Fast-growing Oregon retirement program marks 1st birthday

EUGENE, Ore. (AP) – An Oregon program designed to help workers whose employers don’t offer retirement plans has seen rapid growth in the months leading up to this week’s first anniversary.

The Register-Guard reports that OregonSaves has enrolled more than 32,000 private-sector employees who previously didn’t have access to a retirement savings option at work. They’ve so far set aside a combined $4.6 million of their own money through automatic payroll deductions, with an average withholding of 5.14 percent of salary.

The state-run plan doesn’t require any financial contribution from employers, but they must sign up their workers for OregonSaves if they don’t offer a 401(k) or other retirement plan. Employees can opt out.

Workers can track their accounts on a state-run online portal and keep their account when they change jobs.

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Information from: The Register-Guard, http://www.registerguard.com