Workplace Emergency Savings Policy
The passage of two emergency savings provisions as part of the SECURE 2.0 Act of 2022 underscores Congress’s clear recognition of emergency savings’ critical role in enhancing retirement security and overall financial well-being. As of January 1, 2024, these provisions—optional…
Saving for College AND Emergencies? Pilot Program Shows It’s Possible
Postsecondary education remains one of the most important pathways to wealth building, but it remains out of reach for many, especially those with low and moderate incomes (LMI). Over the last two decades, the inflation-adjusted cost of attending in-state public…
Rethinking Tax Incentives as Pathways to Workplace Emergency Savings
For generations, America has deployed the tax code to encourage workplace savings—tax-advantaged retirement plans and health savings accounts, for example. In “Can Tax Incentives Boost Workplace Emergency Savings?”, we explore how we might use a similar approach to support savings…
3 Takeaways from “How Inclusive Product Design Changed Emergency Savings,” Hosted in Partnership with FinTech Sandbox
Recently, BlackRock’s Emergency Savings Initiative, in which Commonwealth played a lead role, announced its first Impact & Learnings Report, highlighting more than $2 billion in new savings and 10 million American workers reached in four years. Key to the success…
How Inclusive Product Design Changed Emergency Savings
Inclusive product design is a crucial lever for improving financial security and opportunity for people traditionally left out of the financial system. In this blog post, we define inclusive financial product design as a process that ensures the needs, wants,…
BlackRock’s Emergency Savings Initiative Impact Report Announced at 2023 Social Innovation Summit
In June 2023, Commonwealth Co-Founder and Executive Director, Timothy Flacke, took part in the annual Social Innovation Summit in Los Angeles. The flagship event brought together top social impact and thought leaders from across the globe for two days of…
Landmark Report Highlights the Impact of BlackRock’s Emergency Savings Initiative
Together with Commonwealth, BlackRock’s Emergency Savings Initiative (ESI) published a groundbreaking report, BlackRock’s Emergency Savings Initiative: Impact and Learnings (2019-2022), that highlights ESI’s work researching, piloting, and implementing solutions that increase access to emergency savings for people earning low and…
3 Key Webinar Takeaways: How SECURE 2.0 Could Impact Workplace Emergency Savings and Inclusive Financial Wellness
In December, Congress passed the SECURE 2.0 Act of 2022, which included The Emergency Savings Act. These emergency savings provisions open the door for employers to consider offering new emergency savings solutions to workforces starting in January 2024. Yet, critical…
How SECURE 2.0 Could Impact Workplace Emergency Savings and Inclusive Financial Wellness
To address the implications and opportunities of new legislation for emergency savings, Commonwealth and Employee Benefit News, with support from BlackRock’s Emergency Savings Initiative, are hosting a webinar on May 17 at 2pm ET, How SECURE 2.0 Could Impact Workplace…
How Payroll Providers Can Advance Worker Emergency Savings: 3 Key Takeaways
Providing a liquid, high-quality emergency savings option through the workplace is key to improving financial security and building wealth for workers living on low and moderate incomes (LMI). It is also of great value to companies as emergency savings3 reduces…