--- title: New Research Shines Light on the Saver’s Match Program description: Hawkins puts two recent Saver’s Match research findings – one from Morningstar and the other from RCH – into perspective. image: https://blog.rch1.com/hubfs/SM%20Spotlight.jpg --- [![Retirement Clearinghouse Logo](https://blog.rch1.com/hs-fs/hubfs/raw_assets/public/Retirement_Clearinghouse_May2022/images/logo.png?width=1000&height=648&name=logo.png "Retirement Clearinghouse Logo")](https://rch1.com/) [Privacy Policy](https://securities.rch1.com/common/PrivacyStatement.pdf) [Sponsors/Service Providers](https://rch1.com/plan-sponsors) [Individuals](https://rch1.com/individuals) [Login](https://rch1.com/#) - [Home](https://rch1.com/home-page) - [Individuals](https://rch1.com/individuals) - [Individuals Home](https://rch1.com/individuals/individuals-home) - [Who is RCH?](https://rch1.com/individuals/who-is-rch) - [Why Does RCH Have My Retirement Savings?](https://rch1.com/individuals/why-does-rch-have-my-retirement-funds) - 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The two new research efforts – one by [Morningstar Retirement](https://www.morningstar.com/products/retirement-research-center/research) and the other by [Retirement Clearinghouse (RCH)](https://rch1.com/) – quantify overall Saver’s Match program benefits, and model the potential size, scale and operations of the program. What’s now clear is that the Saver’s Match program will be highly impactful in increasing retirement wealth, while targeting traditionally under-saved population segments. The program will also be massive in scale, potentially affecting over 27 million eligible savers per year, and will require that Treasury-funded matching contributions be efficiently and effectively routed to valid, qualified accounts. Put simply, this research demonstrates that there is too much at stake not to ensure that the Saver’s Match is a complete success. **Morningstar Values the Incremental Wealth Generated by the Saver’s Match** In an [article summarizing their findings](https://www.morningstar.com/retirement/federal-program-that-could-help-generate-2-trillion-retirement-wealth), Morningstar Retirement pegs the potential incremental retirement wealth generated by the Saver’s Match at $2.03 trillion. No, that’s not a typo – that’s ‘trillion’ with a ‘t.’ Retirement research icon [Jack VanDerhei, Ph.D.](https://www.morningstar.com/people/jack-vanderhei) and [Spencer Look, FSA](https://www.morningstar.com/people/spencer-look) utilized the [Morningstar Model of U.S. Retirement Outcomes](https://www.morningstar.com/business/campaigns/model-of-us-retirement-outcomes) to calculate the $2.03 trillion wealth figure. The scenario generating this value assumes that the Saver’s Match program will produce positive behavioral impacts – encouraging existing savers to save more, while incenting new savers to take advantage of federal matching contributions. This assumption is consistent with findings from a [July 2024 Boston Research Technologies-Retirement Clearinghouse survey](https://rch1.com/blog/americas-mobile-workforce-meets-their-savers-match), which indicated that the program could exert a powerful influence on the behavior of savers and non-savers alike. Morningstar's latest analysis builds upon their [earlier research](https://www.morningstar.com/content/cs-assets/v3/assets/blt9415ea4cc4157833/blt161d7e11cd6c4248/6633b9eb619c8b3c69f92075/CFERS-Savers-Match-May-2024.pdf), which found that specific demographic segments, such as single women, Black Americans, and Hispanic Americans could realize significant benefits from the Saver’s Match program. **Simulating the Operation of the Saver’s Match Program** Taking a different angle, a team of researchers assembled by Retirement Clearinghouse and led by Chief Operating Officer [Ricki Ingalls, Ph.D.](https://rch1.com/management-team/ricki-ingalls), has developed a Saver’s Match Simulation (SMS), a discrete event simulation that models the end-to-end operations of the Saver’s Match program over a 10-year period, simulating specific technologies and operational solutions required to support the program. To model the program, the SMS team applied a “best available data” standard, utilizing authoritative sources of data for the SMS, including data from the IRS, DOL, EBRI and other sources. Importantly, estimates of eligible savers from EBRI ([Sizing the Market for the Saver’s Match](https://www.ebri.org/retirement/publications/issue-briefs/content/sizing-the-market-for-the-saver-s-match), Issue Brief No. 602, February 2024), were updated to account for significant defined contribution participant growth occurring since 2018 (the base year for EBRI’s figures) as well as the actual and projected growth of state-based Auto IRA programs. The revised SMS estimates grow EBRI’s 2018-based figures from 21.9 million to 27.1 million eligible savers for tax year 2027, with 87% of these eligible savers contributing to an employer-sponsored plan. Additionally, the SMS model projects an average matching contribution of $634 across all eligible savers, including sub-$100 matching amounts, which a saver can optionally elect to take as a refundable tax credit. Finally, the SMS model incorporates components of [auto portability’s](https://psn1.com/learning-center/about-auto-portability) proven technology to locate, match and move matching contributions to qualified plan accounts. The SMS model’s matching algorithm first seeks to locate a saver’s designated account and, if unsuccessful, performs a series of broader searches to locate a current active, qualified account. Following a confirmed locate-and-match, the automated movement of data and funds occurs. There are three critical takeaways from the SMS model: 1. **Importance of High Claiming Rates:** It is vitally important to the success of the Saver’s Match program to achieve a high rate of claiming for matching contributions, which could be influenced by a combination of effective promotion and easy-to-navigate claiming processes, both of which will be under the control of the program. 2. **Rapid Program Adoption:** Achieving rapid program adoption by providers and plan sponsors will facilitate rapid throughput. While matching contributions could initially be housed in a transitional IRA, the objective of the solution modeled in the SMS was to transfer all matching contributions to the defined contribution system or to existing traditional IRAs as expediently as possible. 3. **Use of Proven Financial Technology:** Deployment of proven financial technology to automate the location, matching and movement of funds will be essential to the efficient operation of the Saver’s Match program. **The Way Forward** The combination of a highly impactful Saver’s Match program, its large scope and scale – combined with a short implementation timeframe – could present challenges in the run-up to the program’s launch and will require the deployment of a sound operational model that incorporates proven financial technology. There is simply too much potential retirement security at stake not to make the Saver’s Match program a complete success. 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