An employee-focused automatic savings program is being tested in Wisconsin, and the sponsors are seeking employers who pay in Wisconsin and would like to participate.
The new automatic savings initiative is called the Wisconsin Saves Automatic Saving Initiative. It is a national pilot project designed to encourage millions of Wisconsinites to establish emergency savings accounts through automated saving. The pilot is focused on encouraging small and medium sized employers to motivate their employees, particularly those in the lower-to-middle income wages, to save automatically, especially for emergencies.
You can sign up for the program and get more details at https://americasaves.org/for-savers/wisconsin-saves/
This effort is led by the Wisconsin State Treasurer Sarah Godlewski, Wisconsin Department of Financial Institutions Cabinet Secretary Kathy Blumenfeld, President and CEO of the Wisconsin Bankers Association Rose Oswald-Poels, President of the Wisconsin Women’s Business Initiative Corporation Wendy Baumann, and America Saves, the leading national campaign in promoting savings.
“Wisconsinites fear unexpected expenses because they lack savings for an emergency,” said Wisconsin Department of Financial Institutions Secretary Kathy Blumenfeld. “Unfortunately, we know that 27% of Americans do not have enough savings to cover a $400 emergency, and almost half of employees who are worried about their financial health are less productive at work.”
The group says that employees can build emergency savings that can help alleviate financial stress and improve productivity through the simplest of strategies – saving automatically with split direct deposit. America Saves provides employers with the following free resources after signing up online for Wisconsin Saves.
For questions regarding Wisconsin Saves, please email Carolyn Pemberton at cpemberton@consumerfed.org.