According to a recent AARP survey among New York small business owners who do not currently offer a workplace retirement savings plan, most express concern as taxpayers that some New York residents have not saved enough money for retirement. In fact, more than three-quarters express concern about themselves and their employees not having enough money to cover health care or living expenses when they retire.
Seven in 10 New York small business owners support the pending legislation which would require employers with 10 or more employees that do not already offer a workplace retirement savings plan to enroll their employees in the Secure Choice Savings program. The majority agree that being able to offer a portable retirement savings program helps local small businesses attract and retain quality employees and stay competitive.
More than four in five of these small business owners report that they do not offer a retirement savings plan because it’s too costly, while half say they are concerned about how complicated they are to operate. But, when asked would they support the Secure Choice Savings Program, which would allow small businesses to access a state-facilitated, payroll-deduction IRA for their employees, over four in five say they would support it.
Interviews were conducted between July 7–26, 2021. The sample, including owner names and companies, came from Data Axle USA and was weighted using 2017 U.S. Business Statistics from the U.S. Census Bureau to reflect all businesses in New York with 10–100 additional employees.
For more information about this survey, please contact Lona Choi-Allum at lallum@aarp.org. For media inquiries, contact External Relations at media@aarp.org.
Suggested citation:
Choi-Allum, Lona. AARP New York Survey of Small Business Owners. Washington, DC: AARP Research, August 2021. https://doi.org/10.26419/res.00489.001