Author: Erin Kynett - PEFCU Blog

Service With Purpose: March 2026 Community Recap

March was a shining month of Service with Purpose at PEFCU, filled with teamwork, compassion, and powerful community impact across Florida! From supporting local families and seniors to protecting our environment and championing youth education, our associates showed what it means to lead with heart. Check out snippets from each of the exciting ways our associates showed up in March. GROUNDBREAKING FOR EDUCATION Community Pillar: Education & Mentorship Monday, March 30, 2026 PEFCU delegates proudly celebrated the groundbreaking of the Barnett Family Junior Achievement Discovery Center in Polk County, Florida. As the first facility in the nation to bring all…

April 2, 2026Community Engagement, We Are PEFCU No Comments

How to Teach Kids Savings Goals

It’s never too early to begin teaching your children the importance of saving money. Whether they receive tooth fairy money or earn a paycheck at their first job, all are teachable moments that can have a tremendous impact on their future financial lives. Nowadays, it’s almost too easy to spend money. Everything you could possibly want is only a swipe of your credit card or a few clicks away. While convenient, this also propels instant gratification and can lead to overspending and poor money management skills. Teaching children about money at an early age will allow them to build proper savings habits, better manage their money in adulthood,…

April 2, 2026Future Planning No Comments

6 Money Moves After Filing Your Taxes

Tax season can be stressful. So, once filing your taxes is behind you, it’s natural to feel a huge wave of relief. If you’re expecting a tax refund, that relief often comes with excitement. Maybe you’re already picturing how you’ll treat yourself – a nice dinner, a mini vacation, or something you put off earlier in the year. Enjoying part of your refund is absolutely something to look forward to. However, a tax refund carries more potential than just a moment of fun. While you’re already in a financial mindset, take time to plan how that money can build momentum in your life. A few wise choices today can reduce the stress of high-interest debt, jumpstart your child’s college…

March 29, 2026Wallet Wins No Comments

How to Start Saving for Emergencies

Most people understand why an emergency fund is essential, yet the idea of building one can feel intimidating. When you’re balancing everyday expenses, repaying debt, or income shifts monthly, saving even a small amount can feel out of reach. And when financial advice starts with “save three to six months of living expenses,” it’s easy to shut down before you ever get started. The truth is that emergency funds aren’t built overnight. They’re not one big goal to tackle right away. Instead, they’re a series of smaller steps that compound over time. Once you break the process down into pieces, saving becomes something that feels realistic – and something you can start today,…

March 22, 2026Future Planning No Comments

8 Financial Tips for Gen Z That Actually Work

For many in Gen Z, money hasn’t felt simple or predictable. You’ve dealt with changing job markets, prices that keep climbing, and advice coming from every corner of the internet – especially social media. It can often feel like everyone else learned something, and somehow you didn’t get the memo. But, in reality, most people are just trying to figure things out as they go. The truth is that people rarely struggle because they’re careless with money. They struggle because the systems they’re told to use don’t match real life. You don’t need complicated routines or perfect habits. You just need a few tools that help things run more smoothly – even when life gets busy or unpredictable. Tip #1 – Build a Simple Financial…

March 15, 2026Wallet Wins No Comments

How to Declutter Your Financial Life

We all have one, and no one wants to deal with it…a junk drawer. You know the drawer in your kitchen that’s filled with pens, coupons, mail, and just about everything else you can imagine. Maybe your culprit is a closet that hasn’t been cleaned out in years. Somehow, sections of our lives become cluttered without us even realizing it’s happening. If your finances feel a bit scattered right now, you’re not alone. Between payment apps, subscriptions, credit cards, loans, and financial accounts, modern life encourages financial clutter, even when you’re trying to do everything right. Luckily, decluttering your money matters is usually much easier than you think. Why Financial Clutter…

March 8, 2026Future Planning, Wallet Wins No Comments

Home Equity Loan or Cash-Out Refi: Which Is Right for Me?

Your home is so much more than just a place to live. It’s a haven for you and your family. It’s a gathering place for your inner circle. But did you know that it can also serve as a powerful financial tool? If you’ve owned your home for a while and built substantial equity, you can access that equity to help meet your financial needs. And your equity can be used for much more than simply home renovations and repairs – it can also be utilized to consolidate high-interest debt, pay for education expenses, or cover emergencies. How you choose to tap into your equity matters just as much as how you plan to use it. You can leverage your equity with a Home Equity Loan, a Home Equity…

February 8, 2026Borrowing Basics, Future Planning No Comments

Common Tax Scams & How to Avoid Them

Common Tax Scams & How to Avoid Them Tax season is here, and it tends to put most people on edge. Many are anxious to file their returns because they rely on the money from their tax refund. Others find it stressful to locate all their tax documents and file on time. Add in people’s fear of the IRS and making mistakes on their returns, and it creates the perfect environment for scammers. Fraudsters feed off uncertainty, and tax time provides multiple opportunities to deceive taxpayers. Fortunately, protecting yourself can be easy with the right knowledge. While the tactics used…

February 1, 2026Security Center No Comments

Start the Year with Lower Car Payments

For many of us, we love the car we drive. It gets us where we need to go, hauls and protects what matters most, and feels like an extension of daily life. However, we often don’t feel as passionate about the monthly payment attached to it. Auto loans are among the largest expenses in most households, yet they are rarely updated once the paperwork is signed. As a new year begins and financial resolutions are the new focus, it’s worth taking a moment to ask yourself: Does your current car loan fit your budget as well as it could? Refinancing gives you the chance to adjust your loan in your favor. It’s not a…

January 31, 2026Borrowing Basics No Comments

6 Myths About Refinancing Car Loans

Refinancing your car loan might sound like a mystical and complicated process, but that’s rarely the case. In truth, refinancing is one of the quickest and easiest ways to put more of your hard-earned dollars back into your wallet each month. Believing common misconceptions about refinancing might be preventing you from pursuing one of the best financial decisions you can make for your budget. We’re here to debunk these common myths and help you gain a clearer understanding of how this process can instantly improve your finances. Understanding Auto Loan Refinancing Refinancing your car loan is essentially the process of replacing your current auto loan with a new one. Borrowers typically pursue a refinance to make their loan…

January 25, 2026Borrowing Basics No Comments

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