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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.