Helping more New Yorkers save for retirement

The State is in the process of creating the Secure Choice Savings Program, an automatic payroll-deduction retirement savings option for private sector workers who can’t now get one. Currently, more than half of working New Yorkers have no way of saving for retirement through their employer. We need this program to be as strong as possible to make it easier for private sector workers to build their own retirement savings.

The New York State legislature has passed legislation during the 2021 legislative session to strengthen the Secure Choice Savings Program, and now Governor Hochul has signed this important bill into law. Please send a message thanking Governor Hochul and your state legislators for empowering more New Yorkers to gain financial independence in retirement.

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Dear Decision Maker,

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I thank Governor Hochul and all the state legislators who empowered more New Yorkers to save for retirement by enacting S.5395-A (Savino) / A.3213-A (Rodriguez). Currently, more than 3.5 million employees in New York State go to work every day without a way to save for retirement at work such as a 401(k). That is more than half the state’s 18- to 64-year-old private-sector workforce. But this important legislation will change that.

The Secure Choice Savings Program is a state-facilitated retirement savings program that allows private-sector employers to offer retirement savings vehicles to their employees. The law passed in 2018 required employees to opt-in to the program, rather than opt-out, and it is optional for employers to participate, but for this program to be truly effective, ALL workers must have a way to save for retirement out of their regular paycheck. This means ensuring that all eligible employers in the state who don't currently offer employees a way to save make this program available, as well as proactively enrolling employees in the program unless they choose to opt-out.

Workers are 15 times more likely to save for retirement if their employer offers a way to do so, and 20 times more likely to do so if they are automatically enrolled in the savings program unless they choose to opt-out. Without a payroll deduction option, only 5 percent of employees save for retirement. Therefore, this update to the Secure Choice Savings Program is vital to ensuring that employees have the opportunity to save for retirement with ease at their place of employment.

I again thank all the Senators and Assembly Members who voted in support of the Secure Choice Savings Program, and thank Governor Kathy Hochul for signing S.5395-A (Savino) / A.3213-A (Rodriguez) into law.

Sincerely,

[First Name] [Last Name]
[Your Address]

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