It’s Time for Small Businesses to Be Heard

Today is National Be Heard Day. Never heard of it before? I wouldn’t be surprised. It’s a relatively new holiday created to give small businesses a chance to be heard. While there are many ways small businesses and residents can celebrate this day, AARP Ohio is honoring it by raising our voices about the retirement crisis impacting small businesses and their employees.

Small businesses face many struggles, and retirement security is a big one often undiscussed. The truth is that many small businesses want to be able to provide a workplace retirement savings option for themselves and their valued employees but can’t because of how expensive and time consuming it is. That’s why 66 percent of Ohio residents working for themselves or small businesses don’t have a way to save for their future at work.

A secure retirement is simply out of reach for these individuals. While Social Security is a critical piece of the puzzle, it is not enough to depend on alone for a secure future. Many of these future retirees won’t even be able to handle the rising costs of basic needs and health care.

Thankfully several states are making retirement security for workers a priority by creating Work & Save programs. To date, eleven states have already passed various Work & Save laws to help over 17 million Americans gain access to workplace savings options: California, Connecticut, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Oregon, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Vermont, and Washington.

Work & Save provides an easy, no-cost retirement savings option to help small businesses give their employees a way to save and take control of their future. As a business owner, it would allow you to access a simple, plug-and-play retirement option for your employees with little effort and no cost or risk on your part.

Your employees are the lifeblood of your business. With Work & Save, your hard-working employees can save for retirement right out of their regular paycheck so that they can take control of their future. They will set-up their account, always remain in control of their account, and retain it if they change jobs.

AARP will continue helping to raise the voice of small businesses and their employees while pushing for Work & Save programs all across the country, so millions more can access these innovative programs.

To learn more about Work & Save programs, please visit aarp.org/myfuture.