Your Financial Wellness is Our Mission!
Financial Education Resources from CorePlus Credit Union
CorePlus Credit Union is here to be your trusted financial partner throughout your life journey. Our team can help you with an array of inquiries from selecting the account that best suits you to offering financial counseling to help you budget or set you on the path to purchasing your first car.
What Can Our Certified Financial Counselors Help With?
- Help You Create a Budget
- Assist in Establishing Financial Goals and Objectives
- Develop a Debt Repayment Plan
- Help Determine which Account or Loan Best Suits Your Needs
Meet Our Certified Financial Counselors
CorePlus Credit Union is dedicated to providing you with the resources necessary to help guide our members to make sound financial decisions. We have Certified Credit Union Financial Counselors (CCUFCs) .
Tracy Lewis
Branch Officer
Norwich Branch
202 Salem Tpke., Norwich, CT 06360
E: tlewis@coreplus.org
Nicole Winston
Branch Manager
Waterford Branch
40 Boston Post Rd., Waterford, CT 06385
E: nwinston@coreplus.org
Valerie Giuliano
Branch Manager
Pawcatuck Branch
38 South Broad Street, Pawcatuck, CT 06379
E: vgiuliano@coreplus.org
Maria Shea
Branch Manager
East Lyme Branch
40 Boston Post Rd., Waterford, CT 06385
E: mshea@coreplus.org
Games + Quizzes
Put your financial knowledge to the test with World of Cents, Hit the Road, and Money 101 Quiz!
provided by National Credit Union Administration (NCUA)
World of Cents is a fun and engaging, kid-friendly game for ages 5 to 10 designed to help teach the value of money through the concepts of earning, saving and spending money, while incorporating basic math concepts.
Hit the Road is a financial adventure game designed to teach young people ages 10 to 15 the importance of saving and spending wisely. Students go on a virtual road trip across the country and learn the value of budgeting, responsible spending, saving, and debt management.
Money 101 Quiz is an easy-to-use online quiz that tests users’ knowledge
of the U.S. figures who are on dollars and coins.
CorePlus is Bringing Financial Education to Local Schools
We offer Financial Reality Fair Simulations and Curriculum-Based Learning
Did You Know? Nearly Nearly two-thirds of Americans live paycheck to paycheck. 40 percent of Americans can’t come up with $400 in case of emergency. More than 43 million Americans collectively owe $1.6 trillion in student loans. A third of Americans have less than $5,000 saved for retirement.
These statistics are startling if you’re not in tune with the financial health of Americans, but the Connecticut Credit Union Charitable Foundation, and Connecticut Credit Union League have partnered to ensure CT high school students have access to financial education through an experiential learning program.
Supported by the Connecticut Credit Union Charitable Foundation and Connecticut Credit Union League; CorePlus Credit Union collaborates with volunteer professionals from credit unions and financial institutions across the state to host Financial Reality Fairs at a local high schools.
These Financial Reality Fairs are simulations that teach students financial life skills that will allow them to avoid pitfalls in their own financial journeys. They are designed to improve the financial health and well-being of high school students who may or may not have access to a personal finance course at their school.
To assist schools and parents in their efforts of educating students, Financial Reality Fairs use the Bite of Reality app so that students can learn the importance of saving money, dealing with debt, how to get a good credit score, managing student loan debt and other necessary skills.
It’s a 90-minute interactive learning experience where students chose a career among 150 choices and are given a starting salary, student loan debt (based on their career choice), credit card debt and a randomized credit score.
After state and federal taxes are taken out of their monthly pay, students must then visit various stations (such as housing, transportation, food, clothing etc.) with their mobile device and make selections based on what they can afford.
Of course, there are many temptations for additional spending and students must learn to balance their wants and needs to live on their own. They may also face a financial surprise or two along the way and will quickly learn the importance of emergency savings.
The simulation is a unique opportunity for each student to experience some of the financial challenges they will face when they start life on their own.
An important component to a responsible financial lifestyle is saving for emergencies and also for retirement.
Students also learn the cost of credit, including student loans and credit cards, which is an important component of this experience.
Many students experience a realization that they might have to work a part-time job to make ends meet or have a roommate to share costs.
When the student completes the simulation, they meet with a financial counselor who will discuss the choices the student made in the simulation and suggest strategies to help plan for future financial challenges.
Components of this conversation include savings, debt, increasing one’s credit score, how a credit score impacts your financial life, understanding student loan debt and planning for retirement.
Financial reality fairs are coordinated by Connecticut’s credit unions through their trade association’s foundation—Credit Unions Building Financial Independence Inc. Volunteers for the fair are recruited through credit unions, business partners and local businesses, chambers of commerce and other non-profit organizations.
These fairs make a difference for every student that passes through them as we work collaboratively to teach them important financial literacy lessons.
Since its inception in the 2008-2009 school year the program has reached more than 35,000 students in Connecticut.
CorePlus Credit Union hosts two Financial Reality Fairs across Southeastern Connecticut in the Spring and Fall!
Most recently, the Financial Reality Fairs were hosted at Killingly High School located in Killingly, CT in May ’24 and at Robert E. Fitch High School located in Groton, CT in November ’24.
Each year, CorePlus educates hundreds of high school students across the state with the only cost being transportation to and from the event.
Interested in bringing our Financial Literacy programs to your school?
Contact Meg Martellotta, Vice President of Operations, CorePlus Credit Union
