through each room in your home with three boxes. Go through cabinets and closets and start weeding out items to sell, toss or donate in seperate boxes. You are going to feel so much better afterwards in your home, knowing that you mostly only have wanted or needed items taking up space.

Purchase pre-marked stickers for your items to make it simple. You don’t want introverted people putting an item down because they couldn’t read your handwriting and felt uncomfortable asking. Additionally, you will want to organize all of these items into their appropriate categories (womens clothing, toys, books, etc.). A rule of thumb is typically pricing items about ⅓ of the original purchase price, but some items may even require a lower sticker price. Don’t assume that people will haggle with you, as many feel uncomfortable doing so. The most popular items you can have is: furniture, kids’ toys and collectibles.

Advertise, Advertise, Advertise!

There’s no point in preparing if you can’t convince people to come to your sale. If there’s a local newspaper or community bulletin for free or a small price, post your biggest ticket items for sale here. Make sure you are specific with every ad. This will make people more likely to come to a sale where they know what they can expect. If you can join in with another family and label the sale as “multi-family,” you are more likely to draw a larger crowd. Create large, easy to read signs and post them the night before. You are going to want 15-20 signs to draw attention. Make it fun and in an easy to read font.

Don’t try to make the ad too cutesy, but simply list what you have. Post on at least three online sites, whether that’s Craigslist or multiple social networking groups. Quality pictures can only help! Post these ads 1-2 days before your sale, so it stays top of mind. We recommend having the sale on Friday and Saturday mornings, starting as early as 6. Most people don’t like to interrupt their day plans for a sale and would rather get it out of the way.

If you really want to think outside of the box, have a themed garage sale! If you mostly have outdoor, sports or entertainment items-list them as such! This will generate more curiosity and interested buyers.

Create an Experience

Having a sale that will make people come back next year is all about creating an experience! Make your sale similar to a department store environment that is accomodating and causes customers to linger. Greet guests with a simple hello and nice background music when they enter. Display your best items at the front, with a couple of eye catching items at the very back to attract visitors to the whole space. If you haphazardly throw your items into a box, they may think that you don’t take very good care of your things and will not want to buy them. You will have to keep up on this throughout the day. When selling accessories, have a mirror ready for people to try on items. If you are selling electronics, have a plugin available for guests to test. To really step it up, have refreshments to suit the weather. Lemonade for the hot days or coffee for the chilly ones.

All of these recommendations will make your items more attractive to potential buyers. If you are going to have a sale, we believe going all out in order to not only clean your home, but to have a nice stack of cash at the end of the day!