{"id":6761,"date":"2024-04-19T16:24:34","date_gmt":"2024-04-19T16:24:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vfcu.net\/?p=6761"},"modified":"2024-04-19T16:24:34","modified_gmt":"2024-04-19T16:24:34","slug":"banks-harlingen-financial-literacy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vfcu.net\/es\/banks-harlingen-financial-literacy\/","title":{"rendered":"Banks Harlingen: The Basics of Banking and Financial Literacy"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"p1\">Learning the basics of financial literacy can seem stressful if you don\u2019t know where to start. However, thanks to Banks Harlingen &#8211; Valley Federal Credit Union (VFCU) you don\u2019t have to think too much in learning the fundamentals. You can learn how to be more financially literate with VFCU, and here\u2019s how!<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"p2\">Importance of Financial Literacy<\/h2>\n<p class=\"p1\">Its never too late to start learning, but maintaining that pace can take a little work and patience. By learning these basics, you can unlock the fundamentals of banking as well as create more investing decisions that concur with your finances:<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">\u25cf Banking<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">\u25cf Budgeting<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">\u25cf Saving<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">\u25cf Credit<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">\u25cf Debt<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">Once you\u2019ve mastered these types of financial fundamentals, you can improve your lifestyle:<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">\u25cf Gain the ability to understand and make use of variety of financial skills<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">\u25cf Likely to spend less income<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">\u25cf Create an emergency fund for safe keeping<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">\u25cf Open retirement account early<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">\u25cf Apply more of the basics with ease in everyday life<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"p2\">What is Financial Literacy?<\/h2>\n<p class=\"p1\">Financial literacy is the ability to understand and or make use of the variety of financial skills that include:<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">\u25cf Personal financial management<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">\u25cf Budgeting<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">\u25cf Investing<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">Financial literacy is also comprehending certain financial principles such as:<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">\u25cf The time value of money<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">\u25cf Compound interest<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">\u25cf Managing debt<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">\u25cf Financial planning<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">If you can educate yourself on the value of how money works, then you can be able to set goals and become more aware of practicing more financial management.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"p2\">Introduction to Bank Accounts<\/h2>\n<p class=\"p1\">If you\u2019re interested in starting off your financial literacy fundamentals, then you should start with opening a bank account. Typically, a bank account is a the first financial account that you\u2019ll be able to open for yourself in order to be able to keep your finances more organized. Opening a bank account can hold and build the money you will need for necessities that you\u2019ll need later in life.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"p2\">Which Type of Bank Should I Use?<\/h2>\n<p class=\"p1\">If you\u2019re curious on where you should open an account with, then here are some pros and cons between Retail banks and Credit Unions :<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">\u25cf Retail Banks are the most common type of bank and are a for-profit organization that offer checking and savings accounts and can be physical buildings, in person, or online.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">\u25cf Credit unions provide savings and checking accounts, issue loans and other services just like banks, but they are non-profit organizations, which means little to no fees and better rates.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"p2\">What\u2019s an Emergency Fund?<\/h2>\n<p class=\"p1\">An emergency fund is not like a specific type of bank account and can be any sort of cash that you have saved to help with financial situations. Usually emergency funds are used for:<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">\u25cf Separate savings accounts<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">\u25cf Have enough finances to cover at least 3 to 6 weeks months worth of expenses<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">\u25cf Is money that is off limits for paying regular expenses<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"p2\">How Do I Create a Budget?<\/h2>\n<p class=\"p1\">Budgeting is the idea of tracking how much finances you receive and spend every month or every week, depending on the strategy you use. You can use paper or a budgeting app in order to keep track of your finances. In order to create a budget, here are a few things that you need to keep in mind:<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">\u25cf Income &#8211; list all of your sources of income that you receive monthly or bi-weekly, or from other sources<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">\u25cf Expenses &#8211; list purchases that you make monthly and split into categories:<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">\u25cf Fixed expenses &#8211; purchases that you must make monthly, such as rent, bills, and utilities<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">\u25cf Discretionary spending &#8211; non-essential spending or varied purchases such as shopping, restaurants or traveling<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">\u25cf Savings &#8211; record the amount of money that you are able to save per month<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"p2\">Other VFCU Banking Services<\/h2>\n<p class=\"p1\">VFCU is determined to help you on your journey to better finances and better savings! With our UChoose rewards, you\u2019ll be able to choose different types of rewards that benefit you in the long run whenever you stay with us and use our services! Choose from a variety of rewards such as:<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">\u25cf Travel expenses<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">\u25cf Shopping benefits<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">\u25cf Cashback<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">\u25cf Savings perks<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"p2\">Want More Information on Banks Harlingen?<\/h2>\n<p class=\"p1\">Contact us for more information and see if you can become a member of VFCU, and gain access to plenty of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vfcu.net\/savings-and-checking\/benefits-of-using-your-mobile-app\/\">membership benefits<\/a>! Want to know more about VFCU banking benefits? Check out <a href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/search?q=vfcu&amp;sca_esv=09379ecd0b6efd91&amp;sxsrf=ACQVn0_FVp_aqnNzos0l0LtJHtJtLfsxFg%3A1713543752918&amp;source=hp&amp;ei=SJoiZrjEM4PbwN4P8I2xgA4&amp;iflsig=ANes7DEAAAAAZiKoWG1OoC_6pn3iDeDEGfpHibMOhb1o&amp;ved=0ahUKEwi4iMj1186FAxWDLdAFHfBGDOAQ4dUDCBg&amp;uact=5&amp;oq=vfcu&amp;gs_lp=Egdnd3Mtd2l6IgR2ZmN1SK8CUABYAHAAeACQAQCYAQCgAQCqAQC4AQPIAQD4AQGYAgCgAgCYAwCSBwCgBwA&amp;sclient=gws-wiz#lrd=0x866f8193756a0c0f:0x3c8f832cfd7f744f,1,,,,\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">VFCU<\/a> services!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Learning the basics of financial literacy can seem stressful if you don\u2019t know where to start. However, thanks to Banks Harlingen &#8211; Valley Federal Credit Union (VFCU) you don\u2019t have to think too much in learning the fundamentals. You can learn how to be more financially literate with VFCU, and here\u2019s how! Importance of Financial [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6762,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[53],"tags":[76],"class_list":["post-6761","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-financial-literacy","tag-banks-harlingen"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vfcu.net\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6761","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vfcu.net\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vfcu.net\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vfcu.net\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vfcu.net\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6761"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.vfcu.net\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6761\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vfcu.net\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6762"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vfcu.net\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6761"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vfcu.net\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6761"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vfcu.net\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6761"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}