Sowing SEEDS of sense
BANK ON IT | National program gives kids here firsthand lesson in importance, power of saving
The family savings rate in the U.S. is at the lowest level since the Great Depression, but 66 elementary school students in Bronzeville are doing their part to change that -- they've saved more than $50,000 in three years.
And they're on track to bank more than $100,000 by the end of this year.
And they're on track to bank more than $100,000 by the end of this year.
The students and their parents are participants in the SEED Policy and Practice Initiative. SEED, an acronym for Saving for Education, Entrepreneurship and Down payment, is a national effort that provides matched savings accounts and financial education for children and their parents.
(Keith Hale/Sun-Times)
The students and their parents are participants in the SEED Policy and Practice Initiative. SEED, an acronym for Saving for Education, Entrepreneurship and Down payment, is a national effort that provides matched savings accounts and financial education for children and their parents.
The funds raised through the initiative can be used for education, to establish a business or make a down payment on a home.
Chicago is among 12 cities across the country participating in the program, and legislative efforts are under way in Springfield to expand it.
The Sargent Shriver National Center on Poverty Law in Chicago partnered with William J. and Charles H. Mayo Elementary to set up tax-advantaged college savings accounts, called 529 plans, at Chase Bank in Bronzeville. Chase provided $375,000 in funding for the program. Each student received an initial deposit of $500, and they can earn dollar-for-dollar matches up to a total of $1,500 through the program, which concludes in December.
Nine-year-old Maliq Johnson, a fourth-grader at Mayo, has saved more than $1,200 through the local program.
"It's helping me raise money for my college fund," he beamed.
Like seeds, savings grow, and with them grow confidence, competence, connections and capital. That's the view of Washington, D.C.-based non-profit CFED, which provided more than $160,000 in funding for the Chicago program and is the brainchild of the national effort. The group works to expand economic opportunity.
Seven-year-old Jaylen Jackson, who has saved nearly $1,200 through the Chicago initiative, said he'd never had a savings account before.
"I used to save money in my piggy bank," said the second-grader, who wants to use his savings to help him become a chef.
Jaylen's 9-year-old sister, Khaliah, said she's learned it's better to save in the bank than at home. She's saved nearly $1,200 through the program.
"You can't see it in the bank," like you do when you save at home, so "you won't spend it," she said.
Latrice Phillips, the siblings' mom, said that as a child, she wasn't taught the importance of saving and how to go about it, and she knows that holds true for many others. It's crucial that children be taught that lesson at an early age, she contends.
Said Maliq's mom, Regina Johnson, "A lot of parents are living check to check, and they need some help to get their kids through school, so they can do better than they've done." She said she'd like to see the program expand.