You may know The Smith Family as Australia’s largest educational charity for children, however the charity also supports adult learners and parents who have children at school. The Saver Plus Program is a financial education program within The Smith Family designed for people like us university students!

I met with Stacey Allerton, who is a Savings & MoneyMinded Coach and also works for the Saver Plus program within The Smith Family, to discuss these programs as well as financial wellbeing & literacy for university students.

This article is where you can read about and listen to the Saver Plus program. For more, read about and listen to my interview with Stacey Allerton on financial wellbeing & literacy here.

Stacey and The Smith Family take the perspective that, in Stacey’s words, “everybody can always learn more”. Stacey highlights how anyone can learn more about their finances and that she learns a lot from the participants in the programs, whether this be a saving strategy or shopping hack.

So, what exactly is this amazing program?

Saver Plus

The Saver Plus program is a 10-month matched savings program designed to support lifelong saving habits. As part of the program, participants attend the MoneyMinded financial education workshops, create a budget and have their savings matched up to $500 by ANZ to help with education costs.

Best features of the Saver Plus program:
✅Free MoneyMinded workshops

✅$500 matched savings contribution for educational expenses by ANZ

✅Maximum weekly contribution of $12.50 a week, $25 a fortnight or $50 per month over the 10 months of the program. Not too daunting however you must commit to saving each month

✅Individual financial coaching

✅Budget development

✅A community of future financial savvy individuals and supportive mentors

The $500 matched savings contribution for educational expenses is certainly a significant draw into the program. Stacey discusses how students use this money to upgrade their laptops, pay for placement or residential schools, purchase professional dress or use the money for course fees.

MoneyMinded

The MoneyMinded component of the Saver Plus program involves 5 online workshops hosted on Zoom.

The 5 Workshops Cover

1. Financial Goal-Setting
2. Saving and Spending
3. Everyday Banking Options & Scams
4. Credit
5. Superannuation

Come for the money and knowledge, leave with that and a community. The online workshops are very supportive and collaborative experiences where students develop their financial skills and share their own experiences. When struggling with saving, no matter how much or how little, having a community of people who are in the same boat offers comfort. The wonderful representatives from The Smith Family and other students let you know that you are not alone and that you’re supported each step of the way.

“How can I become involved?” I hear you ask. To be eligible to join Saver Plus, you need to meet ALL listed requirements:

• Be 18 years or older
• Have a current Health Care/Pensioner Concession Card
• Be studying or have a child in school/starting school next year
• Have a regular income from you or your partner (can be seasonal or casual work)
• Agree to join in free online financial education workshops

Points to consider

Any employment counts: casual, seasonal, part-time or full-time. If you’re not sure if you are eligible, complete the online enquiry form!

You don’t need to be earning during the entire program, seasonal employment counts. However, you must commit to saving each month.

So, you’re eligible or think you might be (or you’re unsure). Now what?

Go to this website, scroll down the page and fill in the online inquiry form. Soon, you’ll hear back from a Queensland representative to determine eligibility and if you’re successful you’ll organise to meet with a representative to fill out a Saver Plus application form and decide upon a goal. Woohoo!!! Now you can join the program and workshops.

What are you waiting for? Even if you’re unsure, visit the Saver Plus webpage and see how you can get involved!

But first, you can listen to my interview with Stacey, where we discuss the Saver Plus program in more detail here

You can also tune into our conversation on financial well-being and literacy for university students here or read more about this discussion here. Happy saving!