How did the “automatic” enrollment movement in retirement readiness start — and what were the unexpected twists and turns along the way? We talk with J. Mark Iwry, former Senior Advisor to the Secretary of the Treasury, serving concurrently as the Treasury Department’s Deputy Assistant Secretary for Retirement and Health Policy. Great insights here!

SFRPs taking a hit during the pandemic? Despite concerns about how pandemic related un- and underemployment might increase withdrawals from state-facilitated retirement savings programs (SFRPs), contributions remained steady and withdrawals increased only slightly.

Can you believe we are well into spring? We hope yours is awesome. In this edition we’ve got some great stuff to spice up your day:

• The inimitable Andrew Remo of the American Retirement Association on getting more employers into the retirement system
• Fresh state stats!
• Action notes from California, Illinois, New Mexico, Oregon, Virginia, Arkansas, Hawaii, Nevada and Rhode Island.
• Grant Boyken on Early Withdrawals and State Programs
• Hot Sauce that is super hot – new research from Mingli Zhong, Amanda Umpierrez, Nancy Altman and Eric Kingson, David Morse and Angela Antonelli, NIRS, and EBRI. Plus some non-pensions stuff to enrich your day!
• And … PIX of the Week. From two countries. Just sayin.