Blogging recently about the spread of state initiatives to require private companies to offer retirement plans to their workers, a Washington Post reporter likened the movement to “Obamacare for retirement.” The blog post — and many other press reports like it — reflects the fact that mainstream media outlets are beginning to pick up on the retirement coverage issue. Inevitably, this will increase the politicization of the issue.
With the nation’s retirement system “broken,” according to the article, and fewer people in DB plans (in part because of the shorter tenure of workers), we need to start thinking about DC plans as the solution. But if people do not have access to retirement plans at work, they are less likely to save. So states are taking up the cause, with initiatives in Connecticut, California, Maryland and many other states.
One key to success is that these plans be on an opt-out, not opt-in, basis in order to have a more dramatic, immediate effect. Also under discussion is the role in these plans of private enterprise and plan advisors. Stay tuned; we’ll be tracking developments in this area closely, including a Brian Graff commentary in the summer issue of NAPA Net the Magazine and the cover story of our fall issue.
