Sustainable Prosperity Decreasing Household Expenses and Greenhouse Gas Emissions

The current financial crisis and economic recession have dramatically pointed out the economic fragility of large segments of the United States population and their vulnerability to financial products that are misrepresented or poorly explained. It also shows how many families, with little or no savings, live on the brink of financial disaster. Individual Development Account programs (IDAs) offer matched savings accounts as one solution to this low savings rate. These accounts have been effective at providing additional incentives to save, as well as multiplying the saving contributions of account holders so that assets can be more quickly accumulated.