Learn About the 2024 Toolkit

Sometimes the smallest things have the greatest impact— like building the habit of saving, even if it’s just a little bit at a time.

Saving is a habit, not a destination and that’s the sentiment we want to convey on Day 1 of America Saves Week, where we highlight the significance of Saving Automatically. 

Whether individuals choose to split their direct deposit or set up an auto-transfer through their financial institution, people benefit by auto savings in two ways: first, by establishing the habit, and two by setting and reaching attainable milestones that will be incredibly useful when and if an unexpected expense arises. 

During this day of the week, encourage Savers to: 

• Set up automatic savings 
• Revisit the amount they contribute, if they have already established auto-savings. 
• Assess whether they have the best possible account for their savings and consider switching to a high-yield savings account to get the most out of savings. 

How to measure impact on this day:

Consider creating a simple poll on via digital communications like email and social media or for in-person interactions and events, track how many individuals open a savings account, set up split deposit or auto-transfers, increase their savings contributions, or assess their accounts to ensure they have the best savings account vehicle. 

Be sure to look at the additional content, messaging, special events, and resources that support the “Saving Automatically” theme inside the #ASW2024 Digital Toolkit. 

It happens to all of us: you’re saving for something that you’re really excited about and before you know it an unexpected event occurs, causing you to dip into your designated savings.  

Every day, Americans are forced to use money they were saving for something they truly value or credit to pay for an unexpected expense. On Day 2 of America Saves Week, we want Savers to embrace establishing an emergency fund, along with shifting the narrative around emergency savings. 
 
During this day of the week, encourage Savers to: 

• Begin to understand their Money Story and Money Values 
• Identify their savings goals 
• Use automatic savings to begin or grow their emergency savings accounts 

How to measure impact on this day:

Request an embeddable story (formerly known as an embeddable pledge), build out a “Know Your Money Story” campaign that allows your community to better understand their financial habits and cycles, encourage your community to set up an emergency fund using automatic savings and tracked how many people you reached and how many individuals set up an account. 

Additional content, messaging, special events, and resources to support the “Saving for the Unexpected” theme will be available inside the #ASW2024 Digital Toolkit.  

How do you save for the big things, like homeownership, retirement, and education, when saving for the small things is difficult?

Saving for competing priorities can feel overwhelming, but there are ways to break these big goals down into reasonable, practical steps even if you aren’t where you want to be financially. 

On Day 3 of America Saves Week, we’ll focus on Saving for Major Life Milestones, while not abandoning your other financial needs and wants. 

Savers will: 

• Get a clear view of their financial landscape 
• Establish or revisit their Spending and Savings Plan 
• Learn a practical approach to saving for short, mid, and long-term financial goals 

How To Measure Impact:

Encourage your community to attend the virtual workshop and share that they learned about the workshop from your organization. 

Additional content, messaging, special events, and resources to support the “Saving for Major Life Milestones” theme is available inside the #ASW2024 Digital Toolkit.  

Just like having a plan for saving is important, so is having a plan to pay down your debt.

Recent reports show that individuals have increased their usage of credit cards due to the ongoing inflation and rising costs of our basic needs like housing, food, and transportation. 

Couple that with the return of student loan debt repayment and the interest rates increase, and the ability to pay down debt is exacerbating the saving crisis, hindering the ability to save for emergencies and remain financially stable for many Americans. 

On Day 4 of America Saves Week, we want to remind individuals that paying down your debt is an essential component of savings. 

We’ll support Savers by: 

• Sharing practical tips and strategies for reducing debt and improving their credit scores 
• Ensuring individuals understand how to access and review their credit reports 

How to Measure Impact:

Encourage your community to check their credit report and get their credit score through annualcreditreport.com, tracking this information through links or polls. 

Additional content, messaging, special events, and resources to support the “Paying Down Debt is Saving” theme is available inside the #ASW2024 Digital Toolkit.

The intent of America Saves Week is to pause to do a financial check-in, allowing you to get clear on where your finances are, where you want them to be, and what small steps you can take now to put you on that path. But what happens next? 

Talking about money has been considered taboo for too long, but this mindset could be doing us a disservice. After all, it’s not what you say but how you say it. Your community has gained some valuable insights, and the next step is to share those learnings and check-in with your loved ones.  

On this last day of America Saves Week, we’ll encourage Savers to: 

• Talk to family members — from kids to older generations — about your money story and goals, including retirement plans, the importance of saving, and responsibly using credit.  
• If they haven’t, open up a savings account that correlates with what matters most to them right now. 

How to Measure Impact:

Track new accounts opened by your community, encourage them to explore their Money Story using your embeddable Story link, and Share their Saver Story for chance to featured and earn cash prizes toward their savings. 

Additional content, messaging, special events, and resources to support the “Saving at Any Age” theme is available inside the #ASW2024 Digital Toolkit.