“OWE, v. To have (and to hold) a debt. The word formerly signified not indebtedness, but possession; it meant ‘own,’ and in the minds of debtors there is still a good deal of confusion between assets and liabilities.” – Ambrose Bierce, The Devils Dictionary...

On April 1, 1957 the BBC ran a three-minute report showing the spaghetti tree harvest taking place in Switzerland. Spaghetti wasn’t a common noodle at the time and many in the United Kingdom had no familiarity with making or baking with the product. Hundreds of viewers called the BBC to ask about growing their own tree. In 2009, CNN dubbed it the, “biggest hoax that any reputable news establishment ever pulled.”...

In 2003, as part of the federal Medicare Prescription Drug Improvement and Modernization Act, a new savings account was established to help consumers better oversee the cost of their own care. These accounts, known as Health Savings Accounts (HSA), provide a vehicle for individuals in high deductible health plans to set aside money on a pre-tax basis to pay for qualified medical expenses...

Recently I had the opportunity to participate in a discussion with Greene County Economic Development Director Brianne Jerrels on the multiplier effect of shopping local. In an article dated November 28, 2021 on the University of Minnesota Duluth News Center the local multiplier is 1.48. ...

In our last article, we explored home price increases over the last two years. Today we will address the questions we ended that article asking why are prices so much higher and what should we expect going forward? As we briefly mentioned, we begin answering these questions by examining two basic economic drivers: supply and demand...

On January 12, 2022, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released its Consumer Price Index (CPI) for the 12-month period ending December 2021. For anyone who had been to a store, it was an unsurprisingly high number. From January 1 through December 31, 2021, the all-items index rose 7.0%. ...

On Jan. 1, 2022, Farmers and Mechanics will begin a program which we hope will allow our customers to join us in supporting worthy non-profits throughout our communities. It is the bank’s belief that we each have a responsibility to serve and build up the communities in which we live...

As the year draws to a close, I want to thank you for reading and often offering encouraging words about my columns. It was comforting to know my devoted mother, loving wife, and caring daughter were not the only ones reading whatever drivel Patti graciously allowed me to print in this paper. In the coming year we look forward to sharing additional articles with you which we hope will benefit our readers...

Recently I stepped foot on our scale at home and wished it, like a clock, had a fallback feature. The results didn’t reflect well on me, and I knew I needed to make a few changes. Add in the holiday glut, and it’s shaping up to be a true struggle of the will...

In 1919, one year after the Armistice with Germany took effect at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month, President Wilson presented a message to his “fellow-countrymen.” The last two paragraphs of his message read as follows:...

Many mortgage companies, financial institutions, and other lenders price loan rates based on two factors: length and borrower risk. The borrower risk portion of this equation considers several pieces of information including credit score, employment status, loan amount, and borrower assets. ...

President Biden has proposed to congress that they add language to the reconciliation bill which would require all financial institutions to provide the Internal Revenue Service a list of transactions for all customers whose transactions total at least $600 per year. ...

This year marks the 51 st Apple Festival in the town of Bloomfield. The smell of deliciously fatty foods wafts through the air. The sounds of thrilled children race from the carnival. Whiffle balls are swung at and whiffed. Impressive cars fill the square. Vendors dot the Bloomfield Park and businesses hand out goodies and host drawings to give away big prizes. All these sights, smells, and sounds only provide the framework for the heart of the festival: community...

Few processes require more paperwork, more signatures (at least 30), and more complicated numbers than borrowing to buy a house. Though much of this is baked into the process and unavoidable, good training can ease the burdens imposed by these complexities. As Benjamin Franklin noted in his book The Way to Wealth, “an investment in knowledge pays the best interest.” We at the bank hope to help you save some interest through an investment in knowledge...

In a digital age concerned with technology and cybersecurity, there is no more prevalent fraud than that of paper checks. The Association for Financial Professionals (AFP) presents data annually regarding payment fraud. In 2020 their report showed 66 percent of all fraud originating from paper checks...

There is no doubt local healthcare officials played, and continue to play, a critical role in our efforts to stem the negative impacts of this pandemic. It is difficult to put into words the sacrifices they made to keep us well-equipped to face the health risks of the last 18 months. Today, I want to focus on a group of individuals who made similar sacrifices for the nation’s financial well-being...

Ownership fuels motivation. As proof, consider a home. Homeowners care more about their house than do their neighbors, because of their personal investment. Similarly, small business owners across the United States are motivated each day precisely because of their personal stake in the business...

Greetings! Welcome to what I hope will be an informative, engaging and entertaining column on subjects ranging from bank ownership to non-sufficient funds fees to budgeting for a home. My name is Joshua Riggins. I am the president of Farmers and Mechanics Federal Savings Bank and a lifelong resident of Greene County. If you have any subjects you would like me to cover or questions you would like me to address, please feel free to e-mail me at jriggins@famf.bank...