For Immediate Release: Thursday, September 14, 2012
Contact: Phoebe Silag or Donte Donald, news@epi.org 202-775-8810

California retirement plan could serve as national model

The California Secure Choice Retirement Savings Program (SB 1234), which has passed both houses of the state legislature and currently awaits the signature of Governor Jerry Brown, would give Californian workers who lack access to employer-sponsored retirement plans an opportunity to reap the benefits of low-fee and relatively low-risk retirement savings plans, a new EPI policy memo finds.  In California retirement plan could serve as national model, EPI Vice President Ross Eisenbrey and EPI economist Monique Morrissey find that by automatically enrolling workers in a state-administered pension fund in which 3 percent of their earnings would be contributed on their behalf, the bill could offer workers more retirement security at minimal cost to taxpayers, serving as a model for lawmakers across the country.