OregonSaves Retirement Program Welcomes Homecare Workers and Personal Care Attendants

Improved access to retirement savings for a new community of Oregon workers

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Apr 16, 2021, 10:59 ET

SALEM, Ore., April 16, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The Oregon Retirement Savings Board and State Treasurer Tobias Read today announced that OregonSaves is now available for SEIU-represented Homecare Workers. Homecare Workers and Personal Care Attendants provide home-based help and services to adults experiencing physical disabilities.

OregonSaves began with a pilot program in July 2017 and is expanding statewide in waves. The program now facilitates saving by than 105,000 workers —most of them first-time savers— and combined they have set aside more than $100 million toward retirement.

"The path to retirement security is now smoother for thousands of homecare workers," said Oregon State Treasurer Tobias Read. "OregonSaves can ease financial anxiety for Oregonians by providing a simple way to save for retirement at work — a program that now extends to even more of our critical home service workers."

"Retirement savings will help make personal support work a viable career for many people," said SEIU 503 Executive Director Melissa Unger. "That will reduce turnover and in turn improve the quality of care that Oregon's seniors and people with disabilities receive."

"Caregivers have long needed a pathway to retirement," said Cristal DeJarnac, a homecare worker from Bend who is participating in OregonSaves. "Caregivers allow tens of thousands of people to live with respect and dignity in their homes, and OregonSaves is one way to give respect back to workers."

An estimated 1 million Oregon workers lacked access to a work-based retirement plan prior to OregonSaves. At the same time, according to research from AARP, people are 15 times more likely to save for retirement if there is the ability to do so at work.

OregonSaves is a simple way for Oregonians to save for retirement at work. Employees contribute part of their paycheck into their own personal IRAs that stay with them throughout their careers. The program also benefits employers who don't offer a qualified retirement plan by helping them compete with businesses that do. To learn more about OregonSaves or to open an account, please visit www.oregonsaves.com or call 844-661-6777.

The Oregon Treasury Savings Network, part of the Oregon State Treasury, administers the Oregon College Savings Plan; Oregon ABLE Savings Plan and nationally available ABLE for ALL Savings Plan; and the first state-run retirement program, OregonSaves.

Contact: Kasey Krifka
[email protected]
503-431-7976

SOURCE OregonSaves