The Bell has long considered retirement savings an essential ingredient of economic mobility and intergenerational wealth-building. Historically, however, a significant percentage of Coloradans haven’t had access to a prime driver of retirement savings: a retirement plan offered through their employer. A belief in the need to solve this problem motivated the Bell’s strong support for the creation of Colorado’s SecureSavings program via SB20-200.

Housed within the state Treasurer’s Office, Colorado’s SecureSavings is a state-facilitated retirement program for those who lack an employer-provided plan. All employers who’ve been in existence for at least two years, have at least five employees, and don’t provide a qualified retirement plan must offer their employees one of several private retirement options through SecureSavings. Eligible employees who don’t choose to opt out are automatically enrolled into a standard retirement plan.

SecureSavings has been operational for a little more than a year, and the results that have been trickling in show tremendous promise:

• Over 50,000 retirement accounts across more than 14,000 businesses have been opened
• Average retirement balances are nearing $1,000
• Collectively, over $48 million has been saved. As the SecureSavings 2024 annual report notes, these numbers make Colorado’s SecureSavings, “by far the fastest and most successful program per capita when compared to other state sponsored retirement programs across the country.”
• Moreover, the program has spurred a 45 percent increase in the number of private plans, further growing the retirement security of Coloradans

The success of SecureSavings extends beyond Colorado, as program representatives have been sharing learnings and best practices with other states toward increasing economic prosperity in our country. Most notably, this has included the creation of the Partnership for a Dignified Retirement. Created in 2023, this inter-state partnership with Maine and Delaware is the first of its kind. Through the partnership, both Maine and Delaware will create and facilitate their own retirement programs while Colorado, thanks to its pre-existing infrastructure and experience, will ensure backend coordination with private retirement entities.

Our state’s SecureSavings program is making tremendous inroads in helping thousands of Coloradans build a secure retirement. In the coming years, this progress – in growing the number of enrollees, money saved, and partnerships with other states – will make a meaningful difference throughout our state, helping to grow economic mobility and security.