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Note 4 - Fair Value

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2015

Note 4 - Fair Value

Note 4 – Fair Value

Under ASC No. 820, fair value is the price that would be received upon sale of an asset or paid to transfer a liability in an orderly transaction between market participants at the measurement date. The following fair value hierarchy is used in selecting inputs used to determine the fair value of an asset or liability, with the highest priority given to Level 1, as these are the most transparent or reliable. A financial instrument’s level within the fair value hierarchy is based on the lowest level of any input that is significant to the fair value measurements.

Level 1 - Quoted prices for identical instruments in active markets.

Level 2 - Quoted prices for similar instruments in active markets; quoted prices for identical or similar instruments in markets that are not active; and model-derived valuations in which all significant inputs are observable in active markets.

Level 3 - Valuations derived from valuation techniques in which one or more significant inputs are unobservable.

The following methods and assumptions are used by the Company in estimating fair values of its financial instruments:

Cash and Cash Equivalents: Cash includes cash on hand and with banks. Cash equivalents are short-term highly liquid investments with original maturities of three months or less. The carrying value of cash and cash equivalents approximates fair value due to the relatively short period of time between origination of the instruments and their expected realization. The estimated fair value of cash and cash equivalents is classified as a Level 1 financial asset.

Loans: The carrying value of the Company’s direct cash loans and sales finance contracts approximates the fair value since the estimated life, assuming prepayments, is short-term in nature. The fair value of the Company’s real estate loans approximates the carrying value since the interest rate charged by the Company approximates market rate. The estimated fair value of loans is classified as a Level 3 financial asset.

Marketable Debt Securities: The Company values Level 2 securities using various observable market inputs obtained from a pricing service. The pricing service prepares evaluations of fair value for our Level 2 securities using proprietary valuation models based on techniques such as multi-dimensional relational models, and series of matrices that use observable market inputs. The fair value measurements and disclosures guidance defines observable market inputs as the assumptions market participants would use in pricing the asset developed on market data obtained from sources independent of the Company. The extent of the use of each observable market input for a security depends on the type of security and the market conditions at the balance sheet date. Depending on the security, the priority of the use of observable market inputs may change as some observable market inputs may not be relevant or additional inputs may be necessary. The Company uses the following observable market inputs (“standard inputs”), listed in the approximate order of priority, in the pricing evaluation of Level 2 securities: benchmark yields, reported trades, broker/dealer quotes, issuer spreads, two-sided markets, benchmark securities, bids, offers and reference data including market research data. State, municipalities and political subdivisions securities are priced by our pricing service using material event notices and new issue data inputs in addition to the standard inputs. See additional information, including the table below, regarding fair value under ASC No. 820, and the fair value measurement of available-for-sale marketable debt securities.

Equity Method Investment: The fair value of equity method investment is estimated based on the Company's allocable share of the investee net asset value as of the reporting date.

Senior Debt Securities: The carrying value of the Company’s senior debt securities approximates fair value due to the relatively short period of time between the origination of the instruments and their expected repayment. The estimate of fair value of senior debt securities is classified as a Level 2 financial liability.

Subordinated Debt Securities: The carrying value of the Company’s variable rate subordinated debt securities approximates fair value due to the re-pricing frequency of the securities. The estimate of fair value of subordinated debt securities is classified as a Level 2 financial liability.

The Company is responsible for the valuation process and as part of this process may use data from outside sources in establishing fair value. The Company performs due diligence to understand the inputs and how the data was calculated or derived. The Company employs a market approach in the valuation of its obligations of states, political subdivisions and municipal revenue bonds that are available-for-sale. These investments are valued on the basis of current market quotations provided by independent pricing services selected by Management based on the advice of an investment manager. To determine the value of a particular investment, these independent pricing services may use certain information with respect to market transactions in such investment or comparable investments, various relationships observed in the market between investments, quotations from dealers, and pricing metrics and calculated yield measures based on valuation methodologies commonly employed in the market for such investments. Quoted prices are subject to internal price verification procedures. We validate prices received using a variety of methods including, but not limited, to comparison to other pricing services or corroboration of pricing by reference to independent market data such as a secondary broker. There was no change in this methodology during any period reported.

Assets measured at fair value as of March 31, 2015 and December 31, 2014 were available-for-sale investment securities which are summarized below:

		Fair Value Measurements at Reporting Date Using
		Quoted Prices
		In Active	Significant
		Markets for	Other	Significant
		Identical	Observable	Unobservable
	March 31,	Assets	Inputs	Inputs
Description	2015	(Level 1)	(Level 2)	(Level 3)

Corporate securities	$ 373,335	$ 373,335	$ --	$ --
Obligations of states and political subdivisions	131,511,722	--	131,511,722	--
Total	$ 131,885,057	$ 373,335	131,511,722	$ --

		Fair Value Measurements at Reporting Date Using
		Quoted Prices
		In Active	Significant
		Markets for	Other	Significant
		Identical	Observable	Unobservable
	December 31,	Assets	Inputs	Inputs
Description	2014	(Level 1)	(Level 2)	(Level 3)

Corporate securities	$ 418,987	$ 418,987	$ --	$ --
Obligations of states and political subdivisions	132,847,086	--	132,428,086	--
Total	$ 132,847,073	$ 418,987	$ 132,428,086	$ --

The entire disclosure for the fair value of financial instruments (as defined), including financial assets and financial liabilities (collectively, as defined), and the measurements of those instruments as well as disclosures related to the fair value of non-financial assets and liabilities. Such disclosures about the financial instruments, assets, and liabilities would include: (1) the fair value of the required items together with their carrying amounts (as appropriate); (2) for items for which it is not practicable to estimate fair value, disclosure would include: (a) information pertinent to estimating fair value (including, carrying amount, effective interest rate, and maturity, and (b) the reasons why it is not practicable to estimate fair value; (3) significant concentrations of credit risk including: (a) information about the activity, region, or economic characteristics identifying a concentration, (b) the maximum amount of loss the entity is exposed to based on the gross fair value of the related item, (c) policy for requiring collateral or other security and information as to accessing such collateral or security, and (d) the nature and brief description of such collateral or security; (4) quantitative information about market risks and how such risks are managed; (5) for items measured on both a recurring and nonrecurring basis information regarding the inputs used to develop the fair value measurement; and (6) for items presented in the financial statement for which fair value measurement is elected: (a) information necessary to understand the reasons for the election, (b) discussion of the effect of fair value changes on earnings, (c) a description of [similar groups] items for which the election is made and the relation thereof to the balance sheet, the aggregate carrying value of items included in the balance sheet that are not eligible for the election; (7) all other required (as defined) and desired information.

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