State Sponsored Retirement Plans - The Why, What and If For Employers

401(k) Fridays Podcast

Whether you are aware of it or not, several individual states are getting ready to launch state sponsored retirement plans. Their intent is to help workers who are not eligible for or not offered a retirement plan through their employer. What you also might not know is that in the Pacific Northwest, Oregon, the Beaver State, is likely going to be the first state with a live program with a scheduled launch on July 1st, 2017. For most employers, the reactions and questions have been pretty consistent, why are the states going down this path, how will the programs work, if we already offer a retirement plan what does this mean to us? Well, it wouldn’t be like me to leave you guessing on what all this means so I was excited to have Joel Metlen, the Public Engagement Manager from the Oregon State Treasury Department and the OregonSaves retirement plan join me to address these questions and much more. Even if you don’t have an office or employees in Oregon, much of what we talk about is broadly applicable to what’s going on in other states around the country. As you might imagine, not everyone thinks these programs are a great idea, so I do take time to address some of the bigger concerns and objections we have heard from other employers, the retirement industry and now the federal government. There are a lot of opinions, information and misperceptions circulating right now about state run plans. My hope is that after you listen to our conversation you will be more informed, understand how this may or may not impact your company and will have the framework to process future developments rationally.

Guest Bio

Joel Metlen, Public Engagement Manager, manages outreach and stakeholder engagement for Oregon State Treasury’s OregonSaves program. He has 13 years of public service experience. He worked in New York City as the Deputy Director of the Revenue Division of the NYC Parks Department, and he was the Business Operations Manager for foodservice at DC Public Schools. Prior to joining Treasury, Joel was the Communications and Legislative Manager for the Oregon Health Insurance Marketplace. He has a B.F.A. from New York University and an M.A. from Johns Hopkins University.

401(k) Fridays Podcast Overview

Struggling with a fiduciary issue, looking for strategies to improve employee retirement outcomes or curious about the impact of current events on your retirement plan? We've had conversations with retirement industry leaders to address these and other relevant topics! You can easily explore over fifty prior on-demand audio interviews here. Don't forget to subscribe as we release a new episode each Friday!