Op-Ed: After holiday spending, families deserve more ways to save

For many Louisiana families, the holidays are not just a season of celebrations, they are a season of spending. Christmas dinner costs more than it used to. Parents stretch their budgets to make Christmas morning special for kids who don’t yet understand inflation, and with the new year comes new costs.

While the pressure is felt across the country, it’s especially sharp for Louisiana families. The U.S. Census Bureau’s Household Pulse Survey found that 43.1% of adults in Louisiana reported at least some difficulty paying their usual household expenses in a given week, while the national share was lower at 37%. A recent retail survey found shoppers planning to spend less than the year before, expecting higher prices, and cutting back on extras while searching harder for deals.

Louisiana families have enough difficulty rebuilding savings after the holidays, but many of our current financial products make it harder than it should be. When was the last time your savings account felt like it rewarded you f...