California Asset Building

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.

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… more

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… more

The presentation is available below in Microsoft Powerpoint format.

...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

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… more

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… more

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… more

The presentation is available below in Microsoft Powerpoint format.

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,… more