By: Lauren

Lauren @ 3:17 pm

Michigan First Credit Union was recently featured in an article in the Detroit Free Press. Michigan First member, Isabelle Lewis, used her stimulus check to contribute to the savings of her grandchildren. Please find the complete article with pictures below.

Where did stimulus funds go?
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080629/COL07/806290600
Detroit Free Press, SUSAN TOMPOR
June 29, 2008

Whenever she has extra cash, Isabelle Lewis deposits $20 or so into each of the savings accounts that she opened for her three grandsons.

But after she got her economic stimulus money, Lewis of Lathrup Village had another idea. One June day, she took three crisp $100 bills to the credit union and brought along her Triple A’s — 8-year-old Alton, who likes to be called AJ, and his 5-year-old twin brothers Alexander and Alston Andrews. “It’s like free money, so I just share with my grandkids,” Lewis remarked during their trip to the Michigan First Credit Union in Lathrup Village where, truthfully, the boys focused more on the fish in the bank’s tank than their own catch of the day.

So what is everyone doing with all that money? More than 130 million Americans will get a tax stimulus rebate either by direct deposit or paper check by mid-July.

I talked to five diverse Michigan households in April about what kind of money they thought they would get — and what they thought they’d do with it.

Now, two months later, I’ll tell you how life — and tax glitches — actually tripped up many people.

Some get more than expected

Lewis — who retired from Detroit Public Schools in 1999 — saw her money on schedule via direct deposit. But she received $600 on May 6, not the $300 she first expected.

Lewis didn’t realize that some retirees would receive a bigger payout.

Lower-income seniors and disabled veterans who normally do not have to file a return are eligible this year to receive a minimum stimulus payment of $300 for singles or $600 for married couples, plus $300 for each qualifying child if they filed a 2007 return.

But if better-off retirees had 2007 net income tax liability of at least $600 for single filers or $1,200 for joint filers, they would be eligible to receive stimulus checks in those amounts rather than other $300 or $600 minimum amounts, according to Mark Luscombe, an analyst for CCH in Riverwoods, Ill.

Some wealthier individuals, including retirees, did not qualify for the stimulus checks.

Lewis planned to give half her money to her grandsons for their college savings all along. Her own mad money account is flusher, too.

“This $300 will just sit there until I need something big.”

Check is still in the mail
Janet and Fred Pattan, who live about 30 miles outside Escanaba, need $850 for firewood to heat their home in the Upper Peninsula. The wood should last three years, but they won’t take delivery until they have their $600 stimulus check.

When Janet (Maudie) Pattan, 64, saw my number on caller ID last week, she chimed: “I still don’t have any money.”

They got a letter in early June from the Internal Revenue Service. They didn’t file the correct original form; they mailed a copy of the return instead. They had to then mail the original.

Teresa and Steve Smith, both 43, had a May 9 target date for their direct deposit, based on Social Security numbers listed in the IRS table.

The Northville couple saw their $2,100 check June 14.

No one knew it in late April, but thousands of people who used TurboTax and other tax-preparation services later discovered they had to wait for a paper check because they agreed to have fees for services deducted from their refunds.

Eligible individuals are receiving up to $600 for singles — or $1,200 for married couples filing joint returns. Plus families are receiving $300 for each eligible child under age 17.

The couple already has spent $1,295 on gutters for their home. At one point, Teresa and her husband wanted to go on vacation with their children: Adam, 16; Madeleine, 13, and Jacob, 10.

“Before gas prices went crazy, we were thinking of a drive through the Upper Peninsula,” she said. But now it costs nearly $62 to fill up the family’s Pontiac Aztek. It’s more for the family’s full-size Ford van.

They’re not sure how they might spend the remaining $805.

Second thoughts on splurging
Yulette Barnes, 36, says sky-high gas prices and a sky-high jobless rate in Michigan stopped her from buying some Narciso Rodriguez perfume.

“I can’t really see myself spending $100 for perfume at this time,” Barnes said.

She definitely planned to do that, if she got the money around Mother’s Day as she thought would happen.

But Barnes had to wait for the check because of the tax software mix-up.

The check popped up in her mailbox June 24. She received $704 — $404 as head of a household and $300 for her 4-year-old daughter Kaitlyn Rose.

And six weeks after Mother’s Day, she wasn’t feeling quite as giddy.

She’s paying about $350 a month to fill up her Chrysler Sebring.

Barnes, who lives in downtown Detroit, has a job as a legal assistant for Grant, Busch & Kirschner, a Southfield law firm that specializes in workers compensation and Social Security issues.

And her friend who has three children lost her job about two months ago and is still struggling to meet her bills.

Barnes lent about $300 of the check to her friend.

Barnes did shop a little. A day after she got the check, she spent about $280 on three pairs of sandals at Macy’s and a purse. And she spent another $100 or so on shoes and earrings for Kaitlyn Rose. No money ended up in her daughter’s savings account, as planned.

A nasty surprise

Michael Lary, event coordinator for the City of Ferndale, didn’t think he’d get a check at first. Then, he went to www.irs.gov and discovered he qualified for a $300 rebate.

He planned to take a trip to Chicago if the check arrived before the Memorial Day weekend.

No check, no trip, no clue.

So, as he waited, he kept thinking of new things to buy. One week, it was a recliner. Another, a $465 Schwinn bike.

Then, a letter arrived from the IRS.

The federal government withheld his $300 stimulus payment and told him that he owed back taxes and penalties in 2006 for his casino winnings.

Lary said he won about $2,000 at a casino. Now, he’s working through this tax mess. He still could owe about $500. But he plans to see if the casinos have records for his gambling on casino player’s cards for 2006. Those records could show that he lost more money than he won that year, so he said he is hoping that he might not owe as much money.

“I forgot that I won the money at the casino — and I didn’t report it,” he admitted, noting that he did his own taxes via a Web site. “It was my own fault.”

Contact SUSAN TOMPOR at 313-222-8876 or stompor@freepress.com.

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By: Lena

Lena @ 5:43 pm

In early June, Michigan First held its annual MoneyKids Fun Day at Lathrup Village Municipal Park. Nearly 300 MoneyKids, friends and family members enjoyed a fun day that included inflatable play attractions, clowns and face painters, train rides, and food. Maxamillion the Dinosaur, the MoneyKids mascot, was also on hand to put smiles on everyone’s face. MoneyKids were eligible to enter a drawing to win one of three Toys R Us gift cards. In addition, each child received a gift.

Michigan First Credit Union MoneyKids Mascot Maxamillion the Dinosaur (Max) hangs with his new pals Kel-El and Darrion.

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By: Lena

Lena @ 9:16 am

Michigan First Credit Union Receives Generation Next Award for Youth-Focused Financial Initiatives

Michigan First Credit Union has been awarded the 2007 Generation Next Award, in recognition of its “overall achievement in outstanding contributions to the credit union youth movement” and for “effectively bridging the gap for the next generation of credit union members.”

The Generation Next Award is presented annually by the Michigan Credit Union League (MCUL). This year’s award was presented by Mike Bridges, MCUL director of public affairs, at the recent MCUL Metro West Chapter luncheon.

Michigan First has a long history of commitment and involvement with youth activities and programs. Its student-run branch program has grown to 10 elementary and middle schools, and there are plans to add 10 more school locations in 2008. Michigan First also has a branch in Southfield-Lathrup High School that employs the students. Through its MoneyKids (ages 0-12) and MoneyTeen (ages 13-17) programs, Michigan First encourages children and teens to save money and teaches financial responsibility that grows with them.

In addition, Michigan First also provides scholarship programs for local high school seniors and sponsors many community initiatives and groups, including the Good Schools Essay Contest presented by the Skillman Foundation and the Good Schools Resource Center at Marygrove College, Detroit Metro Youth Day, Southfield Lathrup Junior Optimist Club and Career Day program, Detroit Public School Chess program, Detroit Executive Service Corps and a number of other initiatives.

Criteria for the Generation Next Award includes progressive efforts through areas such as classroom involvement, legislative efforts regarding financial literacy, student-run credit unions, and youth account services and/or staffing.

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