2020 Oklahoma Retirement Savings Survey

Jennifer Sauer, AARP Research

Published January 21, 2020

This survey was commissioned by AARP in Oklahoma to gauge the support of small business owners in the state for a public–private retirement savings program.

Top Findings

Almost half of Oklahoma small business owners (47%) are concerned about themselves and their employees not having enough money to cover critical expenses when they retire.
Most (68%) small business owners in Oklahoma do not offer or participate in a retirement savings plan, largely due to the cost and complexity of such a plan.
More than two-thirds (68%) of Oklahoma small business owners support a privately managed, ready-to-go retirement savings option that would help small businesses offer employees a way to save for retirement.
Most (77%) small business owners in Oklahoma agree that state lawmakers should support a bill to help small business owner and their employees to access a retirement savings option.

Background

A financially secure retirement is out of reach for millions of American workers and small business owners. Retirement savings plans can be costly to operate and challenging to manage leaving many workers and small business owners without access to a way to save for retirement.

To help workers and small business owners better prepare for their retirement, AARP is supporting states in their efforts to create and implement a state retirement savings option that would enable small business owners and their employees businesses to save out of their regular paycheck. These public–private managed state programs would be easy for employers to set up with low costs and low risks to the employer and the state.

Methodology

This phone survey of 500 small business owners in Oklahoma was fielded in November 18 through December 18, 2019. The sample, including business owner names and companies, came from a Dun & Bradstreet business list and is weighted to reflect the Dun & Bradstreet universe of businesses in Oklahoma with 0–100 additional employees.

For more information, please contact Jennifer Sauer at jsauer@aarp.org. For media inquiries, please contact media@aarp.org.

Suggested citation:

Sauer, Jennifer. AARP Survey of Small Business Owners in Oklahoma. Washington, DC: January 2020. https://doi.org/10.26419/res.00369.001

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