Webinar today: Emergency savings vital to U.S. families’ financial health
A large number of American families would have trouble coming up with $400 to cope with a sudden emergency — a fact that highlights a major gap in policies intended to promote financial well-being.
A new book, “A Fragile Balance: Emergency Savings and Liquid Resources for Low-Income Consumers,” makes the case for why emergency savings deserves more attention from government, the financial services industry and nonprofits. It is edited by J. Michael Collins, director of the Center for Financial Security at the University of Wisconsin–Madison and a family and consumer economics specialist with the Family Living Programs at University of Wisconsin-Extension.
Associate Professor J. Michael Collins is editor “A Fragile Balance: Emergency Savings and Liquid Resources for Low-Income Consumers.”
Collins and three contributors will discuss their recommendations in a free webinar today at noon Central Time.
Existing policies and programs that promote savings largely focus on longer-term savings — often for retirement, education, or homeownership. They frequently prevent consumers from using their savings for other purposes or heavily penalize them for doing so. Yet emerging research highlights the importance of shorter-term, unrestricted “emergency savings” to households’ financial well-being. Emergency savings helps families weather unexpected expenses and drops in income, and allows them to take advantage of unanticipated opportunities.
“A Fragile Balance” outlines specific policies, products, and services aimed at supporting emergency savings. Although many Americans lack emergency savings funds, “A Fragile Balance” focuses on lower-income consumers, who often have the least options for finding cash in a pinch.
Tags: books