Victoria Cannillo, an Associate Financial Planner/Analyst at Baron Financial Group, is quoted on this topic, answering a reader’s question on NJMoneyHelp.com by Karin Price Mueller, originally published in February 2025. April is “Financial Literacy Month” and a good time to share our tips to help create an effective spending plan.
Victor Cannillo is quoted on this topic in an article in NJMoneyHelp.com by Karin Price Mueller, originally published on March 31, 2021. A reader with 14 years and $270k left on their 20-year mortgage and currently keeping those funds in an online bank earning 0.40%, posed the question, “Is there a better place to keep this money and earn some kind of yield without too much risk?” Baron Financial Group’s Wealth Management Principal, Victor Cannillo, offered this advice:
The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act provides additional relief for small businesses with the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). The initial program, first signed into law on March 27th, stopped accepting applications in mid-April due to a depletion of the original allocated funds. As of Monday, April 27th, the federal PPP, through the Small Business Administration (SBA), started accepting new applications. If you applied for funding in the first round, you will remain in the queue and do not need to apply again. For more information go to
Update to the Equifax Data Breach Settlement (this post was updated on 8.14.19) Due to the overwhelming response to the Equifax Settlement Claim, those who opt for the $125 cash settlement may only receive a small portion. Instead, you might be better served by choosing the free credit monitoring. Robert Schoshinski, Assistant Director, Division of Privacy and Identity Protection of the FTC (Federal Trade Commission), had this to say on his July 31, 2019 FTC blog post:
This is an update to our September 2017 blog post concerning the Equifax data breach that occurred in September of 2017. Due to the data breach, we advised considering freezing your credit reports to stop thieves from opening new credit cards or loans in your name. Freezing your report also prevents you from opening new accounts, so each time you apply for a credit card, mortgage or loan, you need to lift the freeze a few days beforehand.