A new, state-facilitated program called Secure Choice is beginning to automatically enroll small business employees, aimed at giving about 300,000 Minnesotans unprecedented access to retirement benefits.
Secure Choice Executive Director Chad Roberts told Morning Edition that the state’s responsibility to help people save — in addition to social security — for life after their careers eases the burden for the rest of the public.
“That social safety net does not have to reach as far, because everybody has their own safety net with retirement,” he said.
More than a dozen states are participating in the program. In Minnesota, the Legislature approved it in 2023, and a staggered rollout began in January and runs through June 2028 based on the number of employees at a business. The default savings rate is 5 percent.
Roberts said the feedback from businesses and employees has been largely positive.
“Employees can opt out, but right now, we're only seeing 16 percent of enrolled employees drop out of the program, and so to us, that's clear evidence that 80-85 percent of Minnesota workers without retirement want this opportunity to save for their own retirement,” he explained.
While money is tight for many right now, “how hard is it going to be at the end of your working career, when you can't generate more income and you don't have anything to buy gas with, to buy groceries with, to pay rent or mortgage with,” he argued. “And money today invested in retirement is worth much more at the time you retire, and so saving a little now gets you a lot later.”