Last week was Star Wars Day, which Wauna Credit Union always dutifully celebrates—we’d also celebrate John Wayne Day if anybody wants to help us get that going. On its surface, Star Wars Day is just a fun way for us to dress up like Darth Vader and have fun with our members, but there are actually several things that the preeminent saga of our time can teach us.
One of those things is how things we do and decisions we make can stay with us throughout our life. In Star Wars Luke literally sees and hears Obi Wan, Yoda and eventually Anakin–Sebastian Shaw not Hayden Christensen thank you very much—who continue to guide him. Similarly, we are all guided by the lessons imparted on us by our parents, teachers and other influences. Very often these lessons help us, but sometimes people learn the wrong way to handle finances.
Often people fall behind early and are constantly being visited by malevolent ghosts who encourage them to spend more than they have, not pay bills on time and consistently over-extend themselves. Wauna CU has multiple online ways to help with this, education programs like Balance for adults, The M3 Money Club for young children and The Elements of Money for teens.
A lot of us prefer in person help as well, for that we offer a credit enhancement program. As a community-oriented institution we want to help be that positive 
influence for our members. Our member consultants will sit down with a member whose credit isn’t quite where they want it to be, and go over their credit report, explain what the different notes and indications mean, provide a plan of attack and then periodically check in to apprise progress. Teaming with our members like this is one of the ways we stay true to our goal of being a true member of the areas we serve.