All families need assets and some sense of financial security to live for today, plan for the future, and make sure that they and their children can get ahead. No matter who you are, if you work hard and play by the rules, you should have the opportunity to help your family advance?in ways that add to your community, your society, and the economy.

Many families are doing fine, but an alarming percentage is living on the financial edge. One in four households does not own enough to support itself at the poverty line for three months in the event of unemployment. The situation is harsher for women and people of color: one in four female-headed households and one in three minority-headed households have zero or negative net worth.1

While the assets field has made great strides towards addressing asset poverty, these statistics illustrate that there is still much work ahead.

Michael Sherraden, professor at the George Warren Brown School of Social Work, Washington University in St. Louis, ignited this discussion about assets in the mid 1908s. His pioneering theories for low-income asset building and idea of matched savings through inclusive asset-building policies began a movement and since then, IDAs have helped nearly 50,000 individuals and families secure brighter futures. The field is now expanding to encompass a continuum of products and services designed to build assets in low-income communities. The talent and commitment of practitioners, researchers, policymakers, and so many others, are generating product and service innovation, new and different delivery and distribution channels, and groundbreaking public, private, and community partnerships.

The field is well on its way to helping individuals and families secure a lifetime of assets. Now is the time to define key priorities and effect even greater change in families, communities, and economies across the country and the world.

1 2005 Assets and Opportunity Scorecard. CFED: Washington, DC. 2005.