Retirement Planning

To Understand How Retirement Savings are Being Changed, Look to State Mandated Retirement Plans

To Understand How Retirement Savings are Being Changed, Look to State Mandated Retirement Plans

For millions of Americans, one day retiring comfortably is a dream - and one that they won't necessarily be in a position to easily achieve.

According to one recent study, as of 2021 about 50.3% of people over the age of 55 had willfully withdrawn from the labor force. But at the same time, approximately 25% of Americans admitted that they had no retirement savings to speak of. Roughly the same amount of people indicated that they needed at least $250,000 to retire "adequately" - while most believe that a million dollars or more is the magic number.

Statistics like these, in essence, are a big part of the reason why state-mandated retirement plans are making such a big impact across the country. Not only do they have the potential to allow people to retire comfortably, but they can also help incentivize the next generation of workers at the same time.

State Mandated Retirement: An Overview

To get a better idea of exactly what impact the right state-mandated retirement program can have, look no farther than the California CalSavers program.

The state of California has officially mandated that employers offer some type of retirement plan to their workforce. To be fair, they're not the only ones to do this - other states like Connecticut, Maryland and Illinois have already followed suit.

For California in particular, employers with more than five employees - regardless of whether they are full-time or part-time - need to offer some type of retirement plan by as soon as June 2022. If they don't, they'll need to offer a payroll deduction ROTH IRA - which is what the CalSavers program is - or they'll be required to pay fines of up to $750 per employee.

Of course, the program itself offers some disadvantages over a traditional retirement plan. CalSavers tends to have higher than average yearly administrative fees, it currently offers no tax deductions for contributions, and it isn't nearly as customizable as other options. But that isn't the point.

The point is to incentivize employers to help their employees work towards retirement in the most efficient way possible. More than that, it's seen as a way to allow millions of people to get on a better financial path for the future they've always seen for themselves.

Does it make more sense for an employer to offer their own program that is A) ultimately less expensive, but that B) offers similar results? In some cases, the answer will be yes. Is this an easy way for employers who may not have the means to do so to provide for their workers? In many cases, the answer will be yes as well.

None of this is to say that CalSavers is a bad idea, despite the fact that other options certainly offer benefits. Self-employed people, in particular, don't have an employee-sponsored retirement plan at all and this is a viable way to begin that journey. Likewise, there are a variety of automatic features that participants can pick to help customize their plan based on what makes the most sense for their situation.

Overall, state-mandated retirement plans like CalSavers are absolutely a reflection of the fast-paced modern environment that we're now living in. Today, people are far more active in terms of their investment style than they have been in the past and technology has become a big part of that. CalSavers users can sign up in a matter of minutes online, can opt-in or out of the program whenever they'd like, and can track their progress through a single account the same way they might check their bank balance.

Not only that, but they also act as a way for employers to reward their most passionate employees with a retirement plan that suits their needs. They can embrace the opportunity to allow participants to set a specific rate of savings and allow it to grow and evolve over time. It's an innovation that didn't exist even as recently as a decade ago, but it's one that a lot of people are certainly going to be paying attention to over the next ten years and beyond.

share this post
Spencer Wilson

Spencer Wilson

Spencer Wilson, EA is a tax preparer based in Long Beach, CA. Spencer Wilson Financial Management Services has been serving the Greater Los Angeles Area and Orange County since 2004. <br /> We began in the heart of Naples in Long Beach and we continue to work hard offering tax preparation and planning, business accounting and bookkeeping and payroll services . <br /> We have helped many different people and businesses succeed financially and take control over their finances.

SPENCER WILSON FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT SERVICES
28 reviews

California

Recommended Professionals

In the face of economic uncertainty, TaxBuzz is the industry's most up-to-date tax information.

Join 60,000 who get our weekly newsletter. No spam.

We know tax and accounting issues are complicated.

Do you have additional questions on this topic for this author?

Related Posts

Latest Posts