Let's Make 2023 the Year of Interconnectedness
Dear friends:
Our financial lives are complex. Scratch that - our lives are complex, period. Yet, as a sector we continue to silo issues that are in reality deeply intertwined - income, entrepreneurship, housing, savings, credit and debt, transportation, taxes, childcare, healthcare - the list goes on and on. If we continue to invest in issues and solutions in ways that reinforce silos, instead of exploring interconnectedness, then we will struggle to make progress toward our north star goal: an equitable economy in which all people in America have the opportunity to thrive.
SaverLife is focusing on interconnectedness. This means not only understanding how daily life - like getting to work, paying utility bills, or caring for a sick family member - correlates to someone’s ability to save, but also how these individual variables influence our members’ overall ability to build wealth over time.
Once we better understand these dynamics, we can drive change. We can use our learnings to push for actionable and effective policy and systems changes that result in an economy that works for everyone. And we can iterate these learnings on our SaverLife platform, creating personalized journeys that provide even more opportunities to grow savings balances and improve financial health.
We begin our exploration of interconnectedness with the publication of our most recent research brief: Untangling the Personal and Professional: Microentrepreneurs' Financial Realities, Pain Points, and Aspirations. In this brief we examine the financial lives of SaverLife members who earn some or all of their income from self-employment. A major finding of this research is that the majority of gig workers or those who are self-employed, do not identify as an entrepreneur. In fact, only 42% of those pursuing side hustles, gig work, or self-employment are currently writing off their business expenses on their tax returns.?
Because SaverLife’s approach focuses on both direct service and systemic change, we have launched a research project to see if directly delivering entrepreneurship-focused, tax time content can change the way entrepreneurs with low incomes file their taxes and maximize their refunds. We will report back on our results later this year.
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In the meantime, check out our one-stop tax time guide and our first TikTok influencer campaign.
Looking forward to staying (inter)connected in 2023!
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