Maine’s legislature is reconsidering a bill from its 2019 session that would create a state-run retirement plan to compete with existing private-sector solutions. NAIFA believes that state-run plans, like the one proposed for Maine, fail to understand why many Americans are not saving enough for retirement.

“The problem of Americans’ retirement-savings shortfall is not a lack of sufficient retirement plans,” said NAIFA CEO Kevin Mayeux. “It is really a lack of understanding on the part of future retirees. People either don’t think about the consequences of failing to save for retirement or believe they don’t have the ability to do so. Education campaigns that provide information and steer workers to qualified financial professionals would be a better use of state funds than setting up plans to compete with existing options.”  

As NAIFA said in testimony at a hearing held by the National Council of Insurance Legislators (NCOIL): “There already exists a strong, vibrant private sector retirement plan market that offers diverse, affordable options (including 401(k) and 403(b) plans as well as both traditional and Roth IRAs) to individuals and employers. If a retirement plan is not offered at work, employees have ready access to low-cost options through local financial advisors and financial institutions.