Savings
>The Road to Financial Health

Experts recommend saving at least 10% of your income. Yet most Americans have no significant savings. Building an "emergency fund" of 3-6 months worth of living expenses is the smart way to handle unexpected events, like car or home repairs.

Two keys to financial success are persistence and realistic goals. If you are serious about building your savings:

• Always use payroll deduction or direct deposit to pay yourself first.
• Don't save more than you can afford to. If you keep making withdrawals from your savings, it doesn't grow.
• Once you have your emergency fund in place, open a separate MWRD ECU Club account for holidays and/or vacations, so they don't sidetrack your regular monthly budget.

Look How Quickly Your Savings Add Up!

BudgetSmart
BudgetSmart is a new and exciting software program now available on our website. This easy-to-use software tool uses simple graphics, "pop-up" boxes and bar charts to help you manage your money more effectively. You can use the program to:
Establish a budget Track spending View tips for improving areas of overspending or inadequate saving Experiment with "what if" scenarios to determine how a major purchase or change income would impact your budget. Click on the budget smart logo or here to download the program to your computer FREE of charge, and you're on your way to creating your own personalized budget!

Savings Accounts
>Options

When you join MWRD Employees' Credit Union, you deposit a minimum of $5.00 into your Regular (Share) Savings account. This deposit represents one "share" of ownership in the credit union. It entitles you to membership benefits, including all our financial services and the right to vote at our annual meetings.

As long as you keep this $5.00 in your Regular (Share) Savings account, you retain membership status, even if you retire or move out of state. We constantly monitor other financial institutions to ensure that our Regular (Share) Savings dividend rates are as competitive as we can make them.

Often called “CDs”, Term Share Certificates offer higher dividends than Regular (Share) Savings, because members commit to keep the money on deposit for a particular "term" (such as 6 months, 12 months, 18 months, etc.).

There are penalties for early withdrawal, but if you don't need the money immediately, Term Share Certificates can help your money grow even faster.

Savvy members often "ladder" their certificates so that if they need the money, they have relatively easy access to it without paying a penalty. For example: if you have $20,000 to invest, you can buy four 6-month certificates, two 12-month certificates, and two 24-month certificates. That way, the maturity dates are staggered over time, and when each certificate comes due, you can either withdraw or reinvest it.

Special occasions such as holidays and vacations tend to zap resources and sometimes throw even the most careful budget off track. If you have ever used a credit card to finance holiday gifts or travel, you know how expensive it can be, especially with 18-24% interest payments.

Members of MWRD Employees' Credit Union can incorporate special occasions into their budgets, spreading expenses out over 12 months and alleviating the need for those high credit card balances. Setting aside just a little each month through payroll deduction quickly builds a significant balance, and our dividend rates on these accounts are competitive.

How Credit Union Dividends Are Paid

All of the income generated by the Credit Union's loans (minus operating expenses and required reserves) is given back to our members. This means above-average dividends (interest) on savings, lower loan rates and a wide range of other money-saving services.

Savings
>Tools That Make It Easy

This cooperative service of your employer and MWRD Employees' Credit Union allows your paycheck to be deposited electronically to your credit union account. Your Payroll Department can help you enroll, or forms are available at the credit union. Direct deposit offers advantages over a traditional paycheck:

• alleviates the need for you to visit the credit union in person to deposit your paycheck
• ensures that your paycheck is deposited promptly, even if you are on vacation or away from work on payday
• protects your paycheck from theft, since the money is transferred directly to your account

Payroll deductions are automatic transfers to savings and/or automatic loan payments out of your direct-deposit paycheck.

Savings grow faster when you regularly make deposits. Your credit history improves when you make on-time payments each month. Our friendly staff members can help you establish payroll deductions that will help you stay on track.