SMALL BUSINESSES ON RETIREMENT PLANNING: THE STATE HAS ENOUGH MONEY TO MISMANAGE AS IT IS
HARTFORD (May 20, 2015):
Members of the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB), the
state’s leading small business organization, gathered last night at Farmington
Bank to discuss their retirement plan options and one thing was clear, they are
overwhelmingly opposed to any type of state administered retirement plan.
“As baby boomers near retirement age, now is the time for
both employees and employers to understand the complex nature of retirement
plans and have confidence in the choices that they make for their families. We
continue to consistently hear from our members that investment decisions should
be made by the private sector,” Said NFIB Connecticut State Director Andrew
Markowski. “If you look to how the state has managed its pension system, where
the return on investment is significantly lower than the free market, it is no
wonder that small businesses are concerned about a proposed system that not
only forces employees into participation but is costly to administer.”
Previous legislation concerning the issue of a state
administrated retirement plan for the private sector has mandated employee
enrollment and made it difficult to opt out.
A number of specified features, including automatic rollover if the
employee changes employers, options for spousal benefits and lump sum payments
when the employee retires have also been part of prior proposals. Currently, the Connecticut Retirement
Security Board is conducting a market feasibility study of the issue in
anticipation of developing such a plan for Connecticut. Recently advocates have claimed that a
majority of small business owners are in favor of the creation of a state
administered plan, however, the small business owners that met together last
evening disagreed with that claim.
“It’s an insult to the intelligence of Connecticut’s
workforce to even imply that a state run program would have the ability to be
self-sustaining. The bureaucratic costs alone will make the success impossible
and the return rates diminished at best. It will ultimately wind up becoming
just one more tax payer subsidized state program and we certainly already have
enough of those. Small business owners
remain committed to providing valuable and affordable retirement plan options
and other employee benefits to members of their staffs” Concluded Markowski.
