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Credit Union Times
MARCH 27, 2019 | VOL. 30 | NO. 9 | CUTIMES.COM
Must Reads
INVESTMENTS
‘Pensionize’ 401(k)s and IRAs
In a world of defined contributions, American workers have
three challenges – inadequate
savings, leakage (or loans/early
withdrawals) tied to their retirement accounts and the need for
retirement income. Plus, just half
of all DC plans offer a way for
investors to transform balances
into periodic retirement income,
with only one in five offering
guaranteed lifetime payouts.
This situation prompted Steve
Vernon of the Stanford Center on Longevity, Wade Pfau of
The American College of Financial Services and researcher Joe
Tomlinson to explore and devise solutions to “pensionize”
retirement plans. Their work,
first published last year and then
updated this year, finds that only
one-third of workers contact financial advisors, and most lack
the necessary skills to convert
savings into retirement income
and typically have short planning horizons.
But research from the Stanford Center on Longevity (SCL)
and Society of Actuaries (SOA)
has found a “straightforward retirement strategy,” according to
the three authors. “Choosing a
specific solution that will help
workers generate retirement income requires them to make
informed tradeoffs between potentially competing goals,” they
explained, such as “maximizing
lifetime income; providing access to savings (liquidity); planning for bequests;
LENDING
Helping Negotiate Fin ncial Aid
Between now and May 1, many
incoming college freshmen
and their families will be grappling with choosing which college to attend, and financial aid
could play a crucial role in that
decision.
Even families whose completed Free Application for
Federal Student Aid (FAFSA)
has yielded an Expected Family
Contribution (EFC) close to or
above the total cost for he institution of choice may be able to
negotiate for some aid, though
the odds are low unless their
financial circumstances hav
changed.
“It is worthwhile to appeal for
more financial aid if the financial
offer is unreasonable based o
your financial circum tances …
do s not consider your special
circumstances or there’s been a
change in your financial circum-
tances,” wrote Mark Kantrow-
itz, publ sher and vice president
of research at Savingforcollege.
com and author of the new book,
“How to Appeal for More College
Financial Aid.”
Since the FAFSA, which is the
basis for college financial aid, is
now based on tax returns that are
at least two years old – the 2019–
20 FAFSA form reports on 2017
income info mation – it is very
possible that a family’s financial
circumstances have changed.
Failure to file the FAFSA, how-
ever, will preclude receiving any
financial aid.
Another reason to ap- Y16
he Tampa, Fla.-based
analytics and consult-
ing organization Trel-
lance demonstrated
its mission to provide new re-
sources, expertise and execu-
tion capabilities to credit unions
with its acquisition of the Plym-
outh, Minn.-based data consult-
ing company OnApproach in
February.
The business move transformed
a powerful couple of CUSOs into
a new, laser-focused credit union
analytics provider.
“We continue to recognize the
importance of data analytics in
providing insights to drive results
today and into the future. With
this acquisition, Trellance in con-
junction with OnApproach will al-
low credit unions to use real-time
data to increase efficiencies, man-
age risks and enrich relationships
with their members,” Trellance
President/CEO
Tom Davis said.
A board of directors and leadership team, headed
by Davis, also
includes OnApproach CEO Paul
Ablack, who re-
mained on board to direct the
product development of M360
Enterprise, an analytic data-
model solution that allows credit
unions to integrate all data
Trellance Creates CUSO Powerhouse
ROY URRICO
rurrico@cutimes.com
Y17
FINTECH
Davis
Bond Claim
Management
Learn the
post-internal fraud
must-dos. Y12
The Shared
Branching
Model
It plays a critical
role in CU
longevity. Y8
FOCUSREPORT:
BRANCH EVOLUTION
The brick-and-mortar credit union branch is here to stay, but its purpose,
design and service model is changing rapidly. In this Focus Report, learn
about the trends shaping the branch of the future, most notably self-service
technology. Y6
CUs Adapt
to Housing
Trends
JIM DUPLESSIS
jduplessis@cutimes.com
avid Yancey doesn’t
have a big income,
but he’s committed
to living in the core of
At 31, after six years of paying
rent and with income between
$40,000 and $60,000 a year as a
coffee trader, Yancey bought his
first home in February. He paid
$525,000 for a recently renovated,
2,600-square-foot, two-story house
in the Central City neighborhood
two blocks off St. Charles Avenue.
He managed to stay within biking distance of work and friends
with his parents’ help on a 20%
down payment, and plans to rent
part of the house.
Who got the loan? Not a credit
union.
“It never crossed my mind,” he
said. “I’m not very familiar with
them, and I don’t have any friends
who have gone through credit
unions for the loan.”
That wasn’t the case with Erik
Reks, now 30, who moved from
Boston, Mass., to New Orleans in
2017. Reks wanted to work with
a credit union. He had been a
member of Harvard Employees
Credit Union, and recalled feeling
it treated him well with a car loan.
“I liked the idea of credit unions.
I like the independence Y18
LENDING