"Member owned, dedicated to fitting your financial needs since 1957"
Pipefitters Steamfitters Credit Union, Saint Paul, Minnesota is a nonprofit/cooperative financial institution
open to the members of U.A. Local Number 455 and their families.
Your annual meeting is Friday February 10 at 7:00 p.m. Join us at the Union Meeting Hall, next to our office at 411 Main Street, St. Paul. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. In addition to reviewing the financial statements and other business, members vote to elect the Board of Directors, Supervisory and Credit Committees. There will also be refreshments and door prizes.
We will be closed February 20 for President's Day. After hours, weekends and during holidays you are able to access your accounts online and using our automated telephone service. With your atm or debit card you can withdraw cash at automated teller machines and with pin based transactions, at most merchants.
Estimate your monthly payment for a vehicle and other personal loans with
our online Calculator
Best rate lowered to 2.99% apr so if you are planning on buying a car
Whether you are buying a new or used car, truck, van at the car sale or through another source, your Credit Union offers affordable financing. Eligible members can finance vehicles for as low as 2.99% APR. If you borrowed from another lender, compare our rate to theirs and see if refinancing with us can save you money. You can apply for your loan by calling 651-227-0771, at our office or through our website.
* These annual percentage rates were in effect Feb. 1, 2012 and are based on your credit history. All rates subject to change. Payment example: $20,000 borrowed for 60 months at 2.99% APR will have an approximate monthly payment of $359.28
Review your credit report yearly
To ensure your loan repayment history is accurate, once a year you are able to request free copies of your credit report from all three credit bureaus. Order your free report through this link: Free Credit Report.
Car buying scam reported in Twin Cities
The Ramsey County attorney's office recently warned sellers to take extra precautions when dealing with private buyers of vehicles. According to the report, the "buyer" used a stolen/forged check to pay for the purchase. The County Attorney offers the following suggestions when selling a vehicle:
-- Don't rush through a transaction to get a sale.
-- Always ask for a driver's license and record the buyer's information.
-- Save the buyer's contact information.
-- Before accepting a check or money order, contact the issuing bank or credit union to verify its authenticity.
Or better yet, insist on an electronic transaction.
-- Don't transfer the title until the check or electronic deposit has cleared.
-- Never provide personal or financial information to the buyer via email.
Financial counseling and budgeting services for members
During these challenging economic times your credit union is the safe and secure answer to your financial needs. But sometimes people prefer to discuss certain financial issues with other professionals. As a member you can have access to budgeting and financial counseling services through Financial Rehabilitation INC at 651-777-7420 and Lutheran Social Services 1-888-577-2227. Feel free to contact them regarding their services and any fees which may apply.
Members Financial Network offers insurance and financial planning services
Realize your financial goals with solutions tailored to your needs. For a no cost, no obligation meeting, contact the MEMBERS Financial Services. Representative for assistance with mutual funds, insurance needs and more.
It's time to think about retirement
Have you thought about retirement yet? If an Individual Retirement Account is part of your plan consider the savings options offered by your Credit Union. We offer eligible members Traditional and Roth IRAs in the form of daily interest accounts and certificate of deposits. Contact our staff for more information.
* We recommend you speak with a tax adviser to determine your eligibility and any tax benefits of the IRA products you are considering.
Select our affordable VISA when you charge
Don't get caught with a high interest rate credit card. Our member only VISA has no annual fee and an interest rate of just 14.25% APR for purchases, balance transfers and cash advances. Contact our office to apply.
* This annual percentage rate was in effect 1/1/2012 and is subject to change with notice to the card holder. Complete terms and conditions are provided with your application.
Home buying seminar offers free tips for members
Has your family outgrown your current home? Are you a first-time home buyer and don't even know where to begin? Attend one of CU Companies' informative home buying seminars where their experts will walk you through the home buying process from start to closing.
Some of the topics covered:
- Home Buying Process
- How much home can I afford/qualify for?
- How much will I need at closing?
- Q & A session with CU Companies REALTORS® and mortgage loan officers.
A session takes place February 9 and March 13 at CU Companies, 500 Main Street, New Brighton, MN. All seminars start at 6:00 p.m. Please call (651) 631-3111 or e-mail info@cucompanies.com with your reservation.
Debt repayment ideas
If you've run up big credit card bills or taken on too much other debt, here are three smart ways to start chipping away at your balances.
While making the minimum monthly payments on all your debts, pay extra on your highest-rate debt until you eliminate your outstanding balance. A debt reduction calculator can help you figure out which debt to pay off first and how much to pay monthly toward all your loans.
Once you've paid off your highest-rate debt, shift that fixed monthly payment to your next highest debt. With these steady payments, you'll pay down your debt more quickly and save a bundle in interest.
. If you've built up some relatively high-interest rate debt, like a credit card balance of several thousand dollars, think of ways to raise money to pay it off all at once.
Or consider dipping into any savings you have, since the interest you're paying on your credit card is costing you a lot more than you're earning on your savings account. Either way, commit to not rerunning up your debt and concentrate on building or rebuilding your savings account as soon as possible.
. If you have high-interest debt, such as large outstanding balances on several credit cards, look into combining them into one lower-rate credit card or loan. Make your not-for-profit credit union your first stop, and avoid high-interest rate consolidation loans from finance companies.
Then make your best efforts to redirect the money you're saving in interest toward paying down the loan principal. Meanwhile, don't run up new bills or you could end up even deeper in debt than you were before.
If you're a homeowner, another option is to consolidate your debt into a home-equity loan. This may seem like an attractive option since the interest on the first $100,000 borrowed is generally tax deductible. However, you may be swapping short-term debt for long-term debt, which means you'll end up paying a lot more in interest over the long run.
What's more, you're putting your home on the line. So if you go this route, get serious about repaying the loan as soon as possible and commit to not running up additional debt.
Help the kids at Gillette Children's Health Care
Pipefitters Steamfitters and other area credit unions have joined together to support the Children's Miracle Network. This non-profit organization is dedicated to helping kids by raising funds for hospitals and programs across North America. The money we raise benefits Gillette Children's Specialty Healthcare, St. Paul. Donations of $3 or more will be recognized with a paper balloon hung in our office. You can mail your check payable to Children's Miracle Network to our office or make your donation the next time you are in the branch.
Apply online, in person or by phone when you need a loan.
Members Financial Network
Realize your financial goals with solutions tailored to your needs. For a no cost, no obligation meeting, contact the MEMBERS Financial Services. Representative for assistance with mutual funds, insurance needs and more. |
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How to be credit wise
Be a smart borrower by getting a handle on your debt, paying your bills on time, and monitoring your credit report and credit risk scores.
Financial experts generally recommend that you keep your consumer loan payments below 10% to 15% of your monthly take-home pay. Add in your mortgage payments, property taxes, homeowners insurance premiums, and any private mortgage insurance payments, and your total debt generally shouldn't exceed 36% of your monthly gross income.
To see where you stand, run your monthly loan payments through a debt level online calculator. From there, figure out how to pay down your debt with the least amount of interest using a debt reduction calculator.
Although it sounds like obvious advice, paying your bills on time is essential to building and maintaining a solid credit history. That's because your payment history is the most important factor in your credit scores. And your credit scores are one of the main tools lenders use to determine whether to grant you credit, and if so, how much and at what interest rate.
Late payments become a part of your credit record and make it harder to get credit in the future. Plus, the lender may take legal action against you, and if you default, may sell the collateral that you put up as security for the loan.
What if you already have some strikes against you? Fortunately, lenders will take a pattern of recent on-time payments into account. So it's never too late to start repairing a damaged credit history. One way to make sure you pay your bills on time is to sign up for an automated payment service.
Lenders, employers, landlords, and insurers all rely on the information in your credit reports to help them make decisions about whether to loan you money, hire you, rent to you, or insure you.
So it's smart to review your reports periodically to verify that the information is accurate and up-to-date, especially before you need to borrow for a large purchase, such as a vehicle or house.
Even if you're not planning to borrow money soon, or ever again, it's important to review your credit reports regularly since your current lenders monitor your report. Plus, you never know when you'll be applying for a new job or an insurance policy. Moreover, with credit fraud on the rise it's also important to check your credit reports every so often for any accounts or transactions that aren't yours.
Creditors don't report to all three national credit reporting agencies and the agencies don't share their data. So your credit report from each agency could be substantially different. That's why you need to check all three of your credit reports.
Thanks to new federal law, you're now entitled to request a free credit report once every twelve months from each of the three nationwide credit reporting companies. To make obtaining your reports easier, the Act also requires the establishment of a centralized source for requests.
To check out how to request your credit reports, go to the official central website, www.annualcreditreport.com.
Article is provided by CUNA Mutual Insurance and is for educational purposes only and is not intended to provide specific tax or legal advice. For answers to tax questions, please see your tax professional. For legal questions, consult an attorney.
