Worcester Business Journal

18 Worcester Business Journal | December 6, 2021 | wbjournal.com Member FDIC A great city deserves a great relationship. Stop by our new Worcester branch located at 633 Park Ave. 1. Limited to one bonus maximum amount of $300.00 per common ownership or customer. Businesses which currently own or have had a Rockland Trust Business Checking account within the 90 days prior to the account open date are not eligible. Rockland Trust employees are also not eligible. To be eligible for the $300 bonus you must open a new Free Business Checking or a new Complete Business Checking account with an initial account opening deposit of $1,000 of new money to Rockland Trust between October 4, 2021 and December 31, 2021. Initial account opening deposits funded by loans from Rockland Trust do not qualify. The bonus will be paid directly to your account by March 31, 2022. Account must be open and have a positive balance at the time the bonus is credited. Bonus payment will be reported to the IRS for the tax year in which it is paid. For new accounts funded by new money to Rockland Trust. Offer may be discontinued at any time without prior notice. Business checking account must be opened at our 633 Park Ave branch located in Worcester. 2. Limit one promotional personal checking account per household. Individuals who currently own or have had a Rockland Trust checking account within the 90 days prior to the account open date are not eligible. Rockland Trust employees are also not eligible. To be eligible for the $250 bonus you must open a new checking account between October 4, 2021 and December 31, 2021 and use your new Rockland Trust Debit Card to make at least 20 purchases of $10 or more within 60 days of your account opening date. ATM transactions do not qualify. The bonus will be paid directly to your account by March 31, 2022. Account must be open and have a positive balance at the time the bonus is credited. Bonus payment will be reported to the IRS for the tax year in which it is paid. Checking account must be opened at our 633 Park Ave branch located in Worcester. Offer not valid for Renew Checking accounts. Offer may be discontinued at any time without prior notice. Take advantage of one of our GRAND OPENING OFFERS Earn $300 1 when you open a new Free Business Checking or Complete Business Checking account by December 31, 2021 Earn $250 2 when you open a new checking accountby December 31, 2021 To learn more, visit one of our branches or give us a call at 774.243.1098. BRANCH HOURS Mon - Thu Fri Sat 8:30 A.M. - 5:00 P.M. 8:30 A.M. - 6:00 P.M. 8:30 A.M. - 1:00 P.M. VIDEO TELLER HOURS Mon - Fri Sat Sun 7:00 A.M. - 7:00 P.M. 8:00 A.M. - 4:00 P.M. 10:00 A.M. - 4:00 P.M. Extended banking hours with Live Teller Services! Who gets my Nikes? A s small business own- ers, we are typically preoccupied with day-to-day operations, staffing, financial deci- sions, and everything else coming along with our livelihood. Quite oen, what is le on the back burner is our own financial and estate future. Most days are survival of the fittest, and once we get home, we are oen too exhausted to make decisions about our future. ose sparks of motivation can be few and far between, especially when just starting out. When e Queen's Cups began, I had an accountant who told me I needed to have a will & testament, a healthcare proxy, and establish a power of attorney, as a business owner. You can imagine what went through my head at the age of 23. Why would I, someone seem - ingly worth nothing with no money or assets, need someone to delegate what happens with the money I didn't have? At 23, I assumed your will & testament was filled with who would be le with your prized possessions. Who would I leave my Nike collection to? Who would inherit the things I didn't need to buy but still bought? Yet, I found out quickly these documents are not that superficial. ey are important in terms of making business and healthcare deci - sions, financial decisions, and speaking on my behalf if I cannot do so myself. When I got married in 2018, it was important my husband was included in my wishes and we established these doc- uments for him as well. I was adamant we did this as soon as we were legally married. We knew eventually we wanted to start a family, and having these conversations and documents in place reassured me everything would be okay. When we found out we were pregnant earlier this year, we had discussions on how we could further protect ourselves and our growing family. We had close friends who established a revocable trust for their family, and it sparked our interest to do the same. We reached out to our attorney, Heather Trudell of Keenan and Trudell in Millbury, who has assisted us in this process. We es- tablished a revocable living trust, which will have our legal documents under it, and most importantly will protect our child for her future. I never want my child, or future children, to worry about our finances or certain decisions when we pass on. I do not want to burden my husband with my business if something happens to me. Most importantly, I wanted to make sure I set up legal guardianships for my family if both my husband and I passed unexpectedly. I wanted to explore different ways to save more money for our family and create accounts for my daughter's future. Financial freedom is important to me. I never want my children to worry about the financial health of their parents or rely on someone else for money. My husband and I discussed different finan- cial plans for schooling and savings. Her father, someone who was a great student and brilliant in his own right, enjoyed school. Her mother, someone who was an average student and more of an entrepreneur, looked at school as more of a social event. Who will my daughter be? ere is no way to tell yet, but I want to make sure we save money in ways to benefit her future no matter who she chooses to be. I want to have the option of sending her to private school if she chooses, or start a business like her mom. To do these things, my husband and I had to look at our own finances. We had to look at how much it was cost - ing us to live the way we currently live and make sacrifices to live the life we want. Consulting with professionals, we realized we had to tackle debt, look at purchases we were making to determine if they were dire, and start cooking more at home. We needed to look at our retirement accounts and life insurances. We spent countless hours doing so to plan for our future. It was not the most fun thing, but it brought us closer. If I can give any advice to small business owners, or anyone in general, it would be to look at your life and put things in place to reassure your future. Make time to consult with friends or colleagues who have done these things. Look into different options of life insurances and bank accounts for yourself and family. ink about who you want to make decisions for you. It doesn't matter how old you are. Life can change in an instant. Renee Diaz is the owner of Worcester bakery e Queen's Cups. W The Hustle is Real BY RENEE DIAZ

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