I have reapplied Pliny the Elder’s famous wisecrack about Africa (“out of Africa there is always something new”) to California. Pliny the Elder was a master of brief, apt observations. If you know a Latin quote even in English, it is likely that it was originally one of his.
At MarketWatch Angela Antonelli takes note of a program recently started in California, CalSavers:
On July 1, private sector employers in California gained access to an innovative new program that enables them to facilitate retirement savings for their employees. In a state where half of all private sector workers do not have a retirement savings account or participate in a pension, CalSavers stands to make a significant difference in the lives of everyday workers.
The program couldn’t be simpler. Workers are automatically enrolled in individual retirement accounts (IRAs) with a default savings rate of 5% of their paychecks. They have the ability to opt out at any time or set a different contribution amount within the annual contribution limits of IRAs, which is $6,000 a year for savers under age 50 and $7,000 for people 50 and over.
Read the whole thing. That strikes me as a benign development and we should keep our eyes on it. Over time a program of that sort would be a good replacement for Social Security.
Many companies do that with their 401(k) plans.