Is An HSA Right For You?

With the Affordable Care Act coming in to play, insurance has been on the top of a lot of families’ minds.  If you have a high deductible insurance plan, than an HSA might be the solution to making out of pocket medical expenses easier on the pocket book.  A Health Savings Account, or HSA, is a special account that lets you set aside money specifically for qualified health related expenses.  Paying for a qualified medical expense out of your HSA is as easy as swiping your debit card!  If you meet the criteria below, then an HSA may be the solution for your family:

• You currently have a high deductible health plan

• You are NOT enrolled in Medicare

• You are NOT eligible to be claimed as a dependent on anyone else’s tax return.

If those all sound like your situation, than an HSA account just might be for you.  One huge benefit of an HSA is that money you put into it is not taxed!  If you want to learn more about how a Health Savings Account could benefit your family you can find more information on www.honorcu.com, give us a call, or stop by any branch!  

Don’t forget to follow us on twitter @honorcu using tweet us any questions you have using #askhonorcu! 

Listen Honor's Scott and 97.5 Y-Country's Wild Bill in this week's Mason Jar Monday for more information on how an HSA can benefit you! 

Three Reasons You Need GAP Insurance

Let’s start off with what GAP insurance is – Guaranteed Auto Protection, or GAP, insurance is literally the gap between what your insurance company will pay you if your vehicle is considered a total loss and what you still owe on your vehicle.  Here are three reasons why you need GAP insurance on your next auto loan:

1. Do you know how fast vehicles depreciate?  The accepted average car depreciation is 15% PER YEAR!* GAP insurance will protect you if something happens to your vehicle and it has depreciated lower than what you owe on your loan.

1. Still on the topic of deprecation, if your vehicle is stolen or totaled, most insurance companies will only pay on the wholesale value.  This means that there is a great possibility that there is a significant deficiency on what you still owe.  GAP insurance will cover that difference.

1. Not only does GAP cover the difference between what the insurance company gives you and what you owe, but GAP Insurance will also give you an extra $1,000 toward the purchase of a replacement vehicle.  It also gives you up to $500 on the deductible for any type of claim that is not a total loss.  If you do encounter the very unfortunate situation of theft or total loss, you can still come out in the driver’s seat.

GAP insurance, as well as other vehicle loan protection plans like Safety Net and Mechanical Breakdown Protection, can be added on to your vehicle loan in a matter of seconds at your local credit union when you take out your loan.  You can find more details on GAP, Safety Net, and Mechanical Breakdown Protection on Honor's website.

Don’t forget to follow us on twitter @honorcu using tweet us any questions you have using #askhonorcu!

Listen to 97.5 Y-Country's Wild Bill and Honor's Scott talk about GAP Insurance on this week's Mason Jar Monday!

*Source: http://www.carsdirect.com/auto-loans/what-is-the-average-car-depreciation-rate

Three Dining Deals You Shouldn't Chew On

The restaurant industry is currently a $683.4 billion dollar industry, according to the National Restaurant Association’s 2014 study¹.  If you’re like the rest of society, you probably enjoy a night out with friends or family enjoying a meal being prepared for you.  You may often also look for deals to enjoy these nights out a little easier on the pocketbook.  If this is you, then here are three dining deals from a recent article on Bankrate² to avoid next time you’re out:

1. The Specials of the day – the specials of the day or week that your server may list off may be the hot item on the menu but it doesn’t always come with a hot price.  Servers often don’t list the prices as they are rattling off the details of these appetizing specials and leave you with sticker shock when you get the bill.  Just make sure before you order one of these specials, you check the price first.
2. Daily Deal Restaurant Certificates – by this we mean Groupon, Living Social, and others like them that promote a deal with a lot of fine print.  Some of these can actually save you quite a bit of money, but make sure you read the fine print before you purchase them.  Often they are restricted to certain days, times, or even menu items that limit when can actually take advantage of them.
3. For the over 21’ers, in one word alcohol!  Did you know that bottles of spirits are marked up about 300 percent, wine 200 percent, and beer even MORE at a restaurant?!  Now obviously, if you are of age and of course drink responsibly we’re not saying to never have a drink with your dinner, but be conscious of this mark up if you are dining out on a budget.  Foregoing that second beverage, or waiting until you get home after dinner can save your receipt some damage!

Have you experienced any other dining “deals” that didn’t turn out to be so great?  Let us know on twitter @honorcu using #askhonorcu!

Listen to 97.5 Y-Country's Wild Bill and Honor's Scott talk about dining deals to avoid in this past week's Mason Jar Monday! 

¹Source - http://www.restaurant.org/News-Research/Research/Facts-at-a-Glance

²Source -  http://www.bankrate.com/lite/smart-spending/restaurant-deals-you-shouldnt-swallow-8.aspx

Just Like Mars and Venus, Men and Women View Debt VERY Differently!

Any of our married couples can attest that their view and their spouse’s view on money and debt is probably a little bit (or a lot of bit) different.  Sometimes you probably just agree to disagree.  Every couple is different, but did you know that part of it may be the different ways that men and women view money and debt?  Here are a few of the differences noted on an Experian* analysis from 2013:

• On average, men carry 4.3 percent MORE debt than women.  Regarding pr-approved loan amounts, men’s mortgages were 4.9 percent higher than home loans taken out by women!  Men also use more of their available credit, while women keep lower balances.

• If the time comes to ask for help, women are more likely to recognize this first and seek financial help than men.   Men and women alike should both remember to use their local credit union, like Honor CU, as a valuable resource if they ever do find themselves in a situation.  We can suggest solutions to help consolidate or manage debt (or savings!) more effectively!

• When dealing with budget woes, women will approach a difference in income vs. expenses by eliminating things on the household budget while men will approach by focusing on increasing income and keeping the budget the same.

Do any of these ring a bell in your household?  As with any topic of discussion, it is important to recognize the differences and talk about them to keep the overall peace and approach things like the household income and budget with a unified front.

What other differences do you think exist in how men and women view money?  Let us know on twitter @honorcu using #askhonorcu! 

Listen to the full Mason Jar Monday episode as Scott and Wild Bill talk about the differences in how men and women view money and debt! 

*Source: http://www.bankrate.com/finance/debt/men-women-and-debt-does-gender-matter.aspx