Wisconsin CU League News Release - 4/19/12
Credit unions teach financial skills year-round, not just during
Financial Literacy Month
Pewaukee, WI - April is Financial
Literacy Month, but credit unions –not-for-profit financial
institutions owned by their 2.2 million members – teach money
management year-round. It’s all part of credit unions’
voluntary REAL Solutions
initiative, which helps people improve their financial position. For
example, credit unions offer:
- Youth-run, in-school credit unions. Young people have saved
more than $3 million in 97 youth-run branches of credit unions housed
inside schools and youth centers statewide. None of the branches drive
credit union profits; they teach young people the habit of saving. The
branches are considered a “best practice” for youth
financial education.
- Savings programs. April 22-28 is National Credit Union Youth
Week, which invites younger members to save. Last year during Youth Week
in Wisconsin alone, 2,950 young people deposited $465,992 into savings
accounts. Read the state proclamation acknowledging this and
other financial education efforts by credit unions statewide.
- Classroom learning. Credit unions provide the brass|STUDENT PROGRAM, which includes the
lifestyle money magazine brass, free to any Wisconsin high school
that wants it. Resources for students and teachers online support state
teaching standards. A total of 405 teachers at 350 schools receive it
for classroom use. Credit unions also provide free to schools the High School Financial Planning
Program, a classroom course teaching personal finance
“basics.”
- “Experience” learning. Money Mission®,
offered on credit union websites, is an online life simulation that
challenges teens to balance their life along with their finances.
Schools point students to Money Mission to engage their students in
financial learning. So far, it is helping students in 48 states learn
the fundamentals of personal finance and has awarded $20,000 in
scholarships to college-bound students. This, as well as day-long
“reality” simulations at local schools, has engaged close to
15,000 students in financial decision-making.
- Freefinancial counseling. Credit unions
provided almost 30,000 hours of this assistance in 2011 to prevent
foreclosures and improve borrowers’ creditworthiness. Referrals to
classes improve access to checking accounts.
- Presentations. Credit unions delivered 5,460 presentations to
34,104 consumers to improve their financial savvy on topics ranging from
basic financial management to improving credit reports, home buying and
more.
- Events. Some credit unions support Money Conferences, events
that teach low-income families financial basics. Other credit unions
offer “savings challenges” involving cash prizes. And others
offer classes during Money
Smart Week.
Credit unions are cooperative financial institutions that are owned by
their members and do not have stockholders. Because they are
not-for-profit, they return earnings to members in the form of more
competitive rates of return on accounts, lower interest on loans, lower
fees and improved services. Around 2.2 million Wisconsin residents
belong to credit unions, of which nearly half are open to the local
community. Find a credit union to join by visiting www.asmarterchoice.org.
The League’s REAL Solutions Scorecard explains how credit unions
returned more than $201 million to their members in 2011 and served
their communities regardless of profit. It is available at www.theleague.coop/scorecard.
| Credit unions teach financial skills year-round, not just during Financial Literacy Month |
