Trusted News for Credit Union Leaders
Credit Union Times
AUGUS T 14, 2019 | VOL. 30 | NO. 27 | CUTIMES.COM
Must Reads
INVESTMENTS
‘Pensionize’ 401(k)s and IRAs
In a world of defined contributions, American workers have
three challenges – inadequate
savings, leakage (or loans/early
withdrawals) tied to their retirement accounts and the need for
retirement income. Plus, just half
of all DC plans offer a way for
investors to transform balances
into periodic retirement income,
with only one in five offering
guaranteed lifetime payouts.
This situation prompted Steve
Vernon of the Stanford Center on Longevity, Wade Pfau of
The American College of Financial Services and researcher Joe
Tomlinson to explore and devise solutions to “pensionize”
retirement plans. Their work,
first published last year and then
updated this year, finds that only
one-third of workers contact financial advisors, and most lack
the necessary skills to convert
savings into retirement income
and typically have short planning horizons.
But research from the Stanford Center on Longevity (SCL)
and Society of Actuaries (SOA)
has found a “straightforward retirement strategy,” according to
the three authors. “Choosing a
specific solution that will help
workers generate retirement income requires them to make
informed tradeoffs between potentially competing goals,” they
explained, such as “maximizing
lifetime income; providing access to savings (liquidity); planning for bequests;
STRATEGIC MARKETING
Grow ng Local Connections
“I’ll take anyone.” In their quest
o grow, some financial advisors throw exclusivity out th
window. Their only criteria is “if
they’ve got a pulse” and “if they
can fog a mirror.” But if you are
going to differentiate yourself in
your market, the first step is defining it.
Three Possible Markets
The e are three basic choices
open to you as you define your
market:
1. Look within walking distance of your office: Where you
work sounds like the easiest.
Your market is the downtown
area of your city, within a chosen
adius around your office.
Years ago, some financial institutions assigned their business product salespeople a cer
tain part of Manhattan bounded
by certain streets. They called on
all the law firms or professional
offices in those high-rise build
ings. If your market is the area
around your office, you can walk
around, getting to know he local
merchants.
Become their customer. Join
he Chamber or get active in the
business improvement district
organization. Join a private club.
Your prospecting and business
entertainment is within walking
distance. Members and potential
members can easily meet at your
office for the same reason.
2. Look near your home:
Where you live makes sense too.
Assuming you work 40 Y16
Mobile
Onboarding
Strategize to lessen
dropout rates. Y12
The Power of
Data
Discover content
marketing’s secret
weapon. Y9
CU Faces
Antitrust
Claims
PETER STROZNIAK
pstrozniak@cutimes.com
rare antitrust lawsuit allegedan Ohiocredit union participated in an illegal and price-fixing scheme with a Baltimore,
Md., title company that yielded
hundreds of thousands of dollars that were laundered through
third-party marketing companies
to conceal the fraud from borrowers, auditors and regulators.
But Michael Y. Kieval, a Washington, D.C.-based attorney
representing the
$151 million Emery Federal Credit
Union in Cincinnati, countered the
134-page lawsuit is
nothing more than
a shake down, and
that the civil complaint is replete
with sham allegations, mischar-acterizations and deliberately
provocative language clearly designed to convey a conspiracy that
did not exist.
Kieval filed a motion to dismiss
the case in U.S. District Court in
Cincinnati in July, in part because
the Sherman Act antitrust claims
alleged in the lawsuit have a four-year statute of limitations that
have already expired.
What’s more, the former Emery
president/CEO denied he Y18
CU MANAGEMENT
Kieval
FOCUSREPORT:
MARKETING &
BUSINESS
DEVELOPMENT
CU marketers are challenged with nailing their campaigns across
multiple channels – and doing so at a low cost. Learn how one CU
grew its membership through a direct mail effort and engaged
existing members on social media in this Focus Report. Y6
n 1975, four of Baltimore,
Md.’s leading advertising executives and creative directors gathered together, at then
Mayor William Donald Schaefer’s
request, to come up with an idea
to promote the city and combat its
troubled image, according to an
article in the Baltimore Sun. Not
long after, a new nickname for the
city was born – Charm City.
The nickname, albeit a creative
marketing tool, holds true; Balti-
more is a city full of charm. Bal-
timore’s inner harbor is a scenic
area lined with restaurants, shops,
bars and an aquarium. The in-
ner harbor boasts beautiful views
of the water and boats passing
through its waterways. The city
is also full of historic neighbor-
hoods such as Fell’s Point, an area
established in 1763 that has more
than 161 buildings on the Nation-
al Register, including the oldest
standing residence in Baltimore
City, the Robert Long House, ac-
cording to Baltimore.org.
With all its charm, Baltimore
is a multi-faceted city that still
comes with its fair share of prob-
lems, much like other major U.S.
cities. The television crime drama
“The Wire” brought new celebrity
to this city by the water and put
a large spotlight on its troubles
as well. The 2015 Baltimore riots,
sparked by the death of Freddie
Gray, who died in police
CU Breathes New Life Into Baltimore
TAHIRA HAYES
thayes@cutimes.com
Y17
GROWTH STRATEGIES