Last week Meritus Credit Union completed their 2-part member education series, “Zoom in on Your Finances”. With nearly 50 participants joining in, members learned about retirement in the Louisiana school system, as well as the top 5 personal finance trends in 2021.
The educational series was an idea born from trying to fix the problem of still reaching Meritus CU members during the pandemic. Unlike other business sectors, Meritus CU’s main SEG—4 Acadiana school systems--were not allowing non-essential visitors to campuses during the school year of 2020-2021. Although Meritus CU could no longer meet with members in person at their place of employment, the needs of their members did not stop, and in some cases, the need for financial education only grew. The “Zoom in on Your Finances” series was created to specifically reach members who were searching for more financial content and education. Each session was hosted in June on zoom, which allowed interested members to use some of their summer time off to hop on the call and learn more.
In the first session, “Everything You Need to Know About Retiring in the Louisiana School System”, members took a deep-dive to learn about their pension plans, 403b accounts, DROP, and other necessary elements to their retirement plan. “Looking into 2021: Top 5 Personal Finance Trends and Opportunities” took a different look at what members can expect to see in the rest of 2021 and how they should plan accordingly. Local experts in the field, including Meritus CU, spoke about finding high rate deposit accounts, the Housing Market, the future of Acadiana’s economy, investing in 2021 and traveling post-pandemic. A wealth of information was shared, such as it is a still a sellers’ housing market and the Acadiana economy is continuing to climb, which aimed to help members detail their financial goals for the rest of the year.
Overall the series was a success, with many participating members asking for member education to be continued with zoom sessions in the future.