Comprehensive course helps adults' budget, save, build financial stability.
Courtesy Photo-LAFCU Pathway to Financial Transformation Graphic.jpg — Topics in LAFCU’s upcoming personal finance course range from home and automobile ownership to dealing with financial stress.
LANSING, Mich. — Enrollment is open to the public for LAFCU’s free, comprehensive, and award-winning personal finance course, Pathway to Financial Transformation. To enroll, visit www.lafcu.com/pathway by Sept. 8.
"The course spans eight months so participants can see the tangible benefits of even minor behavioral changes," said Shelia Scott, LAFCU's community financial education and business development officer, who leads the personal financial course. "There is ample time between classes to apply the knowledge they learn in the classroom to everyday life so they can lay the groundwork for financial change."
LAFCU Finance Course Graduation.jpg— (L to R) Cyrene Irelan, Shelia Scott, and Belynda Williams took the Pathways to Financial Transformation course together. They celebrated with the course instructor, Shelia Scott from LAFCU, after successfully completing the program.
The one-hour classes will be held virtually every other Thursday from 6 to 7 p.m., from Sept. 14, 2023, to April 25, 2024, excluding holidays. One class will be held in person at LAFCU headquarters in Lansing per semester, three times total, to meet and network with participants and LAFCU staff. After the course concludes, a graduation ceremony will be held featuring cap-and-gowns.
This is LAFCU’s third time offering the course to LAFCU members and nonmembers. Participants from previous cohorts have shared what they’ve learned from the eight-month, 16-module course, which ranged from a credit rating boost of more than 100 points to debt repayment of more than $20K to establishing savings accounts for their children to no longer living paycheck-to-paycheck.
“I’ve gained so much invaluable information during this course and have already made huge strides to change certain behaviors and feel more secure and confident in my financial future,” noted Belynda Williams of Eaton Rapids, Michigan, during the graduation ceremony of the 2022-2023 Pathway to Financial Transformation cohort.
The 16-session course covers topics critical for financial stability and is structured similarly to a college course with assignments and quizzes. Topics include financial attitudes and behaviors, budgeting, investing, home, and automobile ownership, dealing with financial stress, improving one’s credit score, money management in retirement, and barriers preventing equal access to financial resources.
Speakers are LAFCU professionals in collections, lending, investments, insurance, and diversity, equity and inclusion. Outside experts in financial counseling, auto lending and auto maintenance, mortgages, and a health and wellness coach are also featured speakers.
About LAFCU
Chartered in 1936, LAFCU is a not-for-profit financial cooperative open for membership to anyone who lives, works, worships or attends school in Michigan and to businesses and other entities located in Michigan. The credit union serves more than 74,000 members and holds over $1 billion in assets. It was named a Best Credit Union to Work For in 2020. LAFCU offers a comprehensive range of financial products and services as well as an expanding complement of financial technology solutions. Members enjoy benefits such as low fees, low-interest rates on loans, high yields on savings, discounts, knowledgeable employees and nationwide access to fee-free ATMs. A recipient of the national Dora Maxwell Social Responsibility Community Service Award for credit unions, LAFCU enriches the communities it serves by supporting many organizations and causes. To learn more about LAFCU, call 800.748.0228 or visit www.lafcu.com.