New America Foundation

Introduction

This was presented for the Asset Funders Network on November 5, 2008.

This was presented at the National Network to End Domestic Violence on November 4, 2008. Also attached is a list of asset building and asset protection resources.

Via ElectronicMail

Marlene H. Dortch Office of the Secretary Federal Communications Commission 445 12th Street, SW Washington, DC 20554

Re: Unlicensed Operation in the TV Broadcast Bands (ET Docket No. 04-186) Response to NAB, et al. Ex Parte Filing of October 22, 2008

Dear Ms. Dortch:

Financial services decisions can have enormous consequences for household well-being. Households need a range of financial services-to conduct basic transactions, such as receiving their income, storing it, and paying bills; to save for emergency needs and long-term goals; to access credit; and to insure against life's key risks. But the financial services system is exceedingly complicated and often not well-designed to optimize household behavior. In response to the complexity of our financial system, there has been a long-running debate about the

In late May, some 40 Pakistani journalists received a summons to an unusual press conference held by Baitullah Mehsud, the rarely photographed leader of the Pakistani Taliban, who is accused of orchestrating the 2007 assassination of Benazir Bhutto, sending suicide bombers to Spain earlier this year, and dispatching an army of fighters into Afghanistan to attack U.S. and NATO forces in recent months. Surrounded by a posse of heavily armed Taliban guards, Mehsud boasted that he had hundreds of trained suicide bombers ready for martyrdom.

It was… more

Overview

Each year the federal government provides hundreds of billions of dollars in incentives for families to save and build wealth through the tax system. Low-income families, however, are not eligible for most of these tax incentives because they are poor. 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… more

Overview

Over the past two decades, policymakers, academics, and others have pursued an array of policies and strategies to help lower and middle income households build savings and assets and access reasonably-priced financial products. While progress has been made, there have been few advances to delivering a high-value, affordable financial product at scale.

Each year the federal government provides hundreds of billions of dollars in incentives for families to save and build wealth through the tax system. Low-income families, however, are not eligible for most of these tax incentives because they are poor. 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… more