How many of you are still banking with a bank? 

(GASP)

*THAT* Many?!?!?!?

Look folks, you need to RUN, don’t walk, and join a local credit union.  I’m amazed at how often I hear of friends, family members, and friendly neighborhood superheroes I know who still put their money in a bank.

EWWWWWWW! 

If you need just ONE good reason, it’s this: a bank is for-profit.  A Credit Union is non-profit.  Unless you’re an owner or an investor at the bank, there’s absolutely no reason for you to give them your money.  You’re just making someone else money.  Conversely, when you’re a member of a Credit Union, *you* are part owner of the bank.  *You* get the profits.

There are many other benefits:

• You probably will get much better loan rates for cars, houses, consolidation loans, boats, etc.
• There’s a good chance  you’ll get a better rate on investment, like CD’s, checking accounts, etc.
• You’ll probably be able to avoid a ton of fees commonly associated with banking.
• If the credit union makes a lot of money, you get it back, either in the form of lower rates or an actual refund.  I remember one time back before 2000 that for  three years in a row, our credit union gave back $5 million to it’s members.  I personally got about a thousand dollars in the form of cash back, refunds on interest paid on loans, etc.
• The employees are fantastic.  They’re nice, courteous, professional, funny, and really good folk to do business with. 

I’ve been a Credit Union member since 1994 when I started work at Motorola in Austin, and have always been pleased with my decision to move from a regular bank to a credit union.  They’ve always been there for me for car loans, investments, and an extreme lack of fees that would normally eat up into my cash.

I also wanted to give shout-out to Malinda and Monica at the Parmer branch of TruWest credit union - your smiling faces always make my day better; thank you!