Ever leave your bank thinking, “someone just made some money and it wasn’t me?” Maybe a trip to your local credit union will be the cure. Credit unions are member-owned and offer low fees, high rates on savings and low rates for loans. Today we’ll dive into the world of credit unions with some help during a special Wednesday “Fintech” segment from Navy Federal Credit Union’s retired Marine Colonel Clay Stackhouse. We’ll discuss how they work, the basic benefits, and the perks that people often overlook.
Of course, that’s not all. We’ll still throw out the Haven Life line to help a lucky listener AND Doug will share his union-oriented trivia…although he might be on the wrong track today (what’s new). Enjoy!
We couldn’t bring you three shows a week without our sponsors!
Talking Real Money
Co-hosts Don McDonald and Tom Cock deliver straight forward, honest, advice on building the wealth you need for a more secure future. You can listen in wherever you listen to podcasts, or at TalkingRealMoney.com.
Geico
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Discover
A big thanks to Discover for supporting Stacking Benjamins! Discover matches all the cash back you earn on your credit card at the end of your first year automatically with no limit on how much you can earn. Learn more at Discover.com/yes.
Our Headlines – What’s the Deal with Credit U’s?
First, we cover a piece on all the innovative ways credit unions are stepping in to help your neighborhood get back on its feet this summer: Helping credit union members enjoy summer of 2021 (CUInsight)
So, what exactly is a credit union? Why should you care, and who can join? We have you covered with our second headline of the day: What the heck is a Credit Union? (MyCreditUnion)
- Want to find one near you? Check it out the Credit Union Locator!
Retired Marine Colonel Clay Stackhouse – Navy Federal
A big thanks to Ret. Col. Stackhouse for sharing the benefits of membership with us! Learn more about what’s waiting on the table at NavyFederal.org.
Did you know it Military Appreciation Month? Navy Federal is celebrating by giving you an opportunity to win $1000! Here’s what you have to do:
- Take a picture with a loved and holding a sign showing how many years they served in the military.
- Upload and tag Navy Federal on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram
- Make sure to include #MissionMilitaryThanks
Plus, even if you don’t win, Navy Federal is partnering with Operation Homefront to donate $5 for each year of service completed by your loved one. Win-win!
Doug’s Trivia
- As of 2020 what percentage of U.S workers are a part of a credit union?
Need life insurance? You could be insured in 20 minutes or less and build your family’s safety net for the future. Use StackingBenjamins.com/HavenLife to calculate how much you need and apply.
- Tyler and his wife are looking to do a contingency sell to buy a new home. Only problem? The market is too hot right now? What should they do?
Written by: Richie Rutter-Reese
Did you miss our special behind-the-scenes show yesterday? Anyone aspiring business (or even podcast enthusiants) will enjoy this one: Behind The Scenes: Stacking Benjamins (plus the tech and pulse of small biz)
Joe, you regularly ask for feedback on the show (and not in the form of a 1 star review), so here is my $.02. Why would you emphasize that less than 1% of Americans have been in the military, and then spend 30 minutes talking to a guy about a product (NFCU) that you just said 99% of your listeners can’t take advantage of if they wanted to? I get keeping sponsors happy, but shouldn’t there be some minimum percentage of listeners that can actually use the product being pushed before you dedicate such a big chunk of time to it. I thought the first part of the show (what a CU is and how it works) was beneath most of your listeners, but at least there were probably more than one percent of us who actually learned something from that segment. Over the years of listening to you, it seems that there has been more and more drift towards the sponsors. I know you do this to make money, but frankly, you will never have a sponsor I would buy something from (I’m 48, recently retired, financially independent; not exactly the target audience for your sponsors). I would however pay to get the podcast ad free, since I skip through all of them anyways. Hope you found this constructive, because that is the tone that was intended.
Hey, Chad! Thanks for the great comment about the show. I’m sorry you didn’t like that episode. Hopefully with a week where we did five, that was our only misstep. Because you wrote here so I could reply, I will let you know what we were going for, which had nothing to do with sucking up to sponsors. We hadn’t done a credit union benefits episode in over two years and felt that, because we have a show introducing topics and options, that it was time to do one. I also thought that this would be best in a week of a lot of shows, because we were going to be giving our listeners a lot of new material that week. I also knew that it was military appreciation month. I had the idea that we could 1) present what credit unions do and how they’re a part of a community; then 2) give people an example of a credit union serving a specific community. I could also talk a little about a small segment of our audience about something that’s been much requested: the specific issues our military have, including transitioning out. Because Navy Federal IS a sponsor, I looked at this as an opportunity for us to use a brand I trust to bridge those topics and also to be an example. When we made the episode, I’d hoped that my specific wording on the introduction of Navy Federal would have led listeners toward viewing this institution as an example of one niche community that serves a set group of people (and you probably have one available to you as well that you may not have considered). If other people feel the way you do, I clearly failed in that attempt.
With regard to your remark that you’d never buy anything from our sponsors, you and I may work differently in that area, or we haven’t earned your trust. The companion text to the millionaire next door shows that the wealthiest among us work from trusted referrals. I spend a lot of time vetting who our sponsors will be so that our audience can trust our recommendations. If you’re 48 years old and telling me for the rest of your life you’d rather buy financial tools (and otherwise) from non-trusted sources than from friends who podcast doesn’t make much sense to me. I think you ARE the target audience for many of my sponsors (GEICO, Masterclass, and Talking Real Money podcast immediately come to mind). I listen to Tim Ferris’ podcast and would much rather buy something I need from a brand he’s vetted (because I believe him) than from another source. So, back to my original comment, either we haven’t earned that trust or we think differently about filtering better buying decisions.
Great note. I appreciate it. We clearly didn’t hit it for you on this credit union episode, but we’ll keep sharpening the saw the be the best podcast we can be. 🙂