Make 2013 A Lucky One

Many cultures bring in the New Year in traditional ways to ensure that the coming year is a good one for their families.  Beyond the reflections of the previous year and the lists of resolutions, most of which fall to the wayside be February anyway, here’s a list of things gathered from other cultures that can help bring YOU luck for the coming year.

Start With What To Wear
It is said that you should wear white for good health and peace on New Year’s Eve and new clothes on New Year’s Day with red being the color of choice to help with a bright future.  In numerous cultures the color of your underwear will determine what’s in your future. Red means love and passion will be coming your way or if you’re all set in that department than try yellow which is said to bring the wearer wealth and happiness.

The Key To Good Luck Is Through The Stomach
It's all in the lentils with a tradition that started in Italy, but has been adopted by many other cultures. Eating lentils throughout the last day of the year will help the following year be filled with riches. Plus take a handful of uncooked lentils and throw them in your purse, briefcase, backpack or whatever you carry day to day and keep them there all year and money won’t be a problem. If you need a little more help in the monetary department, eating greens on New Years Eve are said to represent paper money coming your way, plus it’s just plain good for you.
One last food that you won’t want to do without is grapes. It is said you should eat 12 grapes for each chime of the clock at midnight to represent the 12 months of the coming yar. Each grape will bring sweetness and fortune for each of the 12 months of 2013.  In Portugal and Cuba those that follow this tradition also make a wish for each grape they eat and if they encounter a sour grape it is said that month will be a tough one.
In Greece they bake a loaf of bread with a coin in it and when it’s sliced, the person who gets the coin is said to be blessed with extra good luck.

Burn Baby Burn
Candles on New Year’s Eve holds meaning in Latin countries as a way to prosperity depending on the color of the candle. A yellow candle will help with your financial problems, while a green candle brings good health, a red candle brings love and passion, an orange candle for those who seek wisdom, and a blue candle will bring peace.
Another  tradition taken from the Latin culture is to write down everything that has caused you problems in 2012 before midnight and then burn the list to put it all behind you and start the year out fresh!
Another way to rid yourself of the suffering from 2012 is to throw a glass or bucket (depending on how many problems you’ve encountered) out into the street….maybe throw it on the fire you created when you were buring that huge list... it might give that water a little more purpose.

Money Money Money
It is said you should avoid lending money or paying any bills on New Years Day.   To  do so means you’ll be paying out all year. So if you use Tropical Financial BillPay, wait until the 2^nd to schedule or pay those bills.
It’s also a tradition in some countries to hold dollar bills in your hand at the stroke of midnight to bring financial prosperity in 2013, it should be your own money and keep in mind that the larger the denomination of those bills the better results!  To add to your financial luck, take a gold ring and drop it in the drink you plan to toast with at midnight.

Who Needs The Mistletoe?
Right here in the United States the tradition of kissing at midnight started and it started to purify everything that is evil. To miss the opportunity means a year of hard-heartedness.  If you’ve found your love, but they don’t know it, it is said that if you wrap a red ribbon around their picture and put it under your pillow that night you’ll find the love with that person you’ve been waiting for.  For those just looking, it is said that just after midnight you should sit down and stand up three times quickly…of course if anyone gives you a strange look just blame the champagne.

No matter what your traditions or beliefs, from all of us here at Tropical Financial Credit Union we wish you and your family a very happy, safe and prosperous New Year!!!

^Amy

Traditions listed here along with additional ones can be found at www.huffingtonpost.com , www.Bored.com,  www.atlastravelweb.com, ww.happywink.com , and www.123NewYear.com

Tropical Financial Saved The Day AND Dollars!

Steve with a very happy member, Chloe.

Credit Unions have been known to “serve the underserved”.  What is “underserved” and who are they?

Let me share a recent story of someone who, before visiting TFCU, was CLEARLY underserved. 

Chloe visited our branch first thing on a Saturday morning.  I unlocked the door -- she was waiting to come in.  She was all smiles and explained that she had just bought her first car and a friend told her she should come see us because we had low auto loan rates.

Chloe had all her documents with her.  She showed me the contract.  The first thing that JUMPED off the page was the VERY high double-digit interest rate.  We ran an NADA value and a CARFAX report on the vehicle and learned that she had overpaid $3,000 for her car and that the vehicle had been involved in an accident.  As much was we wanted to help her, we could not finance an amount that was 23% over the value of the vehicle or a vehicle that had been previously damaged.   

Chloe told me that the dealer had a 72hr “test drive” policy and that she could still return the car.  If that was the case, I recommended that she should do so.  I also referred her to Enterprise Car Sales (one of our trusted business alliances).  She visited Enterprise, found a vehicle and then went to return the vehicle she had originally purchased. 

Unfortunately, the car salesman had only “told” her that she could return and/or exchange the vehicle.  She had nothing in writing and, you guessed it…they would not take the car back.  Armed with the information about the actual value of the car and the CARFAX report, we were able to help her negotiate with the dealer for a return of the vehicle.  After several more issues, the dealer agreed to take the vehicle back and substitute a new qualifying vehicle saving Chloe an additional $2,000.

We completed an application and processed a 1^st time buyer loan for Chloe.  The interest rate that Chloe was able to get at our Credit Union was 12.30% less than the original dealer contract!!  We were able to reduce the payment by $140 AND we reduced the number of payments as well!

Chloe is, or WAS, the underserved.  She had never purchased a car nor had she ever applied for a loan.  She was at the mercy of an unscrupulous auto dealer.  Our TFCU mission is to “provide member-owners with valuable products, services, and education to help them achieve their financial goals”.  For Chloe, we had a great product (low interest rate auto loan), a great service (we helped her negotiate a much better deal), and we provided some guidance and education.  As a result, Chloe has a better automobile with very favorable financing and payments that she can live with!

Chloe chose a credit union.  She has learned that she can rely on our commitment to our members to serve them in the best way possible.  She knows that we will always work hard to build a strong relationship—she can count on us to help her achieve her financial goals today and in the future.

Chloe is now a life-time member…an ambassador!  She has already moved her banking relationship to Tropical Financial and has referred two friends and a family member.

We give the “underserved” what they “deserve”, great products, great service, and a commitment to help them achieve all of their financial goals!

^Steve

End Of The World?

According to the Mayan calendar today is the day our world ends….but besides cooler temperatures here in Florida and a few blizzards to the north, which also isn’t unusual this time of year, I’m not seeing the mass destruction that should accompany Armageddon.  Those who have been paying attention to the experts of the Mayan civilization know that today really is the last day of the Mayan long calendar, but just like the calendars that hang on our walls – it simply means it’s time to flip the page and start the calendar over.

SO, instead of looking at this as the last day of the world – let’s look at this as tomorrow being the FIRST day of the rest of our lives!

Now that we know the “sun will come up tomorrow” and with the holidays in full swing, it’s a perfect time to reflect on the last year and begin to think about what meaningful changes we can make in our lives for 2013 and beyond.  If you have been concerned about debt and how it is affecting you and your family, now is the perfect time to look at programs that are available to Tropical Financial members to help get your financial life on track and get balance back in your life.

The program, called Balance, offers Money Management Counseling, Housing Counseling, Credit Report Review, Debt Management, and even Identity Theft prevention and counseling.  The program counselors are people who really understand the problems and obstacles that people have had to endure with money management and will walk you through a program designed for your own situation.  For more information or to speak to a counselor check out the information on our Balance page at Tropicalfcu.com

From all of us here at Tropical Financial Credit Union we wish you and your family a very happy holiday season and a prosperous New Year!

^Amy

Community At The Global Level

The events of last Friday touched so many lives, well beyond the borders of Newtown, Connecticut.  This was an event that touched the hearts of millions of people around the world and together we mourn.  We mourn the innocence lost, we feel the struggle of the families who were directly affected, and each of us pulled our own families a little closer than ever before over the weekend.  We marvel at the heroism of those adults who threw themselves into danger without a thought of their own personal safety to protect the children in their care.

Over the weekend parents had to talk to their own children and answer some tough questions to best of their ability.  The “why” is the one that may never be known, but is probably the most asked.  Some parents kept the TVs off to try and protect their children only to go to the local stores and have the kids exposed to everyone talking about Friday’s events, speculating on the “why,” trying to make sense of a senseless act.  We want to protect our children with everything in us, and as one person here always says – she wants to fold her boys up and put them in her pocket to keep them safe.  We may not be able to put them in our pockets, but we can teach them that although we live in an imperfect world, there are still things we can do to be alert and report to authorities anything that is unusual at school or in the community. 

In the aftermath of this tragedy, the one thing that continues to amaze and give strength is the incredible outpouring of support from throughout the world.  We have become one community behind this one small town.  As employees of a credit union we know what it means to get behind our community, so every one of us here at Tropical Financial send our thoughts and support to all those affected by this tragedy in our global community; but especially to those directly affected in Newtown.

Today we begin another new day, renewed in the comfort that we are not alone.

^Amy

Change Is Never Easy

I’m sure you’ve noticed that our online banking has been going through some changes this past month, but I wanted to take a moment to explain some of the changes and why these changes are all happening now. One of the biggest changes is to increase the security of your account.  It may seem like a pain to make changes to your user id and password, but it’s important to understand that as more and more people use technology to do their banking that also means more, more criminals take to the Internet to commit their crimes. They are looking specifically for weaknesses in financial institution sites, so it’s important to us to make changes to keep them locked out and keep your money safe.

First if you have been using your account number as your “username” that’s the first thing you will need to change. You will be prompted to change it to a minimum of six characters and they can’t be just numbers, they should be made up of a combination of letters, numbers and the following special characters: @$*_-=! ~

                TIP: Sometimes it’s easier to create a user id and password that is unique and special to you and replace the letters of the word with numbers and special characters. For instance instead of a word like “password” it can be changed to “P@$$w0rd” Change the a to @ the s to $ and the letter o to the number zero. (please don’t actually use this as your username or password, it’s still too common). 

Your password will also need to meet new requirements – it must be six or more characters and also contain both letters, numbers and/or the same symbols allowed for your username.

After you’ve changed your username and password you will still need to go through one more new steps so our system can identify that it’s really you using that particular device. You will be asked to provide your land line or cellphone number for a phone you have with you and we will immediately send you an access code via voice or SMS text message – you tell us which you prefer.  We also can send you an email to the email address you have on file if you don’t have a phone with you if you select “I do not have access to a phone” during enrollment.  Once you get the access code, you can then enter that access code into your computer to complete the new login process. If the computer is one that is secure and one you use a lot you can choose the option of bypassing this step on the next login by selecting the option that it is private, but if you’re using a public computer or one you don’t usually use, you will not want to choose this option, but the next time you login from that computer you will need to go through this process again. You will also go through the same process for each new device you log on from.

                Tip: No matter what computer you’re using when EVER you’re conducting business online that requires you to enter any secure information like usernames/passwords/credit card info, etc. you should make sure to protect that site with Trusteer – the security software we offer TFCU members for free. Once downloaded on your computer make sure to click on the gray arrow in the upper right of the address bar and secure that website (click here for more information on how Trusteer works).

Once you’re logged into your account the top portion of the page will look different, and there will be some navigation changes:

Upper right hand corner

My Profile - Change your login credentials, update security contacts, maintain alerts and notifications, Update account nicknames, User Options – change email, email promotions, account nicknames, change postal address and change phone number (not for OTP)

HELP – view help text online

Support – how to contact us

Logout – ALWAYS use to log out of Online Banking properly

Main Navigation Bar

My Accounts – view your accounts, transaction history, check images, export transactions, make a transfer

Bill Pay –Save time and money Pay your Bills Online!

Move Money – Make a transfer, Schedule a transfer (one time or recurring)

Manage Money – Finance works and Turbo Tax

Additional Services – Mobile Banking Alerts, eStatements, TFCU Loan Payment Center, Tropical Mortgage, EZ Deposits, Products and Service - Reorder Checks, Account Opening,

Secure Forms – Cross Account Transfer, Account information update, Election to convert you existing checking account, Student checking

Credit Cards – Online Access to your Tropical Credit Card.

To put all these things into place you probably have noticed that we have had some downtime and I’m afraid this weekend, Saturday December 15^th, we will be down for one more upgrade. The change will start at 9pm on Saturday and again will last around 4 hours. During that time you won’t have access to your online banking, telephone banking (Homebranch), or mobile banking.

If you have questions about the process, check out the frequently asked questions about the new security changes.  We apologize for any inconveniences and we appreciate your understanding as we continue to work toward bringing you the best and most secure online banking experience possible!

^Amy

Doing It Right The First Time

Reviewing my checking account last week I noticed a charge for my satellite radio….I guess my free subscription with my new car had expired.  Unfortunately, I forgot how much I authorized them to charge my card and the timeframe it included when I gave them the info upon purchasing the car. 

I put off calling the company until I could speak to a representative without any interruptions. So, on the way home from work one evening I called from my car, using Bluetooth of course,  I called and was asked to press 1 for this and 2 for that for my language preference.   Then I was asked to press 1, 2, 3, 4, and so on and so on and so on for the purpose of my call.  The only fitting category was CANCEL my service.   I was immediately transferred to a customer listening representative.  Hannah was very friendly and reiterated several times that she would be happy to work with me if I decided to continue the subscription.  I love my satellite radio, but the holidays are around the corner and this was entirely too much to pay to listen to the radio! If worse came to worse I would ask my teenager to burn some music to a disc for me rather than pay out money that in my mind, was frivolous and unnecessary.

In the end, my subscription was extended at no charge and I am paid in full for a long, long time.  We exchanged pleasantries and I expressed my gratitude for her help in getting the package deal and economic pricing and wished her a nice evening.

Now, WHY do we have to call and discuss these things??  This is certainly not the only company that I have experienced this with, as a matter of fact; I am the spokesperson for half of my very large family when it comes to these types of issues.   In most cases, the issues/pricing/package deals etc.  are resolved very quickly and to my satisfaction.  I appreciate that, don’t get me wrong but if a better price is available, why not give it from the get go?

The time and energy I spent making the phone call and pleading my case was entirely unnecessary and very annoying to me.  Although it worked out, I prefer to do business with companies that do it right the first time!

Let’s get back to great customer service! Do business with companies that do things right the first time!

Do business with Tropical FCU, we are here for you and we are listening!

^Kat

'Tis The Season For Giving

We all have busy lives and especially this time of year we all seem to be busier than ever – but it’s also the season of giving,  Not just giving to family and friends, but also to our community – giving back.

So here’s a quick list of things you can do in your everyday life that can give back in subtle ways and won’t take up too much of your time:  

• Shop locally – yeah the prices may be a little higher than those giant stores, but it helps the local economy thereby helping us all.
• Donating money to a local charity. It doesn’t have to be much – even a dollar or change from a purchase can make a difference. Often retailers will have canisters next to the cash register; if it’s for a local charity it’s a perfect opportunity to share your change.
• Lots of businesses are collecting for various organizations, like cans of food or toys – just pick up an extra can of corn when you’re at the store and remember to drop it into that box next time. At Tropical Financial we just finished our canned food drive for Feeding South Florida, and had excellent participation from employees and members!
• Next time you go for a walk in your neighborhood, take a garbage bag and pick up any trash that might be lying around – you get the exercise AND help your neighborhood look nicer.
• How well do you know your neighbors? Do you know one that is elderly? Surprise them with a meal or a box of homemade cookies, it will warm your heart more than you can imagine.
• Have a Facebook account? Do a search of local charities then share one or two of your favorites on your own wall and ask your friends to go like that charities page – it will help raise their awareness and give them new people to share events with.
• Are you a dog lover? Check with your local shelter to see if you can volunteer to help take some of the dogs for walks on a Saturday.
• If you have a little more time, stop by a nursing home or assisted living facility and volunteer to read to some of the residents.
• Pay it forward - Do something unexpected and nice for a stranger, like buy a cup of coffee for the person standing in line behind you or pay the toll for the car behind you and ask the attendant to give that person a message from you  to continue to pay it forward....that is if you can find a toll booth that still has an attendant ;-)
• And last, but not least, share this list with others so we can all do our part this holiday season  to brighten the lives of others in our community!

Happy Holidays!

^Amy

Fall Means HOLIDAYS!

Here it is already fall, although in South Florida we usually don’t even notice the seasons.  For us it’s either hot or cold!  Like the last few weeks the temperature dropped a few degrees and we were dressed in sweaters and boots and feeling chilly…

It is the time of year when we can open our windows and let the fresh, cool air blow through our previously air-conditioned homes.  Maybe even gets us in the mood for cleaning, - or not!   Arts & Crafts Fairs pop up throughout the county and going with the girls and buying the handmade artifacts, is so much fun.   South Floridians truly enjoy fall weekends because it seems like there is always something to do.   Holiday decorations are displayed everywhere, cinnamon scents wafting through the air encouraging us to indulge in the purchase of sweets, mmmm!  Guess what folks, the holidays are here! 

This year we will have relatives coming to visit from the north and from "across the pond," we are preparing for a very large and happy holiday with a few more seats at our very long family table.  These relatives first visited us in January of this year after finding each other through the magic of Facebook.  They came bearing gifts for each and every one of us –children and spouses, included!

I have begun my shopping and I am relying on the TFCU FinanceWorks to help me stay within my holiday budget.  I do not want to overspend, but I want our “new” family members to feel welcome and perhaps take them to a few famous sights as well as invite them to a nice dinner out with some of the family – not all 25 of us – pulleeezzee…

With the FinanceWorks budgeting feature I can set up a budget and keep tabs on how I’m doing by simply signing on to Online Banking – everything appears on the opening page and when I see that round graph, I get an at-a-glance check of how much I’ve spent.   FinanceWorks is a tool that TFCU offers through Online Banking at no cost, that’s right, a Quicken financial management product at no cost to TFCU members through Online Banking.

Log on to your account to check out FinanceWorks through your online banking account for yourself – there is even a demo you can watch.  You’ll be able to set up goals and a budget.  You can also add other accounts including credit cards, your 401K and your kids accounts, you can keep track of all your finances in one place. You can even set up weekly emails to let you see how you're doing or alerts if you fall below thresholds that you set.  It's like having a full time assistant at no cost lol!  Let FinanceWorks do all the work and help you get through your shopping this holiday without getting you in over your head. 

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

^Kat