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.
BenefitsPRO: Auto-portability boosts 401(k) results in new EBRI research
In his 2/19/19 article in BenefitsPRO, RCH's Tom Hawkins examines new research, authored by EBRI Research Director Jack VanDerhei, Ph.D., comparing the retirement income generated by 401(k) plans with auto enrollment against defined benefit (DB) plans. While EBRI's primary objective was to address growing concern over the relative decline of DB plans, the study also identified significant, incremental benefits of auto portability, adding to a growing body of research from EBRI demonstrating that auto portability increases retirement security for 401(k) participants.
New EBRI Research Shows Millennials Benefit from Auto Portability
Expanding on research comparing DB plans vs. 401(k) plans with auto enrollment, on 2/14/19 EBRI released an infographic revealing the beneficial effect of auto portability on Milliennials. When auto portability is added to 401(k) plans, Millennials -- both male and female, for all years of eligibility, and for all income quartiles -- experience significant improvements in their 401(k) plan performance, as measured by equivalent break-even DB plan accrual rates. The latest EBRI analysis adds to a considerable body of evidence that auto portability is a leading retirement savings public policy initiative.
EBRI Research Reveals Auto Portability's Benefits to Generation X Women
New EBRI Research, released 1/17/19, reveals a troubling Retirement Savings Shortfall (RSS) that is significantly higher for Generation X women, including both single females and widows, than for their counterparts. However, EBRI also found that auto portability made a "significant dent in these retirement deficits." According to EBRI, with auto portability "we found at least a double-digit percent reduction for all groups with future years of defined contribution plan eligibility, and for those with 21–30 years of eligibility, we found a 21 percent reduction in deficits for single females and a 31 percent reduction for widows."
Auto-Portability, Universal Coverage Would Reduce Retirement Shortfall
PLANSPONSOR's Lee Barney addresses new research released by EBRI, which models the effects of the Automatic Retirement Plan Act of 2017 (ARPA), and then combines ARPA with auto portability. The EBRI research reveals that if ARPA were to be combined with auto portability, the retirement savings shortfall (RSS) would dramatically reduce the $4.3 trillion deficit by $932 billion, or 22.6%.
Auto Portability Featured in "EBRI Super Model"
In his weekly Anecdotal Evidence column entitled "How Much Retooling Does the 401(k) Need?", Retirement Income Journal publisher Kerry Pechter covers two important weekly events -- the ERISA Advisory Council meeting and the EBRI webinar on their Retirement Security Projection Model (RSPM). For the EBRI event, Pechter notes that auto portability is a key public policy initiative in the "EBRI super model" and cites auto portability's benefits as reducing "retirement shortages for ages 35-39 by between 17% and 23%."
Understanding and Solving the Problem of Women’s 401(k) Cashout Leakage
At a May 22nd, 2018 Women's Institute for a Secure Retirement (WISER) roundtable, Retirement Clearinghouse (RCH) EVP Tom Johnson debuts new women's 401(k) cashout leakage statistics. This important new data highlights the challenges that women face in preserving their small-balance 401(k) retirement savings when changing jobs, and also points to the promise of auto portability to preserve these savings in order to achieve higher balance levels, where more virtuous behaviors can prevail.
PRESS RELEASE - First-of-its-Kind Survey Sheds New Light on Missing Participant Problem
Boston Research Technologies and Retirement Clearinghouse have issued a joint press release announcing the key findings from a first-of-its-kind survey examining the retirement industry’s missing participant problem. The survey is the first to examine the problem from the perspective of the participant, offering unique insights into its various dimensions.
Boston Research Technologies White Paper Validates Auto Portability's Demand
Boston Research Technologies (BRT) studied the first 4 months of the initial launch of RCH Auto Portability with a large plan sponsor in the healthcare industry and documented the key findings. BRT validated several hypotheses related to participant distribution behavior at job change that reinforce the potential for auto portability to save retirement plan participants trillions of dollars in savings by reducing cash out leakage.