April Is Youth & Financial Literacy Month!

 

April is a pretty special month for more reasons than starting with showers and ending with May flowers!  April is Youth and Financial Literacy Month!  Teaching our young ones how important saving is can really make a difference in their financial success as they get older!

Here’s why saving at a young age is a good thing:

1.      Just as the saying goes “Old habits die hard” good habits started at a young age will die hard too! All good lessons and habits begin early. Learning to save at an early age is essential to a healthy financial future. It has been found that habits cultivated at an early age stay with people most of their lives. If you help your child begin saving a little, they may have a nice nest egg when they need it most.

2.      Wants Vs. Needs…the younger we start teaching this, the better!  Start giving your child an allowance, even if it’s just $5/week or smaller. When it’s their hard earned money that they’ll be expected to use for items they want or need, they’ll better understand the value of their dollars. Do they really want that candy bar? When it’s their money that they are spending, the thought process of what they really want to spend it on will make more sense.

3.      Interest! Now this may be a concept your kids may not quite understand if they are younger, but that’s ok because one day they will appreciate this.  Once you open your child a Youth account at Honor, their money will begin earning interest! Then, as they add to it, that initial $15 they put in could turn into a whole lot more. Then, when the day comes that they really need it, they’ll have the money for items, experiences, and their future.

Every day is a good day to save money, no matter how young you are. But now, there’s never been a better time to save at Honor Credit Union! To celebrate Youth & Financial Literacy Month anyone who opens a youth account with a $5 deposit during the month of April (that’s basically anyone age 0-22), Honor Credit Union will put $10 extra into the account!  Swing by a branch or give us a call at 800.442.2800 to learn more!

And of course, don’t forget to follow Honor on Twitter @honorcu!  Tweet us and let us know what you want to hear us talk about on Mason Jar Monday next week using #askhonorcu!

To listen to 97.5 Y-Country’s Wild Bill and Honor’s CEO Scott McFarland talk about Youth Literacy Month, listen to the Mason Jar Monday episode below.

Youth Account FAQs

April is youth month at credit unions nationwide!  At Honor, we think supporting the youth in our communities is very important.  After all, someday today’s youth will be the ones running the show!  To kick off youth month, here are a couple FAQs about youth accounts:

• How old does a child have to be to open an account?  This one is easy… for a savings account, there is no age limit!  You can literally open a savings account for your child the day they are born to start saving from day one!  Honor’s student credit union program is an easy way for you to open a savings account for your child.  If your child attends one of the 13 schools that partner with Honor for student credit unions, they can open an account and start learning how fun, easy, and important saving money is.
• I want my child to start learning how to manage their money, without giving them TOO much control…what is the best way to do this?  There are so many tools you can use to start teaching your child how to manage their money.  If you have a joint checking account with your child, you can keep full visibility over their spending/saving, and also set limits in place.  For example, through Honor’s Personal Internet Banking settings, you can set a daily debit spending limit, a per-transaction limit, or even limit the times that the debit card can be used!  Another option is one of Honor’s products, a re-loadable Visa.  You can add money to your child’s visa whenever you want (even straight from your direct deposit) but your child can’t ever spend more than what is loaded on the card!
• My child is going away to college, do I have to get them a new account where they live?  NO! Using online banking, mobile banking, and shared branching will allow your child (and you) access to their account virtually anywhere they are!  Many credit unions have checking accounts, like Honor’s benefits checking, that offer programs for foreign ATM fee reimbursement, as well, so your child can still utilize ATM’s without you having to eat those charges every month.  Taking advantage of the shared credit union branches in the town your child is going to school in will also give them branch access to their account, as well!

Whether you are looking at opening your child's first savings account or getting ready to send them to college, your local credit union can be a great resource!  Listen to the full Mason Jar Monday episode on Youth Bank Account FAQs below. 

Comment on this post, or follow us on twitter @honorcu and use #askhonorcu to get involved! You can also comment with the topic you want to see discussed next week! It's your money, and we want to talk about things you care about!