Member News

In today’s financial landscape, it is important to be diligent with your credit. From getting car insurance to a new apartment to a new job; your credit score can affect you.

There are many factors that make up your credit score ratio, but the following are major considerations. Your FICO score is a three-digit number which can range from 300 to 850 and is a major factor in determining your creditworthiness when applying for a loan. Many people are unsure about how it is calculated or what actions they can do to improve their score.  Here are the top 3 factors that impact your score:

1. A solid payment history – 35% of your credit score is based on your payment history, so it is imperative that you pay your bills on time. Paying late can drastically drop your credit score especially if it is a mortgage loan that is past due. This particular late payment can impact your score by 50 or 100 points! Overall, more weight is placed on your current payment history within the last 12 months.
2. Capacity is king – 30% of your credit score is based on capacity which is how much credit you can handle. Carrying high balances relative to your limit on your credit cards, also known as maxing out your credit cards, is a bad idea. This shows lenders that you are relying heavily on credit to get by and will negatively impact your score. Ideally, you should pay off any credit card debt you charge each monthly or aim to use less than 25% of the available balance.
3. Length of credit – 15% of your credit score is based on how long your credit has been established. Therefore, it is a good idea to keep your oldest credit card open even if it carries a zero balance. Closing credit cards that have a long credit history can negatively impact your score.

It is wise to check your credit score once a year to determine if you need to make any changes in your monthly budget or lifestyle to improve your score. Improving a bad score is possible, but it will take time and commitment on your part, which is why New Dimensions Federal Credit Union provides credit counseling to its members. If you would like more information on credit counseling services, please call Tanya Verzoni, Director of Financial Education, at (800) 326-6190.

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Care & Comfort, a Waterville based Behavioral Health, Home Health and Veterans Services agency that provides care across thirteen Maine counties, has announced the appointment of Michelle Dixon, RN, BSN as the Agency’s Director of Nursing. Dixon will be responsible for the clinical oversight of Care & Comfort’s Home Health Division.

“Michelle brings a significant scope of experience to her position as Care & Comfort’s Director of Nursing,” noted the Agency’s President & COO Mike Stair. “We are delighted she has joined our C & C family and will be leading our Home Healthcare Division. She has a passion for her profession and home-based care, is an experienced clinical and administrative leader, and is committed to ensuring that all services we provide meet or exceed nationally recognized standards. Michelle is an ardent advocate for both those needing our care to remain in their homes and those who provide it.”

Dixon, who received her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from the University of Southern Maine, has extensive experience in many facets of nursing including hospice, oncology, and adult mental health.

In the landscape of today’s business world—demand creative solutions!

At New Dimensions FCU we enable businesses to grow and prosper by providing them with the types of products and services that are not only relevant and helpful but are also considered resources and tools they can really use. Because New Dimensions was built from the ground up, the same way many of our local businesses are, we understand what it takes to build a strong and stable business and we want to do everything that we can to help others achieve the same. We believe in building relationships based on trust and consistency, but mostly because we know our business members; they are our neighbors, local grocers, dentists, and they are our friends.

As a business member of NDFCU, you become a secure part of the credit union because we take pride in fostering our knowledge and understanding of your business needs. By doing this, we are better equipped to offer the most useful resources designed to help in the places you need them most. We strive to help you with your financial planning because we value hard work and we are always looking for ways to positively impact our local economy.

Growing your business can mean anything from expansion to diversification, but often it’s about having specific technological needs that are necessary to that growth. Whatever those needs are, we have creative solutions that will assist you and your employees, by overcoming obstacles and challenges that deter production and creativity. Let us help you with products and services such as payroll, merchant services, lending solutions, IRAs, health savings accounts for your employees, and more.

If you are a business member looking for more information about the products and services that we offer, please contact our Director of Business Development, Molly Woodward, by phone at (207) 872-2771 (Ext. 2417) or by email at mwoodward@newdimensionsfcu.com.

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Something special happened within the walls of New Dimensions last year as we planned our events for 2018. During that time our team culture advanced and became strong and impactful. We stepped up, we flourished, and we succeeded together. We worked hard to gain insight into each other so that we could work together as a unified team. We wanted to be the best versions of ourselves, so we worked hard to make a difference, because we wanted you, our members, to be proud.

As always, we are committed to providing excellent member service to every single member, whether that servitude mentality is at one of our branches or out in the community, we work for you! Because we know our community needs us to be a helpful neighbor and financial partner, each year we work out the details of a yearlong plan of events that include soup days, harvest fests, book sales, a car show, and more. The passion among the entire staff, as each event is planned and executed, is not only exciting but so incredibly inspiring. Even more than that is the energy our members exude when they attend our events. We couldn’t be more thrilled and prouder of our generous and caring members who invest so much each year. Whether they are paying for 50/50 raffle tickets, a gift card calendar, or the many gifts they return to our Giving tree during Christmas each year, they know they are contributing to a much bigger cause, and they never hesitate.

Look for the hashtag #teamteal in 2019 as a representation of our commitment to being superstars in the world of volunteering and fundraising because we want to make every possible effort to ease the lives of the people in our community. We are proud of what we do to serve our members every day, and with each act of kindness we extend to our community, we make a difference.

Similarly, in 2018, NDFCU contributed to area businesses who were looking for funding that would impact the community in positive leaps and bounds. We happily supported several area schools, nursing homes, local libraries, KVCAP, the Alfond Youth Center, and more; all of which exhibited tremendous effort to help feed families in need, provide scholarships, school supplies, and winter clothing for children in need, as well as other worthy causes.

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Nothing illustrates New Dimensions FCU’s mission to EDUCATE. EMPOWER. EVOLVE. more than our commitment to teaching members of every age.

Throughout 2018, our financial education efforts impacted the lives of nearly 1,000 members, local students, community members, and employee groups. We hosted one-on-one budgeting sessions, credit counseling sessions, and in-house seminars which allowed many of our members to pay off debt, build emergency savings, and even rebuild credit that allowed some to purchase vehicles and others to become first time home buyers.

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April is National Financial Literacy Month and Credit Union Youth Month