Happy Late January! The year’s off to a fast start, and there’s plenty happening in retirement savings. Warm up with a hot drink (Jan. 31 is National Hot Chocolate Day!) and dive into Illinois Secure Choice at five, updates from California, Connecticut, and Maine, a hot take on SECURE 2.0’s Saver’s Match, Hot Sauce, and Pix of the Week. Enjoy!

Retirement savings are the second-largest source of household wealth for Americans, with over $10 trillion in assets across the defined contribution (DC) system. Yet we know that this system is inequitable and is not creating security and wealth for everyone. Access to retirement savings is foundational, but 45 million workers lack a workplace retirement savings option

After the other E-word (ESG), Emergency Savings is one of the year’s hottest topics. We wanted to know: how much of that is talk, and how much of it is action? We cornered our friend Sid Pailla, CEO of new firm Sunny Day Fund, to shed some light for us.