Talent Is Equally Distributed, But Opportunity Is Not

Leigh Phillips, SaverLife President & CEO, delivered this speech at Stand Together Foundation’s August 2022 Catalyst Summit in Denver, Colorado to an audience of over 300 nonprofit leaders. She discusses how an equitable financial system can empower all people to improve their financial health for good.

Presentation Transcript

If you are born poor in the United States, the chances are that you will remain poor. Similarly, if you are born wealthy, odds are you will always be wealthy. In fact, the data show that only 4% of those raised in the bottom 20% will climb all the way to the top of the economic ladder. Incredibly, my family was one of them.

At first glance, our story is a classic rags-to-riches tale. My dad was born poor in southern England- we’re talking outdoor toilet poor. They were poor, but they were happy - my dad wanted you all to know that. He left school at 14, and seemed destined for a working-class life on the factory floor or in the shipyards. But one day, a chance encounter with a military recruiter set his life on a different trajectory. His military service gave him a chance at an education, which led to a white collar job in a powerful emerging industry at the time -  semiconductors. Later, we would leave the United Kingdom and move to Silicon Valley, as my dad worked his way up the corporate ladder. By the time I was fourteen, we were living the California dream - money in the bank, a house with a pool, American citizenship. My brother and I attended one of the best public schools in the country and my dad achieved his biggest dream - to give his kids the opportunities he never had. 

From outdoor toilet to swimming pool in one generation. Remarkable, right? 

But, like most bootstrapping stories, if you look a little closer, you will see that he had help along the way. The military recruiter paid for my dad’s travel to take the entrance exam for the Royal Marines. My dad could never have afforded the train ticket. The military subsidized his education. The British government welcomed American technology companies to create “silicon glen” and bring good jobs to Southern Scotland. My maternal grandfather, a shipyard foreman, helped my parents to buy their first home, creating intergenerational wealth. When we made it to the United States, a company credit union helped us build the credit we would need to establish ourselves financially - to buy a car and get a mortgage. And don’t forget the access we had to retirement savings, healthcare, immigration attorneys - all paid for by my dad’s employer. What strikes me about many of these life-changing moments of opportunity, is how relatively simple they are - a train ticket. An associate degree. A credit score. But what is remarkable is how hard these things are to come by if you don’t have that help along the way.  

My name is Leigh Phillips, I am the daughter of Kelvin Phillips, and the CEO of SaverLife, an online community of over 600,000 hard working Americans committed to building financial health for themselves and their families. As the CEO of a nonprofit in the financial technology sector, my mission is to ensure that our members - and the thousands more who are joining SaverLife every month - have the same access to opportunity that changed the balance for my family.

SaverLife exists because almost 40% of Americans do not have $400 in savings. We exist because over half of American families live paycheck to paycheck, with nothing left over for wealth building. We exist because White families in America have 10x the wealth of Black families. We exist because we know that income alone will not keep a family out of poverty. Investing in assets - like an education, starting a business, buying a home, saving and investing - this is what can lift families out of poverty for good. 

We have a powerful new tool in our fight to increase economic mobility - financial technology. SaverLife is using tech to help people to save and build assets.  Our work is grounded in behavioral science. Through an engaging online platform, we provide cash rewards to encourage consistent savings and help our members to set and achieve financial goals.  Our actionable advice on money management and a vibrant online community support our members on every step of their journey to financial freedom. And it works. On average, our members - who earn about $30,000 a year - triple their rate of savings in the first six months. This matters: our research shows that just $250 in savings reduces the risk of eviction by 71%.

Saverife member Erica, who lives in Augusta, Georgia, works full-time at a call center. She makes just $10 an hour and before joining SaverLife she would set money aside when she could. Once she became a SaverLife member, she committed to set aside $50 from each paycheck. Every week she could visit SaverLife and see her account grow.

During a routine checkup for her younger son, the doctor discovered an issue requiring immediate surgery. Although many of her son’s expenses were covered while he was hospitalized, Erica had to take unpaid leave to care for him because, like the vast majority of Americans, her job provides no paid family leave. She dipped into her savings to cover the unavoidable loss of income and avoid financial disaster. She is now rebuilding her emergency fund by saving $75 per paycheck towards her future.

Wealth-building starts with savings. When we begin to stash even a few dollars in a savings account regularly, we’re better prepared to survive a financial emergency, from a flat tire to a sudden loss of income. And once we have the cash saved to get through these kinds of disruptions without taking on debt, we can start to build wealth— the kind of wealth that enables us to get a better job, purchase a home, and plan for investing and retirement.

Erica is building towards this. While working full-time and raising two young boys, she finished all of the required courses to become a pharmaceutical technician. Her wages would jump to $15 per hour. But there was a catch. Even though she has finished all the coursework, Erica’s college won’t give her her degree because she still owes them money for tuition.  And because she hasn’t received her official degree, she hasn’t been able to get that higher-paying job. The truly heartbreaking part? It’s just $500 a semester. Just like my dad, Erica was working and going to school to create a better life for herself and her kids. Just like my dad, she earned an associates degree. But unlike my dad, Erica’s pathway out of poverty is blocked by just a few hundred dollars. 

So how could a financial system designed to help everyone to build wealth change the balance for hardworking people like Erica? If Erica’s employer offered a savings match for her emergency fund, she would have doubled what she had saved in the bank and been able to cover that $500 expense.  If Erica had access to affordable credit, perhaps she could have borrowed the money at a reasonable rate to be paid back over time, while building a credit score. If Erica had access to a 529 account - the vehicle I use to save for education - perhaps she could have invested her money tax free. Our members join SaverLife because we provide tools  just like these - well-designed products, timely advice, cash rewards, employer savings programs. Everyone deserves equal access to the tools and resources that build wealth. And, through technology we can get it done at scale.

My dad has a favorite phrase I must’ve heard a million times, and it always made me roll my eyes as a kid- “luck is when preparation meets opportunity.” But now I see there is truth to that. But there is also another truth - talent is equally distributed but opportunity is not. How do we make sure that no one’s dreams are put on hold for want of a few hundred dollars?  And, how might we ensure that potential is equally met with opportunity? We do it by removing the financial barriers that prevent too many Americans from getting ahead, staying ahead, and creating long-term wealth. 

SaverLife is making that dream a reality for hundreds of thousands of people. Join us at saverlife.org.