D2D Fund

Why Asset Building?

Millions of American families lack access to basic financial services and, more specifically, tools to build wealth, acquire significant assets like a home, and work toward a more stable future. Without the cushion afforded by savings and assets, these families live on the edge of financial disaster, ever mindful that a brief period of unemployment or a disability could jeopardize their economic independence.

While middle and upper income parents prepare a secure future for their children though strategic investments, lower income families often scramble to make ends meet but make no lasting financial progress. The problem is compounded by public policies that encourage wealth building for middle and upper income taxpayers but offer no support – and in many cases penalize – lower income families.

Cause for Hope

In the past decade important new ideas have emerged about how to help poor families escape the financial trap in which they often live. The realization that lasting economic progress requires a tangible stake in one's community is not novel; but the idea that public policies and programs should help poor families build wealth and acquire that stake is new.

This philosophy is embodied in Individual Development Accounts (IDAs) – special matched savings accounts earmarked for a strategic investment, like a college education or a home – and helps advocates for low-income families look anew at products like Section 529 education savings accounts, Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs) and U.S. Savings Bonds. It encourages low wage workers to view tax refunds as not just a once-a-year windfall, but an opportunity to begin laying a more secure financial foundation.

In this landscape D2D views its role as one of "market maker:" understanding the needs of low-income communities and the financial service industry, and conceiving and designing products and systems that serve both.