In order to spend time with our family and friends during this holiday season, Austin Bank will be closed Monday, December 26, and
Monday, January 2. Please use one of our many convenient ATMs during this time. We wish you a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
Thursday, December 22, 2011
Monday, December 19, 2011
2011 Austin Bank Stars
Congratulations to our 2011 Star of the Month employees! These employees are nominated by their peers and recognized for their teamwork, high standards of ethics and morals, positive attitude, community involvement, and their commitment to Austin Bank. Our 2011 Stars are:
- Jaleea Hudnall
- Lisa Hale
- Lisa McCoy
- Natalie Lynch
- Jason Arnold
- Janis Adams
- Elena Gomez
- Betty Witherspoon
- Jessica Guerrero
- Rhonda Pierce
- Shaunna Nolen
- Claudia Rogers
Congratulations Austin Bank Stars!
Wednesday, December 14, 2011
Austin Bank Employees Honored
Austin Bank honors 40 employees for their outstanding work and years of service at their 2011 Service Award Luncheon.
"We are proud of all these employees because they work as a team serving our friends, neighbors and the businesses located here in East Texas," said Austin Bank Vice Chairman, Jeff Austin III. "They are the key to our bank's success. Each one takes pride in their performance; and continually strives to provide excellent service to our bank customers."
"At Austin Bank our employees are the difference and perpetuate Austin Bank's legacy. Each one has earned and deserves this recognition for their dedicated commitment to the bank and its customers. We are proud of their contributions and accomplishments," said John P. Williams, President and CEO.
This year's annual luncheon recognized Austin Bank employees who completed five, 10, 15 and 20 years of service in 2011. The employees were honored at a luncheon held on December 7 at Willow Brook Country Club in Tyler. The honored group of 40 employees makes up a combined total of 345 years of experience. The group included:
Twenty Year Service Award
Debbie Braune, Vice President/Risk Management in Whitehouse
John P. Williams, President/CEO in Jacksonville
Fifteen Year Service Award
Laurie Adams, Customer Service Representative in Tyler
Pat Davis, Vice President/Senior Operations Officer in Garrison
Donna Higginbotham, Retail Office Manager in Timpson
Kathy Newton, Loan Assistant in Frankston
Frank Still, Regional President in Nacogdoches
Ten Year Service Award
Judy Adams, Teller in Grand Saline
Abigayle Berry, Teller Operations Supervisor in Longview
Leann Chamberlain, Loan Assistant in Longview
Melissa Cole, Computer Tech in Longview
Debra Curbow, Teller in Garrison
Shane Davenport, Network Administrator in Whitehouse
Carla Henry, Customer Service Representative in Palestine
Dennis Means, Operations Officer in Longview
Billie Mims, Vice President/Community Lender in Kilgore
Brenda McMichael, Customer Service Representative in Frankston
Luti Ortega, Loan Assistant in Jacksonville
Kim Raney, Senior Vice President/Credit Analyst in Longview
Minerva Valle, Loan Assistant in Tyler
Five Year Service Award
Jason Arnold, Staff Accountant in Jacksonville
Carmen Camacho, Customer Service Representative in Kilgore
Josie Chaffins, Teller in Palestine
Kerrie Covert, Location President in Tyler
Michelle Cox, Customer Service Representative in Whitehouse
Toni Davis, Retail Office Manager in Tyler
Dawn DeVillers, Executive Administrative Assistant in Jacksonville
Karen Faulkner, BSA Officer in Frankston
Debbie Haddock, Retail Office Manager in Gilmer
Letha Harold, Teller in Tyler
Chad Hinton, Loan Officer in Longview
Lisa Hubbard, Teller Operations Supervisor in Gilmer
Jaleea Hudnall, Loan Assistant in Rusk
Barbara Johnson, Loan Assistant in Gilmer
April Laughlin, Customer Service Representative in Gladewater
John Mebane, Location President in Emory
Donna Reynolds, Loan Documentation Specialist in Whitehouse
Diana Vazquez, Bookkeeping Clerk in Longview
Patsy Vaughn, Teller in Whitehouse
Tammie Welch, Bookkeeping Clerk in Longview
Austin Bank is a community bank with $1.2 billion in assets. Headquartered in Jacksonville, Texas, Austin Bank serves the finanicial needs of East Texas families and businesses throughout 31 locations in 21 citites and ten counties. More information about Austin Bank can be found on the bank's website at www.austinbank.com .
"We are proud of all these employees because they work as a team serving our friends, neighbors and the businesses located here in East Texas," said Austin Bank Vice Chairman, Jeff Austin III. "They are the key to our bank's success. Each one takes pride in their performance; and continually strives to provide excellent service to our bank customers."
"At Austin Bank our employees are the difference and perpetuate Austin Bank's legacy. Each one has earned and deserves this recognition for their dedicated commitment to the bank and its customers. We are proud of their contributions and accomplishments," said John P. Williams, President and CEO.
This year's annual luncheon recognized Austin Bank employees who completed five, 10, 15 and 20 years of service in 2011. The employees were honored at a luncheon held on December 7 at Willow Brook Country Club in Tyler. The honored group of 40 employees makes up a combined total of 345 years of experience. The group included:
Twenty Year Service Award
Debbie Braune, Vice President/Risk Management in Whitehouse
John P. Williams, President/CEO in Jacksonville
Fifteen Year Service Award
Laurie Adams, Customer Service Representative in Tyler
Pat Davis, Vice President/Senior Operations Officer in Garrison
Donna Higginbotham, Retail Office Manager in Timpson
Kathy Newton, Loan Assistant in Frankston
Frank Still, Regional President in Nacogdoches
Ten Year Service Award
Judy Adams, Teller in Grand Saline
Abigayle Berry, Teller Operations Supervisor in Longview
Leann Chamberlain, Loan Assistant in Longview
Melissa Cole, Computer Tech in Longview
Debra Curbow, Teller in Garrison
Shane Davenport, Network Administrator in Whitehouse
Carla Henry, Customer Service Representative in Palestine
Dennis Means, Operations Officer in Longview
Billie Mims, Vice President/Community Lender in Kilgore
Brenda McMichael, Customer Service Representative in Frankston
Luti Ortega, Loan Assistant in Jacksonville
Kim Raney, Senior Vice President/Credit Analyst in Longview
Minerva Valle, Loan Assistant in Tyler
Five Year Service Award
Jason Arnold, Staff Accountant in Jacksonville
Carmen Camacho, Customer Service Representative in Kilgore
Josie Chaffins, Teller in Palestine
Kerrie Covert, Location President in Tyler
Michelle Cox, Customer Service Representative in Whitehouse
Toni Davis, Retail Office Manager in Tyler
Dawn DeVillers, Executive Administrative Assistant in Jacksonville
Karen Faulkner, BSA Officer in Frankston
Debbie Haddock, Retail Office Manager in Gilmer
Letha Harold, Teller in Tyler
Chad Hinton, Loan Officer in Longview
Lisa Hubbard, Teller Operations Supervisor in Gilmer
Jaleea Hudnall, Loan Assistant in Rusk
Barbara Johnson, Loan Assistant in Gilmer
April Laughlin, Customer Service Representative in Gladewater
John Mebane, Location President in Emory
Donna Reynolds, Loan Documentation Specialist in Whitehouse
Diana Vazquez, Bookkeeping Clerk in Longview
Patsy Vaughn, Teller in Whitehouse
Tammie Welch, Bookkeeping Clerk in Longview
Austin Bank is a community bank with $1.2 billion in assets. Headquartered in Jacksonville, Texas, Austin Bank serves the finanicial needs of East Texas families and businesses throughout 31 locations in 21 citites and ten counties. More information about Austin Bank can be found on the bank's website at www.austinbank.com .
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
Reward Yourself!
Reward yourself by inviting your friends to Austin Bank - www.austinbankrewards.com
Monday, December 12, 2011
Attention Business Customers
How can Austin Bank help your business?
Austin Bank's Treasury Management Services offer a full line of financial tools and information to help you manage your cash flow and achieve your financial goals.
Let us show you how to:
Austin Bank's Treasury Management Services offer a full line of financial tools and information to help you manage your cash flow and achieve your financial goals.
Let us show you how to:
- Pay your employees through Direct Deposit
- Collect fees from customers electronically
- Concentrate funds to your Austin Bank accounts
- Efficiently process credit cards
- Deposit checks electronically from your office
For more information about these Treasury Management Services, email us at tmservices@austinbank.com .
Monday, December 5, 2011
The Latest on Social Security
Benefits increase for 2012. Ideas for reform are numerous.
Presented by Austin Bank Financial Services
Social Security gets its first COLA since 2009. As moderate inflation has made a comeback, the federal government has decided to boost Social Security benefits by 3.6% for 2012. This means an average increase of $39 per month for 55 million Social Security recipients ($467 for all of 2012). Also, more than 8 million Americans who get Supplemental Security Income will get $18 more per month ($216 for 2012).1
There are two things to note in the fine print.
· A COLA increase in Social Security means that Medicare premiums can also increase. Much of the 2012 COLA adjustment could effectively be eaten up this way, as Medicare premiums are automatically deducted from Social Security checks. (2012 Medicare Part B premiums should be announced before the end of October.)1,2
· Businesses should note that the Social Security wage base will rise to $110,100 for 2012. Currently, the federal government levies payroll tax on the first $106,800 of income; next year, that ceiling rises by $3,300. This means about 10 million more high-earning Americans will be subject to the payroll tax, which could vary anywhere from 3.1% to 6.2% in 2012 depending on legislative action (or inaction).1,2
Will the “super committee” of 12 make cuts to the program? It’s uncertain; the deadline for the long-term budget reform plan from Congress falls on November 23, and the bipartisan and Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction (a.k.a. the “supercommittee”) has been meeting more or less in secret, with AARP and other lobbyists pressuring them not to cut Social Security and Medicare.5
How might Social Security address its long-term shortfall? Proposals abound, from simple fixes to radical reforms.
· President Obama’s fiscal commission has suggested raising the FICA cap. In this proposal, the payroll tax cap would gradually increase between now and 2050 so that 90% of wages earned in America would be subject to Social Security tax by the middle of the century. (This is how it used to be.) Under this plan, the taxable maximum would be $190,000 by 2020.2
· Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI), Chair of the House Budget Committee, has authored the GOP’s “Path to Prosperity” plan, the so-called “Ryan roadmap” that would encourage workers under age 55 to direct some of their payroll taxes into personal retirement accounts. Rep. Ryan’s proposal would also index initial Social Security benefits for most retirees to price growth instead of average wage growth and set the age for Social Security eligibility at 67.3,4,5
· The conservative Heritage Foundation suggests a 5-year strategy in its Saving the American Dream proposal, which calls a reduction in Social Security benefits for the richest 9% of retirees, a $10,000 tax exemption for all who work past the federal retirement age, and the near-term elimination of taxation of Social Security income.6
· Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain has proposed replacing Social Security with the “Chilean model”. In the early 1980s, Chile’s government ended its retirement entitlement program and put retirement planning solely in the hands of individuals, who maintain personal retirement investment accounts and set their own contribution levels and retirement dates. Investor’s Business Daily notes that on average, the program has yielded better than 9.2% compounded annual returns over 30 years.7
· Twelve fixes were suggested in a 2010 report issued by the U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging, among them:
o A 3% cut in benefits
o Taking the payroll tax to 7.3%
o Hiking the full retirement age to 68 or older
o Increasing the Social Security averaging period that determines SSI
o Reducing the typical yearly COLA by 1% or .5%
o Reducing spousal benefits
o Investing some of Social Security’s trust funds in equities
o Directing some estate tax revenues into Social Security’s trust fund
Perhaps a fix lies somewhere within these proposals; unmodified or altered, alone or in combination.
How much retirement income do you have these days? With Social Security’s future still a question mark, you may be thinking about where your retirement income will come from in the years ahead. A chat with the financial professional you know and trust may be worthwhile before 2012 arrives.
Citations.
1 - businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D9QFGU602.htm [10/19/11]
2 - money.cnn.com/2011/10/19/pf/taxes/social_security_tax/ [10/19/11]
3 - montoyaregistry.com/Financial-Market.aspx?financial-market=will-you-have-an-adequate-retirement-cash-flow&category=3 [10/21/11]
4 - articles.cnn.com/2011-09-26/politics/politics_gop-paul-ryan_1_ryan-plan-paul-ryan-government-spending/3?_s=PM:POLITICS [9/26/11]
5 - cbpp.org/cms/index.cfm?fa=view&id=3308 [10/21/10]
6 - savingthedream.org/how-it-affects-you/retirees/ [10/21/11]
7 - investors.com/NewsAndAnalysis/Article/586464/201109291833/Cains-Chilean-Model.htm [10/12/11]
8 - money.usnews.com/money/blogs/planning-to-retire/2010/05/18/12-ways-to-fix-social-security [5/18/10]
8 - money.usnews.com/money/blogs/planning-to-retire/2010/05/18/12-ways-to-fix-social-security [5/18/10]
Presented by Austin Bank Financial Services
Social Security gets its first COLA since 2009. As moderate inflation has made a comeback, the federal government has decided to boost Social Security benefits by 3.6% for 2012. This means an average increase of $39 per month for 55 million Social Security recipients ($467 for all of 2012). Also, more than 8 million Americans who get Supplemental Security Income will get $18 more per month ($216 for 2012).1
There are two things to note in the fine print.
· A COLA increase in Social Security means that Medicare premiums can also increase. Much of the 2012 COLA adjustment could effectively be eaten up this way, as Medicare premiums are automatically deducted from Social Security checks. (2012 Medicare Part B premiums should be announced before the end of October.)1,2
· Businesses should note that the Social Security wage base will rise to $110,100 for 2012. Currently, the federal government levies payroll tax on the first $106,800 of income; next year, that ceiling rises by $3,300. This means about 10 million more high-earning Americans will be subject to the payroll tax, which could vary anywhere from 3.1% to 6.2% in 2012 depending on legislative action (or inaction).1,2
Will the “super committee” of 12 make cuts to the program? It’s uncertain; the deadline for the long-term budget reform plan from Congress falls on November 23, and the bipartisan and Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction (a.k.a. the “supercommittee”) has been meeting more or less in secret, with AARP and other lobbyists pressuring them not to cut Social Security and Medicare.5
How might Social Security address its long-term shortfall? Proposals abound, from simple fixes to radical reforms.
· President Obama’s fiscal commission has suggested raising the FICA cap. In this proposal, the payroll tax cap would gradually increase between now and 2050 so that 90% of wages earned in America would be subject to Social Security tax by the middle of the century. (This is how it used to be.) Under this plan, the taxable maximum would be $190,000 by 2020.2
· Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI), Chair of the House Budget Committee, has authored the GOP’s “Path to Prosperity” plan, the so-called “Ryan roadmap” that would encourage workers under age 55 to direct some of their payroll taxes into personal retirement accounts. Rep. Ryan’s proposal would also index initial Social Security benefits for most retirees to price growth instead of average wage growth and set the age for Social Security eligibility at 67.3,4,5
· The conservative Heritage Foundation suggests a 5-year strategy in its Saving the American Dream proposal, which calls a reduction in Social Security benefits for the richest 9% of retirees, a $10,000 tax exemption for all who work past the federal retirement age, and the near-term elimination of taxation of Social Security income.6
· Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain has proposed replacing Social Security with the “Chilean model”. In the early 1980s, Chile’s government ended its retirement entitlement program and put retirement planning solely in the hands of individuals, who maintain personal retirement investment accounts and set their own contribution levels and retirement dates. Investor’s Business Daily notes that on average, the program has yielded better than 9.2% compounded annual returns over 30 years.7
· Twelve fixes were suggested in a 2010 report issued by the U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging, among them:
o A 3% cut in benefits
o Taking the payroll tax to 7.3%
o Hiking the full retirement age to 68 or older
o Increasing the Social Security averaging period that determines SSI
o Reducing the typical yearly COLA by 1% or .5%
o Reducing spousal benefits
o Investing some of Social Security’s trust funds in equities
o Directing some estate tax revenues into Social Security’s trust fund
Perhaps a fix lies somewhere within these proposals; unmodified or altered, alone or in combination.
How much retirement income do you have these days? With Social Security’s future still a question mark, you may be thinking about where your retirement income will come from in the years ahead. A chat with the financial professional you know and trust may be worthwhile before 2012 arrives.
Citations.
1 - businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D9QFGU602.htm [10/19/11]
2 - money.cnn.com/2011/10/19/pf/taxes/social_security_tax/ [10/19/11]
3 - montoyaregistry.com/Financial-Market.aspx?financial-market=will-you-have-an-adequate-retirement-cash-flow&category=3 [10/21/11]
4 - articles.cnn.com/2011-09-26/politics/politics_gop-paul-ryan_1_ryan-plan-paul-ryan-government-spending/3?_s=PM:POLITICS [9/26/11]
5 - cbpp.org/cms/index.cfm?fa=view&id=3308 [10/21/10]
6 - savingthedream.org/how-it-affects-you/retirees/ [10/21/11]
7 - investors.com/NewsAndAnalysis/Article/586464/201109291833/Cains-Chilean-Model.htm [10/12/11]
8 - money.usnews.com/money/blogs/planning-to-retire/2010/05/18/12-ways-to-fix-social-security [5/18/10]
8 - money.usnews.com/money/blogs/planning-to-retire/2010/05/18/12-ways-to-fix-social-security [5/18/10]
Friday, December 2, 2011
School Performances in Longview
We invite you to the following performances in the atrium area of our Longview office located at 3400 W. Marshall.
- Tuesday, Dec. 6 at 10 a.m. - Miss Jackie's class from Jordan Country Day School
- Wednesday, Dec. 7 at 10 a.m. - Oak Forest Montessori Elementary
- Thursday, Dec. 8 at 9:30 a.m. - Foster Middle School Orchestra
- Friday, Dec. 9 at 9:30 a.m. - White Oak Middle & High School Honor Choirs
- Tuesday, Dec. 13 at 1:30 p.m. - Trinity School of Texas 4th and 5th grade choir
- Wednesday, Dec. 14 at 1:15 p.m. - Johnson-McQueen Signing Choir and Honors Choir
We hope to see you there!
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