Expanding Retirement Security in Illinois
Over half of Illinois’s private sector workforce – roughly 2.5 million people and 1.7 million in the Chicago region alone – lack access to an employment-based retirement plan. Those Illinois citizens lucky enough to be automatically enrolled in a retirement plan through work are more likely to enjoy a secure and dignified retirement than their uncovered counterparts.
The Illinois Secure Choice Retirement Savings Program (“Secure Choice”), signed into law last year, will begin to make automatic retirement savings a reality for these uncovered workers, bringing much-needed retirement readiness to as many as 1.2 million Illinoisans. The new program will give covered employees (those who work in firms with at least 25 employees andt have been in business for at least two years) access to an employer-based, portable, individual retirement savings account, with automatic deductions from their paychecks.
The Aspen Institute’s Financial Security Program (FSP) will convene an event in conjunction with the Secure Choice Board to explore issues on the design and implementation of the program that will be critical to a successful roll-out.
The event will bring together a diverse array of expert opinion from the financial industry, academia, and the advocacy community. We hope to offer valuable input to the deliberations of the Board as they move forward to bring this important new program to fruition.
Featuring Opening Remarks from:
Ida Rademacher
Executive Director, Financial Security Program, The Aspen Institute
The Honorable Daniel Biss
9th Senate District, Illinois State Senate
The Honorable Michael W. Frerichs
Illinois State Treasurer
Followed by Keynote Remarks from
Dr. Richard Thaler
Professor of Behavioral Science and Economics, University of Chicago Booth School of Business
And a Panel Discussion That Will Include
Ida Rademacher
Executive Director, Aspen Institute Financial Security Program
And a Panel Discussion that will Include:
Pete Isberg
Vice President of Government Affairs, ADP
David Madland
Senior Fellow and Senior Advisor, American Worker Project, Center for American Progress
Lucy Mullany
Financial Empowerment Policy Project Lead, Heartland Alliance
Martin Noven
Senior Director, Government Markets, TIAA
Moderated by:
Jeremy Smith
Associate Director, Financial Security Program, The Aspen Institute