America Saves Week: Set a Goal. Make a Plan. Save Automatically.

March 1st, 2013

This week, MEPC joined hundreds of not-for-profits, government agencies and financial institutions to support America Saves Week. The purpose of America Saves Week is to promote positive savings behavior and provide a chance for individuals to assess their own savings status and take financial action to save money, reduce debt, and build wealth. Unfortunately, the Corporation for Enterprise Development’s (CFED) 2013 Assets & Opportunity Scorecard found that 57.7 percent of Mississippi households do not have a basic personal safety net to prepare for emergencies or future needs, such as a child’s college education or homeownership. This makes Mississippians among the most financially insecure, particularly in the event of an economic setback like a job loss, health crisis or other income-disrupting emergency.

Furthermore, an overwhelming amount of Mississippi households do not have sufficient net worth to live at the poverty level for three months in the absence of income. Net worth represents the amount of financial cushion a household has to respond to unexpected events, such as a job loss or unforeseen medical expenses, as well as take advantage of opportunities like financing higher education, purchasing a home or starting a small business. Correspondingly, median net worth is the value of assets held by households at the middle of the wealth distribution and is a basic indicator of a household’s wealth and financial well-being. Households in Mississippi accumulate fewer assets than households in the rest of the nation – the median net worth in Mississippi is $33,941 while the median net worth in the U.S. is $68,948 (See Chart).

Families attached to the financial mainstream have the tools necessary to save money, reduce debt and build wealth, as well as teach the value of long-term savings to their children. As such, there are opportunities that Mississippi can take to reduce the high level of asset poverty and put Mississippians on a path to financial prosperity. For example, Children’s Savings Accounts (CSAs) are long-term, asset-building accounts established for children at birth and provide families with a tax-free way to build assets to finance higher education, purchase a home, start a small business, or fund retirement. The state can also expand support for Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) and Community Development Credit Unions (CDCUs), which have a long track record of meeting the needs of historically underserved populations.

What are you worth today? What will you be worth in the future?
Discover what your current and future net worth are with the America Saves’ Personal Wealth Estimator. By listing your financial and nonfinancial assets and debts, the Personal Wealth Estimator is able to calculate your current and future wealth for 5, 10, 20, 30, 40, or 50 years in the future.

Personal Wealth Estimator

Sources:
America Saves. Personal Wealth Estimator. Retrieved from http://www.americasaves.org/for-savers/201
Corporation for Enterprise Development. (2013). Assets and Opportunity Scorecard, 2013. Retrieved from http://assetsandopportunity.org/scorecard/