Financial and Lifestyle Resources for Vermont

When you think of the ideal home, it conjures images of comfort—a safe haven you can come back to at the end of each day. And yet, statistically, the home can be a dangerous place. A study by the National Center for Healthy Housing found that 35 million American homes contained at least one health or safety hazard. That’s two out of every five homes with factors contributing to illness, injury, and even death.

COVID-19 has brought financial uncertainty to many, and even as we edge closer to recovery, the impacts of COVID-19 will be felt by many Vermonters for months to come. I sat down with Yvonne Garand, our senior vice president of marketing and business development, to talk about personal finance in the age of COVID-19.

Has anyone else started to forget what day or month it is? With COVID-19 throwing our usual routines out the window, the kids are starting to get antsy. Kids need guidance and boundaries to feel safe and understand that rules are still in force. This is a good time to set wake-up times so everyone is up and out of bed by a reasonable hour, implement additional chores, and enforce homework expectations. It’s also time to engage them in family activities that will create great memories and help them manage their screen time so they don’t start bad habits.

February is Black History Month—a time to recognize the role that African American people have had in U.S. history. In celebration, I would like to bring attention to one of the most influential African American women in U.S. history—my favorite author and poet Ms. Maya Angelou.

I love to exercise outdoors, especially in the summer. I’m not much of a runner or biker. I like to walk, but I get bored on my typical route. Hiking gives me the complete experience—lots of exercise, views, fresh air, sunshine, companionship, and a sense of challenge and accomplishment. I’ve hiked all my life, starting as a little girl on Mount Mansfield’s Sunset Ridge Trail, the Tetons in Wyoming in 1990, and the Hunger and Elmore Mountain trails in central Vermont in the last couple of decades.

Like many people, I want to give to others, but I don’t have a lot of time and I don’t have a lot of money. Fortunately, I love athleticism and I have found that nearly all races are tied to a charity. I learned about this connection at an important juncture in my life and I want to share my story with you because it is this connection that allows me to make a real and positive difference in people’s lives.

Winter is definitely here and you may be thinking about enjoying this early winter snow with a new snowmobile. You may wonder whether you should finance the sled or pay cash for it. If so, you can begin by asking yourself a couple of questions: Do have enough cash to purchase the snowmobile out of pocket? If I take out a loan, can I afford another monthly payment? Do I have to put insurance on the snowmobile? How much do I really want to spend?

When you first start bike commuting, a big question you are going to have is what kind of bike do you need? There are a ton of different bikes out there, and I am not even talking about brands. It can be very confusing. When it comes to buying your bike, the most important thing you can do is ask yourself these questions.