Facts about MarylandSaves

Overview

Maryland has established an auto-IRA program that requires employers without a retirement plan to auto­matically enroll their workers, who are allowed to opt out. Maryland launched its program in September 2022.

Maryland currently has 5,206 participating employers and 10,757 worker accounts (see Table 1). 

Employers 

As of December 2024, 5,206 employers in Maryland were submitting payroll deductions to MarylandSaves in the last 90 days (see Table 2, next page).  MarylandSaves is available for workers of employers who don’t offer a workplace retirement and have been in operation for 2 years.  They also must have at least one employee who is over the age of 18 and use an automated payroll system. The program is also available for self-employed individuals or other savers who want to save in a Roth IRA.

Maryland is unique in that it does not impose a penalty on employers who do not enroll in MarylandSaves.  Instead, enrolling in the program allows businesses to waive the $300 fee for filing an annual business report.

Employees  

To date, the number of employees with assets in MarylandSaves has reached 10,757.  Given the short period that the program has been in existence, account balances are currently lower than in California, Illinois, Oregon, and Connecticut. Only 23 percent of eligible workers have chosen to opt out within the first 30 days (see Table 3).  For workers who are participating, the first $1,000 in contributions is defaulted into an Emergency Savings Fund, at which point ongoing contributions are defaulted into a target date fund unless the worker has chosen an alternate election.

Assets

The program, which is intended to eventually become financially self-sufficient, had assets under manage­ment of $13.7 million by the end of December 2024 (see Table 4).  To pay for its operating costs, MarylandSaves and the Program Administrator charge a fixed annual fee of $30 per year and an asset-based fee of 0.18 percent to 0.27 percent (if the participant stays with the standard investment options).