As is appropriate to the beginning of the new year, we took some time to reflect on our past to be able to look toward the future. To gain the appropriate insights, we turn to Bill Hampel, a retired Chief Economist and Policy Officer for CUNA to learn from his nearly four decades in the industry. 

Here are some of the highlights

1. Do what you are passionate about and you will figure out how to make a life from your passion.
2. Data and the access to incredible amounts of data is an incredible asset for credit unions. But what you do with that data is the more important part.
3. Credit unions have faced incredible challenges, but always managed to weather them. This resiliency is going to be a key success factor for credit unions, but not the only factor
4. We may be more like the Canada and Europe credit union systems than we know. 
5. One of the greatest opportunities for credit unions is to help their members to prepare for retirements. Not only those who are close to retirement, but also those who may be far away from it.