CalSavers reaches 550,000 accounts but officials warn program needs years to become self‑sustaining

CalSavers, the state’s auto‑enroll retirement program for workers whose employers do not offer a qualified plan, has more than 550,000 funded saver accounts and about $1.2 billion in assets under management, CalSavers Executive Director David Takartz told the Senate Budget and Fiscal Review Subcommittee No. 4 on the program’s informational item.

The program, which uses payroll deductions to funnel employee contributions into Roth IRAs and includes automatic escalation of contribution rates, now has roughly 58,000 employers actively facilitating payroll deductions and an average account balance of about $2,000, Takartz said. Employers with five or more employees have been subject to the registration and facilitation requirements; starting Dec. 30 this year the mandate will extend to employers with as few as one non‑owner employee.

Why it matters: The expansion to micro‑employers could nearly triple the number of employers in the program, and lawmakers pressed CalSavers staff on readiness for the change. CalSavers’ funding model relies on a small percentage of assets under management to cover program costs; staff and analysts told the committee that assets and balances must grow…