Henry David Thoreau said “Simplify, simplify.” And by that he meant, don’t over-complicate your life with many things when one will do.

You probably have a mortgage, line of credit and other loans, as well as a checking account and possibly several savings accounts of one type or another. That's a lot of accounts, and some may have account or usage fees and minimum balance requirements.

You put your income into a checking account. It sits there until you pay bills or you move it to another account, trying to get the best return on your money. You make payments on your mortgage and other debts, all the while paying much higher finance charge rates than earned on your savings.

This is unnecessarily complex and inefficient, whether in terms of time or effort to manage your personal finances, or in the results.

"The whole is simpler than the sum of its parts." - Willard Gibbs.

America’s first fully-transactional and flexible mortgage, the Green Account, while revolutionary, is not at all complex. In fact, it is simplification personified.

In a single Green Account relationship, you could have the combined features and benefits of a mortgage, line of credit, checking and savings account, and:

• Make your cash flow work for you by depositing your paychecks and other income into a Green Account to minimize your loan balance and interest expense;
  

• Transfer savings and other funds to further reduce your mortgage balance, and yield a better effective rate of return (your mortgage rate);
  

• Have greater liquidity than a certificate of deposit or most other investments (immediate access);
  

• Transfer credit card or other loan balances, and pay less in finance charges;
  

• Have full transaction capability and accessibility to your funds (up to your credit limit).

"Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication." - Leonardo Da Vinci.

For the financially sophisticated, the Green Account may seem simplistic. And yet, where and how often can you find a better rate of return than your mortgage interest rate, or a safer investment than building equity faster in your own home.

Green Account features are a simple but extremely effective financial management tool. It helps you to minimize your net after-tax interest expense, and potentially pay off your mortgage quicker while having full liquidity from the increased available credit that results from every deposit.

"Things should be made as simple as possible, but not any simpler." - Albert Einstein.

We tried to make the Green Account simpler, but couldn’t – So we made it more flexible. In fact, Green Account payments are as flexible as possible.

The Green Account minimum monthly payment is interest only, plus any balance over your credit limit.

So long as you are within your credit limit, you can choose when, how often and how much to pay. Remember, every Green Account deposit is a loan principal payment.

Interest will automatically be added to your account balance each month, but you can choose to overpay, underpay and even take a payment holiday.

We’re also flexible when it comes to interest rate terms. Pacific Trust Bank currently offers seven versions of the Green Account. Borrowers can choose the adjustable interest rate Index and rate change frequency that best meets their needs.

Is it too simple? Some may argue that full transactional capability and ease of access to funds (up to the credit limit for the 15-year life of the Green Account), makes it too easy to stay in debt or borrow more than you should.

Pacific Trust Bank agrees that a Green Account is not for everyone. If you don’t have the financial discipline to be entrusted with a credit card or a home equity line of credit, then you should not have a Green Account.

If, however, you are self-employed or have income that varies seasonally or from month to month, or just want to take advantage of the account’s features to save on interest expense and potentially pay off your mortgage faster, then you should definitely find out more about the Green Account and consider simplifying your personal finances.

"Making the simple complicated is commonplace; making the complicated simple, awesomely simple, that's creativity." - Charles Mingus.

Pacific Trust is not your usual bank, and has a history of product and service innovation – including the Peace of Mind Certificate Account, with an interest rate that adjusts automatically and can only go up - never down; and our Ex-CHANGE free coin machine service for customers and non-customers alike.

It’s only natural that Pacific Trust is the first bank in America to offer its customers a flexible and fully-transactional mortgage account, and that we make finding out more about the Green Account simple too.

You can get all the details about the Green Account on our pacifictrustbank.com web site.

An now, you can Green Account financial simplicity and still keep your existing low-rate first mortgage - with Pacific Trust Bank's new Light Green 2nd Mortgage.

When you consider how rewarding the Green Account can be in simplifying your personal finances, it’s just awesome – simply awesome.

Click here for more information about the Green Account. Or, talk over your home financing needs with a Pacific Trust Bank loan officer. We're here to help. Call us toll-free at (877) 441-BANK.

To request via e-mail additional information about Pacific Trust Bank's loan programs, please Click Here.

Pacific Trust Bank is an equal housing lender.