Get More Bank for Your Buck
How to Take Full Advantage of Your Financial Institution
Whether you’re banking with a credit union or a national giant, your financial institution likely offers more resources, account options, and saving plans than you’re using — or even aware of. As one NerdWallet article puts it, “Banks and credit unions continue to find new ways to both delight and confound customers.” If you focus on the delights, you can get more bang for your buck out of the financial institution you’re already using. Plus, there’s a good chance you’ll pick up new ways to stretch your retirement fund, grow your investments, and pass nest eggs to your grandkids along the way. Take these two easy steps to get started.
overwhelm customers, causing them to limit their interactions to plugging in a username and password to check their balance. Don’t fall into that trap! If you want to get a complete picture of what your bank has to offer, its website is the place to start. Next time you log in, set aside an hour or two to explore the site tab by tab. Take note of products and services you might not be using, like mobile banking apps, 24-hour hotlines, continuing education, and additional account options and their interest rates. Schwab, for example, offers a free online learning center complete with seminars, one-on-one financial advice, and more than 300 informative articles and videos.
updates from the reading materials on offer, make an appointment with a financial analyst, or speak with a bank teller. It’s in your bank’s interest to see your accounts grow, so representatives are happy to help. If you’ve already explored your bank’s website, this is the time to ask follow-up questions on what you found or make a financial move in a new direction. Whether you’ve decided on a 529 plan or a high-interest checking account, your banking representative can make it happen.
1. Get Clicking
2. Schedule a Sit-Down
Even for someone with plenty of internet savvy, bank websites can be intimidating. Most are filled with tabs and portals that
If your bank has a brick-and-mortar location near you, make a point to visit it. While there, take the time to learn about the latest
Step Inside the Mind of Developer Chris Porter Are Modular Homes the Investment of the Future?
Not long ago, JH founder Jason Hartman sat down with Chris Porter, the senior vice president and chief demographer at John Burns Real Estate Consulting, to talk about the latest trends in real estate development. During the conversation, a topic came up that both men agreed may soon be pivotal: modular homes. According to NPR, modular construction is still a small segment of total construction, but it’s gaining ground in the single-family home, apartment, and hotel sectors. John Erb, the director of construction at Champion Commercial Structures, told the radio station that modular
construction can save builders both time and money, chopping construction timelines down by 25–45% and reducing the need for union labor. Jason disputes the common assertion that modular homes are a cheap investment right now (his own digging revealed “affordable” modular homes sold on Amazon came out to $200 per square foot when all was said and done, not counting land and utility costs), but he and Chris aren’t dismissing them as the real estate of the future. “I think we are going to get to the point where, especially as we’re dealing with a labor shortage right now in the construction industry, this is a great time for tech to step in and help us rethink the way we’ll build homes in the future,” Chris says. Because they’re built mechanically in factories, modular homes create less waste during construction than traditional ones,
and technological advances are continually streamlining the process.
“And there’s the fact that you aren’t necessarily limited by daytime hours, for example, or by weather. So, if you can build the pieces in a factory and assemble them on site, I think there are some real efficiencies that can be gained there,” Chris says. In the future, the pair predicts modular home designs optimized for function, like boats and trailers, could — and should — sweep into the market. “This could lead to some relief in the cost of housing, and it can only be good. We’ve just got to move past this idea of sticks and bricks for houses. It’s just old-fashioned,” Jason says. To learn more about cutting-edge, non-traditional investment opportunities like this, reach out to our team at JasonHartman.com/Contact.
JasonHartman.com
1-800-HARTMAN
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