| Well let me tell you what we did. For Plebe year, our Plebe had a Navy Federal account. We have a branch near us, and it was great so we could move money around very easily to support her. She had ATM access right there on the yard and for a Plebe that's all the chance one would have to get to cash from a banking institution.
At the end of Plebe year, as we parents made attempts ( round 5 for us, as she is the babe of our gang) to move her to financial independence, she got a USAA credit card. You apply online. USAA is awesome for military folk and their first credit card for midshipmen comes with a 500$ credit limit. Then each year, as the mid draws more salary - they raise the limit. Now as a Youngster it's up to 1000$, and soon with her 2/c salary if she requests it, it can be higher. She began the process of building her credit by charging small things on the USAA card, and then setting up external transfers between NFCU and USAA to pay for them. Just about 3 months ago she decided she also wants a USAA debit card - the real benefit of a USAA debit card is that there are NO ATM fees anywhere in the world. Ah ha! She is heading to Jordan in 12 days with Block One Language training for Arabic - so she wanted to have that in place before then. Sooooooo, she opened a USAA bank account - then set THAT one up to receive external transfers from NFCU to fill up that fund. All the USAA stuff is done online. In our family we always set this up as joint accounts with a parent on the account - so that we at least can deal with stuff if need be. Our basic policy is merely to be the backup, while the young adult is the heavy lifter.
So for the moment she is juggling a NFCU debit card, NFCU savings, NFCU checking, USAA credit card and USAA debit card. Hmmmmm - probably a bit of overkill, but maybe other parents have even better ideas.
But for Plebe year, NFCU was a really easy option.
As far as joining the Alumni Assoc. ----it really is a matter of personal preference. Here in San Diego County there are tons of activities that this group hosts - and if one gets the 'Navy bug' you could have your entire social life involved 12 months a year with all their amazing events! I don't know about other areas, so you might wait and see how valuable this group is for you. The one reason to join no matter what is that a membership helps their operating budget, scholarships, etc.
Hope this helps answer your question plebewannabe. |