RETIREMENT SECURITY MATTERS
A forum for retirement innovation information sharing focused on
states, supporters, and service providers.
Vol 42 | November 18, 2021
Cool in Colorado: Retirement Security Meets Diversity, What Next?
Hunter Railey, Director
Colorado Secure Savings Program
Hunter Railey is a passionate and accomplished advocate for small business and retirement readiness. Today, we’re talking with Hunter about his experience so far bringing Colorado’s pioneering state-run savings plan from the idea stage to implementation. 

There are lessons here for all of us about promoting financial security across the unexpectedly diverse population of the Centennial state and beyond. 
Hunter – you’re launching a new Auto IRA program. Tell us about the population you expect to cover in Colorado.

From the start, we knew we’d be dealing with a challenging population. Our research showed us that a little over 900,000 people would be subject to the program. And if you include some of the other pieces that made it into the bill, like creating a pathway for self-employed 1099 and seasonal workers, that number gets closer to 1.3 million people.

The challenge in Colorado is this population is very spread out. Like many states, we have some densely populated metro areas. Those individuals are easier to reach. But we also have some very rural parts of the state that don’t even have high-speed broadband internet yet.

On top of that, the state is surprisingly diverse. One zip code in Aurora, for example, was recently considered to be the most diverse in the entire country. If you can believe it, we speak over 100 languages in this state.

We also have large refugee immigrant communities. Colorado is also unique because we have a relatively large Hispanic and Latino populations in rural areas. Some of those folks arrived within the last generation, but others were here before Colorado was even part of the United States. So, we’ve got a lot of different people with differing needs that we’re trying to incorporate into this program.

From my standpoint, that makes it all the more critical that we make the program simple, accessible, and easy to use. That’s the only way we’re going to get people to trust it and use it.

(For more on diversity thinking click or bookmark HERE for the rest of this piece
on Colorado with Hunter Railey.)

Absolutely! You’re moving toward a 2022 program launch. What’s the current focus of your implementation plan?

Things are moving fast. We just got through a board meeting where we settled some of the initial design considerations. Now, we start piecing together solicitations. We’ve relied heavily on what we’ve heard from other states on what worked, what didn’t, and what they would do differently next time.

So here at the start of the process we’re touching base with vendors, getting a sense of what they’re offering, how they view their role, and their interest in participating. The focus between now and the end of the year is going to be getting solicitations together for the program administrator piece in particular, as well as for investment managers.

Moving into 2022, the focus will be onboarding vendors, ensuring our systems work, and executing an initial marketing and outreach strategy. We’ll also look to find pilot participants for the October launch.

You’ve got some other big news, too.

Yes we do -- we just announced that we’re taking steps to pursue a partnership with New Mexico. This is an exciting development, but it adds a layer to our plans. Now we need to consider two states, not just one. But I think this mentality will benefit the program overall as we develop infrastructure and a set of governance principles to help both populations.

This is the first time we’re seeing two states actually sit down together and really start to figure out how this can work. We’re excited to see it. 
*Fresh!* State Auto IRA Program Metrics
Keeping it simple: Here’s the freshest data from the states – reflecting October 31 results for California and Illinois; September 30 for Oregon with new data coming shortly.

What do we look for in these numbers: We like to watch the rate of growth of funded accounts year to date and over longer periods of time. We keep an eye on average account balances, recognizing that this number doesn’t reflect the larger balances of earlier and longer term savers very well – but it’s still an important metric for how accounts as a whole are growing. Not shown here, average account balances at June 2018 were $471. By year end it looks like the size will have nearly doubled.
State Facilitated Retirement Programs - Fresh Highlights
I M P L E M E N T I N G
Colorado (workforce 3.2 million) with New Mexico (workforce 1 million)
The National Association of Plan Advisors published a November 11 article about Colorado and New Mexico’s announcement of their plan to partner on state-facilitated savings programs. Potential areas of collaboration include shared program administration, marketing and outreach, program evaluation, research, data collection and participant privacy.
 
Colorado’s board met November 15. Director Hunter Railey introduced new team member Megan Sheehan, joining as policy and investment analyst for the retirement savings program. The board also approved two outreach positions. The board is progressing its investment policy statement and preparing to initiate work on RFPs for the program administration and investment management functions. Next meeting: January.
Maine (workforce 671,000) - a November 7, 2021 story in the Bangor Daily News reported on Maine’s state-facilitated automatic IRA savings program recently established with the passage of LD 1622. According to the article, “The AARP Public Policy Institute estimates Maine could save $23 million over a 14-year period by helping people save for their own retirement. The taxpayer savings would come from reducing the costs of programs such as Medicaid, Supplemental Security Income, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance and housing assistance. In addition, after a brief start-up period, the new retirement savings program is expected to involve no continuing administrative costs to the state.”
New Mexico (workforce 1 million) – The New Mexico Work & $ave Board met November 4, 2021 – remarking on the passage of one year since its formation in 2020. The agenda included approval of the proposed Memorandum of Cooperation between the New Mexico Work and $ave Board and the Colorado Secure Savings Program Board. Following other business the board briefly entered into executive session – returning to announce the formal appointment of Claudia Armijo as its Executive Director. *well done* Claudia and Board!
C O M I N G U P



  • New Mexico (workforce 1 million) – The next meeting of the New Mexico Work & $ave Board is scheduled for Dec. 2, 2021. For updates, please visit the Board’s website here.  

  • Virginia (workforce 4.3 million) – The next meeting of the Virginia529 Retirement Program Advisory Committee is Tuesday, December 7. We don’t see it on the Commonwealth calendar, but here’s the link for the most recent meeting.

  • California (workforce 17.9 million) –The next meeting of the CalSavers Board is scheduled for December 13, 2021.
Going the Literal Extra Mile
During the height of the pandemic, telecommuting and virtual meetings became a necessity just to keep business going. Businesses and governments have been working out the kinks with new technologies and related business processes since. As we figure out the path forward, what was a necessity during the pandemic is now becoming an option. There are all kinds of ideas and discussions about what hybrid in-person/virtual workplaces could look like going forward. What will revert back to the way it was pre-pandemic, and what new adaptations and technologies will stick? Only time will tell.

That said, for governments, the question also needs to be: what does a new way of doing business mean for equity? The state sponsored retirement programs that have started to date have been incredibly innovative, taking advantage of the latest advances in technology to make it easier for workers and employers. California developed a phone app for its program, and in Oregon, we piloted a cutting-edge chatbot on social media and the website, to help folks get answers to questions during off hours or through the online platforms they use on a regular basis, like Facebook. 

But not everyone benefits equally from these new technologies …
There is no technological replacement for some of the in-person outreach I did while helping develop OregonSaves, Oregon’s state sponsored retirement savings program. It made all the difference showing up in-person at the metal shop in southern Oregon to talk directly with workers face to face. It meant something to the folks out in rural eastern Oregon, when I rescheduled and came back to talk at their local chamber of commerce meeting after an ice storm stopped me, making my car slide off the road, the first time I tried.

The goal was to gain buy-in, and sometimes it can make all the difference to show the willingness to go the literal extra mile.

More to follow! / Joel
Columnist and Senior Associate Joel Metlen is based in Oregon. Joel is a pioneer of the state facilitated retirement savings space, woven into a career of public service and innovation. At OregonSaves, Joel’s responsibilities ranged from marketing and employer engagement to operations and data analysis. You’ll see his insights from that experience, and more, here.
Hot Sauce! Cool Stuff.
Have you read this one? We haven’t (yet) but a good friend recommended Die With Zero by Bill Perkins, mentioning it was a life-changer. Since the author’s web page includes a provocative video and takes a poke at traditional retirement saving, we’re putting it on the list. If you’ve read it, let us know what you think.

Other cool stuff afoot – it’s time for EBRI’s Virtual 2021 Winter Policy Forum – coming up December 6 and 7. Many of our favorite speakers will be on the podium addressing hot topics like “A Path to a More Equitable Solution: Solving the Retirement Coverage Gap” – with Melissa Kahn, Zachary Keep, John Scott and Jack Vanderhei. There’s a lot more. Don’t miss.

And, should we encourage more online claiming of Social Security Benefits? Boston College’s Center for Retirement Research takes a look at How to Increase Usage of SSA’s Online Tools – with some good detail on who is, and isn’t, using these tools today – and why (not). We must be oldsters because when our time comes, we want to talk to a knowledgeable human.
and finally!
It’s risky to talk about religion, but … last time we talked about automatic, we neglected to share our new favorite version of it. Remember the cute nephew in the baptismal? Afterward over canapes the priest was heard to say: You know, you don’t get to choose everything in life. You don’t choose your parents. You don’t choose your parents’ religion. We like to think of baptism as setting you on the right path. You’re automatically in. Then later, if you want to be out, you can be out. But we started you as “in.”
… PIX! It's all about nature this week ... 
If Hunter Railey looks a little outdoorsy, nothing we’re about to show you will change your impression. We think these are two of his favorite scenes: beautiful Violet, the 3-1/2 year old English Cream golden retriever, and the woods near the family’s cabin on the Conejos River in southwestern Colorado, close to the New Mexico border. Lotta close ties between Colorado and New Mexico! Just sayin’ …
And, at the risk of oversharing, every now and then you encounter something that is a truly useful innovation. Here’s our top pick from last week:
On a more peaceful note, here’s an image to cleanse your palate: the start of an evening sunset, El Pescador Lodge, Ambergris Caye, Belize, not long ago.
That’s it for this edition! ❤ Hug your people and change the world.
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Massena Associates provides process, policy, and implementation consulting on retirement savings programs and products.

Our clientele includes states, governments, policy organizations, and private sector providers. Our specialty – efficient, targeted results. We are an active speaker on retirement security topics, including state-facilitated programs, MEPs and more.

If you’d like to explore working together, we welcome the conversation. Connect with us here, and at 339-236-0684.
RESOURCES you can use:
Looking for a great retirement savings innovation resource? Led by Dr. Alicia Munnell, the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College develops and hosts terrific content and proprietary research related to states, financial security, social security, and more.

The Georgetown Center for Retirement Initiatives, Exec Angela Antonelli, provides excellent information on state-based and other retirement security innovation and policy.

Pew’s Retirement Savings Project studies the challenges and opportunities for increasing retirement savings and is another great resource - check out the work of John Scott and his terrific team.

If you want a great source of broad-based, consumer-focused retirement news, Jeffrey H. Snyder’s The Morning Pulse is your ticket. You can subscribe here.