Marie was a client who had difficulty saving money.  She was doing a great job on her retirement savings, contributions were taken out of her paycheck before she ever saw the money, but she needed to save some money for a “rainy day fund” outside her retirement accounts.  Knowing that she enjoyed daily trips to Starbucks, I proposed to her the “Starbucks Savings Plan.”  Under this plan, Marie would “match” her spending at Starbucks with a similar contribution to her savings account.  

The exercise was a real eye-opener for Marie.  She was shocked to learn she was spending nearly $50 a week on coffee!  A $4 per drink every morning, plus she often bought for others and would occasionally get an iced coffee in the afternoon, it was really adding up. She agreed to match her weekly coffee expenditures with an equal deposit into her savings account. read more

I am delighted to let you know that River City Bank has a new board member, Ryan Gilbert.

Ryan has an exceptional background in the information technology and financial services industries. He is the CEO and co-founder of Billfloat Inc., a San Francisco based provider of consumer credit solutions to billers, retailers and lending institutions. Technology is rapidly changing the way consumers choose to conduct their banking and Ryan’s expertise in creating innovative financial solutions through technology is paramount to providing an exceptional client experience. read more

River City Bank celebrated its annual Customer Appreciation Event on September 13^th .  The Fall Fiesta themed event took place in the courtyard next to our corporate office.  We had a fabulous turnout and are looking forward to next year’s event where we will celebrate our 40^th Anniversary!  To share the great memories, we’ve created a short recap of the evening.  We hope you enjoy the video!
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It’s a question we get often… How much do I need to keep in cash?   It is asked by individuals for their family money, and by executives who are tasked with managing corporate assets.   For the last 4 years, it has been easy to justify keeping cash because of fear and economic uncertainty.  But after a few years of earning “zero” or “close to zero” on your cash, is it time to search for a little more in yield?

The message from the Fed is simple, short-term rates will be kept low for the next few years.  Translation: you will continue to earn nothing (or next to nothing) on your cash or money market assets for the foreseeable future.  Ben Bernanke is daring you to take a little risk.  

One possible solution: “buckets.”  Separate your assets into “buckets” defined by your time horizon and risk tolerance for difference pools of capital.  A possible bucket solution might look something like this: read more

The more an individual knows about investing and planning for their future, the more confident they are in sharing the information and assisting clients with planning for their future.  With this philosophy in mind, River City Bank employees have spent the summer participating in the Bank’s first financial wellness campaign: the Financial Fitness Challenge. River City Bank was one of 18 companies selected from across the nation to participate in this unique program. Hosted by Employee Benefit News in partnership with Educated Investor, it provided our employees with the opportunity to compete for prizes while increasing their fiscal knowledge. Everyone participated—from the executive team to our back office employees and customer service representatives. read more