Asset Building Program
 

Congressional Savings and Ownership Caucus Reorganizes for the 111th Congress

New Report on Savings from the Economic Mobility Project of the Pew Charitable Trusts is Released

The Congressional Savings and Ownership Caucus is a bipartisan group of Members dedicated to raising awareness about the importance of boosting personal savings, individual ownership of wealth, and financial education. The Caucus, along with the Asset Building Program and Economic Mobility Project of the Pew Charitable Trusts gathered on November 19th for the release of Pew's new report A Penny Saved is Mobility Earned: Advancing Economic Mobility through Savings.The report features contributions from Reid Cramer and Rourke O'Brien of New America.

The Caucus is Co-Chaired by Rep. Jim Cooper (D-TN), Rep. Thomas Petri (R-WI), Rep. Earl Pomeroy (D-ND), and Rep. Joseph Pitts (R-PA).

To read the new report, please click here to visit the Economic Mobility Project's website.

To learn more about the Savings and Ownership Caucus, please click here.

Video of the event will be posted on the event page.

Thirty-first Annual APPAM Research Conference: Asset Building Track

The Annual Research Conference of the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management (APPAM) is one of the foremost gatherings of public policy researchers and academics. This year’s conference (held November 5-7 in Washington, D.C.) featured, for the first time, an “asset building” track. This track, titled “Building Wealth over a Lifetime,” was comprised of a series of panel discussions focused on savings and asset-building issues. Panelists included the Asset Building Program's Reid Cramer, Ray Boshara, and Alejandra Lopez-Fernandini, as well as presentations by colleagues at the Urban Institute, The Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, and CFED. A complete description of the Asset Building Track is available here.

About Us

girl savingGetting ahead in today’s economy depends not just on one’s job and income, but increasingly on one’s ability to accumulate and utilize assets -- to buy a home, pay for higher education, start a business or save for retirement. Yet more than half of all Americans currently have few or no assets for investment. The Asset Building Program advances innovative policies -- such as a “Homestead Act” for the 21st century that would provide every American child financial assets from birth -- to significantly expand economic opportunity, thereby giving all Americans a personal stake in the overall success of our economy.

More information about the program is available here.

Articles

Turn America into a Nation of Savers

In pursuit of an economic recovery, President Obama has argued that we must transition from an "era of borrow-and-spend to one where we save and invest." It is an appealing concept, especially as the disappearance of surplus assets and historic levels of debt helped transform a garden-variety business cycle recession into a historic collapse.

But how does the saving and investing square with high levels of government borrowing and spending to stimulate the economy, protect those thrown out of work, and prop up consumer demand?

Reid Cramer | Christian Science Monitor | November 9, 2009

How Microloans Change the Lives of Millions

A recent op-ed in the Boston Globe argues that microlending "doesn't actually do much to fight poverty" and that it may be time to "think macro rather than micro." Maybe the hype surrounding microcredit as a panacea for everything from poverty to discrimination is undeserved. But debunking the whole bottom-up, micro approach on the basis of two unpublished papers is not just premature, but dangerous. Macro, trickle-down development policies have rather effectively kept billions of people poor

Shweta S. Banerjee | Foreign Policy | October 26, 2009

We Need to Fix How We Measure Poverty

From climate change to redistricting, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger have teamed up on a number of issues. It's time to add another to the list -- updating the antiquated and misleading way we measure poverty.

It may seem like an odd concern for the Republican duo. But Bloomberg took the lead on the issue last year when conditions in New York City were similar to those California faces today: The economy was down; need was… more

Anne Stuhldreher | Sacramento Bee | October 13, 2009

After Oppenheimer: Improving College Savings Plans

After their children's college savings accounts lost 38 percent of their value last year, some Illinois parents might be seeing some justice soon. The Illinois Treasurer's office recently reached a tentative deal with Oppenheimer funds to recover $77 million of the $85 million in losses.

David Newville, Rourke O'Brien | The Oregonian | September 8, 2009

Self-Sufficiency Stalled

Given the demonstrated link between transportation and employment, wouldn’t it be counterproductive to force families to surrender or downgrade their car in order to be eligible for assistance?

This recession marks the first time since welfare reform that policymakers are revisiting the social safety net.

Yet when thousands of families are struggling to find and keep employment, some on Beacon Hill threatened to cut the one tool proven effective in moving families from welfare to work: a car.

Rourke O'Brien | Boston Herald | June 13, 2009

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Policy Papers

529s and Public Assistance

529s are tax-advantaged accounts designed to help families save for post-secondary education.  In recent years, state policymakers and 529 administrators have worked to expand access to 529 plans and increase the participation of lower-income families through outreach, advertising, and targeted incentives such as matching deposits and reducing or eliminating fees.[1]  Yet, as plan administrators and state and federal policymakers design new strategies for expanding the use of 529 plans

Rourke O'Brien | November 2009

Low-Cost State Policy Innovations to Help Families Save for College

At a time when low-income students are underrepresented in higher education and the cost of attendance is becoming increasingly unaffordable, 529 college savings plans have the potential to address issues of college readiness, access and completion.  Savings can help reduce higher education debt, making college more affordable, and has the potential to change aspirations and behaviors of both students and their parents. Research from the asset building field shows that even a relatively small amount of savings may have positive impacts on behavior and educational achievement.

Mark Huelsman | November 2009

AutoSave Overview

AutoSave is a unique savings plan that automatically diverts through payroll deduction a small amount of post-tax wages into an individual savings account. This new infrastructure nearly seamlessly enables individuals to contribute small amounts of their wages into an accessible, non tax-advantaged savings account. It will be especially valuable for individuals who have limited liquid assets, and who may otherwise be forced to meet emergency needs with high-cost emergency loans.
Alejandra Lopez-Fernandini | October 2009

Increasing College Completion Among Low-Income Students through Savings

Earlier this year, the Obama Administration released a bold new plan for improving the state of higher education in the United States. Its fiscal year 2010 budget proposal included several items aimed at increasing postsecondary education enrollment and completion rates, and decreasing the financial burden that college represents to many lower and middle class families. [1] These proposals include reforming the federal student loan program, expanding Pell Grants for low-income students, and creating a new College Access and
David Newville, Mark Huelsman | October 2009

Promoting Savings as a Tool for International Development

Scholars, policymakers, and practitioners of microfinance are increasingly turning their focus toward devising and offering effective and accessible savings services for the poor. Not only have experts argued that demand for savings services greatly exceeds that of microcredit, but many also contend that savings-led programs and products, with a focus on building assets, may be more effective than credit in providing a pathway out of poverty.

Jamie M. Zimmerman, Shweta S. Banerjee | October 2009

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Events

Advancing Economic Mobility Through Savings

"This is going to be a different recovery than the past, because Americans are going to have to save more." -Tim Geithner, US Secretary of the Treasury Saving is a key to economic mobility as well as economic recovery. Despite the critical importance of savings, most Americans, especially those with low incomes, are not saving enough. Federal policy encourages saving for the wealthy, but for low-income Americans saving is often discouraged and the path to self-sufficiency is made more difficult.
11/19/2009 - 1:00pm
11/19/2009 - 2:00pm

Behavioral Economics and Policy Meeting

10/28/2009 - 9:00am
10/28/2009 - 4:30pm

New, Safe and Affordable Credit Options for America's Underbanked

On behalf of the Pew Charitable Trusts, New America Foundation, and the Center for Financial Services Innovation, it is our pleasure to invite you to attend a jointly sponsored symposium on new avenues to credit for consumers and small businesses. This event, set for October 23, 2009 at the Capitol, will focus on expanding access to small dollar loans for the underserved and on innovative models for building credit and financing domestic micro-enterprise. Leaders in Congress, the administration, and industry… more

10/23/2009 - 8:00am
10/23/2009 - 1:30pm

Savings as a Tool for International Development

Can savings-led programs ensure poverty reduction? Policymakers, researchers and development practitioners around the world are examining new products and methods for saving in order to build assets at the bottom of the pyramid. The experience with Individual Development Accounts (IDAs) and other matched savings programs, from the US to Uganda, have successfully benefitted the poor and brought them into the formal financial system.
10/15/2009 - 12:15pm
10/15/2009 - 2:00pm

Risky Business

Long before the complete meltdown of the financial industry last fall, Senator Byron Dorgan warned us about the risks posed by one of the key ingredients in that catastrophe: the complex financial packages known as derivatives. In a Washington Monthly cover story, "Very Risky Business" (October 1994), the North Dakota Democrat predicted with uncanny precision what actually happened in September 2008 -- the
10/15/2009 - 8:00am
10/15/2009 - 9:00am

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Staff

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Presentations

Spotlight on Policy Innovations: The Saver's Bonus

Low-income families, like any other household, need to save to gain economic mobility and financial stability. Research has also shown that despite their low incomes, poor families can and do save when presented with the right incentives and methods to do so. The Saver's Bonus directly addresses this issue by using the federal tax system to provide a monetary incentive for low-income families to save.


To learn more about The Saver's Bonus please visit our new page dedicated to the idea by clicking here.

Spotlight on Policy Innovations: SAFE-T Accounts

Given the arrival of tax time in 2009, the Asset Building Program would like to shine a spotlight on one of our policy proposals that would have it's greatest impact at tax time. Savings and Financial Electronic Transaction (SAFE-T) Accounts is a policy proposal that would use new technology and innovation to help provide safe, affordable banking services to Americans who currently lack such access.  The proposal would help low-income taxpayers save for the future, provide alternatives to high-cost financial products, and save the federal government money.

To learn more about SAFE-T Accounts, please visit our new page dedicated to the idea by clicking here.

 
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