RETIREMENT SECURITY MATTERS
A forum for retirement innovation information sharing focused on
states, supporters, and service providers.
Vol 27 | March 25, 2021
Rally Around Retirement Security! the Wisconsin Way
Sarah Godlewski,
Treasurer, Wisconsin
We talk this week with a 5th generation Wisconsinite, small business owner, proud Green Bay Packers shareholder, and financial expert from Eau Claire, WI – state treasurer Sarah Godlewski.

When we last spoke, the Treasurer was on a mission to understand retirement and financial security in the state. We tracked her down to hear the results, and the Task Force’s recommendations.

Always a person of action, the Treasurer gives us – and you – the scoop, here.
Treasurer Sarah Godlewski, thank you so much for joining us again. When we spoke in July, you were spearheading the effort to study retirement security in Wisconsin. Tell us what you found.

Well, we found that it's a bigger problem than people realize. There's a couple of interesting facts. The first is if we do nothing -- if the state of Wisconsin decides that they will just let the status quo continue -- we will see over 400,000 Wisconsin seniors in poverty by 2030.

The system has to change. And that is quite clear because not only is it the right thing to do for our people, it's also the fiscally responsible thing to do. If we don't do anything, not only are you going to see those 400,000 Wisconsin seniors living in poverty, that poverty comes at a cost to the state of an additional $3.5 billion by 2030. So smart investments today will allow us to be proactive and enable a better outcome. Not only because it's good for our people, because it's also good for our state financially.

Terrific, fiscally sound thinking! You met with the Governor and issued your Report and Recommendations this February. What did your Task Force recommend?

So, we took a very holistic approach with our recommendations. We wanted to think about retirement security from start to finish and across a range of themes we were hearing.

SHORTCUT: THE FIVE RECOMMENDATIONS IN A NUTSHELL

  1. Incentivize auto-enrollment best practices to boost participation in workplace retirement plans by engaging employers to provide employees with the choice to opt-out versus opt-in.

(What! We cut you off mid list! … check out the rest of the list here.)

Thank you Treasurer Sarah! For more - connect on social: @WITreasurer and @SarahforWI, and directly with the Treasurer and her team via email here. See the Wisconsin Retirement Security Resource page here.
Georgetown on My Mind: Sweet Retirement Success
Angela Antonelli, Executive Director, Georgetown Center for Retirement Initiatives
If you work in the state facilitated retirement savings space, this intro might feel redundant, because we suspect you know Angela Antonelli very well. As the Executive Director of the Georgetown Center for Retirement Initiatives, Angela works closely with policymakers, states and stakeholders to strengthen retirement security by expanding the availability and improving the effectiveness of retirement savings, investment and income solutions for private sector workers.

We’re going to say some official things, like: Angela M. Antonelli is a Research Professor and the Executive Director of the
Center for Retirement Initiatives (CRI) at Georgetown University’s McCourt School of Public Policy. She also is a Fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration. These are important things. We’ll also say we owe a debt of gratitude to Angela for her unflagging energy and creativity and for her commitment to the space, and the extensive public service experience she brings to her role.

Angela Antonelli, we are so pleased to have you with us today. You founded the Georgetown Center for Retirement Initiatives in the early days of the current state retirement security movement. What was that like?

Thank you so much for the opportunity to spend some time with you! The retirement security movement actually has been around for a long time. What drove the creation of the Georgetown Center for Retirement Initiatives (CRI) was the realization that if we kept waiting for the federal government or private sector to address the fact that 57 million private sector workers go to work every day, but don't have a way to save for retirement through an employer-provided plan that we would essentially be waiting forever.

We love❤ it.

So, Mark Iwry and David John, the bi-partisan dynamic duo, combined forces and developed the idea of the Automatic IRA account. It was originally envisioned as something that would be adopted at the federal level, but progress stalled. (There’s a LOT more to this story – get the rest of the scoop here.)

Thank you Angela Antonelli! If you’d like to connect directly with the wonderful Angela Antonelli, you can reach her here. In addition to the CRI’s website, you can follow Angela’s work and the Georgetown Center for Retirement Initiatives on Twitter and LinkedIn.
State Program Metrics - Auto IRAs
Fast Facts as of Feb 28 – assets across programs are quickly closing in on $200 million and are up 17% in the two months ended February 28 and 63% since September 30. At its recent Board meeting, CalSavers reported program assets were just shy of $50 million. More importantly, funded accounts have crossed the 300,000 mark and average account balances are climbing. Oregon has reported their average is now over $1,000.

Opt out rates declined slightly again this month, and are running at about 32% with effective participation at 68%. Participation depends on employer facilitation, so the stats that follow matter.

More than 30,000 employers have registered to facilitate program savings. 24,000 have added employee rosters. 12,782 have started payroll deductions for their participating employees.
State Facilitated Retirement Programs - The Latest
Arkansas (workforce 1.4 million) – HB 1349, the Every Arkansan Retirement Plan Opportunity Act creating a Multiple Employer Plan, appears to be dead for this session. After passing the House on 3/9 the bill was sent to the Senate where it failed on a vole of 15 yeas to 9 nays – and 5 abstentions. Often states will work in the “off season” to expand involvement and support from key stakeholders. We’ll keep an eye 👁 out for you, Arkansas!
California (workforce 17.9 million) – This January CalSavers had its second annual round of automatic escalation of contribution rates for savers. 96% of participants adopted the change, including a some who made the decision to increase their contributions beyond the 1 percent increase. At its March 17 Board meeting, the Board covered a range of topics and progress updates. The CalSavers site now boasts ten unique languages (check out the languages drop down box), and Ascensus is actively working with CalSavers on subject line testing for employer communication to suss out what’s most effective. Separately, ED Katie Selenski provided a report on CalSavers’ achievement of its 2018-21 strategic goals, and provided a draft set for the coming period. We love these – take a look.
Colorado (workforce 2.6 million) – Following its March 10 meeting, on March 15, the Colorado Secure Savings Program Board recently released a Request for Proposals (RFP) for an Investment Consultant and another for a Program Consultant. The deadline for submission for both RFPs is April 30, 2021.
Connecticut (workforce 1.6 million) – the Connecticut Retirement Security Authority met on March 19; among its most important considerations was the introduction of program service provider BNY Mellon through its Sumday team. The team walked through proposals related to brand and identity, program oversight, and an implementation timeline including a potential pilot date of July 2021. That date is right around the corner and includes key dependencies, such as decisions related to the program’s investment lineup. The CRSA Program, Design and Investment Committee met March 24 to consider a set of operating and process recommendations, including the role of employers, process timing, and approach to the default investments. Discussion to be continued.
Hawaii (workforce 655,000) – Hawaii is working on a study bill related to retirement security in the state. On March 19, The committee on Labor, Culture and the Arts recommended that the measure be passed, with amendments. Amendments include some minor housekeeping and as recommended by NAIFA, that the proposed Task Force include a private sector retirement expert. A companion bill in the House has yet to be heard in Committee. During testimony, AARP State Advocacy Director Kealii Lopez spoke in favor of the bill, commenting (we paraphrase): “We have found while working to vaccinate our kupuna over age 75 that we need to bring the vaccine to them. When we do, their participation rates jump up. Retirement savings is the same. We need to provide access, and we need to make it easy. That’s the way to create real retirement security in Hawaii.”
Illinois (workforce 5.7 million) – The Illinois Secure Choice program has proposed legislation for the 2021 session; the bill exited its House committee with a Do Pass recommendation on March 19.
Meetings on Deck.


Grant's Go-To's: Aiming at Target Date Funds
Determining the “default” investment for savers who do not actively choose where to direct their contributions is a weighty decision. The downside of putting the money into investments that carry more risk, and a greater potential for loss, is obvious. But parking the contributions in a “safe” investment with lower risk means participants’ accounts may not grow sufficiently to provide significant income security in retirement. Increasingly, target-date funds (TDFs) have become a popular solution.

TDFs, which are included in the Department of Labor’s definition of a Qualified Default Investment Alternative, are generally pegged to a person’s age and/or likely …
For more information about investment options adopted by programs already launched and operating, here are links that provide more details: CalSavers; Illinois Secure Choice; OregonSaves; Massachusetts Core Plan for Nonprofits; Washington State Retirement Marketplace.

What’s on tap for next time? As the first state-facilitated programs begin to mature a bit and more and more states have programs in development, I’ve been thinking a lot about how we might measure success.

Stay tuned! / Grant
Hot Sauce! Cool Stuff.
What should be on your calendar this spring?

  • The 2021 Aspen Leadership Forum on Retirement Savings - don't miss the public kickoff event on April 15. Register here. Thank you Karen Andres and Ida Rademacher for creating and hosting such a terrific convening.
  • NAST, the National Association of State Treasurers,holds its Treasury Management Training Symposium (TMTS, you acronym lovers), starting this May. We think this event will be held virtually, and not in Indiana. Bookmark this page so you can check it out and register. All hail Kari Arfstrom and team for their excellent work bringing this behemoth together.
  • And, this pulls us into the summer months, when DCIIA and SPARK will be hosting their joint annual Public Policy Series. You can get planning info on that one right here. It's another don't miss set of gatherings. Wig up, well done, Lew Minsky and Tim Rouse and teams.
  • You can slip this in any time - also wearing a wig for us this week - have you heard Josh Cohen's new podcast, The Accidental Plan Sponsor? We're just cracking it open. Riveting, especially if you're a retirement nerd! We love your style, Josh.

What We’re Reading: Since we haven’t had any female presidents, we’re going to give you a presidential reading break this week. Well, we did read Becoming, by Michelle Obama. That’s president-adjacent, we suppose.

And then we swooped over to Broadway and Hollywood to read Cicely Tyson’s Just as I Am. Filled with snippets, insights, and good storytelling. Favorite quote so far: “The day we cease to explore is the day we begin to wilt”. Love that she wrote this all the way into her 96th year and regretful that she’s not still with us. Realizing we have lots of shows and movies to add to the watch and rewatch list, including Roots, The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman, and Sounder.

P.S. We love to cover new research and fresh thinking. Got something to share? Drop us a line.
... and here we are for some PIX of the Week!
We don’t care what team you support, these are the best looking Cheeseheads we have ever seen! The short one on the left is growing up awful fast. ❤ Hartley ❤ Thank you for sharing your family with us, Treasurer Sarah!
Ok, we’re not going to say there’s any sort of pupp-etition going on here (we love you, Fiscal Watchdog Tanner!), but are these not the cutest pugs on the planet?
Please meet Daisy (left) and Duke (right), the lucky pugs of the Antonelli household.
We hear they are the latest in a long line of beloved family pugs, and loving the pug-demic attention they’ve been getting over the last year.

So puggable. OK that’s it. No more pug puns.

The cutest.
When you’re done hugging your pugs (OK we weren’t done yet), you might like to take a nice break walking at the Great Falls Park in Virginia, bursting with melting snow and just a few miles from your house. Here you’ll find a refuge during the pandemic and a sense of peace in the evening. And, if you are lucky, you’ll find the Antonellis, and … maybe … Daisy and Duke. We think, like the shot above, that the men are standing behind the camera for these smart and successful women this week. (Shoutout, Mike and Max!)
OK, is this weird? We have found that last night’s salad makes a terrific morning omelette … #cookingtips #yourewelcome
That was a caesar, and it was delicious. Both times. (Spouse sez: now you know why I eat out so often). and ... ‘Tis the season for these little wonders … may you enjoy the best luck of the Irish for a long time to come 🍀!
OK, that’s a wrap. ❤ Hug your people and change the world.

If you like this piece, please stick with us. We’ll be back in about two weeks. If you don’t like it, please unsubscribe below. Comments for us? Please let us know. Want your own subscription? Request one here. All information shared is from public sources or used with express permission.
Massena Associates provides process, policy, and implementation consulting on retirement savings programs and products.

Our clientele includes states, governments, policy organizations, and private sector providers. Our specialty – efficient, targeted results. We are an active speaker on retirement security topics, including state-facilitated programs, MEPs and more.

If you’d like to explore working together, we welcome the conversation. Connect with us here, and at 339-236-0684.
RESOURCES
Looking for a great retirement savings innovation resource? Led by Dr. Alicia Munnell, the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College develops and hosts terrific content and proprietary research related to states, financial security, social security, and more.

The Georgetown Center for Retirement Initiatives, Exec Angela Antonelli, provides excellent information on state-based and other retirement security innovation and policy.

Pew’s Retirement Savings Project studies the challenges and opportunities for increasing retirement savings and is another great resource - check out the work of John Scott and his terrific team.

If you want a great source of broad-based, consumer-focused retirement news, Jeffrey H. Snyder’s The Morning Pulse is your ticket. You can subscribe here.