LOOKING FOR A TAX BREAK? Making a deposit into your MECU IRA account could help reduce the amount of taxes you pay and help you save for retirement. MECU offers both traditional and Roth IRA Savings accounts as well as IRA Certificates of Deposit. IRA Savings and CD accounts are federally insured by the NCUA up to $250,000, and MECU provides Excess Share Insurance giving you a total of $325,000 of coverage. There is no fee for establishing or maintaining your IRA or IRA CD at MECU. Open your IRA or make a deposit to your existing IRA before April 15, 2009 to take advantage of the tax savings for 2008. MAKE NEXT CHRISTMAS EASIER It s not too early to think about saving for Christmas 2009. Open a MECU Christmas Savings account and be ready for next year s holiday shopping. Your Christmas Savings account will earn interest throughout the year and help your holiday dollars grow. The money you save throughout the year and the interest that you earn will be automatically transferred to your Share Savings in early November. So, open your Christmas Savings account today and start preparing for the next holiday season. SAFETY, SECURITY AND GREAT RATES The stock market can be a risky place to invest. If you are looking for a great rate and a guaranteed return, invest in a MECU Money Market. You get a great investment with a high interest rate while still having access to your funds. Unlike a money market fund with an investment firm, a MECU Money Market account won t put your principal at risk. Plus, you won t pay broker fees and you ll have access to your funds when you need them. This great investment offers tiered rates to maximize your investments growth potential. Check out MECU s Regular Money Market account and the Premier Money Market account on our website, www.mecu.com, to see which works best for you! Winter 2009 2
GET ON THE ROAD TO FINANCIAL FREEDOM AT MONEYPOWER DAY! MECU is sponsoring the Baltimore CASH Campaign s 4th MoneyPower Day to be held Saturday, March 21, 2009 at Baltimore Polytechnic High School from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. This FREE event offers different ways to learn how to repair credit, save money and accomplish your financial dreams whether starting a business, saving for retirement or purchasing a home. And this year there will be lots of activities for kids of all ages. Some of the things you can do at MoneyPower Day are: Attend workshops to learn how to save money to buy a home or start a small business. Pull your credit report and get help with correcting any problems at the Credit Café. Talk with service providers to learn about organizations that can help you. This year, young adults will be able to attend peer-to-peer workshops on money management and entrepreneurship. For more information, go to www.moneypowerday.org. Want your tax refund FAST, SAFE, EASY and FREE? Why wait to get your refund checks in the mail this year when they can be directly deposited into your MECU Checking or Savings account? It s free, easy, safe and fast. You don t have to worry about your check getting lost. Plus, the IRS schedules direct deposits a week sooner than mailing paper checks, so you get your money faster. There is no charge for this service; it s free! Just fill in the refund section of your tax form with MECU s routing number, 252076468, and select checking or savings, then fill in your account number. Don t have a checking account? Visit a MECU branch today or go to www.mecu.com and open your account online, or call 410-752-8313. Can you afford the cost of a Tax Refund Anticipation Loan (RAL)? Your taxes are done and you want your money now. A RAL looks like the way to go, but do you really know how much you may be losing? Quickie tax preparers often overlook Earned Income Tax Credits (EITC) that you may be entitled to deduct, which can average about $1,400. Last year, between 15 and 25 percent of taxpayers eligible for an EITC didn t get one because it was not put on their income tax return. Besides the actual cost of having your taxes prepared by a for-profit company, the interest charged on RALs is around 36%. You may qualify for the EITC if you earned less than $39,000. And, if you qualify for the EITC, you also qualify to have your taxes prepared for FREE! Free tax preparation through the CASH Campaign You can get FREE help preparing your taxes at any of the 15 Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) sites in the City that will start opening January 19. To find a site near you, call 410-685-0525. Trained volunteers will help you prepare your taxes and check to see if you qualify for the EITC. Get your refund fast with direct deposit to your MECU account If you file your taxes electronically, choose to have your refund deposited directly into your MECU Share Savings or Checking account. Your refund is often in your account in less than two weeks. You will need your account number and MECU s routing number 252076468. Save your refund for your special goals Once you have your refund deposited into your Share account, ask us for help in how to achieve your dreams. Whether it s a house, a car or your education MECU can help! 3 On Your Account
MECU GIVES CASH BONUS FOR 28 TH YEAR! The strength of MECU comes from its members, so it s always gratifying when we are able to give our members a cash bonus because of that strength. In 2008, we paid a cash bonus in June and in December totaling over $4 million. The cash bonus is made up of a loan-interest rebate on all your MECU loans, excluding VISA, and an extraordinary dividend on all your deposit accounts at MECU. That means the more accounts you have at MECU, the larger your cash bonus. Better still, the MECU Board of Directors has set aside funds to help ensure the cash bonus for 2009! Move all your accounts to MECU and pay yourself twice! MECU offers the best rates in town on both deposit accounts and loans. MECU s rates alone are like paying yourself once. Add the cash bonus on top and you ve paid yourself twice! MECU HELPS FUND COLLEGE SCHOLARSHIPS The Credit Union Foundation of MD & DC, which MECU helps fund, invites credit union members to apply for its 2009 College Scholarship Program. This year, ten $1,000 scholarships will be awarded to winning essay entries, and one $1,000 scholarship will be awarded to the winning video submission. This year s essay topic asks applicants to imagine a credit union that is run strictly by people under 30. The essay should describe what the credit union looks like, what products they focus on, and what makes their credit union stand out. This year s contest includes a video component. Applicants are invited to submit short 30- to 60-second videos that address the question, How are credit unions different than banks? A good example of this type of video focusing on credit unions can be found on the YouTube website, at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cawztsvtp2m. Complete information and applications are online: http://cufound.org/scholarship.htm CollegeBound scholarships MECU s Annual Charity Cup Golf Tournament provides funds for merit scholarships offered to Baltimore City school students through the CollegeBound Foundation. A link to the application for ten $1,000 MECU scholarships, along with other available scholarships, can be found on the MECU website under Youth Accounts. It s also available on the CollegeBound website, at http://www.collegeboundfoundation.org/students/paying.html. Now is the time to line up funding for your next semester s education. Winter 2009 4
NOTES OF INTEREST Annual Meeting Notice The Annual Meeting of the Members is set for Tuesday, March 17, 2009 at 12:00 p.m. at the MECU Corporate Offices, 7 East Redwood Street, 20 th floor, Baltimore, Maryland 21202. All members are invited to attend. Directors and Committees Serving You Board of Directors: Active Directors Roman Clark, Fire; Andrew Frank, Mayor s Office; G. Louise Green*, Finance; A. Soula Lambropoulos*, Health; Benjamin Meli, DPW; Peggy A. Peacock, HCD; Charmaine M. Thomas, Police. Retiree Directors Ernest J. Glinka; Gary W. McLhinney; Herman Williams Jr.*; Directors at Large Lorretta Johnson, BTU; John T. Walker III*, BCPS. Director Emeritus Harry Deitchman. *term expiring Credit Committee: Deborah Moore-Carter, Labor Commission; Thomas Driscoll, Finance; Dan Fickus, Police; Marietta English, BTU; Glenard Middleton, DPW; Neetu Dhawan-Gray, Associate Member; Robert Sledgeski, Fire. Supervisory Committee: Judge David Allen, Retired; Jennell Rogers, Finance; Abraham Schwartz, ERS; Otis Rolley, III, Associate Member; Beatrice Tripps, Mayor s Office. Nominees for Directorships in 2009 Candidates for directorship may be nominated by the Nominating Committee or by a petition of the members. The Nominating Committee of MECU has submitted the following members as candidates for directorships beginning in March 2009: Active G. Louise Green, Finance A. Soula Lambropoulos, Health John T. Walker III, BCPS, Director at Large Retiree Herman Williams Jr. If you have questions about the annual meeting or election procedures, contact Janet Topper at 443-263-4243. Disclosure of Board and Committee Compensation Schedule Achieving the strong financial position that MECU enjoys requires a team with knowledge, experience and a dedication to hard work. In a year when the economy was volatile, with other financial institutions and businesses laying off employees and struggling along, MECU paid you, its member-owners, an extraordinary dividend and loan interest refund for the 28th consecutive year. The roles of the Board of Directors and Credit and Supervisory Committees are critical to the success of MECU in fulfilling its mission. Setting the strategic direction, providing oversight and acting as your member-elected representatives are responsibilities that are not taken lightly by these individuals. They invest hundreds of hours of personal time to MECU attending meetings, attending educational sessions required by the State of Maryland, supporting MECU in the community and more. The expectations for these officials are high, and if one is not willing to make the commitment and sacrifice required it will result in being removed from office. Fortunately, as a State Chartered Credit Union, the MECU membership can compensate its officials for the many hours they contribute to the betterment of the organization by paying an honorarium for meetings they attend. As required by law, the compensation schedule is authorized each year by a vote of the membership at the Annual Meeting in accordance with Section 6-331 Annotated Code of Maryland, Financial Institutions Article. Additionally, it is approved by the Commissioner of Financial Regulation for the State of Maryland based on the institution s financial performance. This compensation is in exchange for services performed as an official, and it is reported as income to the Internal Revenue Service. The proposed dollar amount that will be paid to each official is as follows: Board of Directors: $200 honorarium per meeting attended; $200 per day for each day that a director attends an educational conference, as required by law, and travel days. Credit and Supervisory Committee Members: $150 honorarium per meeting attended; $150 for each day that a committee member attends an educational conference, as required by law, and travel days. The aggregate dollar amount paid to all officials for the 12 months preceding January 2009 was $247,216. Assuming that the proposed honorarium schedule stays the same as last year, is approved by the members at the annual meeting, and that the same number of meetings will be held as in the preceding 12-month period, the aggregate dollar amount to be paid to all officials in 2009 is estimated to be the same. The aggregate dollar amount of all officials expenses, excluding the compensation outlined above, for the 12 months preceding January 2009 was $135,339. MECU Mission Statement To provide members with high-quality financial services through sound management and innovation. Winter 2009 6