I am fortunate to be partnered with Coastal Federal Credit Union for this financial literacy project. Coastal has a strong Community Engagement team that already takes financial literacy training out into the community. Members of the team have offered trainings on various topics to a wide range of groups. They have educated young people through partnerships with organizations like the Boys and Girls club; they have offered important information sessions for adults through local churches. If there is a community need, they try to address it.

The goal for my project is to create instruction targeted at students. This instruction will be adaptable so that it can be taught to middle school, high school, or college students. Most of what currently exists in this area specifically addresses budgeting. By creating three separate 3-hour courses, I hope to broaden the scope of the financial topics Coastal can take out to students in the community.

The first course still focuses on budgeting. It is, after all, the cornerstone of financial success. However, the budgeting concepts are targeted to age-specific needs.

The second course focuses on building credit and handling debt. It considers big life events that will come up in students’ near-futures and addresses how to make wise decisions when seeking loans.

The final course focuses on savings and retirement. Students will be introduced to the concept of paying yourself first and will work through the math that reveals how important it is to start planning and saving as early as possible.