Turning Tax Refunds into Savings, Assets, and Retirement Security

America's personal savings rate is abysmally low. Last year the personal savings rate was negative, the lowest annual rate since the Great Depression. Whether the objective is to promote retirement security, improve educational attainment, provide a financial cushion for life transitions, or increase national savings, the need to increase household savings is vitally clear. Public policy should take a cue from some innovative financial institutions that encourage connecting savings with the one activity that almost every household undertakes -- tax filing. Given that this year over $200 billion will be returned to tax filers by the federal government, the tax filing process is a logical place to start encouraging savings behavior.

Please join us to discuss innovative ideas from the public and private sector for leveraging the tax filing process to increase savings and build assets for more Americans.

The Congressional Savings and Ownership Caucus is Co-Chaired by Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA), Sen. Kent Conrad (D-ND), Rep. Jim Cooper (D-TN), Rep. Phil English (R-PA), Rep. Harold Ford, Jr. (D-TN) and Rep. Tom Petri (R-WI).

Participants

• Ray Boshara
  Director, Asset Building Program


• Arkadi Kuhlmann
  Chairman, President and CEO of ING DIRECT USA


• Ron H. Smith
  Chief of Community Partnerships, IRS


• Bernie Wilson
  Vice President, Business Development and Community Outreach, H&R Block


• Mark Iwry
  Senior Adviser, The Retirement Security Project and Senior Fellow, Brookings Institution


• Reid Cramer
  Research Director, Asset Building Program


• Lucy Gorham
  Director, EITC Carolinas


• Peter Tufano
  Sylvan C. Coleman Professor of Financial Management, Harvard Business School