AARP Massachusetts Calls for Secure Choice Retirement Savings Plan

AARP Massachusetts is urging lawmakers to pass HOUSE BILL NO. 1143/SENATE BILL NO. 722 – An Act to Encourage Retirement Planning and make the Secure Choice plan law.

The Joint Committee on Financial Services held a hearing on Beacon Hill Thursday, October 30 an took up the Secure Choice plan. AARP Massachusetts State Director Jen Benson testified virtually at the hearing.

Currently, 43% of Massachusetts private-sector workers, about 1.22 million people, lack access to an employer-sponsored retirement plan. Nearly 60% of working-age households have no retirement savings at all.

Secure Choice would:

• Create an automatic IRA program at no cost to employers.
• Help workers save at work—where Americans are 15 times more likely to save.
• Reduce reliance on taxpayer-funded programs.

Both the Massachusetts House and Senate passed the program as part of the 2026 budget. But Governor Healey sent that aspect of the budget to be further studied.

“The time for studying is long past. Massachusetts should ensure that all workers have the option to save for retirement and have a secure future”, said Jen Benson, State Director, AARP Massachusetts

A number of other states that have passed similar so-called “Work & Save” programs: California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, Missouri, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Virginia

Massachusetts does have the CORE plan which allows small non-profit organizations to take part in state facilitated plan.

Work & Save accounts help Americans save for retirement and reduce reliance on taxpayer-funded programs. Making it easier for people to set aside even modest levels of savings during their working years will pay dividends for workers and taxpayers in the long run.