Building Emergency Savings Through "Impulse Saving"

Publication Date

March 2015

Author(s)

Jess Dorrance

Client/Funder

Center for Financial Security

Read the Publication

Jess Dorrance joins other experts contributing chapters to A Fragile Balance: Emergency Savings and Liquid Resources for Low-Income Consumers. The new book, published by the Center for Financial Security, examines strategies to promote emergency savings, especially among underserved households.

Each chapter proposes an innovative financial product or service designed to bolster emergency savings among low-asset families. Dorrance’s chapter describes an innovative program, called Magic Mojo, which sought to promote savings among lower-income consumers by leveraging the enjoyment of impulsive action and overcoming some of the key barriers that prevent them from being able to save.

The book also offers readers insights into the role of emergency savings and mechanisms to facilitate savings behaviors, and it raises critical questions of the scale, institutional capacity, sustainability, accessibility and effectiveness of existing programs.