Auto Portability blog posts


Feb
10
2020

How Socially Responsible Corporations Will Solve the 401(k) Cashout Crisis

Writing in the Consolidation Corner blog, RCH's Tom Hawkins makes the case that socially conscious private-sector corporations will soon solve the nation's 401(k) cashout leakage crisis by fully-embracing plan-to-plan portability, including auto portability. Three key developments drive Hawkins' conclusions, including 1) a growing understanding of the problem and its societal impacts, 2) access to a viable solution and 3) clear acknowledgment of a responsibility to act for the benefit of society. Hawkins further notes that this view is being echoed in retirement research & public policy circles.

Feb
05
2020

How Sponsors Can Help Minorities Save More for Retirement

In his latest byline in the Consolidation Corner blog, RCH President & CEO Spencer Williams addresses the cashout leakage crisis, which disproportionately affects minorities, including African-Americans and Hispanics. Auto portability, says Williams, can make all the difference in solving the crisis, but requires that "sponsors themselves, as well as their recordkeepers, take the next step by implementing....auto portability" -- an action which he characterizes as being completely consistent with a recent public statement by the Business Roundtable, and endorsed by 181 CEOs of the nation's largest corporations.

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.

Dec
24
2019

A Financial Wellness Program You Can Actually Measure

In his latest Consolidation Corner article, RCH President & CEO Spencer Williams examines the current state of financial wellness programs, and the challenges plan sponsors face in quantifying their benefits. Facilitating retirement savings portability, writes Williams -- whether through auto portability for small balances or an assisted roll-in program for larger balances -- can overcome this challenge by offering sponsors a financial wellness initiative that preserves participants' retirement savings and is easily quantifiable.

Nov
19
2019

The Surprising Migratory Patterns of Job-Changing Participants

In his latest Consolidation Corner article, RCH President & CEO Spencer Williams utilizes EBRI data to examine the migratory patterns of job-changing participants. Looking specifically at the size of their former employers' plans (expressed in terms of numbers of participants) compared to the size of their most-recent active plan, Williams finds that the vast majority (82.98%) of these participants go to an employer with a plan equal in size, or larger than, their former employer’s plan. Only 17.02% of participants go to employers with smaller plans, and a mere 1.9% leave employers with large plans to go to an employer with a small plan (less than 100 participants). This data, says Williams, should significantly allay industry concerns that the adoption of auto portability for small balances could result in harmful participant outcomes.

Oct
21
2019

Safe-Harbor IRAs are Supposed to be Temporary

Writing in RCH's Consolidation Corner blog, RCH President & CEO Spencer Williams observes that safe-harbor IRAs -- created by the EGTRRA-mandated automatic rollover process -- were never intended to be "permanent retirement savings vehicles." Too often, argues Williams, the relief plan sponsors realize from automatic rollovers comes at the expense of participant outcomes -- who experience high levels of cashouts, low investment returns and savings-depleting fees. With the advent of auto portability, participants will spend less time in a safe harbor IRA, and "plan sponsors no longer have to consider trading participant outcomes for administrative convenience."

Sep
27
2019

The Auto Portability Imperative

In the fifth installment of his five-part series on 401(k) cashout leakage, RCH's Tom Hawkins addresses auto portability, a solution that not only makes sound business sense, but delivers a positive societal impact for the corporations adopting it. Citing the recent Statement of Purpose from members of the Business Roundtable, Hawkins believes that as these socially-conscious corporations examine auto portability, they’ll quickly become convinced that auto portability is both a sound business decision, as well as the right thing to do.

Sep
16
2019

The Most Promising Policies to Reduce 401(k) Cashout Leakage

In his five-part series in Consolidation Corner, RCH's Tom Hawkins sheds light on the problem of cashout leakage, a silent crisis that unnecessarily robs millions of Americans of their retirement security. In his fourth article in the series, Hawkins addresses policies with the most promise to reduce the 401(k) cashout leakage problem.

Page: