Real Solutions - A National Credit Union Foundation Program

Moving back in with your parents when you’re an adult is no joke, so the consumer advocates who founded FoolProof Financial Education Systems decided to share the Top 10 money moves that will land many back in their old rooms.

Leveraging grants dollars provided by the Texas Credit Union Foundation (Foundation), the Consumer Credit Counseling Service of Greater Dallas (CCCS) will offer 100 free webinars throughout April in honor of Financial Literacy Month. Consumers who attend at least three webinars will have the chance to win one of three $100 gift cards.

More than 375 students from 10 high schools throughout Connecticut converged at Housatonic Community College in Bridgeport, Conn. for the challenge of living within a budget as if they were striking out on their own Wednesday, March 31st. Over 50 volunteers from Connecticut credit unions and local businesses helped students through the paces of choosing housing, transportation, clothing, entertainment, and dozens of other life areas affecting their lives as young adults.

In 2010, the Pennsylvania Credit Union Association teamed up with the Pennsylvania Securities Commission and the Pennsylvania Office of Financial Education to pilot the Investor Education in the Workplace program. The pilot included 38 credit unions with over 1,500 employees.

Featuring Young & Free Spokesters from all across North America! Young & Free is a North America wide credit union movement focused on giving young people a voice, a head start and useful information.

The National Credit Union Foundation (NCUF) is now collecting data for its 2011 Credit Union Member Education Inventory. Sponsored by state credit union leagues and NCUF’s REAL Solutions program, the data and information gathered from credit unions will enable the credit union movement to demonstrate the power of financial education and counseling on the lives of members and communities across the country.

As part of winning the 2011 REAL Member Solutions Video Contest, Oscar Rivera got to go to GAC in Washington, DC a few weeks ago. While he was there, National Program Director Lois Kitsch took him to speak to the “Crashers,” a group of under 30 CU professionals. Crasher Sean Capaloff-Jones recently blogged about Oscar’s session at the Crash blog.

More than 20 individuals from Illinois credit unions are participating in the REAL Solutions Enhanced Financial Counseling Certification Program (FiCEP), as a result of support from the Illinois Credit Union (ICU) Foundation.

Fifty-four Texas credit unions will soon have a turnkey payday loan alternative product thanks to the National Credit Union Foundation’s REAL Solutions program and the Texas Credit Union League.

The new product will be launched in participating credit unions on March 30, the league said, after the CUs have trained their staff in how to “sensitively” offer the product.

In conjunction with the Credit Union National Association (CUNA) Governmental Affairs Conference (GAC) in Washington, DC last week, the National Credit Union Foundation’s (NCUF) REAL Solutions Program held their first D.C. Financial Reality Fair. A Reality Fair is an interactive financial literacy tool for high school students.

The module that appears below is meant to inform credit union employees of some of the advantages of understanding tax forms. In particular, it documents three very important attributes of the tax code in the U.S. First, it describes the Earned Income Tax Credit. Second, it explains the Saver’s Credit. And third, it discusses the importance of the tax form for those who want to receive financial aid for college for themselves or their children.

Recently, Lois Kitsch, national program manager for REAL Solutions talked to the Credit Union Times about VITA sites. The article was just published and can be found here.

The following report is from the Georgia Credit Union Affiliates, which they distributed it to media, legislators, regulators, Georgia CUs and others. It was released in Oct. of last year.

Their 2010 REAL Deal Report illustrates the impact Georgia credit unions consistently make on their members and their communities.

The Wisconsin Credit Union League, the league where REAL Solutions originally started, sent out a press release this week with some amazing statistics on the impact that REAL Solutions has made to consumers in Wisconsin.

An enhanced version of the Credit Union Financial Counseling Certification Program (FiCEP) is available to credit union staff thanks to a collaboration between the National Credit Union Foundation’s REAL Solutions® effort, Credit Union National Association’s Center for Professional Development (CUNA CPD), and the Arkansas, Illinois, Mississippi, and Virginia credit union leagues.