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Innovation Profile: U.S. R-Savings Bond

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Update April 2011

Diane continues to work with Women's Initiative for a Secure Retirement (WISER) to connect low-income, self-employed women in Appalachia to greater retirement savings security. She hopes to see an upgrade in TreasuryDirect, an online program of the Bureau of Public Debt that tries to improve access to purchasing U.S. Savings bonds.

Update: July 2010

Diane has been promoting the creation of a retirement savings bond, the R-Bond, by participating in the Savings Bond Working Group hosted by D2D, a nonprofit organization that works to expand access to asset building opportunities for low-income people. WISER and D2D achieved a major victory by securing the inclusion of the savings bond as a purchase option on tax forms starting in 2010. This victory has laid critical groundwork for the creation of the R-Bond, a bond with retirement savings characteristics that, unlike other U.S. savings bonds, would qualify for the Saver’s Tax Credit. The R-Bond would be an accessible and stable savings vehicle for low- and middle-income people, particularly those that do not have access to employer-based retirement plans or cannot afford to start an IRA offered by a financial institution. WISER is currently in the process of expanding its R-Bond demonstration, the findings of which will be detailed in a white paper.

About the Innovation

Diane is working to promote long-term savings, especially for those who do not have access to employer-based plans, by creating a new type of U.S. Savings Bond.

About the Innovator

Diane is Rural Retirement Project Coordinator for WISER, the Women's Institute for a Secure Retirement. Diane has spent her career in community economic development, rooted in the realities of a rural lifestyle and built on a deep commitment to preserving farmland, while supporting a vibrant and progressive rural community life.

Tags: Aging, Rural, Saving & Investment, Women