How are tariffs and your 401(k) retirement savings intertwined?
Experts say a rise in tariffs can lead to several factors that impact your retirement savings.
More than one million private-sector workers have enrolled in state “auto-IRA” retirement savings accounts, program data shows, a milestone in the effort to boost 401(k) and IRA savings in the United States.
Policymakers have struggled for years to get more Americans to save for retirement. The main tools are the 401(k) employee retirement plan and its personal-savings counterpart, the Individual Retirement Account. Both offer tax breaks as an incentive to save.
But the retirement savings campaign has been only partly successful. Participation in 401(k) and IRA retirement savings has been slow to rise, and wealthier Americans are far more likely than middle- and low-income households to take part.
The past year has brought some good tidings for the future of retirement savings. The participation rate in 401(k)-type plans finally reached 50% for private-sector workers in 2024. And access to those plans reached 70%, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data.
Retirement experts ascribe much of the progress to evolving strategies that encourage more workers to save for retirement.
‘Auto-IRA’ programs help workers without access to retirement savings
One key initiative is “auto-IRA” or automated savings programs, which have sprung up in states over the past several years as a safety net for workers who lack access to retirement savings.
The programs offer retirement savings to those workers with automatic enrollment. Twenty states have enacted auto-IRA programs, and 11 are fully operational, according to research by Georgetown University and the AARP. Oregon, Illinois and California launched some of the first plans.
As of March 2025, the total number of auto-IRA accounts tops 1 million, according to a Georgetown program tracker. Those workers have saved about $2 billion toward retirement.
“These programs show that when saving for retirement is easy and automatic, people do it,” said Nancy LeaMond, AARP executive vice president and chief advocacy and engagement officer. “Thanks to state action, over a million Americans who were previously unable to save for retirement through their job are now doing that, though too many hardworking people are still left behind.”
AARP research suggests that small businesses, in particular, struggle to offer workers access to retirement savings. At companies with fewer than 10 employees, more than three-quarters of workers lack access to retirement plans.
Americans struggle to build retirement savings on their own
In theory, anyone can save for retirement. In practice, however, Americans who don’t have retirement savings options at work aren’t likely to take the initiative on their own.
“You’re 15 times more likely to save for retirement if you have the option to save at work through payroll deduction,” said Kim Olson, a senior officer at the Pew Charitable Trusts, speaking to USA TODAY in 2024. “If you have to do this on your own, the chances are very low that you’ll follow through.”
Upper-income Americans are much more likely to save for retirement than their less affluent peers. At the lowest income levels, only about 13% of households held retirement accounts in 2022, according to the federal Survey of Consumer Finances. At the highest income tier, more than 90% of households held retirement accounts.
Advocates say automated plans could introduce millions of lower-income Americans to retirement savings.