Financial literacy helps you make smarter money decisions, covering essential skills like budgeting, credit, saving, and investing. Even small habits can lead to long-term financial stability, and understanding money reduces stress and uncertainty. With April recognized as Financial Literacy Month, it’s the perfect time to grow your financial knowledge and confidence.
Financial literacy is the ability to understand and manage your money effectively. This includes skills like budgeting, saving, investing, and using credit wisely. In this blog, we’ll review financial literacy and offer tips, ideas, and resources that can help you build a stronger financial future.
Why is financial literacy important?
Financial literacy empowers you to take control of your financial future. Without it, many people rely on guesswork when deciding how to spend, save, borrow, or invest.
When you understand how money works, you can:
- Avoid unnecessary debt
- Make informed financial decisions
- Plan for short- and long-term goals
- Reduce financial stress
We’re committed to financial education, offering webinars, a range of financial literacy training, and an education center designed to strengthen your financial health.
Key components of financial literacy.
1. Budgeting: This is the foundation of financial literacy. It helps you track income and expenses so you can spend intentionally and avoid overspending.
We offer several ways to improve your budgeting skills. A fun, easy way to start is with Zogo. This mobile app offers quick lessons on budgeting, saving, credit, and more. Be sure to use our access code: FIGFCU, when you download the app.
If you prefer a one-to-one approach to your budgeting education, consider making an appointment with one of our Certified Financial Counselors. The meeting is free, and they can help you create a budget if you don’t have one or improve the one you have. Our Money Matters blogs, like this one, are also a great resource for budgeting tips. Our recent budgeting blog provides a step-by-step guide for creating a budget.
2. Understanding credit.
Your credit score reflects your creditworthiness and affects your ability to borrow money and the interest rates you receive.
To build strong credit:
- Pay bills on time
- Keep credit card balances low
- Limit unnecessary credit applications
Keeping track of your credit score is easy if you’ve signed up for our digital banking platform. You can get your credit score once a month for free. And there’s no impact on your credit report. Our Financial Education Center, powered by Balance, is filled with valuable information that can help you understand your credit report and boost your credit score.
3. Saving money.
Saving creates a safety net for unexpected expenses. A common recommendation is to build an emergency fund with three to six months of living costs.
We offer Savings accounts and services that help make saving for your short- and long-term goals easier, starting with Direct Deposit. Enrolling in Direct Deposit and directing a portion of each check to go into one of our accounts helps make saving automatic Plus, it may qualify you for great benefits, such as loan rate discounts, higher yields on savings accounts, and monthly checking account rewards.
Speaking of accounts, here are three that help you get into the saving habit.
- Online Savings: Earn 2.75% APY* with Direct Deposit. There’s no minimum deposit and no maintenance fees.
- Holiday Club: Ensure you have funds for holiday gifts and travel by making regular monthly deposits and earning an industry-leading yield. Your balance grows, and your funds are disbursed free in early November.
- Youth Accounts: Help the young people in your life become financially savvy. Our youth Savings, Checking, and Certificates are a great way to start. And our M3 Money Club and Elements programs offer facts, money tips, quizzes, games, and information that can help them on the road to becoming fiscally responsible adults.
4. Investing.
Investing helps your money grow through vehicles like stocks, bonds, and retirement accounts. Starting early lets you benefit from compound growth.
Get retirement ready. We offer Traditional IRA, Roth IRA, and SEP IRAs. Each offers its own tax benefits, so be certain to consult with your tax advisor regarding tax consequences and your specific situation.
5. Managing debt.
Understanding interest rates, repayment schedules, and debt strategies can help you avoid setbacks and pay down balances more efficiently.
As noted above, we offer several educational resources, such as our Money Matters blogs, Certified Financial Counselors, and Financial Education Center, to help you learn how to manage debt. One of the easiest ways to control credit card debt is to pay less interest. Consider our Select Visa®. There’s no annual fee, and rates are as low as 8.99% APR** on purchases. Plus, you could qualify for 0% intro APR on purchases for the first six months.†
How to improve your financial literacy.
April’s Financial Literacy Month is a great time to take steps to improve your financial literacy. Start with small, consistent steps:
- Track your spending
- Create a simple budget
- Review your credit score
- Build an emergency fund
- Learn from trusted financial resources
You don’t have to go it alone. We offer several ways to improve your understanding of finances, including:
- Financial Wellness Checks
- Education Center resources
- Youth financial clubs and accounts
- Access to Certified Financial Counselors
All are designed to improve financial literacy at every stage of life.
Final thoughts.
Financial literacy is a lifelong skill that empowers you to make confident, informed decisions about your money. With April serving as Financial Literacy Month, it’s a great time to strengthen your financial foundation.
We’re here to make the journey to living your best financial life easier by offering resources, services, and accounts to help you succeed.
By focusing on budgeting, credit, saving, investing, and debt management, and taking advantage of these available resources, you can build a more secure, stress-free financial future.
This article is provided for educational purposes only and is not intended as financial or legal advice. Members should contact the Credit Union for guidance regarding their individual situation.
*APY = Annual Percentage Yield. APY is the annualized rate based on a compounding period of one year. When the deposited money earns dividends and the accumulated dividends starts earning dividends as well, we are talking about compounding. Fees could reduce the earnings on an account. All yields except Certificate yields are subject to change retroactively to the beginning of the month.
Online Savings Rate bonus is for a minimum of $1,000 monthly ACH Direct Deposit or Agent Net Check into a Farmers Insurance Federal Credit Union Checking Account. Rates are subject to change at any time. No branch or call center access with this account. The national average for this type of account is 0.42% APY, based on rates published in the FDIC Monthly National Rates and Rate Caps accurate as of 01/21/2025.
**APR = annual percentage rate. Rates are subject to change at any time. The balance transfer amount from other Farmers Insurance Federal Credit Union credit cards will retain its current rate (i.e., Select Visa at 8.99% – 18.00%, Visa Platinum at 10.99% – 18.00%, until the transferred balance is paid off. APR=Annual Percentage Rate. Rate quoted is the lowest rate possible for qualified borrowers and is subject to change. Qualification is based on credit history, debt, and the ability to repay. Your rate may vary. All loans subject to credit approval. The newly opened Credit Union credit card’s rate will only apply to new transactions. Any balances on the previous Credit Union credit card must be paid off at the prior credit card’s rate.
†Zero Percent (0%) Introductory Rate Promotion for purchases, is offered for new FIGFCU Select Visa® Credit Card account holders. This incentive offer, is not available to those members who are opening a new Select Visa and had an outstanding balance or a closed FIGFCU Zero Percent Loan account and/or had any FIGFCU Select Visa® Credit Card within the last year. If you are in an introductory rate promotion period, you are not eligible to transfer other loan balances, line of credit balances, credit card account balances or CASH Advance to take advantage of the introductory rate promotion.
The program promotion may be modified, suspended or cancelled or may be changed at any time without notice and without restriction or penalty. Farmers Insurance Federal Credit Union reserves the right to change the promotion rates and program retention period from time to time. You will be notified of any expiration or program changes as required by law. Contact Farmers Insurance Federal Credit Union for details on applicable conversion to current rate and payment options which are then in effect. At Farmers Insurance Federal Credit Union’s sole discretion, the program offering of the program may be terminated, for any reason, including but not limited to a “Rules Violations”, your Farmers Insurance Federal Credit Union account is not in good standing or is suspected of fraud, or if you move to another Farmers Insurance Federal Credit Union credit card.
This program is void where prohibited or restricted by law. You are responsible for any federal, state, or local taxes.
Effective Offering Dates: Promotion period for Zero Percent (0%) introductory is effective for FIGFCU Select Visa® Credit Cards opened beginning July 20, 2020 through “until further notice”.
Loss of Introductory APR: We may end your introductory APR and/or apply the Penalty APR if you make a late payment or are Over limit.
Billing Rights: Information on your rights to dispute transactions and how to exercise those rights is provided in the Billing Rights section of the Visa® Credit Card Agreement.
Introductory rate and incentive offers for Select Visa®, are not available to those members who had an outstanding balance on a preexisting or closed FIGFCU Visa Credit Card account and/or had an FIGFCU Visa Credit Card within the last 12 (twelve) months. If you are in an introductory rate promotion, you are not eligible to increase limits until the introductory rate promotion has expired.
TERMS AND CONDITIONS The introductory Annual Percentage Rate (APR) Zero Percent (0%) will apply to purchases made during a promotional period of 6 (six) months from the date of opening of your Visa account. After this promotional period ends, 6 (six) months from the date of activation of your Visa account, your standard APR will apply to any remaining balance and to all new purchases and balance transfers. The terms of this introductory rate may not be applied to existing Farmers Insurance Federal Credit Union Visa accounts.
This promotional introductory offer is based on meeting Farmers Insurance Federal Credit Union’s criteria for creditworthiness. Farmers Insurance Federal Credit Union will review your credit and employment history and any other information permitted by law to process your application. The credit line on this account will be determined after a credit review of your application by Farmers Insurance Federal Credit Union and will be based on various factors, including income. FIGFCU maintains the right to not open this account if: a) the information provided is incomplete, inaccurate or cannot be verified, or if you do not meet Farmers Insurance Federal Credit Union’s standards for creditworthiness; b) your name and/or mailing address on the credit application have been altered; c) the income you reported on the application is insufficient to support the opening of this account; or d) you do not meet Farmers Insurance Federal Credit Union’s membership eligibility or “member in good standing” requirements. You have the right to review your credit history by contacting the appropriate credit reporting agencies.
Change in APRs, Fees and Other Terms: Farmers Insurance Federal Credit Union may change the APRs, fees and other terms of your account at any time in accordance with applicable law and the Visa Credit Card Agreement. Factors we may consider in determining whether and how to change your terms include, but are not limited to, a late payment or an extension of credit that exceeds the credit limit, the frequency and severity of defaults and other indications of risk on accounts with Farmers Insurance Federal Credit Union and other creditors. To the extent allowed by law, the change in terms will affect all outstanding balances. If we increase your APRs, the new APRs will apply only to new transactions you make after we notify you of the change in writing unless it is for default in terms as outlined above.
