Monthly Archives: December 2017

Web Security for Small Business Owners – What You Need to Know

It’s a typical day for a local real estate agent, until the click of an email threatens the entire business. Large corporations, small businesses and as shown in recent days, not even the government is immune to cyber attacks.

Why it’s Important

If you’re a small business owner, you may think you are too small for cybercriminals. However, the opposite is true as they don’t particularly care about the size of the data, but the value. If you have customer’s contact information, health data, credit card information or intellectual property- they want it now. Did you know that 43 percent of cyber attacks target small business, and that normal hacks to operations cost an average of $955,429 to recover? It’s of the utmost importance that your customers feel they can trust you with their information and that you follow through on that trust. Cybercrime is becoming the world’s largest business, and here is what you can do to protect your business -even if you don’t have a lot of room in your budget for security measures.

1). Tight Communication

You may not have the ability to provide each of your employees with their own technology devices, which means they may use personal devices for company use. This can open you up to many potential risks. You may want to create guidelines for using these devices and ensure that they are regularly updating passwords and following through on security updates. Fax is still the most secure form of communication in the business world-don’t be afraid to still utilize this!

2). An Action Plan

Create a simple security plan and share it with all of your employees, so they know that everyone is responsible for protecting data. It is worth the investment to hire an IT consultant to be monitoring your protocols, but if you cannot do that at this time, designate a current employee to oversee this. They should be informed, oversee basic security requirements and ensure the requirements are updated and used. 60 percent of businesses don’t survive a security attack. For the longevity of your business, it is incredibly important to take this seriously. Use the FCC’s helpful Cyber Planner here.

3). Strong Passwords, Patching & Encryption Software

Most business stay ahead of the game by simply creating secure passwords and patching their systems. Patching fixes security vulnerabilities with bug fixes and improving performance. Hackers can easily crack into your business through a weak web or email server.  As a small business, setting up a Virtual Private Server would be a terrific option combined with encryption software. So even if a hacker was able to get into your system, they wouldn’t be able to decipher the material. An additional layer of security for clients would be to adopt Paypal or Square for protecting your customer’s financial information.

4). Educate

Unfortunately, most security breaches are due to a negligent employee or contractor. This reiterates how important it is to hire people you trust. Although you may not be able to thwart off every threat, educating your employees about cyber security either through weekly articles or full courses will help to better protect your growing small business. These practices should be integrated across all areas of your operations as well as having a response plan if this does occur. Remember, nobody is safe from Cyber crime.

 

Dreamin’ of Summer- Saving for Your Next Vacation

The monotony of the day to day can get you down in the season of cold and gray. However, that beach on your screensaver doesn’t have to be an esteemed fantasy if you are ready to take some action. You can turn your ideal vacation into a reality by starting to save and plan that getaway now, before travel season hits in full.

Create a Budget

If you are thinking about a vacation, you are definitely going to need to establish a budget to keep your spending in check. Some budgeters swear by the 50/30/20 rule. This is a simplified budget where you allot 50% of your after-tax income to necessities, 30% for wants and 20% for savings. Adjust this as you need. We all know that adding kids into the mixture of vacations increases prices exponentially, so you may want to increase savings, and see what you can go without.  See if you can even tap into a Grandparents Travel Grant.

Set Up an Account

Stop by Timberwood Bank to speak with one of our Personal Bankers about options for savings accounts. We recommend setting up an automatic withdrawal to come from your account each month, or asking your employer to put a portion of your paycheck into a different account. For a majority of people, if the money is there, it will get spent, so having an automatic savings will keep you on track of your goals.

Decide How Much You Need

Get a grasp of how much your vacation will cost you. That means calculating hotels, food and flight. However, don’t forget the expenses you will still have while traveling. You will still have your normal bills and you may need to pay a local kid to get your mail or a business to board Fido. Divide this amount by the number of weeks until your desired vacation date.

Go the Extra Mile

When calculating this all out, don’t be dismayed. This vacation can be attainable for you, as long as you stick to the process. It just may not be in the exact time frame you desire. Keep yourself motivated by listening to music, looking at pictures and eating food reminiscent of your destination. Go the extra mile to scrap for savings everywhere you can. Clean out your closets and post them for sale. Start a change jar or carpool to work. You will be surprised that by putting in the extra effort your savings can increase fairly quickly as your spending depletes and scrappiness grows. Best of luck, and please let us know how we can help you reach your goals at Timberwood Bank!

Grocery Boot Camp – Shopping Healthy on a Budget for Two

Buying groceries, healthy eating and budgeting are three challenging tasks that many people struggle conquering altogether.  Whether you and your partner have been together many years or are just starting out, we have some great tips for you both to win the war on grocery shopping. Consider us your sergeant by following this simple training method ASAP.

Commit

If you aren’t both on the same page, you will have a hard time succeeding and inevitably fail. It is imperative that you sit together to discuss what you want to get out of this and that you are mentally prepared for the journey ahead. What type of diet are you seeking to maintain? Research what type of foods you will and won’t buy so you know exactly where the line is.

Plan

  • Your Budget: The first month of Boot camp, we only want you to keep track of your expenses both grocery and dining out. From then on, your goal should be to spend no more than that amount. An average aim for many is to stick to $100 a month per individual. This may or may not work for you, but find out what does.
  • Meal Prep: This is crucial to your success. You know what kind of diet you would like to have, so search for recipes that will enable you to have healthy, planned meals. This will help to prevent you from swinging in for fast food or other impulse buys.  Once you have the groceries, prep the food to make the week of eating easy. Be sure you eat the fruits and veggies with the shortest shelf life first.

Shopping

  • Find Deals: While you may not have the time to clip out a lot of coupons, make a point to check the weekly ads to see what the deals are. Apps like DealstoMeals will even help you to find discounts in your shopping area.  Every little bit helps and this is just more opportunity the two of you have to crawl through the trenches together.
  • Make a Price Book: This a great resource you can make for yourself to keep track of items that you habitually buy, so you know when and where to buy what.
  • Be flexible: If a needed recipe item is twice the price you thought it would be, substitute for something else. If the produce is not in season, frozen is a great alternative. Know the Dirty Dozen and how you can use it to your advantage.

Execute

You have the basics, so now it’s time for the follow through. Say no to temptation. Once you have spent your allotted budget, there is NO more going to the store. You will get better as you strengthen your skills, but until that time stay the course.

 

Love and Money: Five Common Mistakes

No couple likes to fight, especially when it comes to finances. Unfortunately, money is the leading cause of stress in relationships. And this isn’t only a problem for couples who are tight on money, as a survey has shown that the more your income increases, the more finances will put a strain on your relationships. What this shows is the importance of being on the same page as your partner when it comes to finances, no matter your incomes.

Timberwood Bank has compiled a list of five common mistakes couples make with their money and how you can avoid them to lessen the stress on your relationship!

  1. Not Talking About Money Before Marriage

It’s important to have an idea of your future partner’s spending style. Is your partner tight with money because they grew up not having a lot? How does this impact how they envision your lifestyle to be once married? What’s their credit score?  It is important to have this conversation, in order to refrain from becoming as upset or surprised when one of you splurges/invests. This keeps a nice checks and balances. Take this fantastic quiz to figure out your money type!

  1. Not Having a Budget

If you are too late to avoid mistake #1, this is the perfect time to have that conversation with your spouse. “Failing to plan is planning to fail.” Take stock of what you have coming in, what you owe and what you have for “extras.” This will help to prevent keeping secrets from each other about your spending, because everything is on the table.  Be sure the budget works for BOTH of you, long term.  You can even get your kids involved in order to teach them about money and why having a plan to stick to is important.

  1. Not Having Separate AND Joint Accounts

Are you a couple who only has a joint or separate account? We recommend both! Joint accounts make it easier to share in bills and debt together. However, it is still important to have your own account, so you can still feel autonomous in your decisions to splurge (within range of your budget).

  1. Waiting 30 Years to Pay off Your Mortgage

Just because it is an option, doesn’t mean you really need to take 30 years to pay off your debt! If you do take the full term to repay the debt, you will pay significantly more in interest. Every extra payment that you make towards your home will be applied to the principal balance. This will enable you to sign that last mortgage check much sooner, enabling you to put money toward retirement, or other goals you have together.

  1. Letting One Person Make Decisions

Even if only one of you is bringing in a salary, it is imperative that you are both involved in the financial decisions. If you have one person who is physically making the payments, you should both be reviewing your finances monthly, and making adjustments as needed. Friction can happen when one spouse makes the financial decisions causing the other to feel like a child with a set amount given to them each month. Even if one of you is more financially smart, both should be included in the decisions. There is less of a need to keep secrets from one another when you both have purchase power and communication about your short and long term goals.

Making a plan and sticking to it together can help lessen financial stress in your relationship. If you feel stuck on where to begin, set up an appointment to speak with one of our specialists at Timberwood Bank to help get you both on track to being in charge of your finances.