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!

This week we have the pleasure of chatting with Michael Frerichs, Illinois State Treasurer. Frerichs was an active proponent of the Illinois savings program before it passed the State Legislature in 2014. As Treasurer he’s had a chance to see it through from its earliest days to expanding coverage to reach nearly 2 million workers.

This is Part 2 in a series covering key elements of SECURE 2.0, as memorialized into law as part of the 2023 Appropriations Act (Division T) on December 29, 2022. We were still crying over our canceled flights, but it gave us plenty of time to read the Act.

In Division T alone we counted more than 40 new retirement-related provisions. We focused first on Automatic Enrollment, because it’s so impactful and we love it. This week we’ll hit the key features of the Saver’s Match – what qualifies, who gets the money, when, and where.