SIFMA provided comments to the New Hampshire House Finance Committee on legislation (HB 239) to establish a statutory commission to study the creation of a state-run retirement security program.

SIFMA believes the proposal would burden New Hampshire with the costs and liability of developing, establishing and administering a new state program – a program that would directly compete with the private market, which today provides a wide variety of individual retirement account options for employees who are ready to contribute a percentage of their annual compensation towards retirement.

SIFMA supports the new retirement accounts, known as MyRAs, launched by the Department of the Treasury in December 2014. These are Roth IRA-style accounts that allow employees with access to direct deposit to begin saving for retirement in a safe, simple, and affordable plan that is portable and backed by the U.S. government. SIFMA strongly urges New Hampshire to fully evaluate this new federal program before developing a costly state alternative.