Banknotes Blog

Nationwide, businesses and individuals have seen an uptick in fraudulent theft attempts this year, and we want to help your business be vigilant and avoid losses. Even though you may be busy facing the challenges of supply disruption and inflationary pressures this year, don’t miss an opportunity for a quick system check of your security procedures to make sure you catch any vulnerabilities before someone else finds them.

Preparing for a new baby can be an overwhelming, anxiety-inducing, exciting experience. Strollers, diapers, daycare … there are so many decisions to make in what seems like a long time, but really isn’t. If you’re a new mom or dad, you know how quickly nine months pass. If we can give anyone that is expecting one piece of advice, it’s to add financial planning for your child to your list of to-dos.

If your business needs expensive or specialized equipment like machinery, fleet vehicles, heavy duty trucks, or high-end computers, you may be wondering how to finance these purchases. Let’s consider some factors that might influence your decision to either buy or lease.

Ideally, we would all enter our retirement years fully confident that our investment and retirement planning efforts would translate into comfortably maintaining our desired lifestyles until the day we die. However, retirement planning, like most important things, is not that simple.

You’ve probably heard the old investing adage, “Sell in May and go away.” It’s an expression based on the theory that the stock market underperforms during the warmer summer months, before coming back six months later with stronger growth. By its logic, one would sell their investments in May and not invest again until sometime around the beginning of November. With the market activity we’ve seen so far in 2022 – and specifically, into the last couple of weeks of April – it’s fair to wonder whether the selling came early this year.

According to the U.S. Small Business Administration, 99 percent of all companies are considered small businesses. And, while 80 percent of small businesses are sole operations with no employees, the remaining 20 percent are still responsible for employing 48 percent of all private sector employees. That’s one of the reasons why Lake Ridge Bank has dedicated an entire department specifically to serving small businesses in our local community.

If you’re like many people, your understanding of how an annuity works probably looks something like this: You give an insurance company a sum of money, and the insurance company returns the funds to you as a monthly payment for the rest of your life. While accurate, that understanding encompasses only what are referred to as immediate annuities – there are other types available that may be more beneficial in certain circumstances.

For business owners, there’s never enough time in the day. Whether you’re meeting with current or potential clients and talking to vendors, or putting out fires and managing the day-to-day operation of your enterprise, you’ve got a lot on your plate. The best way to buy yourself time is to find efficiencies when and where you can.

Since the start of the pandemic, the interest rate environment has presented plenty of challenges to commercial borrowers and depositors alike. Although a bank money market account offers a safe place to keep funds with immediate availability, there are other alternatives a business might want to consider before parking excess capital there for the long term.

With the current inventory of homes for sale in Dane County down more than 10 percent from last year at this time, many people on the hunt for a home are considering building as another option for their situation. While there are distinct pros and cons for both building and buying a home that make either option a viable solution, the financing process can be more complicated to navigate when building.

You would never just settle for “good enough” in your personal relationships. Your business banking relationship deserves the same standard of excellence. Let’s review some questions to consider when researching your banking options.

Baby Boomers are rapidly retiring, and Gen-Xers aren't far behind. It's easy to imagine their positive expectations, but it's important to recognize that, for many, retirement also presents a few downsides. Here are four non-financial “lost benefits” for your consideration as you plan and prepare for your eventual retirement.

There are plenty of economic reasons to not want to revisit the Seventies. Unfortunately, we're dealing with many of the same issues now that we were then, plus Covid. There's good news to be found, though. Here's why it's unlikely we're going to see a full repeat of history.

As a business owner, the security of your operation is likely never far from your mind. Trouble is, when it comes to safeguarding your business against fraudsters, scammers, and other external threats, it can be difficult to know where to start. To that end, we’re sharing a blog published by the Federal Trade Commission that provides some foundational support for any business owner looking to stay safe and keep their enterprise running smoothly.

Your credit score is an important part of your financial health. Credit Sense can help you understand your current credit score and provide suggestions for improvement based on the criteria that go into the equation.

As any business owner knows, there are many financial considerations to make when deciding how to run the company. A qualified tax adviser can help.

Trying to time the market is generally not in an investor's best interests. A better strategy is to bucket and diversify.

For those who didn’t purchase or refinance last year, you might be feeling like you missed the boat on low mortgage interest rates. Current rates may be making people experience a bit of sticker shock comparatively. Is it too late to take advantage of the low-rate trend? The answer is no … relatively speaking.

People usually get into farming thanks to family ties, along with a deep love for the land and the lifestyle. We want to support that passion and the rich culture and traditions it upholds. If you hear the call of farming entrepreneurship, we don’t want you to give up your dreams out of fear of lost fortune. Here are a number of ways we're prepared to help you succeed in your farming endeavors.

If you're retired and interested in returning to work for personal reasons or to help ease the burden of a national shortage of workers, then you might be in a position of power to set up your situation so you can enjoy work more than ever before.

We’ve lived for 20+ years – at least – since inflation was a problem. (The reality may be closer to 40 years.) Here’s a quick review of what inflation is, how it affects normal people, and how to adjust your finances accordingly.