AARP Idaho Addresses House Business Committee on the Retirement Savings Crisis in Idaho

A legislative priority for AARP Idaho continues to be finding solutions that will address the pending retirement crisis in the Gem State.

During the current Idaho Legislative session, the House Business Committee started the discussion by printing House Bill 180. The retirement program bill is a proposal to create a voluntary state facilitated, auto-Individual Retirement Account (IRA) retirement program for working Idahoans who do not now have access to a payroll deduction retirement plan at their current place of work.

This week the House Business Committee continued gathering information by listening to presentations about sate facilitated retirement policies. The Idaho Office of Performance Evaluation, AARP Idaho and Veritas Advisors all presented to the committee.

View the AARP Idaho presentation by state director Lupe Wissel HERE.

You can watch the entire meeting HERE.

Currently, approximately 375,000 private sector Idaho workers do not have access to a retirement savings plan at work. According to a 2020 AARP survey, more than two-thirds of Idaho small businesses do not offer a retirement savings option. However, seven in ten Idaho small business owners support a privately managed, ready-to-go retirement savings option that would help small businesses offer employees a way to save for retirement.

The Idaho Office of Performance Evaluations also initiated a report last summer finding workers who don’t save for retirement see decreases in their standard of living and use the safety net more in retirement.