Miracle Treat Day: Buy a Blizzard Treat Today!

It’s summer, the weather is great, being outdoors is awesome, everybody is having fun…..what’s missing?

Ice cream! Who doesn’t like something cold and yummy from Dairy Queen? As a huge bonus, August 14th is Miracle Treat Day at Dairy Queen. What does that mean? This Thursday, $1 or more from every Blizzard®Treat purchased at participating DQ® stores will be donated to your local Children's Miracle Network Hospitals® to help children in need. Having the opportunity to put a smile on a child’s face and yours, now that works!

Here is the link, check it out:

http://www.miracletreatday.com/?gclid=CLfotNnqkMACFQkLaQodhT4A5Q

Now get yourself to a DQ and order up a Blizzard®!

Post by: Pat J

Home Equity Loan vs. Home Equity Line of Credit...what's the difference??

Both products allow you to borrow money using the equity you have in your home as collateral.

With a home equity loan, you receive a lump sum of money at closing. You are then required to make monthly payments on the loan. You will not be able to draw fund from the loan again.  Since the funds are disbursed in full at the closing, your monthly payments will be fixed.   Horizon Community Credit Union's home equity loans are adjustable rate loans, with the rate adjusting annually based on the terms spelled out in your loan.  This can impact your monthly payment amount some, but generally it's not a large change.

The other way to borrow against your home’s equity is with a home equity line of credit (HELOC). This works more like a credit card – you have a credit limit, and you only pay on the funds you draw out. Monthly payments are 1% or 2% of the outstanding balance on the line.  Much like a credit card, you can draw on the line multiple times.  Horizon Community Credit Union's HELOCs are adjustable rate loans, with the rate adjusting annually based on the terms spelled out in your loan.

On both products you can borrow up to 80% of the appraised value of your home. For example, if your home is valued at $200,000 with a mortgage of $100,000, you would be able to apply for a home equity loan in the amount $60,000.

What could you use the equity in your home for??
Debt consolidation
Home Improvement
College tuition
Autos, motorcycle, Recreational vehicles
Vacation

Post by: Kelly B

Win a college scholarship through your credit union!

High school seniors and parents…now is the time to start thinking about which college you're going to choose and how you're going to pay for it.  We know college is REALLY expensive!  And let's be honest, most scholarship applications are long and tedious and NO fun.  Did you know you could win a college scholarship by playing a video game through your credit union’s website?

I’m talking about Money Mission. It is a fourteen week simulation of real life that is designed to help teach money management skills through a computer game. Basically, you play little mini-games and puzzles for “work”. Then you get paid and you can buy things like a car, stocks, and movie tickets. At the end of the fourteen weeks, you’ll have a final score of your success – and hopefully some helpful insight into the financial choices that will pop up in your near future.

Then, to enter to win the scholarship, high school seniors who are registered participants in the game can submit a 400-800 word essay about what they learned playing the game. The competition is open to participants throughout the country and the number and amounts of scholarships will be announced at the start of the fourteen week simulation.

Get ready and mark your calendars! The fall session of the game runs from September 2, 2014 – December 15, 2014. To check out the game, or for more information, visit the following page on our website http://www.horizonccu.com/kidsandteensdetail.php?SID=116.

Not a high school senior? No problem. Anyone over the age of 13 can play, but only seniors are eligible for the scholarship competition.

Post by: Erin S

Image courtesy of DEATH TO THE STOCK PHOTO

Individual Retirement Accounts available at HCCU!

What is an IRA?
IRA stands for Individual Retirement Account.  One member owns it, it helps the member to save for retirement or education. It is an account, not an investment.

What types of IRA accounts does HCCU offer?

ROTH IRA: With a Roth IRA, you make after-tax contributions, so withdrawals are tax-free in retirement

TRADITIONAL IRA: With a Traditional IRA, your contributions may be tax-deductible, and you'll pay taxes when you make withdrawals in retirement.

COVERDELL IRA: With a Coverdell Education Savings Account you save for future education of your child/children.

All of the above IRAs are available as a regular share account or share certificate.  IRAs at Horizon Community Credit Union are not part of the stock market. You cannot lose value in your account.  

If something happens to me, who gets that money if no one else is on the account?

You can will any of the above accounts to loved ones in the event of your death.

What if I have other questions?

Ask any one of our MSRs for details. We have informational pamphlets available to everyone, and we would be glad to answer any questions you have and help you find an option works for you.

Remember: We are a financial institution, not financial advisors. We are not able to give any tax advice to our members or evaluate members’ savings strategy for retirement.

Post by: Lori S

If this conversation sounds familiar to you, we want you to share the love!

"The bank charged me $35.00 for insufficient funds in my checking account. They also sent the check back to the company I wrote it out to and they will probably charge me another $35.00. Ugh! I know it was my mistake.  I used my debit card but forgot to write down how much I spent.  But that money was supposed to be used for groceries and my public service bill, and now I'm going to be short this month!" 

Later that day, after talking to a member of Horizon Community Credit Union...

"What?! If I had an account at Horizon Community Credit Union I would have overdraft protection!? They pull the money from your savings (share) account to cover the overdraft check and only charge you a $5.00 fee! That's unbelievable! Only five bucks for my accounting error? Not a bad deal! That would have saved me money for my groceries and quite a bit of embarrassment! I’m definitely heading to Horizon CCU to open a savings (share) and checking account!"

Don't keep HCCU a secret!  One of the many benefits to being a credit union member is that credit unions are not for profit.  Rather than pad our own pockets, we return our earnings to our members in the form of higher deposit rates, lower loan rates, and lower and fewer fees.  Not only that, but the mission of Horizon Community Credit Union is to help our members success financially.  Credit unions don't exist to make only a few people rich; they exist to help their members and communities be more financially secure and money-smart.  Know someone who would be better off with our benefits and services?  We'd love to meet them!

Post by: Alice E  

But first, let me take a selfie!

Did you know that this month, credit union membership in the US is expected to reach 100 MILLION members?! That's a pretty big deal, and credit unions want to celebrate! Join the nationwide conversation about why you love you credit union! All you have to do is upload a selfie with the hashtag #100MM (short for 100 million members) and tell the world why being a credit union member ROCKS!  

Members can share submitted selfies with the hashtag #100MM on Google+, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.  Or, if you'd rather, you can upload a video or photo.  Just visit the 100 million memberships website (http://www.americascreditunions.org/), complete the form, upload the image or video from your computer (or via social media) and submit!  

Image courtesy of: Death to the Stock Photo

This applies to you! Yes, YOU!

Regulation D 

If you have a savings, club, and/or money market account with HCCU, you are limited to six (6) withdrawals via electronic, telephone, preauthorized or automatic transfers per calendar month. Exceeding the limit will result in a fee of $25 per transaction in excess of six, or possibly account closure.

What counts against me?	What DOES NOT count against me?
Overdraft Protection Transfers	Transfers done via ATM machine
Automatic transfers to another account or third party	Automatic transfers towards a loan
Preauthorized withdrawals	Deposits into your accounts
Online Banking transfers	Transactions conducted in person at a branch
Phone banking transfers
Using your ATM card with PIN at a store to conduct a transaction out of your savings
Phone transfers done with a HCCU employee

FAQs

What is Regulation D?
Regulation D, or Reg. D, is a federal regulation that places a monthly limit on the number of transfers you may make from your deposit account (savings, club, money market) without your physical presence being required. Its purpose is to regulate the level of reserves a financial institution maintains.

If I use online banking, will it notify me if I have gone over the 6 transactions I am limited to?
No, there is nothing in the online banking that will notify you. Members should keep track of the number of transfers they make out of their deposit accounts.

I have more than one deposit account. Am I limited to a total of six transactions for all my deposit account combined?
No. You are allowed up to six Reg. D transactions per month for each of your deposit accounts.

Is Reg. D something new?
Reg. D was enacted in 1933. It was and still is enforced.

Please contact us if you have any questions or concerns regarding this regulation and its enforcement.

Post by: Kelly V

Image courtesy of Pong / FreeDigitalPhotos.net