Business

Why Americans Are Seeking Loans from Credit Unions in Record Numbers

Published

3 years ago

July 4, 2021

During the Covid-19 pandemic and its aftermath, many Americans have relied on loans to keep their personal and business finances healthy. However, a recent trend has developed, indicating that how Americans are seeking loans may be unique compared to how they did so in the past. Specifically, rather than seeking loans from traditional commercial banks, many are instead choosing to apply for loans with credit unions.

A credit union is typically a local financial institution whose services and products overlap substantially with that of a bank. However, most commercial banks are profit-making institutions beholden to shareholders. Credit unions, on the other hand, exist to serve a community’s needs instead of earning a profit.

Each member of a credit union has equal voting rights. Instead of following rules and adhering to standards dictated by executives who aren’t members of the community, credit union boards consist of volunteers elected by all members who wish to cast a vote.

These differences influence the customer experience in ways that have recently made credit unions more appealing to loan-seekers than banks may be. Perhaps more importantly, research indicates that particularly in times of crisis, credit unions are more inclined to approve loan applications. One recent study indicates that, while banks often become hesitant to approve loans during crises, during the Great Recession and pandemic, many credit unions not only continued to loan money to members, but actually increased their lending.

This may be a reflection of the basic nature of credit unions. They’re established to provide a necessary service, much like a fire department or local hospital. According to Jordan van Rijn, senior economist for the Credit Union National Association, “During periods of risk and uncertainty, banks tend to pull back a lot more on lending and just get a lot more conservative. But credit unions as part of their mission is just to continue to serve the members.”

It’s also worth noting that loan interest rates at credit unions tend to be lower than they are at banks. This is another reason many Americans may have opted to seek loans from credit unions in recent months. They don’t want to exacerbate their financial woes by taking out loans with prohibitively high interest rates.

Additionally, many have already found that credit unions offer similar benefits even when national crises aren’t occuring. For example, some who’ve been turned down by numerous banks for home mortgages find that credit unions are more willing to work with them to offer alternatives to traditional mortgages.

Credit unions don’t provide loans and mortgages more willingly than banks because they engage in predatory lending. On the contrary, their low interest rates on loans highlight how they exist to support their members. Often, members have greater luck receiving loans from credit unions than from major banks because the local quality of the service, combined with the fact that credit unions don’t have a responsibility to earn a profit, allow credit union decision-makers to make these particular decisions based on a more personal understanding of a member’s situation. At a bank, decision-makers are required to follow the same procedures from one branch to another.

Many speculate that credit unions will also continue to grow in popularity after the pandemic. The way they served their members during a time of crisis has generated significant loyalty that may last well into the future.

Business

Retire Smart, Save More: How MDRN’s Virtual Planning Model Can Slash Retirement Costs

Published

3 days ago

October 8, 2024

Rosario Farell

The media is calling it a “retirement crisis.” Millions of Americans are arriving at retirement age woefully unprepared.

Some studies suggest that 45 percent of the Baby Boomers have no retirement savings, while 28 percent of those who have started saving have less than $100,000 put away. Consequently, many Americans now living in retirement or approaching that season are looking for ways to cut back on their expenses.

Aaron Cirksena, founder and CEO of MDRN Capital, has a solution for those looking to retire smart and save more. His firm’s completely virtual model increases retirees’ spending power by decreasing the fees associated with retirement planning.

“Our unique approach to providing retirement planning services allows our clients to experience significant savings when compared with the traditional model of investment management and retirement planning,” Cirksena shares. “When we did away with the overhead expenses that stem from operating a brick-and-mortar office, we were able to create a fee solution for our clients that is lower than the typical advisor. On average, our fees on the entire client portfolio tend to run 30 to 40 percent lower than the typical advisor operating under a conventional model. Additionally, we can provide services like estate planning, tax planning, and tax preparation at no additional cost.”

MDRN Capital is revolutionizing retirement planning by offering a comprehensive range of services, including income planning, investment management, tax planning, healthcare, and estate planning, in a setting that exceeds the efficiency and effectiveness traditional providers are able to offer. Unlike traditional firms, MDRN Capital leverages the power of digital tools to deliver comprehensive services without the need for in-person meetings, allowing clients to enjoy their retirement while their financial needs are expertly managed.

“My goal with MDRN Capital was creating a completely virtual firm that could more efficiently provide the convenience clients wanted while also meeting their ongoing investment needs,” Cirksena shares. “MDRN Capital’s virtual model empowers an environment in which we could serve our clients with less costs to the firm and pass the savings on to them.”

Financial planning for the new normal

MDRN Capital’s innovative approach to retirement advising emerged as a result of Cirksena’s experience during the COVID-19 pandemic. Due to social distancing, advising during the pandemic shifted to virtual appointments. When social distancing was no longer necessary, Cirksena expected his clients would resume their pre-pandemic patterns. He was wrong.

“My clients let me know they preferred the comfort and convenience of virtual meetings to the hassles associated with having in-office meetings,” Cirksena says. “They didn’t miss sitting in traffic and searching for parking spaces, and I couldn’t blame them. Even the clients who lived only a few minutes away decided they would rather meet via Zoom than have a face-to-face meeting in our nice Class-A office space.”

MDRN Capital was designed to meet the client expectations that emerged during Covid. By leveraging technology to take his services to his clients rather than expecting them to come to him, Cirksena made advising more convenient and more cost-effective at the same time.

Financial savings for struggling retirees

Recent studies show the high inflation the US has been experiencing has a larger than average impact on many retirees. In response, many are looking to tighten their belts by cutting back on spending, but reducing the fees associated with retirement accounts is something few consider.

“For retirees, lower gas and grocery costs are certainly helpful,” Cirksena says. “However, cutting their investment management costs in half puts dramatically more money in their pocket over time than lower prices on goods ever could.”

To understand the impact MDRN Capital’s approach can have on retirees, consider that $250,000 earning seven percent over 20 years will grow to $967,421.12. Factor in a 1 percent fee, and growth is limited to $801,783.87, but raising the fee to 2 percent causes earnings to fall to $721,034.70.

Cirksena points to his industry’s failure to embrace modern technology as one reason why investment fees remain high.

“Unlike many industries that have used and adopted technology for decades to help lower costs and make services more efficient, the financial services sector has lagged behind,” he explains. “Many firms continue to incur unnecessary overhead and expenses, which their clients pay for in the form of elevated fees.”

The virtual investment environment Cirksena has created moves retirement planning into the future. It provides a financial service experience that is convenient, comfortable, and efficient while also ensuring that none of its clients’ investment potential is wasted on unnece