When it comes to personal finances, knowledge is as important as the amount of assets you hold. In fact, any financial decision-making—from choosing a certificate of deposit to selecting long-term investment opportunities—should involve some degree of weighing the available options and assessing the pros and cons… always supported by a solid foundation of basic financial know-how.

In short, leveraging knowledge is the only way to ensure your hard-earned money is maximizing its potential earning power and helping secure your future—whether that involves learning the essentials of stock and bond mutual funds, developing planning strategies for long term investments or assessing the appropriateness of life insurance.

To that end, Coastal Heritage Bank is committed to providing access to the financial resources you need. We do so in many ways—from providing online educational materials to offering free consultations with experienced CHB Financial Partners.

We encourage you to put these resources to work throughout the year—and particularly during April, in commemoration of National Financial Literacy Month.

Unfortunately, some people may take advantage of COVID-19 by using fraudulent websites, phone calls, emails, and text messages. While claiming to offer “help,” they may be trying to trick people into providing social security numbers, bank account numbers, and other valuable personal information. Do not divulge your bank or credit card numbers or any other personal information over the phone unless you initiated the conversation with the other party and you know that it is a reputable organization.

In addition, you should be cautious about online solicitations. Be on guard against imposters who contact you claiming to be government employees or volunteers and who ask for personal financial information or money. Learn more about how to protect yourself from these scams in the March 2020 edition of Consumer News.

Reject offers to cash a check for someone in exchange for a fee, even if the bank makes the funds available to you right away, as it may later turn out that the check was fraudulent. Read more about fake checks in the August 2019 edition of Consumer News. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has additional information at Avoid Coronavirus Scams.

https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/blog/2020/04/new-funding-coronavirus-sba-loans-attracts-scammers