HACBED
ASSET
POLICY ROADMAP (2008)
The Asset Policy Roadmap outlines four asset policy priorities that, taken together, would significantly help working families build wealth and assets. These priorities reflect a developing consensus among policymakers, advocates, families affected by the policies, and others that an assets-based approach to financial security and opportunity makes sense in Hawai`i. Building financial assets is a means to an end that allows families to exercise more choice and control over their lives. Stronger families build stronger communities.
The policies detailed in the report are part of a larger agenda that recognizes that we have a mutual responsibility to each other. Hoo'wai'wai is a Hawaiian word meaning to enrich. Wai means water. In old Hawai`i, it was everyones kuleana or responsibility to malama i ka wai or to take care of the water because it affected the livelihood of the entire village. If you had a sufficient supply of wai, you were considered "wealthy". While economic security is fundamental to wealth creation, asset-building strategies must give equal consideration to building natural, human, cultural, and social assets that are the foundation of a community.
In this context, the policy recommendations in this report are only a starting point. They include:
1. Enhancing financial skills of low- and moderate-income families in Hawai`i;
2. Removing the disincentives to save resulting from asset limits in public benefit programs;
3. Enacting a state Earned Income Tax Credit to help make work pay; and
4. Providing state support for matched savings to help people save for a home, business or education.
Each of the four policies focuses on giving individuals the tools to make the best financial decisions possiblewhether teaching the value of saving through financial education; removing disincentives to save by eliminating asset limits; instituting a state EITC so theres some money to save; or matching an individual's savings so he or she can purchase a home, start a business or go to school.
The Asset Policy Roadmap outlines four asset policy priorities that, taken together, would significantly help working families build wealth and assets. These priorities reflect a developing consensus among policymakers, advocates, families affected by the policies, and others that an assets-based approach to financial security and opportunity makes sense in Hawai`i. Building financial assets is a means to an end that allows families to exercise more choice and control over their lives. Stronger families build stronger communities.
The policies detailed in the report are part of a larger agenda that recognizes that we have a mutual responsibility to each other. Hoo'wai'wai is a Hawaiian word meaning to enrich. Wai means water. In old Hawai`i, it was everyones kuleana or responsibility to malama i ka wai or to take care of the water because it affected the livelihood of the entire village. If you had a sufficient supply of wai, you were considered "wealthy". While economic security is fundamental to wealth creation, asset-building strategies must give equal consideration to building natural, human, cultural, and social assets that are the foundation of a community.
In this context, the policy recommendations in this report are only a starting point. They include:
1. Enhancing financial skills of low- and moderate-income families in Hawai`i;
2. Removing the disincentives to save resulting from asset limits in public benefit programs;
3. Enacting a state Earned Income Tax Credit to help make work pay; and
4. Providing state support for matched savings to help people save for a home, business or education.
Each of the four policies focuses on giving individuals the tools to make the best financial decisions possiblewhether teaching the value of saving through financial education; removing disincentives to save by eliminating asset limits; instituting a state EITC so theres some money to save; or matching an individual's savings so he or she can purchase a home, start a business or go to school.
