News Releases

(NASHVILLE, Tenn.) – Got a few coins handy? Who says you’ve got to spend them? Dropping them in a piggy bank might be a good idea.

It’s all part of “Tennessee Saves Day”at the State Capital Building in Nashville on February 28, 2007. The event starts at 10 a.m. in the Legislative Plaza across from the House Speaker’s Office.

At “Tennessee Saves Day,” information booths will be set up to encourage legislators to support increased financial education for all Tennesseans, and urge anyone who stops by to make saving money a life-long habit. In addition, piggy banks made by kids in the “Tennessee Saves At School” program will be on display.

Representatives of the Tennessee Saves Coalition will be joined at this event by Rep. Stratton Bone of Lebanon (46th District) and Rep. Harry Brooks of Knoxville (19th District). Both lawmakers have sponsored legislation in the past designating a special observance of Tennessee Saves Day. In addition, Governor Phil Bredesen has signed a proclamation designating the week of February 24 as “Tennessee Saves Week.”

University of Tennessee Extension specialists are among the leaders statewide who coordinate the Tennessee Saves program. Extension leaders have implemented Tennessee Saves programs now in 61 counties, and reached more than half a million Tennesseans last year with financial information. A total of 165 banks, credit unions and local financial education partners were involved in local and regional activities last year promoting Tennessee Saves, and nearly five thousand volunteers helped out.

“Perhaps now, it’s never been more important for people to save money,” says Dr. Dena Wise, a family and consumer specialist with UT Extension. “It’s important to put money into retirement plans like 401K’s, but also in traditional savings accounts. That way you’ve got money handy for life’s emergencies.”

Saving money is something Tennesseans – and many Americans – aren’t doing very well. The US Commerce Department reports that savings rates have dropped to Depression-era lows, and actually total a negative percentage now. In addition, Tennessee remains one of the worst states for personal bankruptcies. Tennesseans – like many Americans – carry heavy consumer debt, especially on credit cards. U.S. consumers owe more than $500 billion dollars on credit cards, an average of about $8,000 per household that uses revolving credit.

Dr. Wise says heavy consumer debt is especially a problem for young people in the 18-to-24 age group, and it hurts their ability to save. “When too much of your money goes to pay off debt, you can’t invest. You can’t save,” Wise says. “When a good bit of your money goes for credit card bills, that’s money that doesn’t have the capacity to grow.”

Wise says the old saying about time truly being on the side of young people is particularly true when it comes to money. If a young person right out of high school invests just fifty dollars a month and earns an average of 8% annually – they would have more than one million dollars in that account at retirement.

The event will also include displays of piggy banks made by kids who are part of the “Tennessee Saves at School” program. It’s a curriculum where children learn about money, and how it’s important to keep some of what you earn.

“We’re certainly in a very elementary way teaching them saving and how that grows as you save over time so that your money is working for you while you put it aside in a safe place,” says Pat Whitaker, a UT Extension agent in Rutherford County.

Tennessee Saves is expanding in 2007. The program is being introduced as a worksite-education program. More than 75 corporations across Tennessee have requested information about teaching employees about saving and investing.

The Tennessee Saves Coalition includes partnerships between University of Tennessee Extension, the Tennessee Department of Financial Institutions, the Tennessee Jumpstart Coalition, the Tennessee Housing Development Agency, the Federal Reserve, and other financial institutions, and education and government agencies.

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Contact:
Dr. Dena Wise, (865) 974-8198, dkwise@utk.edu
Chuck Denney, (865) 974-7141, cmdenney@utk.edu