January 18th, 2019591392
The partial federal government shutdown -- which began Dec. 21 -- has become the longest in American history.
As many of the approximately 100,000 federal employees in Georgia went through their first pay cycle without compensation, more and more credit unions have reached out to help suffering members.
“Our tagline is ‘helping people afford life,’” said Janet Kircher, member experience event and media coordinator at United 1st Federal Credit Union. “This is just another way for us to help exceed member expectations in a time of need.”
Below is a sampling of Georgia credit unions offering programs to...
October 25th, 201832438This article was written by Sara Watkins for GCUA.
The color pink can be seen everywhere during the month of October, symbolizing the global health campaign for Breast Cancer Awareness. While the disease has touched nearly everyone in some way, not all aspects of breast cancer are quite so “pink.” A disease widely attributed to women, it is not unheard of for men to be diagnosed with breast cancer, too.
Eric Dunlap, CDC Federal Credit Union’s vice president of mortgage lending, has firsthand knowledge of the much rarer side of breast cancer, as he was diagnosed with it at the age of 34.
According to the American Cancer...
June 15th, 201823440On June 15, World Elder Abuse Awareness Day, Georgia’s credit unions join the rest of the country and the globe in recognizing and opposing elder abuse, neglect and financial exploitation.
“I would say it’s a pretty steady trend we see among our elder members,” said Cindy Turner, vice president of compliance in the Enterprise Risk Management Department at LGE Community Credit Union in Atlanta, Ga. “And I think the problem is going to be on the rise because of the growth in that age category.”
The U.S. Census Bureau predicts that the number of Americans over 65 years old will nearly double by 2050, growing from 43.1 million...
June 5th, 2018149605Financial stress in a marriage can begin with the wedding.
According to costofwedding.com, couples, on average, spend between $19,323 and $32,205 on their big day. That’s about the average cost of an out-of-state student to attend a public university for a semester during the 2017-2018 school year ( about $25,620, according to collegedata.com).
But all that spending doesn’t necessarily lead to marital bliss. In fact, researchers Andrew Francis-Tan and Hugo M. Mialon found in their study, “’A Diamond is Forever’ and Other Fairy Tales: The Relationship Between Wedding Expenses and Marriage Duration,” that couples who spent...
June 1st, 201850417Soldiers make sacrifices.
Some are obvious – but others are less so. For instance, not everyone sees the extra effort military families must put forth to maintain financial stability while living a life marked by uncertainty.
“Many military families live paycheck to paycheck,” said Barbara Martin, vice president of operations at GeoVista Federal Credit Union.
That can add stress to an already stressful lifestyle.
“Financial wellness is important for any family to maintain stability,” said Kinetic Credit Union Chief Operating Officer Alretta Craw. “But financial wellness for military families is especially important...
March 27th, 201845549This article was written by Sara Watkins for GCUA.
When Eloise Woods was young, she was involved in a terrible car crash that left her in a body cast through most of high school. Doctors said she would never walk again. To those whoknew her, it came as no surprise that through sheer determination and hard work, she proved those doctors wrong.
Eloise didn’t just walk, she took off. She catapulted into the Georgia credit union world and left a well-worn path for women in the workforce who came behind her. As the first woman named CEO of a Georgia credit union, she was decades ahead of her time. Remembered as a pioneer in the...
March 2nd, 201849537College graduates in Georgia are graduating with high hopes, bright futures – and decades worth of student debt.
According to CollegeCalc, The average annual cost of tuition in Georgia was $10,055 a year for the 2016-2017 academic year. That’s $3,531 lower than the U.S. average and ranks Georgia as the 13th most affordable state or district to attend college.
But Georgia students are still facing their share of student loan debt.
A Georgia Credit Union Affiliates survey featuring more than 3,000 respondents across the state found about 33 percent of Georgians who went to college used student loans to help pay for their degree....
February 28th, 201832295This article was written by Sara Watkins for GCUA.
Every inspired idea has to start somewhere. For the African-American Credit Union Coalition (AACUC), it started with a simple conversation among a group of Georgia credit union professionals who shared a desire to get to know other African American professionals in their industry.
“In our mind, it was the Georgia-based credit union leaders who were the catalyst for conceiving AACUC,” said Renée Sattiewhite, Executive Director of Atlanta-based AACUC.
Over the last 20 years, from Georgia to the rest of the country, AACUC has more than lived up to its mission to increase...
February 14th, 201899149You love everything about your Valentine. You adore their dreamy eyes, contagious laugh and witty banter. You know every detail about their past and their family tree.
But how much do you know about your significant other's financial house? Would you like what you found there?
Money isn't something most people want to bring up in the middle of looking wistfully into their partners' eyes. It's not a sexy topic of conversation. But it's a part of most relationships, anyway. According to Georgia Credit Union Affiliates' 2017 Mid-Year Consumer Survey, 58 percent of Georgians think it's best to combine at least some of their financial...