ALEXANDRIA, Va. — In an effort to educate its members — especially ones ages 17 to 25 — about how vehicle loans function and other elements of consumer credit, Pentagon Federal Credit Union and the PenFed Foundation formed a partnership this week with MoneyU, an award-winning financial game.

Credit union officials explained MoneyU can take content that is relevant to college and high-school students and present it in a dynamic medium to help young people become financially literate. They indicated the self-paced, game-based course covers essential financial skills, such as understanding a cardholder agreement, comparing vehicle loans and creating a budget.

With widgets and simulations, officials said that PenFed member users can develop skills in just six to eight hours that might take 30 hours in a traditional classroom.

PenFed intends to offer MoneyU to all of its members between the ages of 17 and 25 for free. For members outside this age range, the program can be purchased for a one-time cost of $20.

"Financially literate individuals are more likely to spend prudently and put more money in savings, retirement funds, and other wealth-building accounts; and are less likely to lose money due to high-interest payday loans," insisted Frank Pollack, president of PenFed.

"Young people especially can have difficulty learning how to manage their finances," Pollack continued. "By offering this course, free-of-charge, we can help more of them make smarter decisions sooner."

Meanwhile, the PenFed Foundation, a nonprofit organization working to meet the unmet needs of military personnel and their families, plans to offer the MoneyU program for free to recipients of its Military Heroes Fund and Asset Recovery Kit initiatives.

"By offering this new program in addition to our other services we are reinforcing the message the financial literacy is a priority for long-term prosperity," noted Christopher Flynn, president and chief executive officer of the PenFed Foundation.

The credit union pointed out that a recent study released by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority found that across all military sectors, junior enlisted service members had poor financial habits such as having difficulty covering monthly expenses and paying bills, receiving low credit scores, and lacking funds for anticipated and unanticipated financial needs.

"The financial decisions young people make will have reverberations through the rest of their life," Pollack added. "So it's especially important for them to have a solid grasp now of the fundamentals of financial literacy."