TOOLS FOR THE TRADE

Understanding the right tools and skills is crucial in your trade, and the same goes for managing your finances. While trades workers can earn solid wages and benefits, they may also face periods of unemployment due to factors like seasonal downturns, lack of work, or injury.

That’s why Ironworkers Credit Union, offers Financial Tools for the Trades. These two-hour workshops provide apprentices with essential knowledge to plan for unemployment, manage finances, build credit, handle debt, and save for the future. The topics covered include:

1. Be Prepared
   Understand the financial realities of working in the trades, calculate your first-year take-home pay, and learn strategies for saving and preparing for unemployment.
2. The Power of Spending Plans
   Learn how to create a spending plan, track expenses, plug “spending leaks,” and find ways to increase income or reduce expenses.
3. Making Credit Work for You
   Discover what credit is, how to interpret your credit report, strategies for building or improving credit, and the full cost of using credit. Apprentices can also request a free credit report.
4. Take Control of Your Debt
   Learn how to create a debt repayment plan and find out where to seek additional help if you need assistance managing your debt.

Based on the book Financial Tools for the Trades: A Survival Guide for Apprentices, this class is offered at no cost by Ironworkers Credit Union. For more details or to get a copy of the book, contact us today.