Maryland

Maryland

Legislative Summary:

Introduced in February 2016, House Bill 1378 was passed by both the House and Senate in April 2016. The program was originally slated for introduction in 2018, but the implementation was delayed due to COVID. A pilot program launched in June 2022, with the program’s full implementation in September 2022.

Program Description:

The Maryland$aves program is administered by the Maryland Small Business Retirement Savings Board, to provide a state-facilitated payroll-deduction individual retirement savings plan for private sector employees who do not have access to employer-sponsored retirement savings plans.

Affected Employers:

Mandatory for all employers who have been in operational for at least two (2) years and pay employees through a payroll system/service and do not currently offer a retirement savings program.

General Requirement:

Automatic enrollment of every full-time employee at 5% of compensation with annual increases of 1% (up to a maximum of 10%) of the enrollee’s wages. Every affected employer must register and choose to opt-in or claim exemption.
Unique Provision: Maryland’s Social Security Bridge option allows for participants to also increase their Social Security benefits by deferring their Social Security enrollment and receiving Maryland$aves funds instead.

Launch Status:

June 6, 2022

Full Implementation:

September 6, 2022

Compliance Deadline:

December 31, 2022

Non-Compliance Penalties:

Not yet available, but impending.

Employer Costs:

$300 annual reporting fee

Employee Costs:

$30 annual account fee + 0.85% of plan account balance

Investments:

The program offers a suite of 12 target date funds (TDFs), as the default investment option, and additional investment options – including capital preservation, bond index, and global growth funds.

Program Website:

Maryland$aves
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