Let's Make It Cool to Save

· Create a Financial Product Safety Commission modeled after the Consumer Product Safety Commission. This idea comes from Elizabeth Warren, a professor at Harvard Law School, who argues that consumers can't independently rate the safety of financial products -- just as they cannot with consumer products. This new agency would, among other things, establish consumer disclosure rules, review new financial products for safety and require modifications of excessively dangerous products.

· Use state lottery outlets to encourage people to save by selling "savings tickets." Under this proposal, lottery outlets would sell interest-bearing savings bonds. If you bought a bond, you would be eligible to receive a cash prize through a drawing, similar to a lottery. The bond could be redeemed at any time, but the longer that the owner holds it, the greater the bond's value.

Coalition leaders argue it's time to use the same tactics as the financial institutions and state lotteries to capture people's attention.

To start, how about playing off Capital One's ubiquitous ad slogan, "What's in your wallet?"

The thrift initiative could advertise instead: "What's in my wallet? Cash!"

Or what if they turned the popular "Got milk?" slogan into "Got cash? You've got choices."

Media are powerful, and with the right message, I think this coalition can renew the value of thriftiness and get people to curtail their credit usage.

· On the air: Michelle Singletary discusses personal finance Tuesdays on NPR's "Day to Day" program and online athttp://www.npr.org.

· By mail: Readers can write to her at The Washington Post, 1150 15th St. NW, Washington, D.C. 20071.

· By e-mail:singletarym@washpost.com.

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