Savings Incentives and the SECURE 2.0 Act: New Evidence on Employer-Sponsored Emergency Savings Accounts and the Saver’s Match

This brief focuses on two provisions of the SECURE 2.0 Act of 2022, provisions that aim to make retirement savings more attractive and more rewarding for low-income households: The creation of employer-sponsored emergency savings accounts and the Saver’s Match tax credit. Analyses drawn upon data from the Workforce Economic Inclusion and Mobility Survey, a survey experiment testing the appeal of employer-sponsored emergency savings accounts. The findings indicate that interest in employer-sponsored emergency savings programs is generally high and that, for low-wage workers, offers of matching contributions are more salient than automatic contributions.

IMPLICATIONS for SECURE 2.0
This is the third research brief in a series examining the implications of the SECURE 2.0 Act for the retirement security of low-wage workers in the United States. All briefs in the Implications for SECURE 2.0 series can be found here.

Project: Retirement With Dignity