The people of Cape Breton Island have been facing many financial struggles in the past few years. Sydney Credit Union feels it is our duty to not only provide financial products and services to the people in this area, but also strive to provide them with the tools and education they need in order to brighten their financial future, keep themselves out of debt, or work with the debt they’ve already accumulated in a positive and productive way. Sydney Credit Union focused on broadening their financial education portfolio this year through several avenues, including participating in the national Each One, Teach One Program, Fat Cat School Savings Program, and a financial education podcast. Outside of the Each One, Teach One sessions, they also hosted a Retirement Planning “lunch n’ learn” and sent out invites to 20 of our members with $50,000 plus in RRSPs or TFSAs. They were able to answer a number of questions and put these members on the right track to using their retirement savings wisely. They also continued to grow the presence of their Fat Cat school savings program, with regular weekly visits to a number of local elementary schools, with a couple of new schools wanting to come on board in the fall of 2018 for the 2018/2019 school year. Sydney Credit Union’s Youth Committee also decided to record a financial education podcast, called “Cooperative Money Matters”. In 2018, 6 episodes were recorded with host Mark Carabin and various financial professionals from within the organization.