Auto Portability Simulation Model Unveiled at EBRI Policy Forum

Auto Portability's Foundational Research

Auto portability is supported by a broad base of empirical research that clearly demonstrates the problems facing American workers (job-changing, systemic friction and 401k cashout leakage) as well as the solution: moving retirement savings forward when participants change jobs.


Feb
21
2020

EBRI: Auto Portability Adds More Retirement Security to the SECURE Act

A new Issue Brief released by the Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI) examines the impact of the SECURE Act's most important provisions on Americans' retirement security. The EBRI brief projects that the SECURE Act will reduce the nation's $3.81 trillion Retirement Savings Shortfall (RSS) by 3%, or $115 billion. However, when combined with auto portability, the RSS is reduced by 10%, or $383 billion -- a massive, incremental benefit.

Jan
02
2020

Auto Portability 2019: The Year in Review

At the outset of a new decade, RCH EVP & Chief Sales Officer Neal Ringquist pauses to reflect upon the highlights of a momentous year for auto portability, addressing key 2019 developments in regulation, research & public policy, webinars and media coverage, as well as providing readers with his forward-looking predictions for 2020.

Nov
16
2019

EBRI: IRA Rollovers Often Deviate from 401(k) Asset Allocations

ASPPA Net reporter Ted Godbout examines new EBRI research that finds job-changing 401(k) participants' carefully-crafted asset allocation strategies can become dramatically inconsistent after rolling over balances to IRAs. This issue, the research says, "was particularly acute for small-balance rollovers of less than $5,000, as a large percentage of these assets ended up in MMFs as a default investment in the IRAs." EBRI noted that "facilitating the movement of the IRA assets of those still working back into 401(k) plans, such as through auto portability measures...could help achieve the longer-term asset allocation strategies...developed in 401(k) plans, particularly for accounts with lower balances."

Nov
09
2019

Ways to Combat Pervasive Leakage

PLANSPONSOR's Lee Barney reports on the Savings Preservation Working Group's recent analysis (link) of the problem of 401(k) cashout leakage, estimated to be between $60 billion and $105 billion per year, and affecting 33% to 47% of job-changing participants. The report -- the most-comprehensive analysis of cashout leakage to date -- represents a meta-analysis of studies conducted by EBRI, large recordkeepers, the Government Accountability Office (GAO), Boston Research Technologies and RCH's own Auto Portability Simulation. The SPWG's conclusions were reviewed and validated by a team of industry experts, trade associations and advocacy groups, and specifically acknowledges the contributions of RCH's Spencer Williams, Tom Johnson and Tom Hawkins.

Nov
06
2019

A National Program Like OregonSaves Would Reduce Retirement Deficit

PLANSPONSOR reporter Lee Barney joins the chorus of media coverage of the EBRI Issue Brief examining 2 policy initiatives -- a nationwide expansion of an OregonSaves-like program, as well as the adoption of 401(k) safe harbor plans. While the EBRI analysis found that both initiatives delivered significant benefits in the form of reductions to the nation's retirement deficit, the addition of auto portability delivered even more-dramatic benefits to both by reducing the amount of cashout leakage experienced by job-changing participants.

Nov
06
2019

NAPA Net Covers EBRI Issue Brief, Auto Portability

Following the release of a 10/31 EBRI Issue Brief and its 11/4 coverage in 401(k) Specialist, NAPA Net's Ted Godbout reports on EBRI's findings that auto portability, when paired with 2 policy initiatives -- a nationwide OregonSaves program and adoption of 401(k) safe harbor plans -- dramatically improves their benefits, as measured by projected reductions in the nation's retirement savings shortfall (RSS).

Nov
04
2019

EBRI: Nation-Wide Auto IRA Program Would Get Huge Boost from Auto Portability

401(k) Specialist Managing Editor Brian Anderson addresses the latest EBRI Issue Brief, which examined two policy initiatives -- the rollout of a hypothetical, nationwide OregonSaves-like auto IRA program, as well as the widespread adoption of 401(k) safe harbor plans. While EBRI found that both policy initiatives could have a substantial impact on the nation's retirement savings shortfall (RSS), combining them with auto portability turbo-charged their results. When combined with auto portability, a nation-wide OregonSaves initiative generated additional, incremental benefits of $303 billion, while adding a whopping $386 billion to the benefits of 401(k) safe harbor plans.

Oct
31
2019

EBRI: Big Benefits When OregonSaves, Safe Harbor 401(k)s Paired with Auto Portability

A 10/31/19 EBRI Issue Brief -- What if OregonSaves Went National: A Look at the Impact on Retirement Income Adequacy -- examines the impact of a nationwide roll-out of a hypothetical "national" OregonSaves plan, as well as the nationwide adoption of 401(k) safe harbor plans by employers not currently offering a DB or DC plan. Not surprisingly, EBRI finds that the increased access to workplace retirement savings plans generated by these programs produces substantial reductions in EBRI's all-important metric, the Retirement Savings Shortfall (RSS). However, when each program is further paired with auto portability, their benefits are dramatically increased -- from $459 billion to $759 billion for OregonSaves, and from $645 billion to $1.0 trillion for 401(k) safe harbor plans.

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Auto Portability Simulation Model Unveiled at EBRI Policy Forum