RMCU has always been concerned with our member’s financial lives.  We want to make sure our members are making the right financial decisions so they can have peace of mind when it comes to money. Offering a financial education curriculum online is just taking it one step farther.  These lessons are designed for everyone and are even available for teachers to bring into their classrooms and teach their students. 

 While we have been offering financial education to schools and businesses in our communities for years, we have never been able to reach as many people as we would like. Having the platform available online will give all individuals the opportunity to expand their financial knowledge. Not everyone knows the basics of a credit card and how easily you can get into trouble with late payments and penalty interest rates.  I often wonder if the “mortgage crisis” could have been avoided if consumers had known what they were getting into.  While there is much more to the crisis than adjustable rate mortgages, I feel we could have avoided such a massive hit if consumers had been better informed. 

 According to the New York Times, only five states require Financial Literacy as part of the high school curriculum.  Montana is not one of those states.  While we do our best as a credit union to facilitate financial education in any way we can, young people and even adults are missing out on basic financial education. This leaves a massive hole in what our newly minted adults know about the world and how it works. Mastermind can help mitigate the gaps in knowledge just by being available. Finances today are more complicated than ever and let’s be real, trigonometry is not going to help you balance your checkbook. If financial education is not available at the school level then it is up to us, your credit union to fill in the blanks wherever we can.  Financially healthy members are good for business.   

 Mastermind has been in the works for three years now and it is exciting to see it all come to life.  Alongside Mastermind, we will still be providing onsite financial education, financial reality fairs, and we even have a financial scavenger hunt for our high schools.  Financial literacy is so important in today’s lending world.  Student loan debt is over $1 trillion dollars and continues to grow.  We need to be available to help these people make the best financial decisions. Check out this graphic from Business Insider, to see a visual representation of the lack of financial education in the U.S.

 We hope you will take advantage of the FREE financial education available to you via Mastermind and encourage others to participate.