Like Your Employer?
Some of us are fortunate enough to work for companies that value our contributions, provide us with meaningful work and opportunities to grow professionally while advancing to higher positions of responsibility. If you are really lucky, you also have a 401K retirement plan with matching contributions from your employer. Now, if you work for Dun & Bradstreet Credibility Corp, your employer will not only match your contributions to your 401K retirement account, they will match your contributions to a specific 529 college savings plan so that your kids may some day go to college without having to harvest their own organs for payment.
Brought to our attention this Tuesday by Ann Carrns in her blog, "Bucks - Making the Most of Your Money," for The New York Times, Dun & Bradstreet's innovative new program relies on the basic premise that employees would probably feel inspired to save more for their children's education, and subsequently borrow less money, if their employer helped them save with matching contributions. This basic format forms the basis for employees' 401K retirement plans, so why shouldn't the same model work for employees' saving for their kids' education?
Dun & Bradstreet Credibility Corporation, headquartered in Los Angeles with offices throughout North America, provides credit-building services to small businesses. Their education program, dubbed "EdAhead," will match annual employee contributions up to $1,000 for hourly employees, and up to $2,500 for salaried employees. "One of the biggest problems we have is finding talent, and it starts with education," said Jeffrey Stibel, Dun & Bradstreet's CEO. Stibel (and Heather) hope that other companies follow their lead and adopt similar employee investment programs.
To read more about Dun & Bradstreet's innovative approach, click here.