LANSING, Mich. — Seven adult members of LAFCU here who completed the credit union’s first comprehensive personal finance course are already reaping benefits from the 16-session course, the CU said.
LAFCU said the course was designed to help participants improve financial behavior and build a roadmap to attain financial freedom.
“By understanding that financial wellness is the underpinning of a good life, these community members are now better prepared for life success,” said Shelia Scott, community financial education & business development officer who led the course. “Students were at various stages of their lives: Some wanted a complete reset of their financial situation; others wanted to purchase a large asset, such as a house; and some wanted to learn more about investing or how to make assets work best in retirement.
“It was especially rewarding to see that by the end of the course some graduates had already improved their credit score, stopped living paycheck-to-paycheck, started a savings account and paid off debt.”
The graduates of LAFCU’s “Pathway to Financial Transformation” are Barbara Andersen, Michael Boles Sr., Mackenzie Callahan, Cathy Daniels, Robin Kinzel, Tabitha Thompson and Lori Wurm.
‘Changed My Life’
“It changed my life. It is so useful to everyday life, it should be required learning for everyone,” said Daniels.
According to the $970-million LAFCU, graduate Lori Wurm knew that she and her daughter, Robin Kinzel, were at stages of their lives in which they could both benefit from intensive financial education: Wurm was starting a new career as owner of Woodbury’s Flower Shop in St. Johns, and Robin was engaged to be married.
"The course was more like a conversation than a lecture class,” Wurm said. “Often you feel alone about finances, but Shelia made it seem so easy. The information was insightful, and the experience boosted our confidence that financial freedom is within our reach. We now know that when we have a plan for success our chances of achieving it are so much greater.”
Starting the ‘Journey’
Added LAFCU CEO Patrick Spyke during a cap-and-gown ceremony for the graduates, “We might not be changing the financial wellness of 100,000 lives today, but we've started the journey. We will continue on that path because we know a little education can make a big difference for so many in our community. If each of you share some of what you learned in the program with a friend or relative, you can double this program’s impact. If they each share it with another person, the reach spreads exponentially.”
According to LAFCU, classes were spread over eight months so students could see benefits of making even small changes in their financial behavior throughout the course. It was free and structured similarly to a college course with a syllabus, assignments and quizzes, the credit union said.
Topics included all facets of personal finance that support an individual’s pursuit of financial freedom, including traps that can derail a person’s financial stability.
Guest speakers were LAFCU financial professionals with one session led by a representative of LAFCU’s financial counseling partner, GreenPath Financial Wellness, Farmington Hills, the CU added.
LAFCU plans to continue offering the course to help others improve their financial future beginning in the fall of this year.
The Very Best in CU Reporting. For You. For Free
Don’t forget to check your Spam/Junk email folder if you haven’t been receiving your free, popular and daily CUToday.info news headlines.
And if you haven’t yet signed up for the new email solution on which CUToday.info has partnered with ResponseGenius, you can do so here. Signing up requires less than one minute of your time.
CUToday.info has received very positive response from readers following the move to an improved provider of the daily headlines, but many also noted they did need to go to their Spam/Junk folder and mark it as safe.
The new email solution has not only improved every reader’s delivery experience, but it also features a fresh, new format that is easy to read, especially on mobile devices.
Please note and/or make your IT department or email administrator aware the emails will be coming from the domains CUTodayinfo.com and CUTodayinfoReply.com.