Appalachian Savings Project helps women save for retirement
Via NPR:
Anita Wallace has run a day care in her home in rural Athens County, Ohio, for eight yearsShe hadn’t saved much for retirement before the Appalachian Savings Project offered to match half of her savings up to $600.As an in-home child care provider, Wallace is self-employed. She has no company 401(k). She gets generous tax deductions, and she says she’s grateful for those. But it means she’s paying Social Security on just a measly $5,000 of income and will have only that to draw from in retirement — plus a little in a savings account and some cash she hides in a sock. She knows she’ll need more. “But when you’re self-employed, it’s hard to get into certain retirement funds,” she says, “or to think about it and plan for it.” The Appalachian Savings Project works exclusively with female child care workers, such as Wallace. It made her an offer: If she saved $600 in a year in U.S. savings bonds, it would match half of that. Wallace now has an account with the and automatically deposits $50 a month.