SCHOLARSHIPS AWARDED
R.I.A. Federal Credit Union staff and Board of Directors would like to congratulate the winners of our Annual Scholarship Awards. Five scholarships, each totaling one thousand dollars, were awarded to students who are pursuing further education and have excelled academically and within their communities. They have demonstrated excellent community service as well as participation in school extracurricular activities. R.I.A. is honored to contribute to their education and bright futures. Since 1997, more than $75,000 has been awarded to help further the education of our outstanding graduates. We would like to take this opportunity to wish all our 2024 graduating seniors the best of luck in their future endeavors.
Anthony
Anthony is a graduate of North Scott High School in Eldridge, IA. Anthony was involved in many activities during high school including: National Honor Society, Student Leadership Team, Choir, Band, four-year Varsity basketball, baseball, soccer, and golf. He was also able to finish high school with 28 college credit hours. Anthony will attend Central College, in Pella, IA and play basketball. He plans to major in Finance and Accounting. He always enjoyed as a young kid making deposits in the lobby and talking to the tellers about how much money he had saved. He truly appreciates the academic scholarship from RIA and hopes someday to be in the financial services industry.
Antonio
Antonio plans to attend Southern Illinois University Edwardsville to complete their accelerated dental program. His goal is to become a dental Oromaxillofacial surgeon, working in high-need areas. Antonio graduated from Assumption High School, and spent his time focused on exploring his career interests. He spent his summers shadowing dentists in every specialty and volunteering as an Auxiliary at Unity Point. He intends to enter dentistry with the promise, “I will not pursue profit over service.”
Isabelle
Isabelle will be graduating from Camanche High School in Camanche, IA. During high school, was involved in Spanish Club, National Honor Society as President, Student Council as Student Body President, Key Club as Secretary, Marching and Concert Band (being the Drum Major), Large Group and Individual Event Speech, Theater as a Thespian Officer, and was an Americorps Student Leader. She has earned over 500 community service hours throughout high school through these activities. She will be attending Iowa State University in the fall to study Environmental Science with nearly an entire Associate of Science Degree finished throughout high school.
Lilly
Lilly graduated from Wilton Jr Sr High. Throughout high school, she was involved with The Stepperettes Dance Team, Difference Maker Crew, School Play and Musical, Group and Individual Speech, National Honor Society, tutoring, and yearbook. She was the 2024 Senior Class Vice President. This year she completed her Silver Cord hours, obtained her Seal of Biliteracy in Spanish, was the representative for the Iowa American Legion Auxiliary Girls State, and was an AmeriCorp Senior Student Leader. She plans to attend Oklahoma State University to major in Aerospace Administration and Operations- Professional Pilot and minor in French.
Sirius
Sirius plans to attend Cornell College in the fall to do an individualized major, studying a variety of topics surrounding theater and business. She has had a strong passion for theater for many years and looks forward to a future of running her own theater company and live theater space.
COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT
9TH ANNUAL R.I.A. FCU GOLF OUTING BENEFITING THE HONOR FLIGHT OF THE QUAD CITIES
We held our 9th Annual R.I.A. Golf Outing Benefiting the Honor Flight of the Quad Cities in May and it was a great success! The Honor Flight of the QC sends much deserving veterans to Washington D.C. to visit the historical monuments built in their honor. Thanks to our volunteers and dedicated sponsors, we raised an astounding $46,690 for the Honor Flight of the Quad Cities. This is enough to fund 93 veteran flights! Thank you to everyone who made this event a great success and thank you to our generous sponsors for committing their time and money to the Honor Flight of the QC!
AMERICAN HEART ASSOCIATION
With a great turnout, R.I.A. walked in the Quad Cities Heart Walk again this year. Our team contributed their efforts to raise $2,647 in support of the American Heart Association. The money raised by the Heart Walk helps fund research and medical breakthroughs.
CHARITY GOLF OUTINGS
For R.I.A., summertime means golf! We are dedicated to building up our community, and what better way than through a sport we all love? The summer lineup for charity golf outings includes the following: PV Boys Basketball, YMCA, IL QC Chapter, Getting Heroes Home, QC Children’s Miracle Network, Byron Hills Fore Heroes, Savanna Chamber Shadfly, Seton Catholic School, Quad Cities Builders & Remodelers Association, Paul & Dale’s Hack N’ Give Back, Army Support the Troops, and AVLife. R.I.A. is honored to be a part of these outings.
WISCONSIN COMMUNITY
Our Wisconsin crew is always busy in their community. They’ve been involved in the Fort McCoy Month of the Military Child, Armed Forces Day, U.S. Army Birthday, and Army Birthday Concert. New this year, they participated in the Fort McCoy Down & Dirty Trail Run. They enjoyed giving their all and coming home muddy! As always, R.I.A. is excited to sponsor the Tomah Concert Series.
KIDS FOR VETS LEMONADE STAND
When life gives you lemons, you make lemonade to raise money for veterans! The Kids for Vets kicked off the summer with stands at our Bettendorf and Davenport locations. They also set up at our R.I.A. Golf Outing for the Honor Flight and helped us raise funds. These kids put so much hard work and joy into our community and support our veterans in such a fun, unique way. They will be hosting a stand at our Moline branch in July, and we can’t wait!
QUAD CITIES CORPORATE GAMES
R.I.A. kicked off participation in the Quad Cities Corporate Games this year with a blood drive at our Utica Ridge location. We’re off to a great start to the summer with so many fun events for employees to participate in. Our very own, Rob, took first place in the shot-put event for our division! We’re looking forward to the remaining events throughout the summer!
BASS STREET LANDING SUMMER CONCERT SERIES
Another fun event, the Bass Street Landing Summer Concert Series, made for a great night of entertainment for our staff. R.I.A. sponsored a band in June and staff joined to support the Moline community. We enjoyed great food from El Mariachi!
SAVANNA CHAMBER LADIES
DAY LUNCHEON
Always a group favorite, R.I.A. sent some fabulous ladies to the Savanna Chamber Ladies Day Luncheon again this year. They spent an afternoon enjoying a delicious lunch and an inspiring speaker. Bring a part of the Savanna community is such an honor and we love sponsoring this event.
PUPPY SCAMS ARE REAL
Pet scams are on the rise
The holiday season is also prime scam season. This year, experts are warning about scams that target your love for animals. Everyone loves puppies, so scammers are focusing on the tiny furry friends to reel in victims.
Be Aware of Fraudsters
As USA Today notes, puppy scams first started increasing at the start of the pandemic. People were looking for something to cheer them up, so they turned to adoption. The puppy scam is still alive and well and surging with the holidays. The scam typically involves a fake ad and the seller asking for payment upfront.
Scam Example
For example, a scammer takes out a Facebook ad promising boxer puppies for sale. You see the ad and contact the seller. The seller then makes up some excuse for why you need to send the money right away. They say the puppies are going fast, but if you send the cash via Venmo now, you’ll get yours. To make it more enticing, these scammers set prices for puppies way lower than legitimate places. While you can adopt puppies from a shelter for a few hundred dollars, these puppy scams often list their prices for about $100 per dog. Of course, after you send the money to the seller, you never see the dog. That’s because the whole thing was a con from the start.
Bottom Line
If you’re searching for a puppy, avoid online ads entirely. According to a BBB report on holiday scams, about 80 percent of online puppy ads were fake. Instead, go to a trusted breeder, someone recommended by someone you trust, or better yet — your local animal shelter. Puppies are great (but a lot of work and expensive), as long as you actually get the puppy.
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HELPFUL CALCULATIONS TO IMPROVE YOUR FINANCIAL HEALTH
Personal finance ratios can help you get a grip on finances.
Calculating personal finance ratios is a good way to get an overall picture of your financial health. Here are some ratios that you should track.
Emergency Fund
You want your emergency fund to be stocked with enough money to cover at least six months of living expenses.
- 6 Months Expenses. Start by calculating how much you need to cover expenses per month, then multiply that number by six to get your emergency fund balance. So, if your monthly expenses are $3,000 and you have $9,500 in your emergency fund, you have enough to cover three months. That’s a good start but aim for 6 months or more.
Credit Utilization
Your credit utilization ratio is the biggest single factor in determining your credit score.
- How to Calculate Utilization. The credit utilization ratio is calculated by dividing your total credit used by your total credit limit. Ideally, you want your ratio to be below 30 percent. If you’re looking to improve your score, try to keep it closer to 10 percent.
Housing Ratio
Tracking this ratio will help you understand how much house you can safely afford based on your income. Most experts suggest that your housing ratio should be less than 28 percent of your gross pay.
- Calculating Housing Ratio. A housing ratio refers to housing costs (mortgage payment or rent payment) divided by your gross pay.
Savings Rate
Your savings rate is the percentage of your income that you stash away for short and long-term savings. This can include emergency savings, saving for a financial goal, or retirement savings.
- Savings Rate Calculation. Aim to save between 10 and 15 percent of your income.
Saving 15 percent over the course of your working life is enough to allow most people to replace 80 percent of their pre-retirement income when combined with Social Security over a 30-year retirement.
Do One Thing
Make it a goal to have all your personal finance ratios exactly where you want them to be.
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ACCESS DIGITAL BANKING TOOLS THAT MAKE MANAGING YOUR MONEY CONVENIENT!
Stop into a branch to learn how to register for contactless payment with your R.I.A. FCU debit and credit cards. Use tap-to-pay and Apple, Google, and Samsung Pay to make your transactions contactless.
READY. SET. CREDIT SCORE GOAL!
We know your credit score’s importance to financial well-being, so we offer free credit monitoring, conveniently accessed within mobile banking. Credit monitoring is FREE to our members, and you can check and refresh your credit score and credit report daily without impacting your score.
Do you have financial goals? Do you want to improve your credit score to achieve those goals? Whether buying a house, a car, or anything requiring a loan or if you’re going to rent a new apartment or improve your overall creditworthiness, credit monitoring can help you.
With credit monitoring, you can set a credit score goal, receive personalized recommendations, and track your progress toward your goal. You can edit your goal anytime, and you will receive messages when meeting milestones to encourage you along the way.
And there is more! You can access the following features within credit monitoring.
- Personalized Credit Report
- Real-Time Credit Monitoring Alerts
- Credit Score Simulator
- Credit Score Action Plan
- Credit Score Education
Are you ready to reach your financial goals? You got this! Enroll in credit monitoring today.
Ready, Set, Goal!
Special Closings
Independence Day
Thursday, July 4
Labor Day
Monday, September 2
Remember, you can still access your credit union account on holidays and after hours with your R.I.A. FCU ATM/Debit Card, Mobile Banking, DANA or Internet Account Access. Sign up today!