SURVEY OF SMALL

www.aarp.org/austin BUSINESS OWNERS IN HAWAI`I

Hawai`i Small Business Owners Want More Residents to Save for Retirement

Data from this survey show that almost three-

More Should be Done to Encourage
quarters (73%) of Hawai`i small business owners
Hawai`i Residents to Save
(and decision makers of small businesses with 5- for Retirement
100 employees) responding to this survey think (n=300 Hawai`i Small Business Owners)
more should be done to encourage Hawai`i
residents to save for retirement. In fact, nearly half 6%
6% Don’t
say a lot more should be done. Furthermore, over Nothing
know
More
three in five (63%) express concern about their
employees not having enough money to cover 15%
health care or living expenses when they retire, A Little More 49%
with almost one quarter (23%) saying they are very A Lot
concerned. Three in four (75%) small business
24%
More
owners in this survey also express concern as
taxpayers that some Hawai`i residents have not
Some
saved enough money for retirement and could end
More
up being reliant on public assistance programs
(Very concerned: 29%; Somewhat concerned:
46%).

Hawai`i Small Business Owners Support A Public-Private Retirement Savings Option

Over four in five Hawai`i 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.
Furthermore, over four in five (85%) agree it is vital for themselves and their employees to have access to
the proposed program when thinking about the COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on small business owners
and workers. Additionally, most small business owners agree that state lawmakers should support a bill
to make it easier for small business owners to access a retirement savings option for their employees and
themselves.

Support/Oppose Hawai`i Agree/Disagree Lawmakers Should Support

Retirement Savings Option Hawai`i Retirement Savings Option
(n=300 Hawai`i Small Business Owners)
(n=300 Hawai`i Small Business Owners)

Strongly or somewhat agree 47% 36%

Strongly or somewhat support 38% 44%
Neither agree nor disagree 3%
Neither support nor oppose 4%

Somewhat oppose Somewhat disagree 4%

6%
82% 83%
Strongly oppose 6% Support Strongly disagree 9% Agree
Don't know 2% Don't know 1%

AARP Research © 2021 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED http://doi.org/10.26419/res.00495.001 1

 Hawai`i Small Business Owners Are Likely to Offer Public-Private Retirement Savings Option
About two in five small business owners in Hawai`i responding to this survey say they do not participate in
or offer a retirement savings plan, and many say they would face challenges providing a workplace savings
plan for their employees. Over seven in ten (72%) of these business owners say retirement savings plans
are too costly and two in five (40%) say they are concerned about how complicated they are to operate.
Nearly a third (32%) of these small business owners say the retirement savings plans would be too time
consuming to operate. But when asked how likely they would be to participate in or offer their employees
access to the retirement savings program being proposed in Hawai`i, well over four in five say they would
be likely to offer it (Very: 41%; Somewhat: 44%).

Currently Offer/Participates in Likelihood of Offer/Participates in

Retirement Savings Plan Retirement Savings Option
(n=300 Hawai`i Small Business Owners) (n= 123 Hawai`i Small Business Owners - who
do not offer employees a savings plan)

5%
Don’t
Know
58% 41%
No
85%
Yes 3% Likely
Not Likely
At All
6%
Not too
Likely

Staying Competitive is Among Top Reasons to Offer a Retirement Savings Option

The majority of all small business owners in Agree/Disagree Retirement Savings Option
Hawai`i agree that being able to offer a voluntary, Can Help Small Businesses Attract
portable, retirement savings program helps local Employees/Stay Competitive
small businesses attract and retain quality (n= 300 Hawai`i Small Business Owners)
employees and stay competitive. Among the fifty-
Strongly or somewhat agree 38% 37%
eight percent of small business owners in Hawai`i
who do offer a retirement savings plan to their Neither agree nor disagree 4%

employees, a quarter (25%) indicate that the main Somewhat disagree 11%
reason they offer a retirement savings plan is 75%
Strongly disagree 8%
because it is the right thing to do. In addition, Agree
Don't know 2%
nearly one in four (24%) offer an employee savings
plan to attract and/or retain quality employees.

DEMOGRAPHICS: n=300 small business owners or company decision makers with 5-100 additional employees within the state of Hawai’i; Business Size: 5-9
additional employees (41%), 10-49 additional employees (52%), 50-100 additional employees (8%); Years in Business: 0-10 years (17%), 11-25 years (33%), 26 or
more years (48%); 2020 Business Revenue: Less than $100K (12%), $100K – less than $500K (24%), $500K or more (51%); Employer/Respondent age: 18-39 (19%),
40-49 (22%), 50 and older (51%); Political ideology: Conservative (23%), Liberal (21%), Moderate (30%), None (17%).

METHODOLOGY: The 2021 Hawai’i Small Business Owner Survey was a telephone study among 300 small business owners or decision makers about employee
benefits at companies with 5-100 additional employees. Interviews were conducted August 31, 2021 – October 3, 2021. The margin of error for this sample is ± 5.7
percent. The sample, including owner names and companies, came from a Data Axle USA list and is weighted to using the 2017 Economic Census from the U.S.
Census Bureau (based on industry and number of employees) in Hawai’i with 5-100 additional employees. For more information about the methodology, visit
www.aarp.org/hawaiisaves.

AARP Research © 2021 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED www.aarp.org/research 2