All You Need to Know About Maryland Saves

In September 2022, The Maryland Small Business Retirement Savings Program, referred to as “Maryland Saves”, was launched.  Like many states, Maryland created a state-managed IRA program for small businesses.  The program offers a simple retirement option for businesses that may not have offered a retirement plan for its employees due to the associated administrative costs.

The design is simple.  Employees are enrolled automatically (5% of pay, after tax) but can opt out at any time or increase/decrease the amount deducted from their pay.  The monies are deposited into a Roth IRA, called a Worklife account.   The Roth IRA is administered by private sector financial services firms and overseen by a public board that includes the Maryland State Treasurer and Maryland’s Secretary of the Dept. of Labor.


Employers that meet the following criteria are required to participate:

  • Employers with a work location in Maryland, which includes remote workers in Maryland

  • Employers that have been in operation at least two calendar years

  • Employers who have at least one W-2 employee

  • Employers who utilize an automated payroll system

Employers who offer a qualified, employer-sponsored retirement plan (plans administered by JM Pension fall into this category) are exempt from Maryland Saves.  However, employers must certify their exemption. 

Here’s how: 

  1. Go to the www.marylandsaves.org site. 

  2. In the upper right-hand corner, click “Certify my exemption”. 

  3. Then complete the questions online.  Note that it requires an SDAT ID.  If you do not know what that number is, you can enter your company name and look it up during the exemption process.  You’ll receive confirmation of the exemption in the mail.

  4. If you do not sponsor a plan, go to www.marylandsaves.org and register.  

What are the pros of MarylandSaves? 
Positives include no employer fees, no fiduciary responsibility, no required employer contribution, waiver of annual filing fee (note: if you are exempt, you also qualify for the exemption if you certify as outlined above), and the Worklife account includes a $1,000 emergency savings feature to help with unforeseen expenses.

What about the cons? 
Negatives include the first $1,000 is deposited into an emergency savings account with subsequent funds deposited into the Roth IRA, the program selects the investment lineup available to employees, no employer contribution of any kind is allowed, Roth IRA limits are far less than that allowed for a 401k plan, and employees do not receive any immediate tax savings while traditional 401k plans offer both pre- and after-tax contribution options.