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Roth IRA Conversion Changes
Most sources agree that the Roth IRA (Individual Retirement Account) has passed the traditional IRA in popularity. Have you been thinking about switching to Roth IRAs?
You should know that Congress has recently passed a new rule that eliminates the income limits on converting Traditional IRAs to Roth IRAs. Those individuals who earn more than $100,000 per year can now make that conversion of their current IRAs from Traditional to Roth.
When converting funds from Traditional to Roth, the contributed funds will be taxed at conversion due to the tax-free nature of Roth distributions. The taxation of these contributed funds can be taxed over a 2-year period as opposed to all in one year as part of the new rule.
Roth IRAs offer many benefits to those who hold IRAs as retirement accounts. As mentioned previously, when distributions are taken from Roth IRAs, those funds are tax-free to those over 59 ½ since the contributed funds were taxed before deposit.
Also, there is no minimum age that a person must begin taking distributions like there is on a Traditional IRA. At 70 ½ years of age, a Roth IRA owner is not required to take distributions. This is a nice feature for those who intend their retirement funds to be passed on to future generations.
If you’re considering converting an existing Traditional IRA to a Roth IRA, you should discuss it with your tax advisor to be sure it’s the right choice for you.
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Second Full-Service Banking Location in Mankato
On October 22nd, the new full service location of United Prairie Bank in City Center Mankato opened for business. This bank marks the second office to open in Mankato in 3 years. The first is located at 10 Firestone Drive, across from Menards off Highway 22, which also serves as the United Prairie company headquarters.
Our NEW location dwells in the heart of the downtown in the newly renovated Graif Building, directly across from the Verizon Wireless Center. This historic building originally housed the first bank in Mankato in the late 1800s. Many architectural focal points have been restored to their original state in the bank’s portion of the building.
“We’re pleased to offer another location for our customers to take care of their banking needs,” commented Pam Jagdfeld, Market President for the 2 Mankato UPB locations.
Available banking services at the City Center office will be deposit, loan, investment, and even safe deposit boxes.
“We’re proud to be a part of the revitalization efforts taking place in the City Center Mankato area. It’s an exciting project that we hope will continue to grow momentum over time,” said David Wittenberg, Regional Manager for the greater Mankato area and Director of Private Banking for UPB.
Designated customer parking is available on the south side of the Graif building.
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LifeSTYLE checking account rewards depositors with lavish extras
People are always attracted to a good deal. That’s why our Prairie LifeSTYLE checking account is the account of choice for many of our customers.
LifeSTYLE account holders get free LifeSTYLE checks, free safe deposit box rental, free online Bill Pay, no-fee travelers checks and money orders, free stop pays and a host of other bank-related benefits.
In order to get all those perks, LifeSTYLE account holders keep a $5,000 total deposit relationship with the bank. That sounds like a lot, but that includes all their deposit accounts – certificates of deposit, money market balances, savings accounts and even IRAs.
That means customers can keep the bulk of their money in accounts that pay higher interest yield.
If a LifeSTYLE customer’s balance drops below $5,000 any day of the statement cycle, a nominal $7 fee is charged once that statement cycle. According to our personal bankers, we have quite a few customers who choose to have a LifeSTYLE account even if they have to pay the $7 a month fee because there is so much value offered.
For more information on the LifeSTYLE checking account, or to enroll in LifeSTYLE checking, contact your local United Prairie Bank representative.
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Bill Pay available for United Prairie customers
United Prairie Bank customers can pay bills from the comfort of their own home with Online Bill Pay.
What is Bill Pay? Bill Pay allows you to pay anyone – an individual, business or even a utility – from within your online banking program.
It’s simple, fast and convenient. Once you’ve enrolled in Bill Pay (just sign up at your local United Prairie Bank). You will be able to open the Bill Pay program from within your eBanking service. So there is still just one log in procedure.
Once in the program, you can set up payees by entering a few bits of information. In the case of business payees, you usually enter your billing account number so your payment can be identified upon receipt.
You decide the amount and when the bill will be paid. The program tells you how much lead time you need. The payment amount is drawn out of the United Prairie bank account you specify.
Once that payee is set up, the information can be used for subsequent payments. And, you can set up automatic, recurring payments or one-time payments.
“It’s incredible how convenient Bill Pay is,” said one United Prairie Bank customer. “I can pay my bills in just a few minutes a month without stamps or trips to the post office.”
United Prairie Bank Bill Pay is free to all Prairie LifeSTYLE customers. But all customers can try the service for free for three months. Once the free period has expired, personal checking customers pay a charge of just $4.95 a month for up to 25 payments a month. After that, each payment is an additional 40 cents.
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Ten Things the IRS Wants You to Know About Identity Theft
IRS TAX TIP 2009-11
1. If you receive a letter or notice from the IRS which leads you to believe someone may have fraudulently used your Social Security Number, respond immediately to the name and address or phone number printed on the IRS notice.
2. If you receive a letter from the IRS that indicates more than one tax return was filed for you, this may be a sign that your SSN was used fraudulently.
3. Another sign that you may be the target of identity theft is an IRS letter indicating you received wages from an employer unknown to you.
4. The IRS has a department which deals specifically with identity theft issues. The IRS Identity Protection Specialized Unit is available if you have been in contact with the IRS about an identity theft issue and have not achieved a resolution.
5. You can contact the IRS Identity Protection Specialized Unit by calling the Identity Theft Hotline at 800-908-4490 Monday through Friday from 8:00 am to 8:00 pm local time (Alaska and Hawaii follow Pacific Standard Time).
6. The IRS Identity Protection Specialized Unit is also available if you believe your identity may be at risk of being stolen due to a lost or stolen purse or wallet or due to questionable activity on your credit card or your credit report.
7. The IRS never initiates communication with taxpayers about their tax account through emails. If you receive an e-mail or find a Web site you think is pretending to be the IRS, forward the e-mail or Web site URL to the IRS at phishing@irs.gov.
8. The IRS has many more resources available to help inform taxpayers about identity theft on the IRS Web site at IRS.gov. On IRS.gov you can access information on how to report scams and bogus IRS Web sites. You can also visit the IRS Identity Theft Resource Page, which you can find by typing Identity Theft Resource Page in the search box on the IRS.gov home page.
9. The Federal Trade Commission is also available to assist taxpayers with identity theft issues. You can reach them at 877-ID-THEFT (877-438-4338).
10. Visit OnGuardOnline.gov for protection tips from the federal government and the technology industry.
(This information was taken word for word from the IRS.gov website.)
UPDATED 5/29/2009
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FDIC deposit insurance increases extended
Good news for depositors! On May 20, 2009, President Barack Obama signed the Helping Families Save Their Homes Act, which extends the temporary increase in the standard maximum deposit insurance amount (SMDIA) to $250,000 per depositor through December 31, 2013.
Back in 2008, FDIC deposit insurance was temporarily increased from $100,000 to $250,000 per depositor through December 31, 2009.
The new extension of the temporary $250,000 coverage limit became effective immediately upon the President's signature. The legislation provides that the SMDIA will return to $100,000 on January 1, 2014. (FDIC FIL-22-2009)
UPDATED 5/29/2009
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FDIC Transaction Account Guarantee Program
United Prairie Bank is participating in the FDIC’s Transaction Account Guarantee Program. Under that program, through December 31, 2009, all noninterest-bearing transaction accounts are fully guaranteed by the FDIC for the entire amount in the account. Coverage under the Transaction Account Guarantee Program is in addition to and separate from the coverage available under the FDIC’s general deposit insurance rules.
UPDATED 3/12/2009
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