Michael Parker with OregonSaves, and John Adler with NYC’s Office of Pension and Investments share their experiences and expertise on state-facilitated retirement savings programs.

When it comes to state retirement savings initiatives, states are learning from one another and looking to each other for guidance. And that’s a good thing.

One of the key decisions in the development of a state-facilitated retirement savings program is whether to require employers to participate if they don’t already have some type of qualifying plan available for their employees. Making a program voluntary for employers can look like the easier path to legislative success. On the other hand, employer-voluntary approaches have so far shown limited uptake and use.