Ohioans Can Get Free Financial Information This Summer All Around the State (And Lower-Cost Business Loans All Year Long)

Hi, all!  I would have posted earlier if I had not been felled by viruses, but I'm back on line.  Once again, the Ohio State Treasurer's Office will have its FREE half day financial ed courses all over the state, Smart Money Choices.  It includes parts on budgeting, student debt (how to stay away from it, how to deal with it if you're in it), investments and social security.  It takes place in seven cities across the state.   Sign up begins soon.

For years, the Ohio's Treasurers Office has run this program, along with other consumer ed programs.  But, as I've written before, it does some other programs--Agri-link, a linked deposit program that gives farmers and people in agribusiness a way of getting loans at a lower rate than commercially available, GrowNow, a linked deposit loan program for other businesses, and Veteran's Preference, a policy by which veterans are given preferences in these programs.  These are opportunities for businesses to borrow for less. For individual consumers, there's SaveNow, lets private citizens save money with interest rates 3% above commercial rates, and EcoLink, a linked deposit program for homeowners, used to make their homes energy efficient by allowing them to borrow energy efficiency money more cheaply.  If you fall into one of these groups, check it out. 

Sometimes, other states offer deposit-link programs, too.  To see if your state treasury offers one, find your state's office at the National Association of State Treasurer's Site.

Save Money When You Borrow for Energy Improvements

The Ohio Department of Treasury has given Buckeyes another way to save money by making their homes more energy efficient. When you borrow money to buy Energy Star appliances, or make energy-saving home improvements like windows and weatherization, you can get a discount on your loan through the Eco-Link program.

Eco-Link is a plan where the homeowner borrows the money they need for the appliances or home improvement from a qualifying bank that takes deposits from the Treasury Department. Then, the homeowner applies for an Eco-Loan. The types of improvements that are eligible for the loan are listed here. Then, the state places a deposit in the bank, and the homeowner gets a discount on their loan of 3% on the loan.

An online brochure gives more details, or call 1-800-228-1102 for more information.

A Linked Deposit Program for the Average Ohioan

Linked deposit programs are a common way for government treasuries to offer lower cost loans to businesses in their area. The treasurer's office of a city, county or state places certificates of deposit in a bank, and businesses who borrow money from that bank can obtain loans at reduced rates. For instance, the state of Ohio offers a GrowNow program in which loans to small businesses are reduced by 3% under what the bank would normally charge. The bank gets the state's CD, the borrowers get a cheaper loan, and the whole economy is happier. Lucas County, Ohio offers a similar program to businesses in that county.

Now average consumers in Ohio can take advantage of a linked deposit program to boost their savings. The SaveNow program was created to help people get a greater rate of savings on their deposits. It works the same way, but rather than cutting the rate on a loan, it boosts the savings rate by 3.25% over the bank's usual rate for one year if you put a savings deposit in a participating bank. In addition to committing the money over the course of one year, consumers must have financial literacy lessons (and who couldn't use them?). After a year, the savings revert to the bank's normal rate of return. There is no income limit on this, so it's available to everybody.

There's now an Ag-Link that does the same thing for farmers, and Eco-Link that allows you to save money when you borrow to make your home more energy-efficient.  If you're an Ohioan, there may be a linked deposit program to help you save or to borrow more cheaply.