April is Financial Literacy Month and opportunities abound for credit unions.

For the past seven years America's Credit Union Museum has been helping credit unions facilitate conversations about money among young consumers and between teens and their parents through its CU 4 Reality Financial Education program.

The program helps credit unions provide a financial literacy curriculum to the schools in their community. The classroom package includes a ready-to-teach plan that can be utilized for one year or condensed to one week. It culminates in the CU 4 Reality Fair, which gives students a chance to get some hands-on experience in spending and budgeting. Given a career, a realistic starting salary and a monthly net income, students are challenged to cover basics such as housing, utilities, transportation, clothing and food while factoring in additional expenditures such as entertainment and travel. Throughout the fair, there are many temptations for additional spending, and students must learn to balance their wants and needs to live on their own. After the students have visited the various booths covering components of independent living, students balance their budget, and then sit down with a financial counselor for review. Those who end up in debt or haven't made good choices are sent back to the beginning with tips on where they went wrong.