A state project to get more Oregonians saving for retirement is being so well received it’s being opened up to smaller employers.
Oregon is the first state in the nation to require employers make a basic retirement program available to their workers.
Under the OregonSaves program, staff are automatically signed up to save 5 percent of their paychecks — but they can opt out.
In the six months since the pilot program launched, state officials say about 70 percent of people have stayed in the program.
The original plan was to start enrolling larger companies. But OregonSaves Executive Director Lisa Massena said they have a new message for smaller businesses: “Everything is working fine. Come on in.”
The state has rolled the program out slowly so far. That's been partly out of concern OregonSaves doesn’t suffer the same fate as Cover Oregon, the botched statewide attempt to implement the Affordable Care Act.
About 1 million Oregonians don’t have access to a retirement savings plan at work.
Copyright 2017 Oregon Public Broadcasting
