(This post was originally written January 3, 2010, and has been updated.)
I moved down to Virginia in 2000 for my job, and one of my first stops was at a credit union to get a local savings and checking account.
I'm still with the same credit union after nearly a quarter century, and though some things have changed, some haven't.
The credit union offered financial education
I've always been a bit of a sucker for freebies, especially information pamphlets.
One time when I was cleaning off my desk I found a little pamphlet entitled “Teach Children About Money.” It really was little — a single tri-fold piece of paper that's smaller than a standard sheet of paper — but there was quite a bit of information in there.
Then I found a “statement stuffer” with the title “Back in the Black: Tools to Keep Your Checkbook on Track.”
A third one that I still refer to details out the length of time that you should keep various documents like credit card statements, tax documents, IRA contributions, and so forth.
Members of the credit union could pick up pamphlets like these in the place where they would endorse their checks.
Financial education is more online now
The number of checks my wife and I write has gone down steadily.
Also, we don't go to the credit union so much anymore because we do most financial transactions electronically now. The few checks we receive we can deposit by taking pictures of them with our phones.
Over the years, our credit union has beefed up its website and has some financial education articles under the Education tab (of all places).
The governing body for credit unions, the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) has a financial resources page.
They still have some of the pamphlets though. I do go in once in a while to pull out a few hundred in ones to hunt for fancy serial numbers.
There's also the personal touch in financial education
Some time ago I was on the supervisory committee of the credit union, and then on its board of directors. During this time I got to see a bit more of the credit union than most members get to see.
I recall one of the employees saying that they helped a member balance their checkbook.
This is one place where I hope that the AI chatbots, as good as they are, don't completely take over. They're not going to be able to respond to you as well as someone sitting next to you.
Photo by Eduardo Soares on Unsplash
My wife introduced me to credit unions nearly 15 years ago. We also have an account with a local bank, but the vast majority of all our money is managed with the CU. There really is a difference in the way they treat you.