How Are State-Facilitated Retirement Savings Programs and the SECURE Act Affecting New Retirement Plan Formation?
October 10, 2024
Past Webinars
Past Webinars
Today, there are 17 Auto IRA state-facilitated retirement savings programs requiring employers who do not offer their workers an employer-sponsored plan to take action to offer access either by using the state program or adopting a qualified plan. Congress passed SECURE Act reforms in 2019 and 2022, which added several new tools, including pooled-employer plans (PEPs), the Starter-K plan, and tax incentives, all intended to make it easier for small employers to adopt new retirement plans of their own.
But do we know anything yet about the ways these state programs and SECURE Act reforms are affecting new retirement plan formation? The answer is yes. The latest research — a recent NBER/Georgetown Center for Retirement Initiatives (CRI) working paper — finds that state policies requiring employers to facilitate workplace savings options have induced at least 30,000 firms to establish retirement plans in four of the early adopting states. This indicates that states that have implemented Auto IRA legislation have seen an expansion in the retirement plan market for smaller employers and reduction in the retirement plan coverage gap among workers. The study also documents that firms induced to establish retirement plans differ from those that offered benefits before the policies.
Join the Georgetown CRI for a one-hour webinar to learn more about this new study from two of the paper’s authors, as well as private providers, and how the employer market is responding to new public and private options for helping workers save for retirement.
Moderator:
- Angela Antonelli, Research Professor and Executive Director, Center for Retirement Initiatives, Georgetown University’s McCourt School of Public Policy
Panelists:
- Adam Bloomfield, Ph.D., Non-Resident Scholar, Georgetown University Center for Retirement Initiatives
- Chad Parks, Founder and CEO, Ubiquity
- Manita Rao, Ph.D., Senior Strategic Policy Advisor, AARP Public Policy Institute, and Non-Resident Scholar, Georgetown University Center for Retirement Initiatives
- Jeff Rosenberger, Ph.D., Chief Operating Officer, Guideline
- Mary Torgerson, Head of Small Business Retirement, Ascensus
How Do State Retirement Savings Policies Affect Labor Supply?
May 14, 2024
A new May 2024 Georgetown Center for Retirement Initiatives (CRI) working paper examines the labor market impacts of state-facilitated automatic-enrollment IRA (Auto-IRA) programs and evaluates the effects of retirement savings policies on labor supply and wages. By examining the implementation of Auto-IRA programs in three states (California, Illinois, and Oregon), the study identifies that these programs significantly increased private sector employment between 1.8% and 2.3%. Results also indicate a potential increase of between 2.0% and 4.0% in wages after the introduction of these Auto-IRA programs.
Watch the one-hour webinar to learn more about this new study from two of the paper’s authors and hear from the leaders of these trailblazing retirement savings programs about the ways their programs are being used by employers and savers in their states.
Moderator:
- Angela Antonelli, Research Professor and Executive Director, Center for Retirement Initiatives, Georgetown University’s McCourt School of Public Policy
Panelists:
- Adam Bloomfield, Ph.D., Non-Resident Scholar, Georgetown University Center for Retirement Initiatives
- Christine Cheng, Executive Director, Illinois Secure Choice Retirement Savings Program
- Manita Rao, Ph.D., Senior Strategic Policy Advisor, AARP Public Policy Institute
- David Teykaerts, Executive Director, CalSavers
Has the Lack of Asset Diversification in DC Retirement Plans Been a Costly Missed Opportunity?
August 22, 2023
A June 2023 report by the Georgetown University’s Center for Retirement Initiatives (CRI), in conjunction with CEM Benchmarking (CEM), Has the Lack of Asset Diversification in DC Retirement Plans Been a Costly Missed Opportunity?, found that adding illiquid assets, such as private equity, real estate, and infrastructure, to the target date funds (TDFs) of defined contribution (DC) retirement plans would have resulted in a 0.15% (15 basis points) increase in return per year over a decade. When applied to all U.S. target date options, such an increase would currently represent $5 billion in additional annual net returns. For an individual participating in a DC plan, this improved return on investment, if obtained over their career, would result in an additional $2,400 per year in spending power for a retiree with $48,000 per year in retirement income.
On July 10, 2023, nine of the United Kingdom’s largest DC pension providers pledged their support for a voluntary agreement — the Mansion House Compact — to allocate 5 percent of assets in their default funds to unlisted equities by 2030.
Moderator:
- Angela Antonelli, Research Professor and Executive Director, Center for Retirement Initiatives, Georgetown University’s McCourt School of Public Policy
Panelists:
- Mark Fawcett, CEO, Nest Invest (UK)
- Chris Flynn, Head of Product Development and Research, CEM Benchmarking
- Anne Lester, Member, Board of Directors, Partners Group; and Member, Board of Directors, Smart USA
- Jani Venter, Co-President, Defined Contribution Real Estate Council (DCREC); and Head of DC Real Estate Solutions, J.P. Morgan Chase
19 States and $864+ Million in Assets:
Meet the 2023
New State-Facilitated Retirement Savings Programs
June 27, 2023
During the 2023 state legislative sessions, at least 22 states have introduced bills to establish new retirement savings programs, amend existing programs, or form study groups to explore their options. Since 2012, at least 47 states have now acted to implement a new program or a study, or have considered legislation to establish state-facilitated retirement savings programs.
As of June 2023, three new programs have been passed by legislatures: Minnesota (auto-IRA), Missouri (a voluntary Multiple Employer Plan or MEP), and Nevada (auto-IRA), which brings the total number of state programs to 19. In addition, one existing program — Vermont — changed its program from a voluntary MEP to an auto-IRA program. States also are now actively exploring interstate partnerships, which can only help to make these programs even more efficient and low cost.
Of the now 19 state programs, eight of them (six auto-IRAs — California, Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, Maryland, and Oregon, and two others — Massachusetts (MEP) and Washington (Marketplace)) are open to all eligible employers and workers. And just four of these state programs — CalSavers, MyCTSavings, Illinois Secure Choice, and OregonSaves — already have accumulated more than $838 million of the total program assets as of May 31, 2023.
Please join the Georgetown Center for Retirement Initiatives (CRI) for a one-hour webinar to hear from the state leaders instrumental in the passage of this year’s latest new state programs, along with an update about the progress of existing programs.
Moderator:
- Angela Antonelli, Research Professor and Executive Director, Center for Retirement Initiatives, Georgetown University’s McCourt School of Public Policy
Panelists:
- Senator Dallas Harris, Nevada; sponsor of the Nevada Employee Savings Trust
- Representative Michael O’Donnell, Missouri; sponsor of the ShowMe Retirement Savings Program
- Senator Sandra Pappas, Minnesota; sponsor of the Minnesota Secure Savings Retirement Program
- Michael Pieciak, Vermont State Treasurer
- Dave Young, Colorado State Treasurer
Closing the Access Gap:
What Can We Expect from SECURE 2.0 and
State-Facilitated Retirement Savings Programs?
A Review of Progress and the 2023 Outlook
February 9, 2023
At the start of 2023, there are 16 state-facilitated retirement savings programs designed to provide workers who lack access to an employer-sponsored plan with the opportunity to save for retirement. Just three of these state programs — CalSavers, Illinois Secure Choice, and OregonSaves — already have accumulated $640 million in assets. More recently, they have been joined by three additional state auto-IRA programs that are now open to all eligible workers — MyCTSavings, Maryland$aves, and the Colorado SecureSavings Program.
Congress also passed SECURE 2.0 at the end of last year, a second set of retirement reforms that build off the SECURE Act reforms passed in 2019, intended to help encourage and support new retirement plan adoption and worker participation in those plans.
During this one-hour webinar experts shared their observations about how the latest federal reforms could reshape the retirement plan market and expand coverage and participation. In addition, three of the newest state-facilitated retirement savings programs provided updates on their progress to date.
Moderator:
- Angela Antonelli, Research Professor and Executive Director, Center for Retirement Initiatives, Georgetown University’s McCourt School of Public Policy
Panelists:
- Will Hansen, Chief Government Affairs Officer, American Retirement Association
- Jessica Muirhead, Executive Director, MyCTSavings
- Chad Mullen, Director, Financial Security, AARP
- Chad Parks, CEO, Ubiquity Retirement + Savings
- William (“Hunter”) Railey, Executive Director, Colorado SecureSavings Program
- Glenn Simmons, Executive Director, Maryland$aves
State-Facilitated Retirement Savings Programs:
How 40,000 Employers Have Helped 400,000 Employees
Save $400 Million for Retirement …
and It’s Just the Beginning
A Review of Progress and the 2022 Outlook
February 17, 2022
New state-facilitated retirement savings programs are making a significant contribution to closing the gap for 57 million private sector workers who have lacked access to employer-sponsored retirement savings plans. In just the past six years, 14 states have adopted programs with the potential to reach almost 20 million of these workers.
The success of these programs is already evident. Even though many of these efforts remain in their early stages of planning and implementation, just three of these states — CalSavers, Illinois Secure Choice, and OregonSaves — have already accumulated $420 million in assets from more than 440,000 savers working for 47,000 different employers, and they are still bringing new employers and savers on board every day.
More of the new state programs are slated to begin working with employers and enrolling new savers in 2022. State leadership continues to drive innovation as states are now also looking to create interstate agreements and partner to launch such programs. Colorado and New Mexico are working on a partnership agreement, and more seem likely to consider this approach to increase retirement savings access affordably and effectively.
During this one-hour webinar several of these state-facilitated retirement savings programs shared their experiences to date, how these new program continue to innovate in their design and implementation, and what the experience has been for both employers and employees.
Moderator:
- Angela Antonelli, Research Professor and Executive Director, Center for Retirement Initiatives, Georgetown University’s McCourt School of Public Policy
Panelists:
- The Honorable Stacy Garrity, Treasurer, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
- The Honorable Josh Gotbaum, Chair, MarylandSaves
- Mary Morris, CEO, Virginia529 and the VA Retirement Savings Program
- John Scott, Retirement Savings Project Director, The Pew Charitable Trusts
- Katie Selenski, Executive Director, CalSavers Retirement Savings Board
- The Honorable Dave Young, Treasurer, State of Colorado, and Chair, Colorado Secure Savings Program Board
