May 2023
Origins of RetirePath
RetirePath is the result of a statewide effort to bolster retirement security for Virginia workers.
In the absence of a nationwide solution, many states are establishing state-facilitated retirement savings programs such as RetirePath Virginia.
Before RetirePath, approximately 45% of the Commonwealth’s workforce lacked access to a retirement savings plan at work. RetirePath is designed to help improve the financial security of Virginia workers by offering a convenient way to save for the future.
Virginia is the seventh state to launch an automatic-enrollment, state-facilitated retirement savings program. Here are key milestones in the establishment of RetirePath Virginia.
2024 | RetirePath Virginia program manager, Virginia529, changes its name to Commonwealth Savers. The new name represents the organization’s evolved mission that includes education, disability and retirement savings programs. RetirePath Virginia registration becomes an annual process as newly eligible employers are notified of their eligibility. |
2023 | RetirePath Virginia opens in 2023. Eligible employers receive the first registration notification before July 2023. Prior to the statewide launch, a group of Virginia employers participated in a pilot. |
2022 | Program development accelerates in 2022 when Virginia529 selects the private-sector financial firms to administer RetirePath Virginia. |
2021 | In 2021, the Virginia General Assembly passed legislation establishing an automatic-enrollment, state-facilitated retirement savings program. View the establishing legislation. A 2021 report to the Virginia General Assembly provided additional information on state-facilitated retirement programs and recommendations for future technical amendments to the Code of Virginia. |
2020 | The Virginia General Assembly reviewed a Report on State-Facilitated Retirement Programs: Encouraging Citizens to Save for Retirement in 2020. The report provides a summary of the landscape to increase participation in retirement savings programs nationwide. |
2019 | Christopher Newport University (CNU) published Feasibility Study of Retirement Savings Programs for Virginia in 2019. The report found that either a Multiple Employer Plan (MEP) or an automatic individual retirement account (auto-IRA) program would be feasible in Virginia, and that the auto-IRA program likely would achieve greater coverage and similar or higher assets than an MEP. |
2016 | Virginia Retirement System Work Group published Saving for Retirement in 2016. The work group found that more than 1 million employees in Virginia lack access to a workplace retirement plan. The report provided information on state solutions. |
