Online Library
This page shows a summary of all article categories and latest articles in the Learning Center.
Home Ownership
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How to Keep Cool in a Hot Mortgage Market
It’s hot out there in the housing market. New construction and current inventory are low. Demand is high following the safer-at-home orders of 2020, due in part to the transition of many jobs to a virtual office environment. Buyers outnumber sellers, and many are making cash offers, sometimes even above the asking price--and prices are skyrocketing. The National Association of Realtors (NAR) data shows house prices are rising at the fastest pace since 2006. As a prospective buyer, how can you keep a cool head and succeed in this harried housing pursuit?
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Using Equity in Your Home to Accomplish Your Goals
The recent low-rate environment and tighter housing supply have created a strong sellers’ market, which can be a good thing for your home equity. Third quarter 2020 data shows that about one in every four homes is considered “equity rich,” according to ATTOM Data Solutions, a real-estate data firm. Home equity is the difference between your mortgage balance and the value of your home. Owners of homes that fit the “equity rich” definition hold 50% or more equity in their properties.
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Navigating Your Home Buying Experience
A mortgage is likely to be the largest and longest loan of your life. As a home buyer, you’ll want to be in the best financial shape possible to qualify for a good rate and get the right loan for your needs. It can be hard to know where to get started, but we’ve got you covered. Here are three ways to make sure you get the best possible mortgage.
Investing
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Rising Interest Rates: What Investors Need to Know
The low interest rate environment we’ve enjoyed since the Federal Reserve’s last rate increase in 2018 will begin to shift in 2022. On March 16, the Fed increased rates by 25 basis points (0.25 percent), bringing it to .50 percent. While the Fed is forecasting seven rate hikes this year, some pundits still believe we will only see four or five, depending on future inflation readings. What does this mean for you and your investments?
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Investment Basics
Investments are not just for the wealthy. Whether you’re in your first job, your prime earning years, or nearing retirement, it’s never too late – or too early – to use personal investments as a savings vehicle for your future. There are several types of accounts for this purpose and a multitude of funds to invest in.
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4 Steps to Prepare Your Financial Plan for Economic Uncertainty
2020 was a year unlike any other, dashing expectations we had for our personal lives, politics and the economy. Look back one year ago at the economic outlooks and forecasts, and you’ll see predictions that were comically out of date before the end of the first quarter. Yet we forge ahead now with a look at what to expect for 2021 and, more importantly, how people can prepare for the unpredictable nature of the world today.
Managing Your Money
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Everyone's Money Needs a Plan
It doesn’t matter where your money comes from: hourly wages, salary, commission, pension, Social Security or trust fund. If you don’t have a plan for your money, you won’t get the maximum benefit. And you’ll spend too much time and energy worrying about it. A good financial plan puts structure and intention into your financial life. It helps you pace your spending, saving and borrowing through the tight years as well as the prosperous ones to avoid the chaos of a feast-or-famine existence.
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Putting Wealth to Work for You and Your Heirs
Whether you earned wealth or inherited it, chances are you want to spend some, save some, give some and leave some for your loved ones. If you’re still working, you likely have plans to retire someday, with many goals and life events in between. How can you put your wealth to work for you throughout your life and beyond? First and foremost, find a trusted, experienced and certified professional to help you put an active plan in place and revisit it annually to adjust for market conditions, evolving goals and unexpected curveballs.
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Keeping Your Cards Safe from Fraud
As credit card rewards get more popular, the volume of credit card transactions is rising sharply, along with opportunities for fraud. According to the Nilson Report, 131 billion credit card transactions were processed in the U.S. in 2021. Luckily, rewards aren’t the only appeal. Unlike debit cards, most credit cards offer cardholder protection against fraud loss. But to take advantage of that protection, either the cardholder or their bank has to catch the errant transaction. Banks and cardholders both have strong incentives to ward off fraud. Here's how to keep your cards safe.
Retirement
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Medicare is a Milestone for your HSA
Think you’re too young to consider Medicare? No matter your age, if you are covered by a qualified high deductible health plan (HDHP) with a health savings account (HSA), Medicare should be on your timeline. It’s a milestone you need to include in your long-term HSA planning. Here’s why: Once you enroll in Medicare, you can spend your HSA funds, but you can no longer contribute to your HSA. Our Compliance Officer Ferne Emery offers some guideposts for along the way.
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Build a Flexible Financial Plan with Asset-based Long-term Care Insurance
Long-term care insurance isn’t new, and you may even have a policy already. Affluent families, however, have another option that can leave your plans—and your legacy—intact. Asset-based long-term care insurance can help you meet any healthcare needs you might face without having to change your financial plan and without sinking money into recurring premiums that you may never see again.
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Corralling Multiple 401k Accounts Into Your Retirement Plan
Between the ages of 18 and 24, people change jobs an average of 5.7 times. Between age 25 and 34, job movement slows a bit to an average of 2.4. Participating in a 401k plan at even half of those employers would yield four different retirement accounts by the age of 35. Is it legal to have more than one 401k? Yes. Is it advisable? That depends.
Health and Benefits
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Making Optimal Choices During Open Enrollment
Open enrollment season for employer benefits can be stressful. It only happens once a year, and with changing options and plans plus the time pressure of the deadline, it can feel overwhelming. You’re choosing plans for the entire upcoming year, and features vary widely, so how do you make the best choice when it feels like you’re comparing apples to oranges?
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Why You Need to Keep Receipts for Your Benefits Accounts
If you’ve ever been asked to submit documentation for expenses on your flexible spending account (FSA), health reimbursement account (HRA) or dependent care account (DCA), you may have wondered, “Why do I need to provide a receipt when it’s my money in the first place? And why do they ask some times but not others?” Some very good reasons are behind this.
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What’s the difference between an HSA and an FSA?
Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) and Flexible Spending Accounts (FSAs) both help you reduce your taxable income by putting money away for healthcare expenses. However, there are some major differences between the two.
Starting a Company
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What I Learned in the Marines: Helping Veterans Become Entrepreneurs
What does it take to turn veterans into entrepreneurs? There’s no straight line from the military to the business world, but what you learned then can help you now. These are the issues most often faced and the lessons you can use to solve them.
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Building Great Places to Work
Pinnacle recently hosted a panel of business leaders who have been recognized by the Nashville Business Journal for building great places to work. Here are some takeaways that you can implement in your own company.
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SBA 7(a) Loans: A Financing Alternative for All Growing Businesses
Obtaining financing for a venture can be a challenge for business owners who don’t qualify for conventional loans. One option for entrepreneurs who want to start or expand a business is the SBA 7(a) program. Learn more about what the program entails, who is eligible and what the funds can be used for.
Managing Your Business
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The Nuts and Bolts of Equipment Finance
No matter what business you’re in, equipment is likely one of your major capital expenses. As such, acquisition of equipment warrants thoughtful planning and strategy. Whether it’s heavy equipment like cranes, construction equipment, barges and manufacturing lines, or IT hardware like servers and laptops, many capital equipment types are physical assets that require regular maintenance, periodic upgrades and eventual replacement. Here are some considerations as you assess your short- and long-term equipment needs and seek optimal financing to maximize the benefit to your business.
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Competing for Government Contracting
Is your business ready to compete for the biggest customer in the world? The U.S. federal government allocates hundreds of billions of dollars every year for government contractors. If you've ever considered being one, whether as a subcontractor or prime, here are a few things to keep in mind.
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Projections for Federal Procurement in 2022
Get up to speed on the landscape for federal procurement in 2022 and a closer look at three upcoming procurements for technology contracts with the U.S. Department of State, the Department of Homeland Security and the General Services Administration. Pinnacle’s National Capital Region team hosted Jeff Shen and Joe Salgado, the president and general manager of Red Team Consulting, for a webinar on what businesses should know going into 2022. Watch the replay to learn more about bidding for contracts with the single largest customer in the world.
Finance and Money Matters
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The State of Accounts Payable in 2022
For the sixth consecutive year, Pinnacle’s AP Automation partner MineralTree surveyed a wide range of finance professionals for its State of Accounts Payable Report. This edition is unique in that it explores how a once-in-a-lifetime event has left its mark on finance organizations. What’s important to recognize, though, is that the problems uncovered, and insights gained, during the pandemic are not fleeting, but rather will have a lasting effect on finance and AP.
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Pinnacle’s New Mobile App: How to Get Ready and How to Log In
Pinnacle’s new mobile app is here. Many iPhone users got an automatic update and will see the new app the next time they pull it up. All others will have to take action to get it, like deleting the old app and visiting the App Store or Google Play to download the new one. Once you have it, what then? What’s different? How can you prepare?
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Why You Should Apply for PPP Forgiveness Now
Early in the process, the advice was to wait on forgiveness. The program rules were changing often, and experts believed they would get easier for businesses that took smaller loans. That turned out to be true. Now there’s no more reason to wait. For anyone who received a first-round PPP loan, it’s time to apply for forgiveness so you don’t have to pay it back. Here’s why.
How Pinnacle Protects You
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Keep Holiday Shopping Safe with Card Controls and Alerts
Holiday shopping isn’t quite ready to go back to normal. While you try to navigate crowded spaces safely, manage delivery delays and prepare for possible toy shortages, you can take one concern off your plate. Debit card controls and alerts can help keep your bank accounts secure by proactively protecting you from unauthorized transactions and disallowing any transactions if your card is stolen or compromised.
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What Additional Security Features Does Pinnacle Provide?
Beyond the security of all Pinnacle systems and technologies, there are some very simple ways that Pinnacle clients can monitor their accounts to be sure they are free of fraud.
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How Secure are My Accounts?
Pinnacle places the highest importance on protecting our clients’ funds and information. Read this for information on how we accomplish that.
Safe Online Practices for Consumers
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Treat Mobile Payment Apps Just Like Real Money
Mobile payment apps like Venmo, Cash App and Zelle make it easy to send money virtually between friends and family. Just download the app, set up a free account, connect it to your bank account or debit card, and voila! You can pay your babysitter, reimburse a friend for picking up groceries or chip in for a group birthday gift. Easy, right? Yes, as long as you treat it like cash, because there are no strings attached. "Cash" sent through a mobile payment app can’t easily be retrieved or refunded if you send it to the wrong person or don’t receive what you paid for.
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How to Spot a Money Scam
You may have learned to spot a scam that’s phishing for your personal identifying information, like your social security number or birthdate, but some scams are just out to take your money right then and there. Even worse, when tricksters con you into completing a voluntary transaction, even under false pretenses, it’s extremely hard to retrieve your money. It’s important to be familiar with the common types of scams designed to separate you from your money.
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Password Management
If you do any amount of business online or through mobile apps, you’re familiar with password protection. It can be pesky, but passwords are part of life, and they’re absolutely critical for keeping your private information secure. The “old” way of keeping track on a post-it note or a document on your computer was never really secure. Here's our advice for managing and remembering all those complex passwords.
Safe Practices for Businesses
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Comprehensive Cyber Insurance: A New Staple for Every Business
Every business needs insurance to protect it in the event of adverse incidents that cause costly damage. A very basic business owner’s policy includes general liability, commercial property and business income insurance. But it doesn't protect your business against damages from a cyberattack. Cyber liability is often excluded from general liability policies, or when there is coverage, it’s in the form of a rider and covers a lesser amount. Insurance policies can be filled with legal terms and industry jargon, but here’s what to look for when you’re shopping for coverage against cyberattacks.
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Ransom-proofing Your Business
When small and mid-size business owners consider their risk of a ransomware attack and the investment they’ll make to prevent or mitigate that risk, some ask, “What are the real chances that our data would get held for ransom?” It may feel like the risk is quite low, especially if they’ve been in business a long time without experiencing an attack. The truth is that in the 21st Century, this is a problem for everyone. No one is immune. According to the CyberSecurity Alliance, ransomware attacks nearly doubled from 2020 to 2021. So what can business owners do? Our CIO Jeremy Hopwood gave his advice at a recent workshop we hosted in Nashville.
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Five Ways to Reduce Fraud and Protect Your Business
Financial fraud has surged, with crooks working banks and their clients. According to Banking Journal, fraud attempts have as much as tripled since early 2020, with an ever-widening variety of new scams. Human vigilance is your front-line protection, but it's not perfect. Better to have some block-and-tackle services to help tighten security and prevent fraudulent transactions. Here are five to consider.
Tips on Reporting Fraud
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How to Report Identity Theft
While dealing with problems resulting from identity theft can be time-consuming and frustrating, most victims can resolve their cases by being assertive, organized, and knowledgeable about their legal rights. Read this for steps you should take immediately.
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Report a Lost or Stolen Debit/Credit Card
If you believe your Pinnacle debit or credit card is lost or stolen, call us immediately.
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Finding a Legitimate ID Theft Protection Service
Depending on the services you want, you should be able to discover an option that fits your needs and your budget.
Fraud and Security Alerts
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Stay Calm but Vigilant: How to Protect Yourself from Russian Cyber Attacks
Through both state-sponsored and independent actors, Russia is one of the world’s biggest sources of cyberattacks. Cybersecurity experts are on heightened alert for attacks on government entities, infrastructure targets and private citizens and businesses. What does that mean for you? Do you need to hit the panic button and disconnect entirely? No. Heightened alert is good. Panic is not. Here is what you can do right now.
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This Email from Pinnacle is Real and Safe to Click
Between Feb. 28 and March 9, 2022, Pinnacle clients with a consumer or small business checking account might receive an email asking them to take part in a survey from JD Power to assess your opinions of Pinnacle’s service levels. Because we know you’re cautious, we want to assure you that this email that is legitimate and safe to click.
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Fraudulent Attempts to “Digitize” Your Debit Card
Several Pinnacle clients have recently reported attempted fraud on their debit cards from people claiming to represent Pinnacle. Here is how it seems to work.