Traditionally, when delegating the financial roles in a household, men get the “real” money management while women are resigned to bookkeeping and bill paying. This often leaves the wife uninformed as to the general financial health of her family. Worse yet is the widow who discovers that the nest egg she thought her husband was managing turns out to be a hollow shell. The best way to avoid these kinds of surprises at retirement is to ask three simple questions:

Know what you earn, own (including financial accounts), spend and owe. These are the foundation you need to understand your finances. Turning a blind eye to this information will only perpetuate financial problems. As stated by Diane Savage, an author and financial advisor, “’Ignorance is bliss’ until a person arrives at the ‘pay the piper’ stage.” It’s also not a bad idea to double-check the face amount and beneficiary names listed on your and your husband’s life insurance policies.

Whether you envision a calm, relaxed retirement or extravagant vacations, you need to know the financial implications of the lifestyle you choose. Almost every goal has some kind of financial consequence attached to it and should be carefully considered regarding its importance and relation to your other goals.

With all the complicated processes and options in finances, this can be a difficult question to answer. Don’t be fooled by people offering a “quick fix,” as they are often just salesmen trying to earn a commission. Either research your options with a clear and objective mind, or find someone competent in the field that you can trust.

Smart Financial Credit Union, knows the challenges that small business owners face each day. After all, they were once a small business themselves. Now, they’re putting their 74 years of financial strength behind helping small businesses grow.

With Smart Financial Business Services such as interest-bearing business checking accounts with lower fees, investment options, business loans, and lines of credit, business owners can spend less time worrying about finances and more time growing. Smart Financial even offers Merchant Services with competitive rates on card processing, as well as HR Solutions to help with payroll, tax, training, cash flow management and much more. For those on-the-go business owners, Smart Financial offers convenient access to accounts via free online banking, and Business debit and credit cards.

It’s a Smart business decision to work with someone local, who has the strength, stability and personal service that small businesses deserve. Whether it’s a small or big financial decision, Smart Financial Credit Union is there to help. After all, Smart Financial is here to help small businesses do big things!

For more information on the vast array of Business Services that Smart Financial Credit Union has to offer, visit www.smartcu.org. Or, contact the SFCU Sugar Land Office, conveniently located at 9810 Highway 90A, by calling 713-407-4380 and speak with Kim DeLeon, Branch Manager.

Hello Fort Bend County! This magazine is about family businesses. As a small business owner myself, I am proud that my State Farm Agency supports my family and my family supports my agency. I have a great understanding about families. I was a single mom raising three kids on my own for seven years; so I understand single parent life. A few months ago I married my new husband Johnny, who has welcomed me and my three children into his heart. Even though we are a great team, the challenges of taking three kids to practices and games and making sure we are all together at dinner is still a struggle. Parenting is a full time job for any one, so I know finding time to adequately assess your insurance and financial portfolio is a major challenge. That’s where I come in, it is my passion to help others succeed and protect what they have worked so hard for. I make sure you have the proper insurance coverage to protect your assets and I can help you invest your assets so you can pay for college and plan for retirement. Time flies so fast and retirement and college will be here before you know it.

I am also active in Sugar Land Rotary, Business Network International as well as volunteering at my church, my kids school and community events.

I have an awesome team who are experienced, licensed and all have the same passion I do for helping others.

Please feel free to stop by my office or call. We are ready and willing to assist in any way possible. The office is open Monday thru Friday from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM. My team and I understand the hectic lifestyles and will meet after hours or on Saturdays by appointment. I am available 24 hours a day by email or cell phone. The office is located at 15510 Lexington Blvd. Ste. N, Sugar Land, TX 77478. Tracy and her team can be reached at 281-265-0711 and via the web at www.tracywalker.us.

It is quite clear that the businessmen of Wallis, Texas who founded Wallis State Bank in 1906 had a plan for its future. Today, that vision is still alive and being carried out through continued growth and development of our branches, products, and technological advances.

The most recent changes include the addition of the FREE Business Checking Account for small businesses in need of a commercial account with no minimum balance requirement. Wallis State Bank also introduced additional tiers to the Prime Star Money Market Account. These additions allow Wallis State Bank to offer a tiered rate schedule to maximize the benefit to customers. Every business is unique and has specific needs, so we can tailor a loan structured to meet those demands. Loans include small advances to cover everyday business expenses to multi-million dollar construction projects. Wallis State Bank is there step by step to help your business succeed.

The goal of Wallis State Bank is to continue to provide the quality financial products and services with an irreplaceable personal touch that has been developed through more than a century of experience. Let us help you make the most of your money with banking products and services to fit your financial needs and lifestyle. Visit any one of Wallis State Bank’s convenient locations to see Where Service Begins…

“Community Banking” is a term we’re hearing more of in recent years, but what exactly does it mean? Essentially, a community bank is simply a stand-alone bank or small group of banks in a particular locale, with staff who are involved the local area and with a focus on business and consumers in the local area. Larger regional or national banks may have a presence in a local area, but typically these locations are functionally designed more for deposit-gathering activities. There may be loan activity at these large-bank locations, but typically loan requests are formatted and forwarded to a central processing area, usually in another location, for approval based on a standardized scoring system. This larger bank system is usually fine for many borrowers, but what if the borrower’s situation is a bit unusual or doesn’t fit a particular box? That’s where the community bank comes in: decisions are usually made on site, where the bank president or other decision-maker can meet the borrower face-to-face, discuss the specific situation, and get a better understanding of the borrower’s needs and issues.

In addition to lending decision flexibility, there are also differences in customer service issues. The larger regional and national banks, particularly the ones that are publicly held, are highly focused on efficiency of operations, which means reducing expenses as much as possible. The easiest way for them to do this is to consolidate not only the lending decision function, but the customer service function, into regional centers. This does indeed make for a more efficient operation expense-wise, but unfortunately for the customer, the decision-making function is further removed from the customer, and is also understandably less flexible.

For these reasons, the trend in both business and consumer banking, at least for small-to-middle-market customers, is toward community banks. That’s why I made the switch!

With the cost living soaring, especially with food and fuel prices, many folks are exploring different ways to reduce costs.

Getting a second opinion on your home insurance, especially for those with stucco and frame as their homes dominant building material, can be can be a great way to combat the rising cost of living.

In addition, if you do not have your auto and home insurance with the same company, you are missing out on the great “package “rates available with most insurers.

We hope you will give “Insurance Solutions of Texas” a call and let us show you how competitive we are without losing coverage.

For more information, call Insurance Solutions of Texas at 281-565-2222 or visit www.insurancesolutionsoftexas.com.

From the moment you walk in the doors, it is apparent Westbound Bank is leading

A New Direction in Banking. From the Starbucks coffee bar in the Wi-Fi lobby, to the architecture of the building, it is definitely a bank of the future.

Westbound Bank is West Houston’s premier community bank, geared to small to mid-size businesses. Robert Kramer, President of the bank and long time Houston banker, believes in providing the newest banking technology to his growing customer base. Westbound Bank provides the traditional banking products and services along with current technology such as internet banking, Westbound Xpress Deposit and other innovative products soon to be available.

Ralph Williams, Westbound Banks CEO who also heads up the bank’s Bellaire office believes in providing personal service and building relationships with our customers to ensure long term success for both the bank and our customers.