CEI pilots extension of Maine's retirement savings program to ‘solopreneurs’
Photo / Courtesy Cozy Cabin Daycare
Turner daycare entrepreneur Savannah Porter said enrollment was easy and an important financial planning step.
As a one-time pilot program, Coastal Enterprises Inc. rolled out an extension of a state-sponsored retirement savings program to “solopreneurs” — single-person small businesses.
The pilot leverages the state-sponsored Maine Retirement Investment Trust, or MERIT, which requires employers with five or more workers not offering a qualified retirement savings plan to register and begin offering employees the opportunity to enroll in a Roth IRA Account. MERIT’s full rollout began in January 2024 and has since enrolled thousands of employers.
Building on that success, Brunswick-based CEI sought to expand the program to help solo business owners start saving for retirement, too.
Daycare owners
In recent months, CEI’s workforce development team has worked with 15 solo owners in the childcare industry.
The project was supported by the Economic Opportunities Program at the Aspen Institute, through which each of the owner’s retirement accounts was seeded with $3,000 to jumpstart their savings, which is matched by a commitment from the entrepreneur to automatically deposit an additional $50 per month.
CEI staff worked with each solopreneur to ensure that the monthly deposits would not be a financial burden on them or their business.
“We’re leveraging MERIT and the infrastructure of their program,” Cynthia Murphy, CEI’s senior program director for workforce solutions, told Mainebiz.
To launch the program, CEI received a $60,000 anonymous donation through the Economic Opportunities Program at the Aspen Institute in Washington, D.C.
“Through this funding, we had an opportunity to test whether financial incentives would encourage solo entrepreneurs to start a retirement saving plan,” she said.
The pilot program was offered to graduates of CEI’s Child Care Business Lab, founded in 2020 to help Mainers open financially sustainable child care businesses.
“We surveyed people who had completed the lab program and realize that none of them had retirement savings,” Murphy said.
The test program rolled out last November with the capacity to take 20 solo owners. So far it’s enrolled 19.
Enthusiasm and questions
The program provides a way for CEI to evaluate whether it would work for solo owners in general, should a new funding source materialize.
So far, it’s been a success.
“They’re all contributing,” said Murphy. “We have a six-month check-in when we’ll bring everybody back as a group.”
The program generated enthusiasm and questions.
“Some people wanted to learn more about retirement saving and about whether there were risks involved,” she said. “Some people were really excited and said, ‘I want to contribute more than $50 per month.’ There was a healthy curiosity.”
Most enrollees started their $50 contributions last November.
Savannah Porter started her contributions in January. Porter gradated from the business lab early last year and now owns Cozy Cabin Daycare in Turner. She has three employees.
The enrollment process was easy, Porter said.
“CEI reached out to me through email with this opportunity,” she said. “They did a good job providing factual information and explaining what participants should expect.”
The next step is getting her employees enrolled, she said.
“I’ve spoken with them,” she said. “We’ve gotten the ball rolling.”
Before Cozy Cabin Daycare, Porter worked in insurance and learned a lot about retirement funds.
“I understand the importance of being financially prepared for your later years in life,” she said.
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