Happy Late January, friends! Is it just us or is the year already speeding by? There's a lot going on in the world of retirement savings innovations. Warm yourself up with a steaming cup of something (did you know Jan. 31 marks National Hot Chocolate Day?) and read on:

• Treasurer Michael Frerichs on Illinois Secure Choice at Five – Wow!

• Key updates from California, Connecticut, and Maine

• Our first Correction (certainly not our first mistake though)

• A hot take on SECURE 2.0 - key features of the Saver’s Match

• Hot Sauce and Cool Stuff – Always an audience favorite!

• Swearings-in and more in Pix of the week

• A commercial moment – what! Yes.

• Five things we just heard in rooms we were in last week

• Frrresshhhh state metrics

• Updates from Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New Mexico, and Hawaii

• Scott Morrison on Wide Open Futures

You, my friend, are making it through the wintry month of February. #Welldone! We have some distractions for you today. Enjoy away!

• What’s on deck today? We think you’ll like these:

• Treasurer Michael Frerichs talks Illinois Secure Choice

• State programs serve more than 275,000 savers

• Fresh news from Oregon, Colorado, Vermont, Connecticut, Illinois, Virginia and Idaho

• Grant Sez: Let’s consider the Employer Mandate

• Super Hot Sauce … new research from NBER and NIRS

• And, you got it, Pix of the Week!