The First State Bank of Winchester January 1, 2008


“Serving our customers since 1867”


Effective January 1, 2008

The following changes to Illinois banking-related laws will take effect January 1, 2008. The information was taken from the December issue of Illinois Banker. More information about each public act is available at www.ilga.gov.
Ø Gift Certificates-Public act 95-525 prohibits the sale of a gift certificate with an expiration date of less than five years. It also prohibits any monetary penalties such as post-purchase fees, penalty for non-use or untimely redemption of the gift certificate.
Ø Anti-Phishing Act-Public Act 95-350 makes it illegal to use websites or other uses of the Internet to gather personal information by representing themselves to be a business without permission from that business.
Ø Illinois College Savings Pool Protections-Public Act 95-306 protects money contributed to the Illinois College Savings Pool from the reach of creditors. These accounts will receive the same protection from creditors that already exists for other private joint saving accounts that are designed for educational purposes. Exceptions to this law are: (1) contributions made to the account with the intent to hinder, delay or defraud any creditor, (2) certain contributions made during the 365-day period prior to the date of bankruptcy in excess of the annual gift tax exclusion and (3) certain other contributions made during the 730-to-366-day period prior to the date of filing for bankruptcy in excess of the annual gift tax exclusion.

IRA Information

Prior year IRA contributions need to be made by April 15, 2008. The limit for 2007 contributions to a regular IRA is $4,000.00 with a catch-up amount of $1,000.00 for age 50 or over. The limit for 2008 contributions to a regular IRA is $5,000.00 with a catch-up amount of $1,000.00 for age 50 or over.

License Stickers

The Secretary of State now requires us to collect insurance information before issuing a license sticker. Please bring your insurance card with you when you come in to purchase your 2008 license sticker. We will be unable to process the sale without this information.



Traveler’s Checks
The First State Bank of Winchester will no longer be selling traveler’s checks. We are in the process of getting set up to sell VISA gift cards. We hope this product will be available soon. We will let you know as soon as we are set up to sell them.

New Face

We would like to welcome Emily Swanson to the staff of The First State Bank of Winchester. Emily is a graduate of Winchester High School and Illinois College. Emily holds a Bachelors Degree in Sociology with a minor in Psychology. She has owned and operated Emily’s Dance Studio for the past 8 years. She is married to Paul Swanson and is the proud mother of one son, Aaron who is 2 ½ years and one daughter, Presley who is 9 months old. Take a moment to stop by and welcome Emily to the bank.

Health Savings Accounts

A Health Savings Account is an alternative to traditional health insurance; it is a savings product that offers a different way for consumers to pay for their health care. HSAs enable you to pay for current health expenses and save for future qualified medical and retiree health expenses on a tax-free basis.

You must be covered by a High Deductible Health Plan (HDHP) to be able to take advantage of HSAs. An HDHP generally costs less than what traditional health care coverage cost, so the money that you save on insurance can therefore be pout into the Health Savings Account.

You own and you control the money in your HSA. Decisions on how to spend the money are made by you without relying on a third party or a health insurer. For more information on HSAs log onto www.treas.gov and search for Health Savings Acccounts.

Calendar

01-01-08 New Year’s Day Bank Closed
01-21-08 Martin Luther King Day Bank Closed
02-18-08 Washington’s Birthday Bank Closed
03-01-08 M-W EAS Auction