2018 Financial Education Honoree - Service Credit Union
Service Credit Union
2018 Financial Education Honoree
Service Credit Union believes that teaching money management in every stage of life is a key component to helping members and those in the community achieve financial independence. SCU’s Financial Education Department has grown from four employees to 12 in close to 10 years to support the credit union’s goal of educating members, community and staffs so they can become financially secure.
SCU is proud to offer financial education program that have reached close to 8,000 students from elementary school to college level. SCU’s youth programs present high-quality straightforward concepts for making sound financial decisions that will be beneficial throughout one’s life. For the youngest children, SCU has partnered with Money Mammals™ in an outreach effort to foster being money wise in a fun and interactive way.
At the middle and high school level, students are introduced to the CU4 Reality™ program and we have been able to reach thousands of students this past year. The reality fairs present students with a real-world look at budgeting. They need to live within their chosen careers’ monthly salary by paying for the basics such as housing, utilities, transportation, clothing, and food. They experience financial challenges with temptations such as entertainment, electronics, travel and pets. Students need to make choices and balance their needs and wants. They are taught depositing money into a savings account (recommend 10%) before any other spending choices, gives them the protection from the unexpected. It is an eye-opening experience; they realize budgeting is harder than it looks.
In 2017-2018, SCU’s Education Department expanded the CU4 Reality program by conducting a reality mini fair to the University of New Hampshire student-athletes. The SCU staff visited the UNH campus for two classes to give the students an idea of career choice, salaries and realistic expectations of apartments, bills and car payments.
The commitment continues with young adults, adults, and seniors, working with financial concepts tailored to the needs through in-person or online seminars. Our adult financial wellness program extends to over more than 1,000 individuals, which a majority include those from Military troops. The financial education team dedicates themselves to serving those who are struggling to manage their day-to-day expenditures with the support of the GreenPath™ Financial Wellness partnership. Tools and resources are available to help overcome financial barriers and develop healthy money wise opportunities. The seminars can lower stress and provide effective and powerful knowledge in building a better budget, understanding and managing credit card debit, identity theft protection, just to name a few.
SCU’s commitment financial education also includes staff training with regular class instruction on Creating Employee Loyalty, Loan Officers Candidacy and Mentor Program.
