California Asset Building: Publications, Events and More

CA EVENT: Strengthening California’s Workforce through Education, Training, and Savings

Communications — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 09:00:00 -0400

A New America Event
10/20/2008 - 12:00pm

The California labor market has experienced drastic transformation and further change is expected as the workforce ages, immigration continues, and the gap between the earnings of skilled workers and those lacking education widens.

With an eye toward the future, Amy Sherman, Vice President for Policy and Strategic Alliances at the Council for Adult and Experimental Learning, will discuss how workforce development policy should evolve as our economy and workforce changes. Ms. Sherman will focus on policies that promote education and skills development to ensure that California's workforce remains highly-skilled, highly-trained and positioned to improve the state's economic vitality.

The Council for Adult and Experiential Learning (CAEL) is a national, non-profit organization founded in 1974 to expand learning opportunities for adults.

Lunch will be provided.

This event is sponsored by the New America Foundation, the Assets Policy Initiative of California, and the California Research Bureau.

CA Event: ScholarShare: Expanding Savings for Higher Education and Skills Training

Communications — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 07:00:00 -0400

A New America Event
09/30/2008 - 12:00pm

Join us at the next Asset Policy Forum, a series designed to inform policymakers, legislative staffers, and advocates about asset-building research, data, and policies.

The price for higher education continues to rise. As government and institutional aid fails to keep pace with increased costs, fewer families can expect to afford higher out-of-pocket education expenses. For families wary of taking on costly and onerous levels of debt, savings are an essential element in financing education.

In observance of College Savings Month in California, Zeny Agullana, executive director of the ScholarShare Investment Board, will give an overview of California's tax-advantaged 529 college savings plan, discuss their successes and challenges, where the program is headed, and how California can potentially emulate 529's in other states to help all Californians offset the high cost of education, reduce post-graduation debt, and build savings and assets.

The ScholarShare College Savings Plan is sponsored by the ScholarShare Investment Board, an agency of the State of California.

This event is sponsored by the New America Foundation, the Assets Policy Initiative of California, in association with Assembly members Ted Lieu (D-Torrance) and José Solorio (D-Santa Ana).

Asset Building Program in California

Asset Building — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 16:04:00 -0400

The purpose of New America's Asset Building Program is to significantly broaden savings and assets ownership in America, thereby providing all Americans both with the means to get ahead and with a direct stake in the overall success of our economy. While pursuing an ambitious policy agenda at the federal level, we recognize that it is at the state level, in our nation's ‘laboratories of democracy', where the most innovative policies are often enacted. For a summary of the legislative initiatives New America's Asset Building Program in California is pursuing in 2007-2008, please see the PDF below.

CA Event: Microenterprise Development

Communications — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 01:00:00 -0400

A New America Event
07/21/2008 - 12:00pm

With a declining dollar, a burgeoning subprime crisis, and a shrinking job market, many Californians are worried about their personal fiscal future. In the face of a slowing economy, what can be done to alleviate the economic strain to create jobs and help businesses to expand?

For many Californians, the answer is starting their own business. Microenterprises, small businesses with fewer than five employees, currently comprise 88% of all California businesses. These small shops, restaurants, home based businesses and contractors also create 19% of California's jobs. Microenterprise development, the process of providing business management training, counseling, business plan development and microloans, helps these businesses open, expand, and prosper.

On Monday, July 21st, Claudia Viek, Chief Executive Officer of the California Association of Microenterprise Opportunity (CAMEO) will discuss the ways in which California can stimulate the growth and success of entrepreneurship by fostering microenterprise development. She will also describe the benefits of microenterprises including: economic self-sufficiency, job creation, community economic development, and poverty alleviation.

The California Association for Microenterprise Opportunity (CAMEO) is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization founded in 1993 to build the capacity of California microenterprise development.

This event is sponsored by the New America Foundation, the Assets Policy Initiative of California, the California Research Bureau, and in association with Assemblymember José Solorio (D-Santa Ana).

Wheels Versus Welfare

Ron Tang — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 02:36:00 -0400

With falling home prices, rising food and fuel costs and an unemployment rate well above the national average, the current economic downturn may push already vulnerable California families to the brink of financial destitution. Thousands of people may turn to welfare for support in the coming months. That's OK -- that's the purpose of temporary assistance. It's not as if this is the money-for-nothing welfare of the early 1990s; these folks are required to start looking for work the second they land on the rolls. Yet to qualify for assistance, many families may be forced to give up the most… more

Homeownership in a New Era

Asset Building — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 19:00:00 -0400

New America Foundation in Ventura County Star | ''Magic' of Savings'

Communications — Wed, 28 May 2008 10:36:00 -0400

New America in the News:

...The New America Foundation's idea is embodied in AB2940, by Assemblyman Kevin De Leon, D-Los Angeles. It would establish the California Employee Savings Program, to be administered by the California Public Employees Retirement System, the same entity that invests the pension contributions of state and local government workers...LINK

CA Event: Expanding Savings and Retirement Security

Communications — Thu, 22 May 2008 01:00:00 -0400

A New America Event
05/21/2008 - 12:00pm

Every day, six million Californians, or roughly 43 percent of workers in the state, go to work for an employer that does not provide any type of retirement pension or savings plan. This lack of retirement savings opportunities puts California working families at risk. On Wednesday, May 21, Mark Iwry of the Brookings Institution presented on the current retirement savings crisis in America -- its causes and the continuing effect it will have on the financial security of working families as well as the state and national economy. Mr. Iwry also discussed state and national policy options to significantly encourage retirement savings and the accumulation of assets by lower- and middle-income workers.

Mark Iwry is former benefits tax counsel for the Treasury Department. He is an expert on employee benefits, pensions, retirement, savings, and health care, and frequently advises and testifies before Congress on these issues. At Treasury, where he oversaw national policy on tax-qualified pension and 401(k) plans, as well as other employee benefits, Mr. Iwry played a key role in developing many important reforms to the nation's pension system. Mr. Iwry is one of the originators of the concept of state portable retirement savings account for private sector workers.

This event was co-hosted by the New America Foundation, the Assets Policy Initiative of California and the California Research Bureau, in association with Assemblymembers Kevin De Leon (D-Los Angeles) and Joel Anderson (R-La Mesa).

Golden Dream Accounts

Asset Building — Wed, 14 May 2008 11:11:00 -0400

As the percentage of workers covered by traditional employer pension plans has plummeted in recent years, saving has become the only path to secure retirement income beyond social security. Although a significant proportion of employers now offer their workers a tax advantaged retirement savings product like the 401(k), tens of millions of workers nationwide simply do not have access to an employer sponsored retirement savings plan. In addition, individual retirement accounts (IRAs) and other retirement products offered by private financial institutions have failed to fill the gap in employer coverage, in part due to the high fees and complexity… more

CA Pension Bill in Sacramento Bee | Plan to Open Up CalPERS Reflects Worry About Inadequate Saving for Retirement

Communications — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 11:58:00 -0400

New America in the News:

Sacramento Bee | Plan to Open Up CalPERS Reflects Worry About Inadequate Saving for Retirement

Investing for retirement is the financial equivalent of eating your vegetables: It's good for you, but sometimes downright distasteful.

Now a proposal making its way through the California Legislature has people talking about whether the state can make putting aside retirement money more palatable.

The plan would let private businesses and workers funnel direct payroll deposits into a retirement investment account. The California Public Employees' Retirement System would administer the pooled money.

No one knows how many of California's 6 million workers without retirement plans would sign up. Many struggle in jobs that leave them with little money at the end of the month. The arcane language of finance can paralyze the uninitiated. And let's face it: We love buying stuff, even when we can't afford it.

"We want everything now," said Lynn Wigginton, a Sacramento certified financial planner. "All the bells and whistles, the newest car. It's a real obstacle to saving for retirement."

The savings plan could change that by making individual retirement investing as close to set-it-and-forget-it as possible.

*Assembly Bill 2940 would let private-sector workers without an employer-sponsored retirement plan sign up for IRAs watched over by CalPERS. The same apparatus used to take taxes out of paychecks would channel direct deposits into the accounts, which could be carried from job to job.

The plan's supporters, including Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and author Assemblyman Kevin de León, D-Los Angeles, believe CalPERS is up to the task. It's already the nation's largest public pension fund, managing $250 billion in assets for 1.5 million state and local government workers.

CalPERS hasn't yet commented on the idea. The fund's staff is analyzing the proposal and should make a recommendation to the CalPERS board at its mid-May meeting. . . Please click here to go to the Sacramento Bee website for the full article.

*Background on the pension bill: Advised by New America's Asset Building Program, Assembly Member Kevin De Leon (D-Los Angeles), introduced AB 2940 to establish the California Employees Savings Program. CalESP will provide voluntary and portable retirement savings accounts that workers can freely take with them from job to job. New America’s Asset Building Program has long called for the creation of a portable retirement account that will enable all workers the opportunity to build wealth and achieve financial security.

Financial Literacy: Need, Strategies, Opportunity

Asset Building — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 08:37:00 -0400

CA Event: Financial Literacy - Need, Strategy, Opportunity

Communications — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 08:00:00 -0400

A New America Event
04/17/2008 - 12:00pm

Families across America face a growing array of financial decisions in an increasingly complex financial environment. Consumers are expected to navigate an increasinly complex financial services market in order to save for retirement, higher education and homeownership. Those with low-incomes -- who disproportionately lack both financial know-how and relationships with financial institutions -- are especially vulnerable to being shut out of the financial marketplace.

On Thursday, April 17th, Ellen Seidman, Director of New America's Financial Services and Education Project, presented on the importance of financial literacy for both individual households and the broader macroeconomy and discussed:

Expanding access to wealth-building financial services especially for low- and moderate-income families,
Effective strategies to improve financial education such as the California's Statewide Financial Literacy Initiative
Forging a new responsibility framework for consumer financial services in the 21st century and,
Helping Americans to better manage their debt and make wise financial decisions.

CA Pension Bill in the San Francisco Chronicle | 'Bill Would Order CalPERS to Offer IRAs'

Communications — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 09:39:00 -0400

New America in the News:

A bill in the state Assembly would require the California Public Employees' Retirement System, the mammoth pension fund for government workers, to offer individual retirement accounts for private-sector employees. The goal of the bill, AB2940, is to increase retirement savings among the vast number of people who have no plan at work and don't have the will or skill to open an IRA on their own.

Although several other states have considered letting their public-sector pension funds run private-sector accounts, no state has ever done so.

The bill was approved 4-1 on Wednesday by the Assembly committee that oversees CalPERS.... LINK

CA Retirement Saving Proposal in Sacramento Bee | California Assembly Panel Passes State-run IRA Proposal

Communications — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 13:15:00 -0400

New America in the News:

Sacramento Bee | California Assembly Panel Passes State-run IRA Proposal

A proposal to open California's retirement system to private sector workers prompted questions Wednesday about government competing with investment firms and the pension system's ability to handle the unique program.

"We just don't know if it's going to work yet," Assemblyman Kevin Jeffries, R-Lake Elsinore, said of the proposal to have the California Public Employees' Retirement System offer IRA accounts to workers whose employers don't offer retirement savings plans.

But Sacramento carpenter Lou Delgado said he would be interested in a CalPERS retirement account.

"I'm 40 years old and don't have anything in a real retirement plan, just some savings of my own," Delgado said. "I've worked for a lot of (companies) and never had something like that, so, yeah, I'd be interested in anything that could put away a few dollars a week at this stage of my life."

*The proposal, Assembly Bill 2940 by Assemblyman Kevin De León, D-Los Angeles, passed its first test Wednesday when a committee that deals with retirement issues approved it on a 4-1 vote, with Jeffries abstaining and another Republican, Joel Anderson of Alpine, voting against it.

Supporters said the idea has been percolating for years, both on the federal level and in statehouses. It's being pushed by think tanks as a way to get low- and middle-income Americans to start saving for retirement to supplement Social Security payouts.

"We're trying to create a new model to get people on board," said Mark Paul, senior scholar at the New America Foundation, a nonprofit, nonpartisan institute . . .

As it is, about 6 million Californians work for businesses that do not offer retirement savings plans such as 401(k)s. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said Tuesday that he likes the idea. . . Please click here to go to the Sacramento Bee website for the full article.

Olivia Calderon in Oakland Tribune | 'Bill Would Help Workers Save More'

Communications — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 10:27:00 -0400

New America in the News:
..."We know that people save best through payroll deductions," said Olivia Calderon, the California legislative director [of the Asset Building Program] for the New America Foundation, a think tank advocating for the proposal. "But today, too many Californians don't have the option to save at their workplace..." LINK

New America Foundation Praises New, Universal, Portable Retirement Savings Proposal

Communications — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 07:34:00 -0400

Today, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and Assembly Member Kevin De Leon (D-Los Angeles) unveiled a proposal to give California workers access to a low-cost, professionally managed retirement account.

“We applaud Governor Schwarzenegger and Assembly Member De Leon’s bipartisan leadership” said Olivia Calderon, California Legislative Director of New America’s Asset Building Program. “Too many hardworking Californians don’t have access to a work based retirement savings plan. This is an incredible opportunity for California to show the rest of the nation how to use existing tools to help workers build their savings for retirement and other family needs so that they… more

New America Foundation Commends California State Controller John Chiang's Financial Literacy Initiative

Communications — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 11:47:00 -0400

(Sacramento, California, 04/02/08)-- Today, at his First Annual Financial Literacy Fair, California State Controller John Chiang joined by Assembly Members Ted Lieu (D-Carson), Ted Gaines (R-Roseville), Martin Garrick (R-Carlsbad), Roger Niello (R-Sacramento), reinforced his commitment to advance a statewide financial literacy initiative that promotes access to economic opportunity amongst all Californian consumers.

"We commend the Controller's attention to what is a very important and often unaddressed need, consumer financial education," said Olivia Calderon, California Legislative Director of New America's Asset Building Program. "The Controller's engagement on this issue could go a long way to raise awareness and bring together… more

CA Event: Banking the Unbanked

Communications — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 06:00:00 -0400

A New America Event
03/26/2008 - 12:00pm

Currently, too many Californians are disconnected from the financial mainstream. While national estimates show that 10 percent of households, including nearly one-quarter of the minority population, are "un-banked," meaning they lack a basic checking or savings account, 28 percent of California's adults do not have a checking or savings account. Recent market research indicates that Fresno and Los Angeles have the highest and third highest percentages of un-banked residents in the country respectively. Compounding the situation is the nearly 60 percent of California's lower income neighborhoods that do not have a bank or a credit union, according to analyses done by the Brookings Institution. Others may have bank branches that lack products and services that meet local consumers' needs.

On Tuesday, March 26th, Anne Stuhldreher, a senior policy advisor in the Office of Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger will discuss what it means to be "un-banked" and why it is a problem for California in particular. She will also provide an overview of Bank on California, which is modeled after Bank on San Francisco, headed by San Francisco City Treasurer José Cisneros. Cisneros will describe the ground-breaking initiative that successfully brought tens of thousands of local un-banked residents into the financial mainstream.

Inspired by the success in San Francisco, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger recently announced he would launch a Bank on California initiative to connect lower income un-banked Californians with the financial products and services they need to begin climbing up the economic ladder.

This event is co-hosted by the New America Foundation, the Assets Policy Initiative of California, the California Research Bureau, and in association with Assemblymember Ted Lieu (D-Torrance).

If you have questions, call or email Claudie Kiti Bustamante at (916) 448-5189 or bustamante@newamerica.net.

California Event: The Savings Crisis

Communications — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 12:00:00 -0500

A New America Event
02/14/2008 - 12:00pm

Personal savings rates have plummeted in the past decade to an all-time historic low. Many Americans aren't saving enough money for retirement, households are increasingly living day to day on high-interest credit cards, and millions are one medical emergency or layoff away from financial crisis. Moreover, poor savings rates mean that there is less money for domestic investment and to finance our government's debt.

As more and more Californians are expected to save for their own futures, millions of individuals get conflicting messages from government: Save, and don’t save. Over the last decade there has been an emerging consensus among researchers, policymakers, and practitioners about the importance of helping people save and build wealth by removing the barriers to save so that they can put themselves on a path to financial independence.

On Thursday, February 14th, Dory Rand, Senior Counsel to the National Shriver Center on Poverty Law will present on the importance of helping people save and build wealth by removing the barriers to save so that they can put themselves on a path to financial independence.

This event is co-hosted by the New America Foundation, the Assets Policy Initiative of California, and the California Research Bureau, in association with Assemblymember Ted Lieu (D-Torrance).

The California Assets and Transaction Account

Asset Building — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 11:43:00 -0500

In support of state-wide efforts to bring more Californians into the financial mainstream, the State of California could deliver a pre-paid account through the state’s tax filing process. The Assets and Transaction Account, or ATA, would expedite tax filers’ access to their tax refunds and serve as a safe, affordable, and convenient financial tool for lower-income Californians to conduct routine financial transactions and build saving throughout the year.

The state tax filing process presents a unique opportunity to reach and deliver a valuable financial product to millions of under-banked Californians, while also saving the state government millions… more