Bank On Boston: ROTH IRA Study for Young Adults

Bank On Boston is partnering with Northeastern University and other leading research institutions, including the Bogle Foundation, University of Chicago Booth School of Business, Harvard Business School, and J-PAL at MIT, to explore how young adults make financial decisions and build long-term wealth. Bank On Boston connects residents with safe, affordable, reliable financial products and services that can help them save, grow, and access their money. This initiative will test whether a simple, well-timed intervention like early access to investing paired with financial education, can set young people on a path toward long-term financial stability. Through the study, eligible participants have the opportunity to open a Roth IRA account, and some will receive a $1,000 grant to seed their account.

The study is inspired by Jonathan Clements, a longtime columnist for The Wall Street Journal who created the  “Getting Going On Savings” initiative to help young adults from low-income backgrounds build financial stability. Supported by the John C. Bogle Center for Financial Literacy, the program provides the Roth IRA grants in line with Clements vision and legacy.

Bank On Boston leads local implementation by designing and delivering financial education, managing outreach, and providing hands-on onboarding support. The Office of Youth Employment and Opportunity supports the effort by connecting the program to eligible participants aged 18 and older through the Summer Youth Employment Program. During the pilot phase, Bank On Boston educated 200 youth employees and supported 15 eligible grant recipients with individualized account onboarding support. 

Building on this foundation, the full study will expand to offer educational workshops to 500 eligible young adults, with approximately 250 expected to open and fund accounts over the next two years. This demonstrates a powerful model for combining financial education, access to safe investment products, and research to advance economic opportunity for young adults in Boston.