Applied Research Forum Breakout: Encouraging People to Save

This is a breakout session at the 2016 Assets Learning Conference (ALC).

The lack of household savings for emergencies is a widespread issue in America: almost half of adults reported that they could not cover a $400 dollar expense without borrowing money or selling something in a recent survey conducted by the Federal Reserve System Board of Governors. Anyone who has ever managed a savings product or program knows that it can be hard to get people to save, but in this session, you’ll hear about new research on interventions at tax time and using prepaid cards designed to encourage people to save, including behavioral nudges and motivational prompts, small incentives and gamified savings tools. Speakers will present the impact of the different interventions on product use and savings rates and discuss the implications of the findings for other types of savings programs and products.

Speakers

  • Michal Grinstein-Weiss, Washington University in St. Louis
  • Melissa Knoll, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
  • Nick Maynard, Commonwealth
  • Louisa Quittman, U.S. Department of the Treasury (moderator)

Assets Learning Conference 216