IDA program to help lower income families save for buying a home, education

BOB SCHIEFFER, anchor (Washington, DC):

Nearly 70 percent of American families own their own homes, but it can be awfully tough for many working Americans who live paycheck to paycheck to save enough for that all-important down payment. Which is where a fast-growing network of local programs is coming in to help people learn how to save and give them a boost toward their goal. Here's Thalia Assuras.

THALIA ASSURAS reporting:

Thirty-two year old Maria Cruz is raising four boys on her own. That's Evan. The inquisitive one, he's Darius. Marquis likes to show off. And Andrew, well, he's a teenager now. And for the past year, for the first time ever, they've had a home of their own.

Ms. MARIA CRUZ: Like I can't believe it. I'm like, `This is me. I own this.' You know, I keep saying that to myself all the time.

Marquis has his own bedroom.

ASSURAS: A medical assistant, Maria earns $25,000 a year, not enough to buy a house. That changed when she spotted a savings and education program for low-income working families called Individual Development Accounts at her local community center. A way to start saving.

Ms. CRUZ: My goal every month was at least 100.

ASSURAS: For every dollar Maria managed to put away, her local IDA program, one of almost 500 across the country, provided $3 in matching funds from federal, state and private sources.

Ms. CRUZ: I saved 1,333, and IDA matched me four grand.

ASSURAS: In some states, IDAs are even more generous, up to eight times of participant savings.

Unidentified Woman: Have you set a goal for yourself?

ASSURAS: The trick is learning how to save. The know-how comes from eight weeks of mandatory financial education classes. The incentives, cash for a college education, starting a small business, or, as in Maria's case, for a down payment on a first home.

Ms. CRUZ: The more I saved, the more I was going to better myself. In my heart, I was choosing a home.

ASSURAS: The philosophy, originally developed by a professor at Washington University, is that the best way to get ahead is to save money and acquire assets. IDAs are a first for the country's poor. Incentives similar to the tax breaks, or mortgage deductions middle and upper-class Americans have benefitted from for years.

•	IDA program to help lower income families save for buying a home, education CBS News, Friday, June 23, 2006 Byline: Thalia Assuras