Parent of a Teen? Know a Teen? Tell Them to Play Money Mission!

Farm-this, Mafia-that…we all know teens play plenty of games online. 

Enter Money Mission. Now when they play games online, they can also have the chance to earn scholarships for college!

What is Money Mission?
Money Mission is an online simulation, available to play through Horizon Community Credit Union, that teaches real life financial skills. Teens create an avatar and live, work and make real life financial decisions in the game’s simulated village, Mission Heights. Money Mission gives youth an opportunity to consider the financial obligations they face and how they will deal with them in real life.

How Long is the Game?
During each session, players are encouraged to make a wide range of decisions, including buying a car, trading stocks, and holding down a job. The choices players make are tied to their avatar’s happiness meter, a barometer designed to demonstrate how good financial decisions require life balance. Those who navigate this simulated world successfully will have a chance to win a scholarship.

Why is Money Mission Important?
This is the only financial literacy tool in the marketplace that fulfills the need for financial education within an interactive, online competitive gaming environment that also rewards college bound seniors with scholarships to pursue a post-secondary education.

How Do Teens Start Playing?
Anyone can sign up to play Money Mission at www.horizonccu.com. When you click on the Money Mission graphic to sign up (near the bottom of the home page), you’ll enter Mission Heights and begin your Money Mission. College bound seniors will also have the opportunity to compete for scholarships.

Encourage the teens you know to sign up for Money Mission!

Sign up to play Money Mission at www.horizonccu.com!

Post by: Cari J

College Freshman? Check this out!

As much as we may not want to start thinking about it yet, a new school year is right around the corner. To those high school graduates about to start your first year of college, there are a lot of things to prepare for. Here are some tips to start preparing now:

- Create an academic plan. The idea of planning out the next four years of your life can be daunting, but doing it will save you frustration and time in the future. Since you have to sign up for classes in the summer anyway, try meeting with an academic advisor and make a rough schedule of when you’re going to take your major classes over the next eight semesters.

- Make a shopping list. Sitting down and making a list of all the things you’ll need at college is a good idea. A better idea is to make the list in more than one sitting and over time instead. Why start a list now? You can add to it as you think of things over the next couple months, and you will probably be better prepared when the semester rolls around.

- Talk to your roommates. Most likely, you’ll be rooming with complete strangers. But they don’t have to be complete strangers. Reach out to them once you find out who they are. Not only will it ease your mind to know a little bit about them, but you can also figure out who’s bringing what. No need for two microwaves.

- Apply for a student loan. If you’re looking for a student loan, The Horizon Community Credit Union Smart Option Student Loan by Sallie Mae is a great choice with three great repayment options and competitive interest rates. You can even apply for a loan through our online banking; also you can check balances, keep track of transaction histories, and make transfers.

- Open a checking account. You might want to consider a student checking account; it doesn’t require a minimum balance and doesn’t charge for the first debit card. If you choose to get a debit card, you’ll have an easy way to pay for everyday expenses like food and gas. For those emergency expenses that come up, a credit card might be a good back up as well.

- Get your parents involved. And for the parents that want to be a little more involved, we provide See/Jump Authorization. See Authorization allows members to log into their own account online and monitor balances and transactions for another account simultaneously. Jump Authorization allows members to actually conduct transactions on that second account while still being logged into their original account. As an extra precaution, we could set up an overdraft protection from your parents’ accounts to your account so you don’t get charged any overdraft fees.

Some other tips to help you financially once you get to school would be to create a budget and stick to it, keep track of your spending, and take advantage of student discounts. Overall, using this summer to prepare will give you a lot less to worry about at school.

Post by: Noelle C.

Four Financial Moves Every College Grad Must Make ASAP

Tis the season—there are graduations almost every weekend! For those who’ve just graduated college, the future may seem a bit frightening. Don't worry-- Suze Orman has some solid advice. If her name sounds familiar, it should. Suze Orman is considered a “force in the world of personal finance,” and her advice is trusted by many. Here’s some of the advice she has for college graduates:

1. Get On Top of Your Student Loans: Yes, you have a six-month grace period before repayment of federal loans must begin. Don’t you dare wait five months and three weeks before focusing on this. Screw up on repayment is one of the most damaging mistakes you can ever make, and it becomes both hard and expensive to get on track if you fall behind. 

2. Make Sure You Have Health Insurance: If you haven’t yet started a job with benefits, or you’re taking a gap year, please don’t go naked here. Yes, the odds are low you might get sick, but insurance is about protecting yourself from the big “what ifs.” Besides, it’s not just about illness; any type of injury can set you back, from a broken bone to a torn ACL. If your parents have health insurance from an employer they should be able to carry you on that policy until you are 26, for a cost. Ask them to find out the cost, then compare it to what you can purchase for yourself (Go to healthcare.gov). If you and your parents decide it’s best to go with their plan, and you have a paying job, you should pay your share of their premium, or at the very least contribute. You’re their kid, but you are also an adult now. 

3. Get a Credit Card…if You Don’t Already Have One: As much as I applaud using just a debit card—paying as you go, rather than being tempted to overspend with a credit card—it still is important to have a credit card as well. The goal is to use it just a few times each month—for small purchases. And then pay your bill, in full, each month. Doing that is going to go a long way in establishing a solid credit score.
Automate Savings ASAP. Okay, you know how I feel about the emergency fund. And you know how I feel about saving for retirement. Both are non-negotiable Must Do’s—and the sooner the smarter. I respect you may not have a big income just yet. But please listen to me: that’s not an excuse for doing nothing. You need to do something—save something—every month.

Emergency Savings: Set up an automatic monthly transfer (it should be free) from your checking account into a separate savings account. How much? Well, how much feels right? Then add 10% to that number. That’s my challenge. Just try it for six months. I think you will surprise yourself at how doable it is, and how powerful it feels to start building an emergency savings account. 

Retirement Savings: If you are offered a workplace retirement plan that comes with a company matching contribution, you better grab it. Be sure to confirm that you are contributing enough to qualify for the maximum match from your boss. It’s sad, but many companies set the “default” contribution rate for new employees at such a low level that the employee doesn’t get all the matching contribution they are entitled to. Don’t make that mistake!

If you don’t have a retirement plan through work, or the plan doesn’t offer a match, the best first-step for new grads is to start saving via a Roth IRA. Again, you can set up a monthly transfer from a checking account into a Roth IRA investment account. Some discount brokerages, such as TDAmeritrade don’t have a high minimum initial investment, so you can get started transferring say $100 or so a month into a Roth IRA.



We can help you here at Horizon Community Credit Union-don’t hesitate to call! An MSR can help you with savings accounts, automatic transfers, or IRA's.  You can also talk to a loan officer about a credit card!

Post by: Breanna B.

Tips to Paying off Student Loans!

Image courtesy of ddpavumba at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Being a recent college student can be very stressful. Maybe even more stressful than being in college! Between finding a good steady job, paying all the bills, AND paying your student loans I know it can be really difficult to stay afloat. When you graduate college, most student loans taken out through the government have a 6 month grace period until the payback period begins. Right out of college with all the other bills coming in, it may seem that the best idea is to not start paying your student loans until you actually HAVE to, but really it isn't. Getting a head start on your loans can help you a TON in the long run.

Just because you aren't “required” to start paying the bill, it doesn't mean that interest isn't accumulating on the totals. Interest can build up fast on loans, especially if the balances are high. So let’s go over a couple quick tips that can help you get a head start on those loans!

• Tip #1: Skip the morning coffee run to Starbucks or McDonald’s everyday, and instead set that money aside each week for one month. On average a cup of coffee ranges from $2-$5, so meeting in the middle, let’s say each cup costs $3.50. Having a cup of coffee at least five times a week, $3.50 * 5= $17.50. Now if we get coffee five times a week for one month that can equal approximately $70! Seventy dollars may not seem like a lot, but that’s $70 less you have to pay interest on! Skipping some of your most costly habits may seem like a breeze so why not challenge yourself to quit multiple habits and save even more money! 

• Tip #2: Take a look into consolidation programs available. By consolidating your loans it allows you to have a lower interest rate and only have ONE payment, versus the five or six you may have for each loan. There are many different financial institutions, as well as other companies who offer consolidation programs. Be smart about it though, really look into each program and their benefits. You want to make sure you are getting a BETTER deal than what you currently have, not vise versa. 

There are many other game plans and options to consider when paying off your student loans, but these two options are ones that ANYONE can tackle. Also keep in mind, if you need somewhere to keep any of these savings HCCU is always here to help!

Post by: Emily P.