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SaverLife said on Tuesday it has launched a customized version of its financial-wellness app for skilled trades apprentices through a partnership with BlackRock. The SaverLife x BlackRock Future Builders app, funded by The BlackRock Foundation’s Future Builders initiative, is intended to give union electrical apprentices tailored tools to manage debt, build credit and grow savings.
The app is being rolled out to more than 75,000 workers through the electrical training ALLIANCE (etA), the national training partnership between the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) and the National Electrical Contractors Association (NECA), SaverLife said. Under the partnership, union apprentices who are enrolled in BlackRock Future Builders programs will be eligible for cash incentives as they move through their training and adopt healthier financial habits.
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SaverLife described the platform as combining financial-health expertise, behavioral science, real-time data and artificial intelligence to provide “just-in-time” financial support. The organization said the free SaverLife app already supports over 800,000 Americans, with a majority of users saving more after joining the platform.
BlackRock characterized the effort as a response to research from its Read on Retirement initiative, which found that a majority of skilled trades workers reported they should be saving more for retirement. “The skilled trades are opening doors to family-supporting careers and greater economic opportunity for millions of Americans,” John Kelly, global head of corporate affairs at BlackRock, said in a statement. “At BlackRock, we believe that opportunity should translate into long-term financial security. By bringing innovative financial tools directly into the apprenticeship experience, we can help workers build toward financial success from their first paycheck and throughout their careers,” Kelly added.
Organizer statements
“As technology reshapes our economy, we have an opportunity to rethink not only how we prepare people for the jobs of the future, but how we help them build lasting financial security through those careers,” SaverLife CEO Leigh Phillips said. “We’re proud to partner with BlackRock Future Builders to bring personalized, technology-enabled financial guidance into the workforce development experience, supporting IBEW-NECA apprentices with timely guidance, motivation and practical tools to build savings and financial confidence from the start,” Phillips added.
The announcement frames the app as a workforce-development adjunct: it is targeted specifically at apprentices in the skilled trades and links financial coaching and incentives directly to participation in training programs. SaverLife and BlackRock positioned the initiative as addressing both short-term needs—managing debt and building emergency savings—and longer-term retirement preparedness.
BlackRock’s Future Builders initiative is the named funder of the customized app through The BlackRock Foundation. SaverLife and BlackRock presented the program as part of broader efforts to support access to career pathways and financial stability for workers entering skilled trades, but did not provide independent data in the announcement on projected savings outcomes for the new cohort of apprentices.
This rollout is limited to the apprenticeship population covered by the etA partnership and the stated BlackRock Future Builders programs; the organizations did not say the app constitutes a nationwide mandate or that it will immediately extend beyond the etA network. Statements and figures in this article are drawn from SaverLife and BlackRock’s announcement and the organizations’ cited research.
