According to a recent study by Capital One and The Decision Lab, nearly 70 percent of Americans are concerned that they don’t have enough money for retirement. Here in Connecticut, more than 600,000 private-sector employees have no employer-sponsored retirement savings plan.

MyCTSavings, created by law to meet this urgent need, is an exciting new retirement savings program making it easier to save for retirement with automatic contributions. AARP fought for the MyCTSavings program to help hard-working Connecticut residents build a secure future. It’s a seamless way to help Connecticut employees save and plan for their future by allowing workers to easily save for retirement right out of their regular paycheck. And the account is portable, so if they change jobs, their retirement savings will move with them.

MyCTSavings, sponsored by the State of Connecticut’s Retirement Security Authority, is voluntary for employees to participate in but is mandatory for Connecticut businesses with five or more employees to offer if they don’t already offer a qualified retirement savings plan benefit. And MyCTSavings comes at no cost to employers. That’s good news for employers and employees.

This program is designed to help employees reach their financial goals with easy, automatic payroll contributions to a Roth IRA. And the employee controls their MyCTSavings account.

Workers are automatically enrolled by their employer and then have 30 days to decide to stay enrolled or opt-out. The default savings rate is 3 percent of gross pay before taxes, and other deductions are taken that employees can increase or decrease at any time. With MyCTSavings, employees can choose how they would like to save with a variety of investment options, including target date funds aligned to retirement goals, and access to tools that can help keep them on track. Only a small administrative fee is charged annually to cover program costs.

In addition to helping employees build financial security, MyCTSavings can also benefit employers. This program is free for employers and easy to facilitate, works smoothly with a business’s payroll process, and can help attract and retain employees.

As businesses work to recover from the pandemic’s financial impact, employees are looking for benefits that give them more financial security. In fact, according to a 2021 National Institute on Retirement Security report, 51 percent of Americans have increased concerns about their retirement due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

MyCTSavings makes it easy to save and even easier to join. People can learn more about how the MyCTSavings program operates, its implementation schedule, its impact on employees and employers, and more by visiting www.myctsavings.com, emailing clientservices@myctsavings.com, or calling 1-833-811-7436 weekdays between 11 a.m. and 6 p.m. ET.

Nora Duncan is the state director for AARP Connecticut.