Enrollment Open for LAFCU’s Free Personal Finance Course

    LANSING, Mich. — Enrollment is open for LAFCU’s free, comprehensive personal finance course Pathway to Financial Transformation for adults, ages 20 and over.

    The 16-session course covers topics critical for financial stability and, ultimately, financial freedom. It is structured similar to a college course with assignments and quizzes.

    “The course spans eight months so participants can realize benefits of even small behavioral changes,” said Shelia Scott, community financial education & business development officer who leads the course. “There is time between classes to put knowledge into action — to use it in everyday life. That’s building a pathway to financial transformation.”

    This is LAFCU’s second offering of the course; the first cohort graduated April 2022. Scott said some students were able to stop living paycheck-to-paycheck, pay off debt, start a savings account and improve their credit score.

    One graduate, Cathy Daniels, Dimondale, sums up the course’s impact: “It changed my life. It is so useful to everyday life it should be required learning for everyone.”

    The one-hour classes will be held virtually on Thursdays at 6 p.m., about twice monthly, Sept. 8, 2022 – April 27, 2023.

    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 that have prevented equal access to financial resources.

    Speakers are LAFCU professionals in collections, lending, investments, insurance, and diversity, equity and inclusion; as well as outside experts in financial counseling, auto lending and auto maintenance, and mortgages; and even a health and wellness coach.

    Course graduates will be celebrated at a cap-and-gown ceremony.

    “We saw the pandemic upend the financial lives of many,” Scott said. “Pathway to Financial Transformation accentuates hope. It helps individuals prepare for life’s mishaps and understand financial success is an option for everyone. That’s important to LAFCU because individual financial stability is important to the success of the communities LAFCU serves.”

    To enroll, visit www.lafcu.com/pathway. The enrollment deadline is Sept. 6, 2022. The course is open to people who live, work, worship or attend school in Michigan, the credit union’s geographical service territory.

    The Pathway to Financial Transformation personal finance course is the most recent complement to LAFCU’s financial literacy program, which includes free classes on singular financial topics for adults and real-world financial education opportunities for K-12 students.