Retirement Plan Laws in Oregon: The Basics of OregonSaves

The transition caused the deadline to be pushed back again, and the final deadline for Oregon businesses with less than four staff moved to July 31, 2023, more than three years after the original target. “Whereas, if people have an opportunity to save through a plan at work, 70 percent of people do that,” says Read. Currently, 76.7% of employees stay enrolled in OregonSaves when offered it by their employer. Ms. DeMonnin is an Oregon native and served as Director of Communications and Media Relations for AARP Oregon until her retirement in 2021. She has extensive experience in program development, strategic and operational planning, public speaking, communications/media relations and event management.

  1. We recommend you consult with your own financial and tax advisor(s) for appropriate investment options suitable to your individual circumstances.
  2. How knowledgeable are customer service representatives about the program?
  3. As OregonSaves is rolled out with large employers, this feature may become available if enough plan participants and employers ask for it.
  4. Employee participation is completely voluntary, and money in workers’ accounts is 100 percent fully vested and portable if they change jobs.
  5. Assets are remitted directly to OregonSaves on behalf of workers, and credited directly to IRA accounts in those workers’ names.

Using this schedule, Oregon employers must provide eligible employees informational materials about OregonSaves at least 30 days before the initial enrollment date. Employers will receive those materials from the Plan Administrator at least 60 days before the initial enrollment date. To determine your deadline, use the number of employees in your most recently filed Oregon Quarterly Tax Report (Form OQ). In May 2019, Oregon Governor Kate Brown signed SB164 into law, which established civil penalties against employers who fail to provide access to a retirement plan by their appropriate OregonSaves deadlines.

Requirements for Oregon Retirement Savings Plan

With AARP, her key impact areas included health care reform, access to affordable prescriptions, economic security, older worker equity and retirement security/Social Security. Joyce was AARP Oregon’s lead staff and advocate, helping to create OregonSaves. Joyce worked to pass legislation in 2013 and 2015 and assisted with promoting the program when it went live in 2017. She was also instrumental in expanding the Oregon Prescription Drug Program statewide and was on the board of the Oregon Patient Safety Commission for eight years; two years as Chair. In 2017, Joyce was awarded the national AARP Award for Communication.

OregonSaves passes final deadline

If a worker’s information cannot be verified, the worker will not be enrolled and an account will not be established for them. Yes, however, they will only be enrolled and an account created for them if they work https://adprun.net/ for more than 60 days and if enough verifiable information is available to create an account in their name. If the program is unable to verify their information, an account will not be established for them.

OregonSaves can help your employees succeed

July 31 was the final in a series of deadlines for OregonSaves, affecting all Oregon businesses with four or fewer employees. Businesses with over 100 employees were required to join OregonSaves or register their existing retirement plans first in November 2017. The initial registration and enrollment process is expected to take a few hours at most. The time needed to complete payroll deductions for the program should be similar to the time needed to make other types of payroll deductions employers already do.

Employers must complete registration before their required deadline. Employers that offer a qualified retirement plan are exempt from facilitating the program. Simply start the registration process by providing your EIN and your Access Code. Jenna Goldin co-owns a tax preparation business, Shift Accounting, which has two owner-employees and is an s corporation registered with the Oregon Secretary of State. When she called OregonSaves, they couldn’t find her business in the system either. Shift Accounting already has a retirement plan, but Goldin was frustrated that she couldn’t register her exemption to comply with the law.

None of her business clients had received communication from the state. We are confident we can move forward with a program that continues to provide an excellent user experience for savers and employers alike. The success of state-based retirement programs is paramount and we want Ascensus, their partner states, and all parties involved in this industry to thrive.

Mike Pumphrey, the self-employed financial coach, found out about the program from a listserv email a week before the deadline—instead of from Oregon. When he called OregonSaves, the staff couldn’t find his business in their database, even though it’s registered with the Oregon Secretary of State, so they couldn’t enroll him. Businesses with 100 or more employees, as well as those with 50 to 99, 20 to 49, 10 to 19 and 5 to 9 had been registering since 2018.

Employees are responsible for determining if they meet income limits and are not eligible to contribute to Roth IRA accounts. Program materials will include information on income limits to help employees give consideration to whether and how they can participate in the program. Payroll deduction IRAs are not qualified retirement plans as defined by either federal or Oregon state statutes.

However, the Oregon Treasury says that as of yet, no penalties have been assessed. The Oregon statute allows for a grace period of 24 months before a penalty will be assessed. Ms. Gonzalez is responsible for leading a 500+ person service and operations organization for the oregon saves requirements Retirement Plans division at The Standard and serves as President of StanCorp Investment Advisers. The Standard Retirement Services is a top-tier recordkeeper for small to mid-sized plans valued for their unique blend of expertise and employer focused service excellence.

OregonSaves defaults to employees setting aside 5% of their salary into their own IRA via payroll deduction, unless they choose to leave the program or change their contribution amount. Yes, any business with employees in Oregon must facilitate the state’s program for its employees, unless it already offers a qualified, employer-sponsored retirement plan. Launched as a pilot program in 2017, OregonSaves became the nation’s first state-mandated retirement savings program. Designed for Oregonians that did not have access to a workplace-based retirement plan, OregonSaves quickly became the model retirement program for numerous states. Today, nearly 118,000 Oregon workers are enrolled in OregonSaves, with the program now available to businesses with a minimum of one employee.

The Standard has a long history of designing, administering, and providing investment options for 401(k), profit sharing, money purchase, 403(b), 457 and defined benefit plans. It is for private sector employees to save their own money in their own individual accounts. Yes, a range of similar programs have been developed and used in a number of countries over the last two decades. Oregon’s program is modeled after these plans as well as successful large employer plans.

A Human Interest Advisory Fee of 0.50% of plan assets per year is billed to the employee’s account according to the Terms of Service. In addition, fund expense ratios in Human Interest’s core fund lineup are on average 0.07%. These annual fees are charged directly by the investment funds to the employee’s plan assets and billed according to the Terms of Service. Remember, if you set up a 401(k) for your company, you can file a Certificate of Exemption from the OregonSaves program.

Comments are closed.