State auto-IRA programs are payroll IRAs a state runs when an employer offers no retirement plan. With no W-2 employees, a one-person business can usually certify an exemption. A W-2 hire can start the duty, and the headcount that triggers it differs by state.
If you run that business alone, you are a solopreneur. A freestyle entrepreneur builds the business around a life, so the useful question is what a new W-2 hire does to payroll. The rest of this cluster sits on Self-Employed Money.
US state programs, fetched November 4, 2026. General information, not legal, tax, or retirement advice. Thresholds, deadlines, and penalties differ by state. Confirm the rule on the program’s own site, and ask a CPA or an employment lawyer before you register or set a notice aside.
What a state auto-IRA is
The state creates a payroll-deduction IRA and hires a firm to run the investments. If you sponsor no qualified plan, you may have to register, send the roster the state counts, and remit contributions each payday. Workers are enrolled unless they opt out or change the rate. You are not opening a 401(k), and you are not choosing their funds.
CalSavers is the program whose employer pages were fetched for this piece. The employer home page says there are no employer fees and employers do not make contributions. The FAQ says the program uses after-tax Roth IRAs, employers may not match, and a worker who does nothing starts at 5% of gross pay. That rate rises 1% on or about January 1 each year for three years, up to 8%, and the first increase waits until the saver has been in at least six months. The worker opts out with CalSavers during a 30-day window. Another state’s rate is whatever that state’s page says.
Oregon’s saver help page puts a different cost on the account: about 0.50% a year, plus $16 charged as $4 a quarter. That page does not say the employer pays it. Oregon’s employer site returned 403 on November 4, 2026, so this draft does not quote an employer-fee line from it.
Which programs are open in November 2026
Georgetown University’s Center for Retirement Initiatives dates its map November 2, 2026. As of September 30, 2026, it counts 22 states and 3 cities with enacted private-sector programs. Seventeen of the states are auto-IRA states. As of September 20, 2026, fifteen auto-IRA programs were fully open to eligible employers. Minnesota opened on January 1, 2026. The same page still lists later registration waves. Open, and “your size is already due,” are separate facts. Headcounts below are the smallest groups on that timeline, not a guess at a statute this draft did not open.
| State | Program | What Georgetown’s timeline says |
|---|---|---|
| California | CalSavers | 1–4 employees. That wave closed December 31, 2025. CalSavers’ own page: at least one eligible employee. |
| Colorado | Colorado SecureSavings | Last wave: 5–14. Newly eligible businesses, as of April, register by May 15. |
| Connecticut | MyCTSavings | Last wave: 5–25. Later dates on the page: August 31, 2023, and August 3, 2024 for newly eligible businesses. |
| Delaware | DE EARNS | No headcount printed. Newly eligible date on the page: June 30, 2025. |
| Illinois | My Illinois Savings | Floor of 5. Rebranded from Illinois Secure Choice in June 2026. |
| Maine | MERIT | Under 15, then all remaining covered employers by December 31, 2024. |
| Maryland | MarylandSaves | No headcount printed. Registration date on the page: December 1, 2022. |
| Minnesota | Minnesota Secure Choice | Opened January 1, 2026. Employers with 50–99: December 1, 2026. Employers with 5–9: June 30, 2028. |
| Nevada | NEST | No headcount printed. All employers: September 1, 2025. |
| New Jersey | RetireReady NJ | January 20, 2026 law: threshold lowered from 25 employees to 10. |
| New York | New York Secure Choice | Smallest wave: 10–14 employees, due July 15, 2026. |
| Oregon | OregonSaves | 1–2 employees. Newly eligible employers: July 31 of the next year. |
| Rhode Island | RISavers | 5 or more by October 15, 2028. 100 or more were due October 15, 2026. 50 or more: October 15, 2027. |
| Vermont | Vermont Saves | February 2026 rules cover employers with 2 or more employees. |
| Virginia | RetirePath VA | Effective July 1, 2026: threshold 5, down from 25. The 30-hour test is gone. Age 18. |
Hawaii and Washington are the enacted auto-IRA states outside that open fifteen. Hawaii’s labor department says the Hawaiʻi Retirement Savings Program is projected to launch in late December 2026. The board voted on February 10, 2026 to join Connecticut’s partnership. Georgetown gives the same late-December window.
Washington’s live program is a voluntary marketplace. The Department of Financial Institutions says it lists plans for businesses with fewer than 100 employees, including sole proprietors and self-employed people, and that participation is voluntary. Washington Saves, the auto-IRA, is separate. Georgetown says the law requires launch by July 1, 2027, with a pilot on or about April 2027. The program’s legislative report targets a pilot in early 2027 and full launch in July 2027.
Philadelphia voters approved a city board on May 19, 2026. Georgetown says contributions there can begin by July 1, 2027. New York City and Seattle are not proceeding, because the state programs cover them.
Massachusetts has offered a voluntary multiple-employer plan since October 2017. Utah enacted a Retirement Exchange on March 24, 2026, with a statutory platform date of no later than November 2, 2026. Georgetown states that date. It does not confirm the exchange is live. Mississippi enacted Work and Save on April 8, 2026, with contributions beginning no later than August 1, 2028. New Mexico’s auto-IRA is on an indefinite hold.
Does it apply to a one-person business?
Start with the W-2, not the state where you formed the company. CalSavers counts a California W-2 worker who is 18 or older, has a Social Security number or ITIN, and has been employed at least 30 days, with no minimum hours. Its FAQ also uses unemployment-insurance coverage plus California wages. A remote hire can put you in that program. Whether the person is a contractor is the question in solopreneur vs freelancer.
CalSavers’ headcount is an average of at least one California employee age 18 or older in the prior year. Government, religious, and tribal employers are exempt and still file. The FAQ gives a new business 90 days after it crosses the line, and a December 31 deadline in the year of the notice. Each spring it reads Employment Development Department filings. A missed earlier deadline means register now. OregonSaves’ help page says a business with no W-2 employees may certify an exemption, and that hiring an employee means you register unless you offer a qualified plan. Georgetown’s July 31 “next year” line is still on the Oregon row. Follow the notice.
The table is the other headcounts. One hire is the test only on the rows that say so.
Sponsoring a plan is the usual exemption, and you still file it. CalSavers names a 401(k), 403(b), SEP, SIMPLE IRA, 401(a) plan, 403(a) annuity, and a payroll-deduction IRA with automatic enrollment. The plan must reach substantially all eligible employees. Owners-only, closed or sold, and no California employees are exemptions too. A sole proprietor with no employees is not required to join, and may enroll alone. Owners-only firms still file by December 31. A separate line says that if you have more than you and a spouse as an employee, you offer a plan or facilitate CalSavers. Use the exemption screen for a spouse. CalSavers says a single-member LLC is typically treated like a sole proprietorship here, and a multi-member LLC follows partnership or corporate rules. See LLC basics for solopreneurs.
Say you design in Oregon and the only name on payroll is yours. The help page says you may certify an exemption. The week you add a W-2 employee, that page says you register unless a qualified plan is already there. That is a hypothetical, not a client of this site.
What you actually do
- Type the address. The notice carries an access code. CalSavers says the state contacts you when action is required. Type the employer site yourself. The registration page says to request a code if none arrived.
- Register or exempt. CalSavers asks for the EIN, the California payroll-tax account number, and the access code. Keep the confirmation. A missing exemption reason goes to the email address on that page.
- Add the roster, then step back. You have 30 days to upload eligible employees. They get 30 days before deductions start. Opt-outs go to the program. The registration page says you are not a fiduciary and you are not liable for their investment choices. Remit the percentage each payday. Under 10 people, CalSavers points you to a manual upload. The employer page says a payroll provider may be able to connect. Read any fee that connection shows before you turn it on. The cash still has to leave when a client is late: late payments from clients.
- Maintain it. New hires go on the roster within 30 days. Departures are marked inactive.
What California charges if you stall
CalSavers’ registration page, citing Government Code section 100033(b), sets $250 per eligible employee when noncompliance runs 90 days or more after notice, and an additional $500 per eligible employee at 180 days or more. The board regulations on the State Treasurer’s site add $500 per eligible employee for each later calendar year, collected by the Franchise Tax Board. The copy fetched here shows no revision date on that section. Confirm it before you pay or appeal. The Oregon help pages fetched for this article do not state a fine. Use the program that wrote to you.
A plan of your own
CalSavers’ version is an IRA with no match. IRS release IR-2025-111 (November 13, 2025) sets the 2026 IRA limit at $7,500, plus $1,100 at age 50, and the 401(k) deferral at $24,500 before catch-up. News items may not be updated later. CalSavers repeats $7,500 and $8,600 across all of your IRAs combined. Roth phase-outs in the release start at $153,000 (single and head of household) and $242,000 (married filing jointly). The worker judges eligibility. A saver can ask CalSavers to recharacterize into a traditional IRA.
A SEP, SIMPLE IRA, or 401(k) is what puts you on CalSavers’ exemption list. The IRS startup-costs page offers up to $5,000 a year for three years, on Form 8881, if you had 100 or fewer employees who received at least $5,000 and at least one participant who is not highly compensated. An owner-only firm should not assume the credit applies. The page still marks a related contribution credit “(for 2023)” at a $100,000 earnings line. Your own account is the self-employed retirement quiz. The deduction is in avoiding the taxman.
What you decide, what a tool drafts, what you check
In November 2026 a general writing assistant can turn a state FAQ you paste into a checklist. It will also invent a headcount. Check the portal. No product here is the best one.
| You decide | A tool drafts | You check |
|---|---|---|
| Which states got W-2 wages, and whether anyone besides the owners is on payroll | A field list from the official pages you paste | The site you typed, the access code, and that state’s headcount |
| Whether to sponsor a SEP, SIMPLE IRA, or 401(k) | Questions for the CPA, including the startup-credit test | The exemption confirmation or the plan document |
| What the employee note may promise | A short note from the state’s template | No match, tax result, or fine that you did not read on the program site |
The takeaway: a five-minute check
- List the states on this year’s W-2s.
- Read Georgetown’s row and the program site. Use that headcount.
- Register or file the exemption by the date on the notice.
- Put the remittance on the pay run. Read any payroll-connection fee before you turn it on.
- Add the state auto-IRA test to the next hire.
Grab the free One-Person Business AI Stack checklist when you want a one-page list of what you decide, what software drafts, and what you still check yourself.
Sources
All fetched November 4, 2026.
- Georgetown University Center for Retirement Initiatives, States. Map dated November 2, 2026. Counts as of September 30, 2026. Fifteen open auto-IRA programs as of September 20, 2026, plus the timelines, 2026 law notes, Hawaii, Washington Saves, Philadelphia, Utah, Mississippi, New Mexico, and Massachusetts.
- CalSavers, employer home. No employer fees or contributions, the 30-day roster, who is added, and manual upload under 10 employees.
- CalSavers, registration. Exemptions, the qualified-plan list, the December 31 deadline, and penalties under Government Code section 100033(b).
- CalSavers, FAQ. Roth IRAs, the 5% default rising to 8%, no match, no employer fee, 2026 IRA figures, owner and spouse lines, the 90-day new-business line, EDD review, LLC treatment, and contractor enrollment.
- California State Treasurer, CalSavers regulations, section 10008. Later-year $500 penalty and Franchise Tax Board collection. No revision date in the extract.
- OregonSaves, hiring soon. Exemption with no W-2 employees. Register after a hire unless you offer a qualified plan.
- OregonSaves, saver fees. About 0.50% plus $16 a year on the account.
- Hawaiʻi Retirement Savings Program, labor.hawaii.gov/hrsp. Late December 2026 launch projection. February 10, 2026 vote to join Connecticut’s partnership.
- Washington Department of Financial Institutions, Small Business Retirement Marketplace. Voluntary, under 100 employees, including sole proprietors.
- Washington Saves, legislative report. Early-2027 pilot. July 2027 launch, called the statutory date in that report.
- IRS, IR-2025-111, November 13, 2025. IRA $7,500, catch-up $1,100, 401(k) deferral $24,500, Roth phase-outs.
- IRS, startup costs tax credit. Up to $5,000 for three years, Form 8881, and the “(for 2023)” contribution-credit line.