Marriage Development Accounts

What they are

Marriage Development Accounts (or MDAs) are a new savings program to help married and engaged couples eliminate debt, increase their savings, and build wealth through long-term investment.

Marriage Development Accounts are part of Together is Better: The Campaign to Strengthen DC Families, Marriages & Communities. The initiative promotes healthy families and marriages in DC’s low-income African-American communities, where child poverty rates have climbed above 50%, many families have zero or negative net worth, and fewer than 20% of children are living in households headed by two parents. The idea, introduced by Senator Sam Brownback (R-KS) and strongly supported by Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC), is a response to a growing body of research on child well-being which indicates that children born and raised in households where their biological parents are married enjoy significant financial and emotional advantages.

Who qualifies

To qualify for a CAAB MDA, a couple's combined income (adjusted gross income) cannot exceed $50,000.

Other eligibility criteria:

• Both members of the couple must be residents of the District of Columbia to participate.
  
• The couple's combined total assets must be less than $10,000, excluding the value of a primary residence and one vehicle.
  
• Homeownership savers must be qualified first-time homebuyers in the District of Columbia (that is, they did not own a home in the District one year prior to the purchase date of the home purchased with their MDA funds), and must purchase in Washington, DC.
  
• Engaged couples are eligible to open an MDA but must be married by the time they plan to use their savings and matching funds for qualified purchases.

How they work

Couples with combined earnings of $50,000 or less may be eligible to open a Marriage Development Account (or MDA) with CAAB and receive a 3:1 match on up to $3,000 of personal savings, for a total of $12,000 that can be invested in higher education, a small business, or purchase of a first home in DC.

View CAAB's MDA Press Release, MDA Brochure, and information for prospective applicants. Adobe Reader is required to view these files. For more information about CAAB MDAs, e-mail mda@caab.org or call Matthew Peterson at 202-419-1440 ext. 102.