Income tax time is savings time!

Don’t squander that tax refund! Commit today to save part of your tax refund. With as little as $50, you can save in a safe, guaranteed, accessible, and competitive savings instrument.  Moreover, taxpayers can receive the remainder of their refund (the part not saved in a Savings Bond) through a direct deposit. Details at: http://bondsmakeiteasy.org/

“Generally, there are three big barriers to saving - having money to save, having access to a good product at the right time, and being motivated and encouraged to save.  With this opportunity, two of those obstacles have been removed.   

• Money to Save: At tax time, many Americans receive large refund checks. In tax year 2007, approximately 100 million Americans received a federal tax refund, totaling over $246 billion. Families who make less than $40,000 a year received more than $120 billion in refunds, averaging $1,780 per filer.   Because some of this is due to over-withholding taxes each paycheck - many Americans have basically been saving all year long! With this option, now they can funnel that year of savings into an actual savings account with interest.
• Good Product at the Right Time: Savings bonds are a safe, familiar, government-issued savings vehicle that offers an interest return rate in line with Certificates of Deposit (CD) at banks, but CDs usually require a much higher minimum investment, which puts CDs out of reach for many low-income families.  Bonds are also flexible - they can be used towards any savings goal including: education, retirement, or housing.”

Thanks to: Joanna Smith-Ramani, Director of Strategy for the D2D Fund (Doorways to Dreams), a non-profit organization that seeks to expand access to financial services, especially asset building opportunities, for low-income families by creating, testing and deploying innovative financial products and services.