The Aspen Institute Financial Security Program

📢 Happening tomorrow: How Person-Centered Practices Can Advance Financial Security 📢 Join us in person or online starting at 10:00am ET to hear from cross-sector leaders, including: Joanna Smith-Ramani, Tim Shaw, Riani Carr, Callie Greer, Maryann Broxton, Erin Currier, Dina Emam, Sarah Haight, and Tyonka Perkins Rimawi. Through a set of panel discussions, cross-sector leaders will share the latest learnings, innovative practices, and models for adopting person-centered approaches, particularly within non-governmental and philanthropic organizations. We will ask the critical question: How can we make person-centered practices the default in financial security initiatives? Tune in 🎧 https://lnkd.in/gzFfFxQR

More than 45 million U.S. adults lack a credit record or credit score. But new data sources and technology can help institutions more accurately assess creditworthiness and better price risk for households locked out of credit opportunities in the past. Join our webinar on December 10 at 1:00 p.m. ET to explore how expanding access to affordable credit can help consumers manage short-term needs, access wealth-building assets, and pursue long-term financial goals like homeownership and entrepreneurship. The conversation will feature financial services experts Evelyn Stark (as moderator), John Fenstermaker, David Henderson, Kimberly Gartner, Michelle (Boros) Young and Aspen FSP’s own Kate Griffin and Erin Borġ (Thiemann). They’ll dig into the Treasury’s National Strategy for Financial Inclusion and CFPB’s 1033 rule and explore how these new policies can build shared prosperity. Register today! 👉 https://lnkd.in/eVv4mzEE 

Person-centered practices are gathering momentum in the financial security field, and we can harness this energy to make these practices the default approach in nonprofit work. Our upcoming December 5 event will tackle how NGOs and philanthropies can continue to scale person-centered practices in financial security initiatives. Ahead of this discussion, we want to hear from our partners about how you approach person-centered work: 🔹 How are you implementing person-centered practices? 🔹 How have you seen these practices improve financial security outcomes for your organization and the people you serve? 🔹 What role does philanthropy and the nonprofit sector have in advancing these practices? 👇Share your insights in the comments! And if you haven’t already, register to join the conversation on December 5 from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m ET. https://lnkd.in/gzFfFxQR Featured speakers include: Joanna Smith-Ramani, Tim Shaw, Riani Carr, Callie Greer, Maryann Broxton, Erin Currier, Dina Emam, Sarah Haight, Tyonka Perkins Rimawi and more!

Last month we hosted our Benefits21 Leadership Forum, which brings together more than 80 public, private, and nonprofit sector leaders. This convening aimed to transform our benefits system and build financial security for all. Over the course of three days in October, we mapped the opportunities for improving benefits administration at the local and national level. Here’s some of what we learned: 🚀 Public benefits leaders in government across states and parties are eager for change and ready to take action, if the nonprofit and public sectors can provide the resources and infrastructure to do so. 🔄 Building the feedback loop between implementation and policy design is a growing focus in the benefits field. 🤝 Many leaders in the private sector are passionate about building financial security through our benefits system, and the nonprofit and public sectors can do more to build productive partnerships with them. Are you interested in this impact-focused work? Check out our upcoming hybrid event “How Person-Centered Practices Can Advance Financial Security.” Learn more and register 👉 https://lnkd.in/gzFfFxQR

🏡 Home equity is the largest source of wealth for most people in the U.S., yet over 1/3 of U.S. households are renters. With the path to homeownership narrowing for many Americans, how can renters build wealth? Our latest report, “From Rent to Riches? A Profile on the Wealth and Financial Well-Being of Renters,” digs into the barriers and opportunities facing America’s 45 million renters. The findings are a call to action: Renters have less than 3% of the wealth of homeowners and lower levels of financial stability across all income levels. But the report also provides a first-of-its-kind window into renters’ asset ownership and emerging pathways to build renter wealth. Download the full report 📥 https://lnkd.in/equKw_Dg Report authored by: Kreg Steven Brown & Shehryar Nabi

💡 Person-centered practices start with a basic principle: If we want all Americans to achieve household financial stability, then we need to listen to the insights of people who have experienced financial insecurity. To ensure those voices are incorporated in Aspen FSP’s work, we formed the Community Advisory Group. Since 2021, this cohort of 6 leaders has informed our policy and research. Together, we’ve learned a lot about how person-centered practices can improve financial security outcomes. Hear more about this work at our December 5 event, “How Person-Centered Practices Can Advance Financial Security.” Join Aspen FSP and our Community Advisory Group in person or virtually from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. ET. Through a set of panel discussions, cross-sector leaders will share the latest learnings, innovative practices, and models for adopting person-centered approaches, particularly within non-governmental and philanthropic organizations. Panelists include: Joanna Smith-Ramani, Tim Shaw, Riani Carr, Callie Greer, Maryann Broxton, Erin Currier, Dina Emam, Sarah Haight and more. Together, we will ask the critical question: How can we make person-centered practices the default in financial security initiatives? Register today! 👉 https://lnkd.in/gzFfFxQR

Tomorrow, Aspen FSP and Defined Contribution Institutional Investment Association (DCIIA) will convene the Workers’ Wealth Lab, a powerhouse group of employers, next-generation benefits innovators, retirement savings financial services providers, and policymakers, and more. The central focus of this Lab: working together to offer cheaper sources of liquidity to more workers—and adding tens of thousands of dollars to their #retirement account balances in the process. Aspen FSP's director of Inclusive Saving and Investing, Karen Biddle Andres, writes about the current challenges facing defined contribution plans in the U.S. and how the Lab seeks to tackle them head on. Kara Woolley

Can renters build wealth without becoming homeowners? We looked at America’s balance sheets to find out. Here’s what we learned: At each income level, renters are less likely to own any asset type–stocks, retirement or cash savings–compared to their homeowner counterparts. Under half of renters own any potentially appreciating assets. With renters accounting for a third of American households, the financial well-being of renters has economy-wide implications. We need cross-sector action to provide renters with innovative financial tools and policies designed specifically with their needs in mind. Our report “From Rent to Riches?” identifies three potential pathways to advance the wealth and financial well-being of renters: 💵 Address rent cost burdens and limited residual cash flow. 🗂️ Increase renters’ access to and acquisition of a broader portfolio of assets. 🏡 Smooth the pathway to homeownership. Get the full findings 👉 https://lnkd.in/equKw_Dg 

Join our co-executive director Ida Rademacher at the second annual Ownership Economy Summit! Held in New York City on December 4, 2024, this summit will bring together a select group of investors, entrepreneurs, policymakers, and thought leaders to discuss how we can build an economy in which everyone has an ownership stake. Ida Rademacher will present on the opening panel with The Kelso Institute Europe professor Jens Lowitzsch and Plural Energy founder and CEO Adam Silver about how we can finance the clean energy transition through equitable ownership. This packed day of panels and breakouts will feature leaders that are constructing a better economy, one based on broad-based ownership and democratic governance. Use the discount code Aspen20 for 20% off. Save your spot 👉 https://lnkd.in/e9pbu2Xw @Martin Smith @Jahed Momand

📌 Happening TODAY: Women, Money & Policy Linkedin LIVE📌 Aspen FSP's senior fellow Heather McCulloch will join ShePlace & SheMoney's exclusive LinkedIn LIVE webinar: “Women, Money & Policy: A Post-Election Conversation with Josie Cox, Heather McCulloch & Jacki Zehner” Together, they’ll explore the impact of policy post-2024 election, what drives real economic access for women, and the essential changes needed for a more equitable financial future. 🗓 Date: TODAY ⏰ Time: 1:00pm-2:00 p.m. ET 📍 Where: LinkedIn Live – RSVP below Bring your questions and ideas! Let’s explore what it means to redefine policy and advance financial independence, post election! #SheMoney #WomenInFinance #LinkedInLive #EconomicOpportunity #WomenMoneyPolicy #FinancialIndependence #FutureOfFinance https://lnkd.in/emYaiSia