Press
NCUF Grantee’s Investor Education Reaching Thousands of WI CU Employees
Contact:
Christopher Morris
608-231-4374 | cmorris@ncuf.coop
Madison, Wis. – The Wisconsin Credit Union League is making a difference across the state with the Investor Education in Your Workplace™ (or “IEiYW™”) program. IEiYW is a free, online financial and investment education program made possible thanks to a grant from the Investor Protection Trust.
The Wisconsin Credit Union League currently helped train 14 CFE Certified Financial Educators® (CFEd) who worked to enroll up to 3,600 employees across the state to participate in online investor education courses. With additional outreach efforts planned by the CFEds and other IEiYW project partners, they are on track to provide training to 4,000 people by the end of the year. To help fund the initiative, the Wisconsin Credit Union League received additional grant funding this year from the National Credit Union Foundation’s REAL Solutions program.
“Our project was designed to deliver quality, unbiased, online investor education to 4,000 consumers in the state of Wisconsin, all at no charge,” said Jim Drogue, Vice President – Credit Union Development at the Wisconsin Credit Union League. “The benefits of IEiYW are two-fold. The courses not only help credit union employee make wise financial decisions, but also help credit unions educate and serve their members.”
The Wisconsin Credit Union League has worked with The University of Wisconsin, Department of Financial Institutions, Precision Information and the Investor Protection Trust, during all phases of their investor education initiative, which was originally named REAL Progress & Pathways to Prosperity (RP3).
Each IEiYW course contains 10 hours of self-paced, unbiased online training on money & investing. The training covers topics such as:
- Investing basics, goals, strategy & choices;
- Certificates, money market, mutual funds, stocks, bonds;
- Formula investment plans and dollar cost averaging;
- Education planning; and
- Retirement planning & terminology.
The Wisconsin Credit Union League and IEiYW project partners are currently in discussions with a number of credit union leagues to expand the program in the next year to potentially reach 10,000 -20,000 people in up to eight states. If you are interested in learning more about the possibility of bringing this program to your state, please contact Jim Drogue at jdrogue@theleague.coop or 1-800-242-0833 Ext. 6005.
“The focus on member financial education is so great in credit unions across the country that we sometimes take for granted the knowledge of employees,” said Lois Kitsch, National REAL Solutions Program Director at the National Credit Union Foundation. “I hope to see more states taking on programs such as IEiYW so that we not only see more members achieve financial freedom, but credit union staff as well.”
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About REAL Solutions®
REAL Solutions® is the signature program of the National Credit Union Foundation. REAL — ― “Relevant, Effective, Asset-building, Loyalty-producing” — Solutions works to help credit unions offer a wide range of products and services that have proven successful in serving working families with low wealth and modest means. Using product/business models created and tested by credit unions, REAL Solutions disseminates information to credit unions through special meetings, an online impact center at www.realsolutions.coop, and state and national conferences. As NCUF’s signature program over the past four years, REAL Solutions has been adopted in 40 states and is saving members tens of millions of dollars. It has now become a documented business strategy for credit unions to grow their memberships by serving the underserved. Real people with real needs are finding REAL Solutions at credit unions.
About the National Credit Union Foundation (ncuf.coop):
The National Credit Union Foundation is the US credit union movement’s primary national philanthropic program provider, fundraiser and grant-maker. Through NCUF grants and programs, credit unions provide widespread financial education, create greater access to affordable financial services, and empower more consumers to save, build assets, and own homes.
NCUF is funded primarily by investments in the award-winning Community Investment Fund (CIF) and by generous Supporters led by the Credit Union National Association and CUNA Mutual. All NCUF donors provide support that empowers NCUF and state credit union foundations to make a real impact in the credit union community.
The National Credit Union Foundation is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt charitable organization. NCUF continues to earn the Better Business Bureau seal of approval as an “Accredited Charity” for meeting all 20 BBB Wise Giving Alliance Standards for national charities.
About the Investor Protection Trust (investorprotection.org):
The Investor Education in Your Workplace™ program is funded by a grant from the Investor Protection Trust (IPT). The IPT is a Washington, DC-based nonprofit organization dedicated to investor education. Since 1993 the IPT has worked with the states to provide the independent, objective investor education needed by all Americans to make informed investment decisions.