Opportunities in the Mortgage Market

Shelaghmicheal Brown, head of Compass Bank’s Consumer Financial Services division discusses what’s happening in the mortgage market and where the opportunities lie in the current situation. The spectrum is wide open – from refinancing to take advantage of lower interest rates to purchasing foreclosures. The key is to take your time and make sure you have the right lender in place to help you through the process.

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Tax Preparation Becomes Financial Planning

Ann Coffey with the Compass Bank Wealth Management Group discusses how this year’s tax preparation can become next year’s financial planning. It boils down to analyzing your current tax return through your taxable events which in turn can make you more tax aware in the coming year.

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Retirement’s Around the Corner – Are You Ready?

The baby boomer generation is quickly approaching retirement, but it seems that some have fallen behind on saving. Craig Love with Compass Bank discusses how we’re seeing the first generation that can’t completely rely on company pension plans and is having to become more dependent on themselves. The federal government has introduced come “catch-up” provisions to assist this generation as they transition out of the workforce, but these opportunities need to be taken advantage of as quickly as possible in order to maximize their benefits over time.

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In a three-part series, Kirk Fullerton of Compass Bank’s SBA group provides an overview of the Small Business Administration, explains differences between SBA loans and conventional loans and shares a success story of how a SBA loan made one company’s holiday season a lot brighter.

Part One: Kirk Fullerton provides an overview of the SBA, how it works and the type of loans it offers. Plus, Kirk separates myth from fact about the so-called “red tape” with these loans. He explains how easy it is to apply for a loan, the advantages of SBA loans and the importance of working with a SBA preferred lender.

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Part Two: This segment points out a few of the differences between SBA and conventional loans and gives examples of when a company would opt for an SBA loan. The structure of a SBA loan allows a company to preserve its working capital and extend its loan maturities. For example, a SBA loan only requires 10 percent down instead of the 20 percent required with a conventional loan.

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Part Three: Kirk relays the story of a past client that benefited from a SBA loan at a crucial time. The company was about to close its doors right before the holiday season. In a matter of three weeks, Compass was able to work out a SBA loan which took care of payroll and kept the doors of the company open…and saved the jobs of all the employees.

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Walking on the Wild Side of Finance - Alternative Investing

Rick Terry, of Compass Bank's Wealth Management Group, talks about alternative ways to invest your money — be it real estate, artwork, precious metals or hedge funds. This practice is for sophisticated investors who already have their basic plans taken care of and who have extra cash. The benefit of investing in alternative assets is to reduce overall portfolio risk by smoothing out the roller coaster ride that occurs when investing solely in the typical stocks, bonds and cash.

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Jim Recer of Compass Bank speaks about the importance of business owners having a succession plan in place and why many owners have a tough time thinking about an exit strategy. He also touches upon planning for succession early and how mapping out a succession strategy can, in some cases, take years, especially while a management team may still be maturing with the company.

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Lonnie Hayes of Compass Bank speaks about when a company should use its own line of credit and when it should take out a loan at the bank. Lonnie talks about repayment and loan structure. Additionally, he emphasizes matching up short-term debt with short-term liability and long-term debt with long-term liability.

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With an ever-increasing focus on maximizing shareholder value, George Boltwood of Compass Bank talks about how managing corporate reputation risk has become a hot-button issue. Your reputation is like integrity: you either have it or you don't.

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Jim Recer of Compass Bank talks about ways to determine the value of your business before you put it up for sale. Jim discusses how a company can maximize its bargaining power, how to determine the value of a business for the buyer and when is the right time to sell a business.

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Karin Marshall of Compass Insurance talks about the rising costs of health care and the future of health care in the U.S. based on industry trends. Karin points to Health Savings Accounts as one option to help bring down costs, as well as other consumer-driven health care plans.

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Joan Baraba of Compass Bank talks about the trend toward a "checkless" or "cashless" society. With new technology and electronic transfers becoming as common as email, will the paper dollars in your wallet soon become a thing of the past? If so, why is there more paper currency in circulation than ever before?

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