Credit union leader takes leadership role in spreading awareness about breast cancer in men

October 25th, 201832442 This 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...

CONSIDER THIS: The implications of wedding debt on marriages

June 5th, 2018150610 Financial 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...

Eloise Woods: Trail Blazer and Visionary in Georgia Credit Unions

March 27th, 201845554 This 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...

African-American Credit Union Coalition creates diverse voice for industry

February 28th, 201832295 This 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...

5 things you should really know about your Valentine's finances

February 14th, 201899152 You 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...

Beware of costly (and life-threatening) phony weight-loss products

January 5th, 2018229889 The new year has long been a time to focus on weight loss. New year, new you, right? Unfortunately, that mentality can also feed into the success of companies hawking phony and costly weight loss products that do more harm than good to your body. Beginning in 2011, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration noticed many over-the-counter “diet pills” contained “hidden active ingredients that could be harmful.” “Consumers may unknowingly take products laced with varying quantities of approved prescription drug ingredients, controlled substances and untested and unstudied pharmaceutically active ingredients,” according to a...

Dreams Thrive Here: How Georgia credit unions helped two families afford life

November 27th, 201724154 This article ran in October's issue of Georgia Trend Magazine. It was written by Angi Christensen Harben, the director of communications at Georgia Credit Union Affiliates.  Credit unions in Georgia help people afford life. It’s a simple and honest statement. When people walk into a credit union, they are walking into a place that exists for no other reason than to help them get what they need and want. International Credit Union Day is celebrated annually on the third Thursday of October. It’s an opportunity to reflect on the reasons and the ways credit unions do what they do. Serving people of all ages, backgrounds, and at every...

Here are some cheap eats for gluten-free consumers

November 21st, 201730154 Even the most health-conscious Americans need a cheap bite to eat every once in a while. Sometimes, there’s just not enough time between putting the final touches on that big project and picking up the kids before school to do much more than grab a burger through the drive-thru at McDonalds. Other times, consumers just crave a lazy dinner-time experience that won’t hurt their wallets. But it’s not so simple for 3 million Americans with Celiac disease, according to the University of Chicago’s Celiac Disease Center. Those 3 million people could contract autoimmune disorders, neurological problems, osteoporosis or cancer if they...