WASHINGTON – Many people only know Ben Stein from his cable game show Win Ben Stein's Money or his bit part as the teacher in Ferris Bueller's Day Off.

However, Stein is an award-winning actor, economist, journalist, writer, politician, and professor of law and economics and securities law at Pepperdine University Law School and has served as an expert witness in securities law cases. In fact, he even worked with former Senator Joseph Tidings (D-Md.) to get federal funding for the community development credit unions.

"I have a long history with credit unions. I love credit unions," Stein said. "I'm very, very happy to be a credit union guy." He added, "When you safeguard people's money, as you do, you safeguard their peace of minds.I don't think anyone's going to get rich by putting their money in a credit union, but they're certainly not going to get poor." Regarding top issues concerning credit unions, Stein noted the difficulty in competing in a rising interest rate environment and said he was "very, very impressed by the way you as a group do it so well." He also looked to the abysmal savings rate and how 78 million baby boomers are heading toward retirement with an average of $50,000 in savings per household without home equity. With home equity, it is still only $115,000, Stein said.