Happy Late January, friends! Is it just us or is the year already speeding by? There's a lot going on in the world of retirement savings innovations. Warm yourself up with a steaming cup of something (did you know Jan. 31 marks National Hot Chocolate Day?) and read on:

• Treasurer Michael Frerichs on Illinois Secure Choice at Five – Wow!

• Key updates from California, Connecticut, and Maine

• Our first Correction (certainly not our first mistake though)

• A hot take on SECURE 2.0 - key features of the Saver’s Match

• Hot Sauce and Cool Stuff – Always an audience favorite!

• Swearings-in and more in Pix of the week

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.