AARP Launches Ad Campaign Touting Governor’s Proposal to Help NYers Save for Retirement

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Voluntary “Secure Choice” Program Would Allow Businesses to Offer Workplace Savings Option, Provide Employees Easy Way to Save

ALBANY, N.Y. – AARP today launched an advertising campaign touting a proposal by Governor Andrew Cuomo that would make it easier for New Yorkers to save for their retirement and urging state legislators to make the proposal part of the final state budget.

The TV, digital and print ads running in media outlets from Long Island to Buffalo urge support for “Secure Choice,” which would establish a payroll deduction Roth IRA option for businesses to offer their employees if the business does not already offer a retirement savings plan.

Secure Choice could empower potentially millions of private sector working New Yorkers to take control of their own future with an easily accessible savings option – and the ads provide phone numbers for New Yorkers to call their legislators.

Secure Choice, which Governor Cuomo included in his state budget proposal last month, would be voluntary for both businesses and for employees of companies that choose to offer it. The ads will continue until April 1, the deadline for the new state budget.

“Secure Choice would provide an effective helping hand to millions of middle class New Yorkers, and our state legislators should include this common sense proposal by Governor Cuomo in the final state budget,” said AARP New York State Director Beth Finkel. “Many middle class families are struggling to prepare for their futures. Secure Choice would provide them a simple and effective way to save their own money.”

Over half of all private sector employees in New York – more than 3.5 million New Yorkers – lack access to a pension or 401(k) at work as fewer businesses offer retirement savings options.

Secure Choice legislation similar to Governor Cuomo’s proposal has nearly 100 sponsors from both parties in both houses. Illinois, Oregon, California, Connecticut and Maryland have already enacted similar plans.

A 2016 AARP NY/Siena College poll found 82 percent of New York Generation Xers and Baby Boomers support a state-facilitated workplace retirement savings option for those who lack access, and a recent separate AARP survey revealed that nearly three quarters of the state’s small businesses that don’t provide their employees a retirement savings plan likely would offer a state-provided option.

Secure Choice ( pages 170-185) would be overseen by the state’s Deferred Compensation Board and would cost no ongoing taxpayer dollars to run. Employee contributions would be managed by a professional investment firm, and each employee would own their IRA - meaning they could take it to any new job. Participating businesses would have no fiduciary responsibility, would not match employees’ contributions, and would simply need to add an automatic deduction line to employees’ paychecks.

Contact: Erik Kriss, ekriss@aarp.org

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AARP is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization, with a membership of nearly 38 million that helps people turn their goals and dreams into 'Real Possibilities' by changing the way America defines aging. With staffed offices in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands, AARP works to strengthen communities and promote the issues that matter most to families such as healthcare security, financial security and personal fulfillment. AARP also advocates for individuals in the marketplace by selecting products and services of high quality and value to carry the AARP name.  As a trusted source for news and information, AARP produces the world’s largest circulation magazine, AARP The Magazine and AARP Bulletin. AARP does not endorse candidates for public office or make contributions to political campaigns or candidates. To learn more, visit www.aarp.org or follow @AARP and our CEO @JoAnn_Jenkins on Twitter.

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