AMERICA SAVES PARTNER RESOURCE PACKETVOLUME 4 ISSUE 1

TURN FINANCIAL LITERACY INTO FINANCIAL ACTIONAPRIL 1ST – MAY 3RD

America Saves’ goal is to promote the importance of savings and encourage individuals and families to take financial action. To help the people you serve save more successfully and to promote the importance of savings throughout your footprint, we have put together this resource packet with you in mind.

This resource packet contains a sample article, suggestions for social media content, and tools and resources designed to help you communicate with the public, your audience, and with other organizations about taking financial action. Look for new packets from America Saves every six weeks.

We encourage you to use this material to:

Augment the savings information you already provide to others;

Encourage individuals to take the America Saves pledge, thereby creating and committing to a basic savings or debt reduction plan and;

Position your organization as "in front" of the savings message and the need to save.

We want to hear from you. Please take a moment to complete this four-question survey on the usefulness of this material.

This resource packet includes:Sample Article

Facebook and Twitter Posts

Twitter Chat Information

Tools and Resources

Four-question survey

SAMPLE ARTICLEUse this content for your blog, newsletter, email communications, or any other publication. You can either rewrite the information or use as a guest post.

Make a Savings Plan During Financial Literacy Month

April marks Financial Literacy Month, a time when everyone can learn more about their personal finances and take steps to improve their financial picture. If you’re looking for a place to start, America Saves provides 3 easy ways to assess your current situation and take action to save.

1. Saver Checklist Tool – Check off your savings accomplishments to see how you're doing. 2. Assess Your Savings Tool – Complete the assessment to see if you are saving adequately and create a savings

plan. 3. Pledge to Save – Once you start saving, it gets easier and easier, and before you know it, you're on your way to

making your dreams a reality. The first step is to take the America Saves Pledge.

Those Who Take the America Saves Pledge Really Save

Each year, America Saves surveys those who have taken the America Saves Pledge to learn more about who these savers are, how much and what they are saving for, and how they feel about their savings.

Highlights from the America Saves Saver Survey: Savers reported largely saving for one of three goals: an emergency fund, retirement, or debt repayment. The longer people have been with America Saves, the more they have been able to save. Savers who joined in

2011 reported saving $7,000 since joining America Saves. Married respondents were able to save much more than single respondents, even though they didn’t report

trying to save that much more. What females and males reported saving for differed widely. Females heavily favored saving for an emergency

fund, while males heavily favored saving for retirement. Savers reported that since joining America Saves they are saving more, have become more confident about their

ability to manage their money, are actually managing their money better, are managing their debt better, and feel more hopeful about their financial situation.

Savings starts when you take action; those with a savings plan are twice as likely to spend less than they earn, and save the difference. Celebrate Financial Literacy Month by making your savings plan today.

Katie Bryan works for America Saves, managed by the nonprofit Consumer Federation of America (CFA), which seeks to motivate, encourage, and support low- to moderate-income households to save money, reduce debt, and build wealth. Learn more at americasaves.org.

AMERICA SAVES TWITTER CHAT: FINANCIAL LITERACY Join America Saves in an hour-long Twitter chat on our partner packet theme.

We’re excited to host our inaugural partner packet kick off Twitter chat. We hope you’ll join us on Monday, April 6 at 3:00 pm EST for an hour-long discussion on the topic and resources discussed throughout the partner packet.

America Saves and its partners will take advantage of Financial Literacy Month by discussing best practices for setting a goal and making a plan, and highlighting the findings in our annual saver’s survey.

Hashtag: #FinLitChat

Topic: Turning Financial Literacy into Financial Action

When: Monday, April 6 at 3:00 pm EST

Easy ways to follow the chat: Twubs or tchat.io

SAMPLE SOCIAL MEDIA POSTSShare the following messages with your Facebook & Twitter followers.

#SavingsTipTuesday

Take steps to improve your #financial picture during #FLM2015 this April! http://ow.ly/L2J5o @AmericaSaves #SavingsTipTuesday

Try the Assess Your Savings tool to see if you're #saving adequately: http://ow.ly/L2JdV @AmericaSaves #FLM2015 #SavingsTipTuesday

Use the Saver Checklist tool to see how your #savings habits are doing: http://ow.ly/L2LwJ #FLM2015 @AmericaSaves #SavingsTipTuesday

Take the @AmericaSaves pledge to set your #savings goal during #FLM2015! http://ow.ly/L2KLG #SavingsTipTuesday

Celebrate #FLM2015 by setting a goal & making your #savings plan today! http://ow.ly/L2Lrs @AmericaSaves #SavingsTipTuesday

#SavingsFactFriday

Those w. a #savings plan are 2x as likely to spend less than they earn. http://ow.ly/L2K6a @AmericaSaves #FLM2015 #SavingsFactFriday

Savers rprt #saving for 1 of 3 goals: #emergency fund, #retirement, #debt repayment http://ow.ly/L2Kyg @AmericaSaves #SavingsFactFriday

The longer savers have been w. @AmericaSaves, the more they've been able to #save. http://ow.ly/L2LZE #FLM2015 #SavingsFactFriday

#Savings starts when you take #financial action. http://ow.ly/L2MXQ #FLM2015 @AmericaSaves #SavingsFactFriday

What females & males rprt #saving differs widely; #retirement #debt #education http://ow.ly/L2NuV @AmericaSaves #SavingsFactFriday

Additional Posts

Include automatic #savings in your #FLM2015 financial planning! http://ow.ly/L2NTm via @AmericaSaves

Setting goals for #FLM2015? Let @AmericaSaves help! Text SAVES to 30364 to get advice & #savingstips straight to your phone.

Check out the @NatlJumpStart site for national #FLM2015 events: http://ow.ly/L2Orx @AmericaSaves

Set your #savings goal, make a plan, & save automatically - pledge to #save today! http://ow.ly/L2O47 via @AmericaSaves #FLM2015

Do you have a savvy #savingstip or story about #savings? Share it w. @AmericaSaves! You could win $25! http://ow.ly/L2ObO

TOOLS & RESOURCESShare the following tools and resources with your audience and with other organizations.

America Saves Resources Web & Blog:

o Finding Money to Save o How to Plan & Set Financial Goals o Make Family Savings Happen o Nonprofit and Government Groups Launch Campaign for a Secure Retirement o People who feel good about their finances: What do they have in common? o Saving Money or Pay Off Debt? Why Not Both! o Saving on a Tight Budget o 15 Savings Techniques for 2015

Tools:o Assess Your Savings Plan tool o Saver Checklist tool o Take the America Saves Pledge o Calculators

Personal Wealth Estimator Home Wealth Estimator

Events & Resources Jump$tart Coalition for Personal Financial Literacy

o Eventso Media Kit

Sample Press Release Social Media Content Graphics

o 2015 Annual Awards Dinner SmartCheck Week , April 6-12

o Contact Consumer Outreach Specialist, Meredith Regine for resources to assist you in promoting SmartCheck Week to your constituents.

Webinar on Understanding the Skills Needed to Be a Successful Financial Coach , April 7NeighborWorks America offers this webinar, which discusses the skills needed to empower clients to assess their financial behaviors.

National Retirement Planning Week , April 13-17o Partner Kit

Money Smart Week , April 18-25 Financial Literacy Day on Capitol Hill 2015 , April 24 Teach Children to Save Day , April 24 Presidential Proclamations, The White House

o National Financial Capability Month, 2014 o National Financial Capability Month, 2013

Research America Saves

o Savers Survey Results, March 2015 Full Data

o Annual Savings Survey Reveals Across-the-Board Improvement in Past Year