With so many financial obligations in life, it’s easy to put your own needs on the back burner. But saving for your retirement is one of the best things you can do to achieve lasting financial well-being. It won’t seem like a struggle once you get into the savings habit and stick with it.
Since we all know what the other certainty in life is (death), maybe we shouldn’t be all that upset about the onset of tax season, right?
Secure Transactions: Choose the Right Way to Pay 
There are plenty of options to manage your money that are convenient, some more secure than others. When transacting, which option do you choose?For instance, should you use a credit card when shopping online, or is a debit card OK? Should you use a peer-to-peer (P2P) payment app to pay rent or purchasing something? Is it safe to use your debit card with a PIN at the gas station?
If you don’t know the answers, here are some tips to help you stay safe.
We encourage you to share the many benefits of Membership with your family.
If you’re shopping around for a credit card, you’ve probably noticed that there are plenty of options on the market today. Low-interest, balance transfer, rewards, cash back, airline- and hotel-specific cards, retail cards, student cards, business cards … the list is endless. So how do you find the credit card that’s right for you?
As fraudsters become more sophisticated, they find more ways to separate consumers from their hard-earned cash. One of the ways they’re making inroads is via a caller ID “spoofing” scheme pretending to be a representative from the Social Security Administration. Other scams use email or snail mail. There are variations of all these tricks, but the goal is the same – to steal your money, identity or both. Here are just a few to guard against.
Like going to the gym or eating a healthy diet, saving money is one of those concepts that’s simple to grasp but weirdly challenging to put into practice. We understand its benefits. We agree that it’s essential to our wellbeing. We know that it’s something we should be doing. But paycheck after paycheck, it’s the same routine: after the bills have been paid and the regular expenses have been looked after, there just isn’t quite enough left over for our savings goals.
By Lynnette Khalfani-Cox, The Money Coach®
I’ll never forget the night my husband Earl popped the question.
We were on a business trip and staying at a beautiful hotel in San Francisco. After a whirlwind day, we stood on the hotel balcony overlooking the city, talking about all we’d accomplished together. All of a sudden, Earl got down on one knee, told me how much he loved me, and asked me to be his wife. I immediately said yes. In my excitement, I didn’t realize that Earl proposed without giving me a ring.
A quick tip from Lynnette Khalfani-Cox, The Money Coach®
When you’re dreaming of buying your first home, it may seem like it’ll take years to save up enough money for a down payment. But there is a way to get help with your housing down payment.
The secret: down-payment assistance programs. Continue reading
Vincent, an American Sign language (ASL) Elementary School Teacher, has been a Member since 1997 and loves the products he has with SchoolsFirst FCU. When Vincent and his wife, Dorene, found themselves in a difficult situation, they turned to their Credit Union for help. Continue reading
