Research Resources: Individual Wealth Building

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Asset Building Program (New America Foundation) , http://www.assetbuilding.org.

This website serves as a clearinghouse for news and research about Individual Development Accounts and related individual asset-building efforts.

Assets for Independence Program (Office of Community Services, U.S. Dept. of Health & Human Services), http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs.

This is the website of the sole existing federal Individual Development Account program.

Assets and Opportunity Initiative, http://www.assetsandopportunity.org.

The national Assets & Opportunity Network works to promote the scope and influence of asset-based strategies. Through the dissemination of information, resources, and connections, the Network serves both academics and advocates to advance asset movements and deliver asset services. The Network focuses on local, state, and federal asset-related policy, as well as program implementation.

Center for Social Development (Washington University in St. Louis), http://csd.wustl.edu.

Founded by Michael Sherraden in 1994, the Center for Social Development is widely credited with developing and popularizing the idea of Individual Development Accounts as a method for promoting greater asset accumulation by low-income individuals. The Center regularly provides a directory of state-level IDA programs and publishes research papers.

Economic Success Clearinghouse/WIN, "Individual Development Accounts", http://www.financeproject.org/irc_pubs.cfm?p=24&id=21.

Formerly known as the Welfare Information Network, this website has a large selection of research papers written on Individual Development Accounts, as well as a good overview of innovative state and local programs.

IDA-Pays, USC Rossier School of Education, http://www.usc.edu/dept/chepa/IDApays.

The Center for Higher Education Policy Analysis (CHEPA) at USC conducted a three-year study to determine the impact, potential, and pitfalls of Individual Development Accounts (IDAs) in helping low-income students gain access to and find success in higher education. This website is dedicated to their findings and provides various other resources and publications for policy stakeholders. In addition to research, the website offers information on how to start an education IDA and best practices.

Institute on Assets and Social Policy (Brandeis University), http://iasp.brandeis.edu.

The Institute on Assets and Social Policy was established in 1999 to promote and advance individual asset-building policy choices that promise to reduce hunger and poverty in the nation by addressing their root causes. Its mission is to broaden and redefine the asset development concept and familiarize the public, media, and policy leaders with the asset development approach.

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Recent related publications...

*NEW* Aleta Sprague, "The California Secure Choice Retirement Savings Program: An Innovative Response to the Coming Retirement Security Crisis," Washington, DC: New American Foundation, April 2013.

*NEW* Thomas Shapiro, Tatjana Meschede and Sam Osoro, "The Roots of the Widening Racial Wealth Gap: Explaining the Black-White Economic Divide," Waltham, Ma: Institute on Assets and Social Policy, Brandeis University, February 2013.

*NEW* CFED, "Rebuilding American Success: Savings and Opportunity for All," Washington DC: CFED, April 2013.

In the face of economic insecurity, this policy memo from CFED argues that an asset building approach can help families build their financial assets as students, homeowners, or entrepreneurs, thereby empowering individuals to steward their own resources more effectively and contribute to their own economic success. Highlighting how many Americans lack basic financial security, the memo calls for federal policy reforms that give low-income households better access to the financial tools and knowledge they need to build a secure future. Recommendations include improving tax incentives for low- and middle-income savers, reauthorizing the Assets for Independence Program and reviving US savings bonds.

Elaine Edgcomb and Luz Gomez, Catching Fire: The University Microenterprise Movement in 2012, Washington, DC: FIELD at the Aspen Institute, October 2012.

Maureen Conway, Amy Blair and Matt Helmer, Courses to Employment: Partnering to Create Paths to Education and Careers, The Aspen Institute, May 2012.

Woody Widrow and Lauren Gates, IDA Toolkit: Expanding Savings Opportunities in Texas Through IDAs and Matched Savings, Austin, TX: RAISE Texas, October 2012.

Jennifer Brooks and Kasey Wiedrich, Assets & Opportunity Scorecard: Living on the Edge: Financial Insecurity and Policies to Rebuild Prosperity in America, Washington, DC: CFED, January 2013.

Despite signs of a U.S. economic recovery, CFED’s 2013 Assets & Opportunity Scorecard shows that many Americans are still struggling just to get by. This year’s result finds that nearly half (43.9 percent) of households—or more than 132 million people—are “liquid asset poor.” As a result, they do not have enough assets to provide themselves with a basic personal safety net to protect against an unforeseen crisis, such as unemployment or a medical emergency, or plan for future needs, such as a child’s college education or homeownership. To address this problem, this report highlights measures states have taken to build financial security and increase opportunities in the areas of financial assets and income, businesses and jobs, housing and homeownership, health care, and education.

Diane Yatchmenoff, Brianne H. Kothari and Sara Jade Webb, "Oregon's Individual Development Account Initiative: Building Assets and Increasing Financial Resilience," Portland, OR: Portland State University, October 2012.

Jennifer Medina, Jennifer Brooks and Rick Haughey, "Integrating Financial Empowerment Strategies into Housing and Homelessness Prevention Programs," Washington, DC: CFED, August 2012.

Heather McCulloch, " The Mission Asset Fund, San Francisco, CA: Asset Building Strategies, September 2006," Cleveland, OH: presented at Community Wealth Building Summit, cosponsored by the Democracy Collaborative, Ohio Employee Ownership Center, and Aspen Institute, December 8, 2006.

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Research Resources: Individual Wealth Building

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