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- Provide expanded, adequate funding through the U.S. Department of Education and the U.S. Department of the Treasury for schools and other programs to develop and implement youth financial education that is culturally appropriate and effective in imparting pertinent financial management lessons.
Read more recommendations - Reform asset limits in the Food Stamp program under the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Read more recommendationsRaise asset limits from $2,000 to $3,500 ($4,500 for a household with a disabled or elderly member), index the asset limit to inflation, and exempt all tax-preferred retirement accounts (individual retirement accounts) and college savings accounts (529s and Coverdells) from asset limit consideration for Food Stamp eligibility. - Prohibit prepayment penalties in subprime mortgages. Typically, a subprime loan comes with a hefty fee for paying off the loan to refinance into a better loan with a lower-interest rate or other less expensive features.
Read more recommendationsThe penalty often locks the borrower into an abusive subprime loan or imposes an “exit tax” to get out of it. A better system would reward families that improve their credit. - Enact a universal children’s savings policy at the federal level, administered by the U.S. Department of the Treasury.
Read more recommendations - Predatory lending is a real and present danger, not only to low-income and low-wealth people and communities but also to our nation’s economy. Congress should impose minimum federal standards that states can build on. It should promote strong anti-predatory lending legislation and regulations.
Read more recommendationsIn recent years, state laws have helped rein in lending abuses. States have the ability to respond to local issues and changing market conditions. Any federal law that would weaken states’ predatory lending statutes must be defeated. - The Federal Trade Commission should work with state regulators to investigate the Internet payday loan industry and extend consumer protections to people who borrow online.
Read more recommendations - Congress must enact a narrow change to the federal bankruptcy law to allow judicial modification of home loans. At present, such judicial modification is allowed for all other personal assets, including second homes, farms, land, commercial real estate, boats, and furniture. Modification is prohibited only for primary residence loans.
Read more recommendationsThis simple change would help families continue to pay their loans and stay in their homes. - Establish a federal Savings for Working Families program in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, offering a one-to-one tax credit for 900,000 individual development accounts (IDAs). The IDA tax credit would encourage savers to deposit up to $500 per year for four years into an IDA account.
Read more recommendationsFinancial institutions would provide deposits into a separate, parallel account that matches the amount the individual saves dollar for dollar. Financial institutions would receive a tax credit for the matching funds provided as well as a $50 annual credit for each IDA account they administer. - Make the Saver’s Credit, administered by the U.S. Department of the Treasury, fully refundable, thereby expanding it to more than 60 million American households. The Saver’s Credit matches up to 50 percent of a contribution to a retirement account by single tax filers earning less than $25,000 a year and joint tax filers earning less than $50,000 a year.
Read more recommendationsAdvocates seek to raise the income eligibility levels for single filers earning up to $30,000 and joint filers earning up to $60,000, thus expanding the availability of the credit to additional middle-income working families; require the credit to be deposited directly into a retirement account as a matching contribution; index the contribution amounts to inflation; and expand the credit to 529 accounts. A person eligible for the tax credit can use IRA or employer accounts to help finance homeownership and college education.