Consolidation Corner

For Earth Day: Consider How "Recycling" Could Apply to Our Retirement System

As we observe the 46th annual Earth Day this April 22nd, we appreciate the awareness that this event has brought to the need to protect our environment, the urgency that it is instilled in all of us, and the tangible results that have been achieved in so many important areas. Although we have much work to do, we have clearly come a long way since the "throwaway" culture that emerged following World War II.

Five Common Misconceptions About Automatic Rollovers

Automatic rollover programs allow plan sponsors to force out of their plan separated participants with balances less than $5,000 into a Safe Harbor IRA. These programs can be quite effective at helping sponsors resolve many of the problems associated with housing small-balance accounts in-plan, such as...

Roll-In Services are a Slam Dunk for Sponsors & Participants

In his April 1st, 2016 article in MarketWatch, RCH's CEO Spencer Williams describes the sting that retirement savers feel -- not once, but twice -- when they choose to cash out their 401(k) savings.

Account consolidation time-consuming, expensive for employees

As has happened so many times before, the Baby Boomer generation is once again drawing attention to an unmet need: a seamless way to consolidate their collection of retirement accounts into a single account, which is a necessary step to creating a sturdy retirement plan. Much has been written about how sponsors can improve both their plans' overall health and their participants' retirement outcomes by embracing roll-ins; nonetheless, the account-consolidation process remains time-consuming and expensive for most participants.

The Fiduciary Rule and Participant Transition Management

America’s Modern Throwaway – 401(k) Retirement Savings

When trying to shape our future, it is often helpful to understand our past.

Small Balance Cash-Outs: The Easy Choice Is Not The Right One

In a previous blog post, we asked, "Why dump mandatory distributions in a landfill when you can recycle?" As we wrote then, sponsors exercising their authority to automatically roll over separated participants' small balances into safe harbor IRAs' without encouraging participants to take their retirement account savings with them at the point of job change, or facilitating "auto portability" to make plan-to-plan asset transfers a seamless process' are doing themselves and their participants a disservice in the long run.

Saving For Retirement is not a Trivial Pursuit

In his March 3rd column in MarketWatch, RCH President & CEO Spencer Williams establishes an important link between the board games we played as children (ex. Candy Land, Trivial Pursuit and Snakes & Ladders) and the games we can play in adulthood, while managing our retirement savings. The children's games are harmless, fun and instructive, but the adult retirement games (ex. Cashing Out, Stranding Accounts, and Not Updating Your Address) are anything but.