Minn. Credit Unions Teach Thousands of Kids the Ins and Outs of Smart Money Management

MAPLE GROVE, MN--(Marketwired - Sep 26, 2013) - The National Youth Involvement Board recently reported that Minnesota credit unions reached more than 4,400 students during the 2012-2013 school year. Local credit union TopLine Federal Credit Union contributed to this successful outreach by reaching over 1,350 of the reported 4,400 students through more than 30 financial literacy presentations its staff delivered to students across the Twin Cities during the last school year.

A longstanding supporter of youth financial literacy, TopLine reaches students through local educational programs including Hennepin Technical College's Gaining Early Awareness & Readiness for Undergraduate Programs (GEAR UP), helping middle school students in Fridley and Robbinsdale prepare for post-secondary education; as well as the Minnesota Council on Economic Education's Personal Finance Summer Institute for College Readiness, reaching area high school students. In addition, TopLine leads personal money management educational sessions each October at the Minnesota State College Student Association's Annual Leadership Summit, and runs quarterly free community classes at its own TopLine Maple Grove Learning Center.

Everyone -- members and non-members alike -- are welcome to attend TopLine's Get Smart with Your Money™ program at its Maple Grove location, which offers three age-specific classes, each offered four times a year. Building Dreams explores the concepts of spending, saving and sharing for ages 5-8; Dollar Power explores the concepts of needs vs. wants, as well as planning and spending wisely, for ages 9-13; and Dollars & Sense explores sound money management, including using credit wisely and identity theft prevention, for ages 14-18. For more information on the next Get Smart with Your Money sessions, visit www.toplinecu.com.

"Teaching children and youth about sound money management is a deeply valued commitment of ours -- it's really a part of TopLine's very DNA. So we are proud to learn that TopLine helped educate nearly one in three of the students Minnesota credit unions reached through financial literacy seminars last school year," says Harry Carter, President and CEO, TopLine Federal Credit Union. "We've worked hard to maximize our reach by building enduring partnerships with local schools and organizations like GEAR UP, the MCEE and the MSCSA, as well as delivering our own free seminars to the community."

TopLine Federal Credit Union, a Twin Cities-based credit union, is Minnesota's 13^th largest, with assets of more than $340 million. Established in 1935, the not-for-profit cooperative offers a complete line of financial services, as well as auto and home insurance, from its five locations -- in Bloomington, Brooklyn Park, Maple Grove, Plymouth and in St. Paul's Como Park -- as well as by phone and online at www.TopLinecu.com. Membership is available to anyone who lives, works, worships, attends school or volunteers in Anoka, Carver, Dakota, Hennepin, Ramsey, Scott or Washington Counties and their immediate family members.