Education Articles

Demystifying Financial Terms: APR & APY

For better or worse, acronyms and initialisms have become commonplace in normal conversation. When was the last time someone said they watched the game on the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network (ESPN)? Or was asked for their Personal Identification Number (PIN) or Zone Improvement Plan (ZIP) code? In financial circles, you’ve likely...

Your College Buying Guide

Simplify the transition to dorm life. Starting college can be stressful enough without last-minute shopping trips. So, don’t wait till the week before to gather all of the essentials you’ll need for your new college life. This guide will help you with that essential packing/purchasing list, giving you plenty of time to gather what you need. And ...

Debt Snowball vs. Debt Avalanche

Ever noticed how much easier it is to fall out of shape than to get into shape? The same can be said (albeit the exact opposite) about getting into (too easy) and out of (pretty hard) debt. There are many ways to dig out of debt—some extreme and unlikely, like winning the lottery or inheriting a pile of money. Chances are pretty low that either ...

True or False: Money Edition

When it comes to the topic of money, it’s not always easy to tell reality from myth—even when you’re expected to be financially independent. The good news is, it’s never too early (or too late) to learn. Let’s see if you can spot the fact from the fiction.  The U.S. dollar is the most commonly used currency in the world. True. It’s even sometime...

3 Benefits of Using Mobile Check Deposit

There’s no need to squeeze a trip down to your local branch or ATM in your already busy schedule just to deposit a check. All it takes is a few minutes of your time and a smartphone or tablet. What is mobile check deposit? Just like it sounds, mobile deposit is a way to deposit a check into your SELCO account anytime, anywhere, using SELCO’s...

4 Ways To Watch Your Savings Grow

Remember the days of pedaling to the local bank and depositing your lawn-mowing or paper-route money into a savings account? Life is more complicated now (as are our finances), but the idea remains the same: We want a safe place to store our money and, ideally, watch it grow. SELCO has been around since the throes of the Great Depression,...

Loose Change Stack-Up

A fun, educational game for your kids The Loose Change Stack-Up is a fun, easy activity to teach your kids how to count change as well as the value of earning money. Teaching kids at an early age how to count and earn money will help set them up for success later in life by building a financial foundation of knowledge. This activity is great for...

10 Financial New Year’s Resolutions

Hard to believe, but the time has come to make—or to start making good on—your annual New Year’s resolutions. Perhaps you’ve already gotten to work on eating healthier, organizing your garage, or learning a new language (congratulazioni!). How about getting your “financial house” in order? If you haven’t developed a definitive plan for the new...

7 Savvy Ways to Spend Your Tax Refund

In the late 1960s, Stanford University conducted a now-classic psychology study called the Marshmallow Test. In it, children were offered a choice between eating one marshmallow immediately or two marshmallows if they could wait a few minutes. You can watch kids deal with this agonizing dilemma here . Resisting an immediate reward for a greater...

P2P Payment Systems: What You Need To Know

Peer-to-peer (P2P) payment systems have dramatically changed the way we handle our money. It’s so easy to send money with just a few taps on your phone. But be sure to keep your money safe by following the tips outlined in this article. First popularized by PayPal, the world of P2P payment systems has exploded. A NerdWallet survey found that...