Gusto data show small-business retirement plan adoption up about 60% since 2019

Small-business retirement plan adoption has grown about 60 percent since 2019, and almost a third of small employers now offer a plan, according to Gusto data cited by InvestmentNews. The publication's Oct. 14 report attributes the surge to state-mandated retirement programs, which it says are pushing owners toward SEP, SIMPLE, solo 401(k) and small 401(k) plans rather than government-run alternatives.

Aaron Tallen, vice president and head of distribution operations and 401 defined contributions at Security Benefit in Topeka, Kansas, said the policy shift is the catalyst in the smallest plans. "State-mandated retirement plans are really driving, at least in the micro plan segment, a huge growth in small business retirement," he told InvestmentNews, describing owners who want to set up their own plan rather than use a government-mandated one.

Owners are also reducing the number of advisers they work with, Tallen said, combining retirement, wealth, tax and benefits guidance under fewer relationships. For an adviser already handling an owner's personal wealth or business finances, InvestmentNews frames the plan conversation as a natural extension of an existing relationship rather than a cold pitch.

The report says a benefits broker or a competing advisory firm will have that conversation if the incumbent adviser does not. Tallen's pitch to plan sponsors is simplicity: "Advisors are attractive in this space because they simplify something that's complicated," he said.

RCD reported in August that Gusto's payroll data showed the smallest firms adding plans fastest, with auto-IRA mandates and hourly-worker access reshaping the small-plan market.