We get brand loyalty. You’ve been using the same kind of toothpaste for over a decade, there’s only one type of coffee that tastes right in the morning, a small handful of sources you trust to deliver you news. But when is the last time you second-guessed your bank? A lot of us sign up early in our financial lives with a national bank, maybe one offering painless on-campus signup to freshmen, or the one you went with because they have branches everywhere you go. That national bank...

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1. Americans are anchored by credit-card debt. Credit card debt is held by homeowners and renters, college graduates or Americans who entered the work force with a high school diploma of GED, so it is understandable that credit card debt spans across all demographics of the country. Almost half of Americans carry credit card debt to the tune of $807 billion, with the average interest rate hovering near 16%. 2. Yes, there is such a thing as good debt. Of course, not all loan debt is...

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As you drive around town running errands — picking up a few must-haves for dinner at the grocery store, shuttling the kids to soccer practice, or dropping off a prescription at the pharmacy — you likely drive past a community bank or credit union in your neighborhood. In fact, you might pass several without even noticing. Small banks and credit unions have been in your neighborhood for as long as you've lived in your home (and in many cases decades and decades longer), and you...

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