Education Articles

Financial Wellness Planning: Creating a Budget

Step 2 of 10 Steps to Financial Wellness Budgeting systems are designed to help you understand and evaluate your relationship with money. For step 2 in your financial wellness journey, you'll want to establish a budgeting system that fits your personality and money management style. These are four of the most common: 50/30/20 budget . This is a...

Financial Wellness Planning: Tracking Your Spending

Step 1 of 10 Steps to Financial Wellness Mastering the skill of tracking your spending is easier said than done. How can you track every dollar you spend when you make multiple purchases each day? For the first step in your journey to financial wellness, we've outlined a relatively stress-free way to track your spending. This is a crucial first...

Making the Most of Your Oregon Tax 'Kicker'

Record $5.6 billion revenue surplus will be given back to taxpayers as a credit on their 2023 state income tax returns As an Oregon taxpayer, you may be in line for a much-larger-than-usual state tax refund in 2024. Thanks to a record $5.6 billion revenue surplus, the state of Oregon will apply a credit, called a “ kicker ,” to taxpayers’ 2023...

Introducing Link Digital Checking: The Rewards Account That Pays You Back

SELCO now has checking accounts for everyone If you’ve transformed your daily routine through digital technology—like making payments online, using a card for routine purchases, and gravitating toward digital banking transactions—you’ll love our new digitally-optimized checking account. Link Digital Checking is a connected rewards account that...

Navigating a Hard Insurance Market

Rate-shopping will be challenging, but there are discounts to be had The wide-ranging effects of supply chain issues and persistent inflation are well known—and felt in every corner of the economy. Despite inflation simmering to more tolerable levels, prices of everyday necessities like food and gasoline remain high. These economic challenges ha...

What to Buy and What to Skip in November

The annual shop-a-palooza is here. Black Friday is officially the day after Thanksgiving each year, but the sales run all month. Throw in Cyber Monday a few days after Black Friday, and there are mega opportunities to find bargains throughout November. While this is the busiest shopping month of the year, it isn’t necessarily the best time to bu...

What to Buy and What to Skip in October

The holiday shopping frenzy hasn’t kicked off just yet. But you can still find some post-season deals on items like patio furniture and in-season bargains on Halloween gear. Here’s what to buy and what to skip in October. What to Buy Outdoor furniture and gear. Prices on outdoorsy things start dropping in October—patio furniture, gardening tools...

What to Buy and What to Skip in December

Black Friday and Cyber Monday are in the rearview mirror. But fear not, those events didn’t completely corner the bargains market. There are still deals to be had before the year runs out—especially right after Christmas. Look hard enough and you’ll find great deals on things like gift cards, holiday decorations, and electronics. Here’s what to...

Certificate Rewards: Earn More When You Save with SELCO

Are you a seasoned saver with a variety of deposit accounts at multiple financial institutions? Do your household’s financial accounts—from IRAs to money markets, college savings to certificates—require a spreadsheet to manage? Why not consolidate your savings at SELCO, simplify your banking, and enjoy an automatic boost of up to 0.50% on our...

The Ins and Outs of 401K Withdrawals and Loans

With inflation hitting a 40-year high earlier this year, the cost of making ends meet rose considerably. In response, recent legislation made it easier to tap into a 401K retirement plan for immediate needs, creating additional penalty-free early-access points to retirement savings. As a result, a record number of Americans have  turned to their...