Tag Archives: hockey

6 Steps to Scoring Your Savings Goal

Savings

Do your savings goals make you feel frozen? Get back on the ice this season, and let Timberwood Bank help you win your personal financial game. We’ll show you how to keep pushing forward with these strategic hockey tactics:

Find the 5-hole.

One of the first and most important ways to save is to keep your eyes open! Whether it’s taking advantage of grocery store specials, buying household items in bulk, or cutting spending from your monthly budget, the biggest opportunity you have while saving money is continually searching for new ways to save.

Complete the hat-trick.

Before you start saving for the short-term items, be sure you have the long-term set in place. Just as in hockey, there are three things you need, to make the best play of the game. Start by setting up an emergency savings account, to help guard your savings. Follow up by opening a personal retirement account such as IRA, to continually grow your savings. For the last trick of the play, we suggest creating a 529 or Coverdell account to help save for your child’s future education. These three accounts will help not only you score your savings goals but will assist you in winning your entire financial game as well.

Put your debt against the boards.

Show your debt whose boss, and push them against the glass. By aggressively paying off your outstanding debt, you make additional funds available to further your monthly savings. We recommend paying the minimum payment on each debt, and then using any surplus funds to add extra payments to help pay it off sooner. Once you have paid off a debt, use the funds from that allocation to help erase the next obstacle, one payment at a time.

Place your spending in the penalty box.

While working on your savings goals, look into your monthly spending to see where you can cut costs. Consider reducing your funds for eating out and entertainment. The extra money can go towards your debt, or once paid off, can help you achieve your savings goal sooner!

To help, there are some innovative apps available that can you visualize your various expenses.

Beat the buzzer.

Saving for retirement is a marathon, not a sprint. Like hockey, if you don’t play until the end, you may lose the game in the last five minutes. To help prevent this, we recommend working with a personal financial adviser, ensuring your funds are in the right place at the right time. If you make a pass and transfer them to stocks too late, you could lose money and valuable time. We suggest creating a strategic and well-coordinated retirement plan to make certain all your savings get time on the ice, and your key players continue to stay in the game.

Drop your gloves for additional fees.

Whether it’s big banks searching for unnecessary add-ons, or potential financial advisers looking for a percentage of earnings, don’t be afraid to negotiate fees you deem excessive. The business is certain to have referees to let you know if you’re asking too much. However, it never hurts to ask!

With our affordable deposit accounts and expert financial coaching, we look forward to helping you sink your upcoming goal in the back of the net! Stop by and meet our dedicated team today!

Daily Inspiration: Miracle on Ice

Miracle On Ice

Sometimes there are stories so inspiring they give you chills, make you want to go out and accomplish something spectacular simply because you now know the impossible can occur. In the financial realm of 2016 we believe anything is possible, and if you dream it, we want to help you achieve it.  So today if you’re a little short on motivation, enjoy this tale of the incredible feat by the 1980 U.S. Olympic Hockey Team, known as the Miracle on Ice.

In the summer of 1979 U.S. hockey coach Herb Brooks held auditions for the 1980 U.S. Winter Olympic Hockey Team. With a final roster of 20 young men, averaging an age of 21, the U.S. had its youngest team in history. Brooks decided to retain only one player from the prior Olympic team, Buzz Schnieder. Brooks knew that the U.S. was to be considered an underdog, and during the exhibition games he insisted the players learn a more European style of play to build strength and cohesiveness. In their final exhibition game on February 9, the U.S. played their future opponent, the Soviet Union National Team. They lost in an agonizing defeat of 10-3.

Once the Olympic Games began, the Soviet team paved their way to the top, scoring large leads against the majority of their opponents. During their first game, the U.S. team tied Sweden with a 2-2 game, pushing both teams forward. After several close games, the U.S. found themselves in the semi-finals playing against the Soviet Union National Team, which had defeated them less than two weeks prior.

In the first period of the game, the Soviets managed to sink a puck and gain the first lead. The U.S. managed to gain a goal, keeping toe-to-toe with the Soviets after another goal, eventually ending the period in a 2-2 tie with a last second goal by the U.S. In the second period the Soviets again took the lead gaining one culminating goal. After only eight minutes in the final period, the U.S. found its momentum. Through an incredible power play the U.S. earned a goal, and then another only minutes later. The Soviets began to panic, yet Brooks kept his players calm. He continued to keep the U.S. on offense making several other attempts on goal, repeating to his players, “Play your game! Play your game!”

As the seconds of the final period counted down, the sportscaster for ABC, Al Michaels joined in, famously saying, “Do you believe in miracles?! YES!!!!” When the final buzzer rang the field house was filled with exclamations from the U.S. fans as the players stormed the ice, cementing the moment as one of the best sports moments in the 20th Century.

After the game, sports anchor Jim McKay shared a comparison of the game as a group of Canadian college football players defeating the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Against all odds and predictions, the 1980 U.S. Winter Olympic hockey became a real life David and Goliath, knocking down the Soviet Union National Team and making hockey history. The U.S. later went on to defeat Finland in the finals to gain the gold medal.

Anything is possible if you plan and work to achieve your goals. We are happy to share this incredible tale to inspire you to reach for the stars. Share you financial aspirations with us, and we will work to help you do what perhaps you never thought was possible.