CUNA Certified Financial Counselor School: Update Sessions

Becoming Your Member's Financial Advocate

For credit unions to have sustainable growth and financial success, the focus has to shift from transaction processing to a culture of financial advocacy. This thought-provoking session will help you develop such a culture in your counseling programs as well as throughout your credit union. Upon completion of this interactive session, participants will be able to:

• Define what financial advocacy is and how it can be used to support growth, retention, and credit union counseling programs
• List steps used to garner buy-in and support from CU employees, management, and board members
• Identify how to integrate financial advocacy into counseling tactics, organizational structure, and your credit union's operational realties
• Implement gender and generational-specific advocacy solutions to increase your members' financial wellness.

A Stitch in Time: Supporting Proactive Financial Literacy Initiatives

A counselor's role is to provide support that is: Remedial, Preventive, and Productive. But what about helping members develop financial skills in a proactive way? Is it possible to proactively offer financial skills development as well as provide stop-loss counseling that focuses on "damage control."

This session will discuss innovative, cost-effective financial education methods that lead to product penetration, credit union growth, delinquency reduction, and member/staff satisfaction. At the completion of this session, participants will be able to:

• Conduct a SWOT analysis of their credit union's existing resources
• Identify sustainable programs and tools to serve gender and generational education needs
• Define success metrics and tools to help compute ROI
• Leverage recognition and word-of-mouth opportunities

Budgets, Spending Plans and Reducing Debt

Coping with Creditors & Bankruptcy

Savings & Investments

Helping Members in Severe Financial Straits

What Would You Do?

Financial Counseling Session Simulation (Optional)

Managing Taxes & Major Expenses

Getting & Handling Credit

Money Conflicts & Special Challenges

Consumer Fraud Issues & Trends

Key Tools Needed for a Certified Financial Counselor & Best Practices