Jan. 20—The Greater Bakersfield Chamber of Commerce will partner with Moneywise Wealth Management to offer a retirement plan for all its members.

The new plan comes before a new state requirement set to take effect in June mandating all businesses with five or more employees offer a retirement plan. If businesses do not offer their own company-sponsored plan, they must participate in the state-run CalSavers program.

Since June of 2020, all employers with 100 or more employees have been subjected to the mandate.

"For many small and mid-sized businesses, an independent 401(k) plan is just infeasible. It's too expensive and takes too much time to administer," chamber President and CEO Nick Ortiz said during an announcement event Thursday. "That's why we've created the Greater Bakersfield Chamber 401(k) plan."

The chamber's plan is known as a multiple-employer plan, which allows businesses to share the costs and administrative burdens among themselves. Moneywise estimates its plan would cost roughly half of CalSavers.

"CalSavers is a complex system with onerous requirements and narrow investment offerings," said Justin Leland, director of business services for Moneywise. "Most employers I work with want to provide their employees and owners with a more robust and powerful retirement plan than CalSavers. For many of them, the Greater Bakersfield Chamber 401(k) Plan is an attractive alternative."

Interested businesses must be a member of the Greater Bakersfield Chamber of Commerce to adopt the Moneywise plan. The chamber is even adopting the plan for its own employees.

"We are excited to bring an innovative product in the financial industry that has long been lacking," said Moneywise CEO and Founder Sherod Waite, who noted many small businesses found themselves in a predicament as a result of the new state mandate. "We're very, very lucky and proud and fortunate to partner with the Bakersfield Chamber of Commerce and excited for this offering."

More information is available at mep.bakochamber.com.

You can reach Sam Morgen at 661-395-7415. You may also follow him on Twitter @smorgenTBC.