For the first time, all tax filers have the opportunity to easily grow their savings by purchasing Series I U.S. Savings Bonds directly through their federal income tax returns in 2011. Tax filers may buy bonds for themselves, their children or grandchildren, or others.  This is a welcome development that will help many lower-wealth taxpayers use some of their tax refunds to build savings and assets in a safe and simple way.

As bank regulators take a close look at modernizing the provisions of the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) through a series of hearings and public comment period (you have until August 31 to submit comments), we’re walking you through some key reasons why CRA must be updated. We’ve gone over how assessment areas don’t fully capture where a bank does business and why a broader scope of financial institutions must be covered by CRA. Today we’ll explain how CRA doesn’t meaningfully measure how banks are providing retail banking services to low- and moderate-income people.

The ABA Education Foundation’s annual Teach Children to Save Day on April 27 is a national campaign that raises awareness about the important role that banks and bankers play in helping young people develop lifelong savings habits. The campaign has reached 3.4 million young people with the help of some 80,000 banker volunteers through its annual awareness day and the Teach Children to Save website.

Woodstock Institute president Dory Rand addressed Chicago media to discuss the savings potential of young people when they have access to children’s savings accounts and to announce the creation of a new statewide task force to investigate the issue.

As some of us scramble to file our income tax returns, others have long since filed. Unfortunately, many lower-wealth tax filers who need the assistance of tax preparers got ripped off with high-cost preparation fees and refund anticipation loans, or RALs – to the tune of $114 million in Illinois in 2006 alone. Faster delivery of refunds by the Internal Revenue Service and a little patience by tax filers can eliminate the demand for RALs, but many will still need the assistance of tax preparers to file their returns. How can tax filers pay for tax preparation services without getting caught up in RALs?

Supplemental Security Income (SSI), the Social Security program designed to help the most vulnerable Americans with disabilities meet basic needs, has seen several successful efforts to encourage recipients to work, but still discourages savings, says a recent Woodstock Institute letter to Illinois lawmakers.