While I wish I had the foresight at age 24 to begin saving $100,000 for retirement by age 30, this awesome gameplan from My Financial Journey remindes me that the primary difference between people with cash saved up and those who don’t is nothing more than forming a simple plan and taking action.
It’s never too late to start saving!
We just heard about a great offer for teachers!
Oak Hill & The Martha Berry Museum is offering an Evening for Educators on Monday, Sept. 14 at 7 p.m. Local educators and their families are invited to tour the historic grounds and museum for free.
Oak Hill and the Martha Berry Museum opened in 1972 as a historic house and history museum. Their mission is to tell the story of Martha Berry and Berry College through exhibits and events.
The event is free and is open to all local teachers and their families. Coffee and desserts will be served.
Advanced reservations are preferred. To RSVP call 706-368-6775 or email pclonts@berry.edu.
Do you know what makes a credit union different from a bank?
We are not-for-profit and we are owned by our members (not stockholders).
There is one more very important difference. The operations of a credit union are overseen by a volunteer Board of Directors that is comprised of credit union members. Without the influence of salary, the Board of Directors is free to provide impartial leadership that is in the best interest of their fellow members.
Any member over the age of 16 and in good standing with the credit union (as a primary account holder) is eligible to participate on our Board of Directors.
Nominations for the Board can be made for someone else, or you can nominate yourself.
Send all nominations to Betty Nolen, Nominating Committee Chair at bnolen@highlands.edu or 706.802.5037.
Nominations are open until September 30, 2009.
I have a story for you about life at the credit union this week. Enjoy!
First, I would like to introduce you to Snapper.
Snapper is a lawn mower and he was being used to mow the grass across the street from the credit union. Snapper was doing a great job until he came upon a pile of rocks. One rock in particular.
Meet Rock.
This is Rock. Rock traveled from Snapper all the way across the street. Rock was doing fine until Rock met Window…
This is what happens when Snapper sends Rock to meet Window.
Now Window is Broken Window. Sad day for Window.
Broken Window, meet Chris.
Chris was able to fix Broken Window temporarily until someone could come fix her for good.
And…voila, Window is back! Welcome back, Window!
September 4-7 is Labor Day weekend and we would usually be sitting by the pool celebrating our day off, but this year we are also celebrating the 175th anniversary of Rome, GA.
There are lots of events planned for the big weekend, but the major event is the HUGE toga party. Yes, a toga party. Romans will try to break the Guinness world record for largest toga party. The number to beat is 2,166 people and I am totally confident that we can do it.
The toga party will take place at the Forum on Saturday, September 5. Registration starts at 1:30, entertainment starts at 2:00, and the record attempt and photo will start at 3:00.
There are some very excited credit union staff that can’t wait to celebrate! Everyone is invited to participate, so grab your best toga attire, look for your friends from the credit union, and celebrate Rome’s 175 years!
An article in Credit Union Magazine was brought to my attention from one of our Financial Services Officers, Leslie. It is full of great information that will help us better teach our kids the value of money.
The article is called Born Consumers by Dick Radtke. I can’t think of a more fitting title. We’ve all seen that it is very easy to learn to spend money, the difficult task is learning to spend wisely.
The article suggests that we can start teaching wise spending as early as preschool age. After studying financial literacy programs for children from preschool to third grade, the author offers these great tips to help us teach our children at an early age:
Experience is key: Kids are more likely to understand the value of money if they see decisions parents are making at the store. Try to ‘think aloud’ the decisions you are making about spending and saving.
Practice makes perfect: Practice counting coins and bills with children. This can be much more meaningful than counting coins on a sheet of paper.
Teachable moments: Bringing kids to the credit union with you helps them see what a transaction is like. Use times like this to teach financial basics like putting money into an account before getting money out.
There are plenty of other great tips out there. We’d love to hear about how you teach your kids finances. Leave a comment and let us know.
Also, check out this program called Thrive by Five put together by CUNA. The website is full of great ideas to help you foster basic financial skills early in your child’s life.
Yesterday, I spent the better part of a morning hanging out at the Floyd County Government Health Fair, promoting why every single of one of them should be using their employee benefit of NWGACU membership. While we don’t represent healthcare benefits for county employees, we are the official credit union of the county, which means we were representing financial health. You get the picture.
Sandwiched between Sam’s Club and Rome-Floyd Parks and Recreation Authority, I had lots of fun chatting with current members, potential members, and my neighbors on either side. Here are some things I learned:
1. Most county employees already use us–and they are crazy about us. They’ve seen the light–life is better with a credit union than a bank–and we appreciate that. We express our appreciation by taking really good care of them.
2. A few rare souls tried to join once before, but were told they didn’t have the proper documentation to join. I felt terrible about that, but I would like to explain why this can happen: NWGACU is under federal regulations called the Patriot Act and the Bank Secrecy Act. This means that we require your driver’s license (or goverment-issued ID) and your social security card to open your account. If your driver’s license has a P.O. box as the address, we are required to verify your physical address another way. This means, you would need to bring in a some kind of bill or statement that shows this. So, if you use a P.O. box, save yourself a trip! Bring something that shows your physical location so we can open your account!
3. Floyd County HR does an awesome job of telling new hires about us. Rarely did I meet someone who wasn’t a member, but didn’t know that we were their credit union. Way to go, county HR folks! We appreciate how you share the benefit.
4. Watching line dancing is surprisingly fascinating. This health care came complete with entertainment, including line dancers, tai kwon do demontrations, and a Club Fitness Body Jam dance routine.
Watch for us at your company’s benefits fair! Better yet–send us an invitation!
It has been a crazy summer for educators. And the school year just started, so I’m sure the craziness is not over yet.
In the midst of furloughs, organizing classrooms, meetings, and orientations, we held our annual Brown Bag Luncheon for all of the new teachers in Rome City, Floyd County, and all of the area private schools.
Because of budget cuts there are fewer teachers starting their new year in Rome, but we were excited to celebrate none the less!
The event was held at the Coosa Country Club with spectacular food, fun door prizes, and an excellent speaker full of encouragement and excitement. The day could not have been better!
Our speaker was Mr. Dexter Mills, Executive Director of the Northwest Georgia RESA. He spoke from experience and gave teachers encouragement to start their new positions with enthusiasm.
Overall, it was a fantastic lunch full of fun people, great conversation, and an exciting start to a brand new school year!
Happy first day of school, new teachers!
Photos by Ken Caruthers
In an effort to keep you informed, I want to tell you about what is going on at the credit union this week.
Since we are the teacher’s credit union and because we love education, we are helping some very cool students get the school supplies they need to have a successful year.
We are collecting schools supplies for The Open Door Home located here in town. You are invited to join us in helping these kids out by donating any school supplies at either one of our locations August 3 – August 7.
Just look for the big box in the lobby and fill ‘er up!
