Ms. Orman is the host of the “Women & Money” podcast. She gained wide popularity as the host of a television show in which she told fans that if she “approved” or “denied” their spending proposals. A 2012 foray into financial products, a prepaid debit card, folded after just two years. Yet her appeal endures.
“Anything Suze Orman is endorsing has got to be good, right?” said Steve M. Robinson-Burmester, the director of finance at the California State Council of SEIU, the lobbying and political arm of the Service Employees International Union in the state. More than half of the council’s 33 employees participate, he said, and can earn a 10 percent employer match if they meet contribution thresholds.
Ms. Orman, whose title is chief strategy officer, said in an interview that she had worked with her co-founders to make SecureSave easy to use and understandable for “ordinary” people. “I care about people, and I protect them,” she said.
SecureSave has found that employees typically make their first withdrawal after four months of saving. The average claim is for about $200, and the most common category is car/transportation — but the funds can be used for any reason.
According to research from Commonwealth, emergency funds should be easily available. If workers worry that they won’t be able to get cash when they need it, they won’t participate.
Commonwealth recently conducted a study with ADP to enhance the emergency savings features of the company’s Wisely payment card and app, which some employers use as an alternative to paychecks. Adding features like multiple “envelopes” for workers to use for savings, among other steps, helped to nearly triple employees’ net savings, Commonwealth reported.
Here are some questions and answers about emergency savings:
How much cash should I set aside for emergencies?
For near-term shortfalls, even $1,000 can help prevent families from drawing on retirement savings in a pinch, according to research from the Aspen Institute and others. Other research suggests that smaller cushions, of between $250 and $700, can help families stave off a calamity like eviction.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Nytimes.com
