Auto Portability in the News
Browse the most comprehensive collection of articles in the media that feature auto portability.
How to ‘Materially Reduce’ Retirement Savings Deficits Across Races
401k Specialist Editor-in-Chief John Sullivan examines the latest Issue Brief from the Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI), which assesses the impact of recently-proposed changes to the retirement system and how they could shrink retirement deficits. Sullivan notes that "combining automatic contribution provisions with an enhanced Saver’s Credit in 401ks and DC plans would reduce retirement savings shortfalls by 17% to 26%, depending on race" adding that "the addition of auto portability of retirement accounts resulted in a further double-digit reduction in savings shortfall across all races examined."
National Urban League, NAACP Endorse 401k Auto Portability
Robert L. Johnson, Founder and Chairman of The RLJ Companies and majority owner of Retirement Clearinghouse (RCH), has secured endorsements for auto portability from two premier civil rights organizations – the National Urban League, and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) – both with over a century of experience advocating for solutions that address the inequities and economic challenges experienced by Black Americans and by other communities of color. Writing in 401k Specialist, RCH's Renée Wilder Guerin, Executive Vice President, Public Policy, summarizes these major developments.
Robert L. Johnson, Majority Owner of Retirement Clearinghouse, Secures Endorsement of Two Civil Rights Organizations for Auto Portability
Robert L. Johnson, Founder and Chairman of The RLJ Companies and majority owner of Retirement Clearinghouse (RCH), has secured endorsements for auto portability from two premier civil rights organizations – the National Urban League, and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) – both with over a century of experience advocating for solutions that address the inequities and economic challenges experienced by Black Americans and by other communities of color. Renée Wilder Guerin, RCH Executive Vice President, Public Policy, summarizes these major developments in RCH's Consolidation Corner.
You have more access to your 401(k) than you think — and that’s not always a good thing
Alicia Munnell, director of the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College and writing in MarketWatch, examines the phenomenon of 401(k) leakage, and considers the balancing act between preserving savings for retirement, vs. allowing access to savings for participants who need their money. Munnell identifies the "really annoying and large source of leakage is people cashing out when they change jobs" and, in an ideal world, would prefer to "prohibit cashing out at job changes entirely." More practically, Munnell suggests that RCH's auto portability program, "a platform for automatically transferring balances under $5,000 from an old plan to a new plan" could coexist with "a system with standardized forms and procedures for balances of all sizes."
4 Reasons Why 401k Auto Portability is Inevitable
Writing in 401k Specialist, RCH's Tom Hawkins offers an optimistic assessment of the prospects for auto portability. Hawkins, a self-confessed "long-time, unabashed proponent" of auto portability, has recently concluded that the feature's eventual, widespread adoption is "inevitable" and supports his position with four key points.
Four Reasons Why 401(k) Auto Portability is Inevitable
RCH's Tom Hawkins, writing in the Consolidation Corner blog, offers an optimistic assessment of the prospects for auto portability. Hawkins, who admits to being a "a long-time, unabashed proponent" of auto portability, now believes that the feature's eventual, widespread adoption is "inevitable" and supports his position with four key points.
The Aspen Leadership Forum on Retirement Savings
In a publication released 1/6/2022 as part of the Aspen Institute's Financial Security Program, the 2021 Aspen Leadership Forum on Retirement Savings Report is a summary of the April 2021 Aspen Leadership Forum on Retirement Savings. The Forum's report devotes a page to "Six Stats That Tell the Portability Story" which notes the propensity of American workers to change jobs and to cash out. It also mentions two compelling statistics: 1) that 85% of participants like the idea of automatic portability and 2) that 57% of retirement experts supported a government mandate for auto portability, while almost half (48%) believed that automatic portability was feasible without such a mandate.
The retirement crisis: where do we stand?
Robert Powell, writing in MarketWatch, takes stock of the retirement crisis and turns to Tony Webb, formerly a senior research economist at the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College, and now an affiliated researcher with the Schwartz Center for Economic Policy Analysis at The New School. Webb recounts a meeting years ago with RCH's Spencer Williams and Tom Johnson during the formative stages of auto portability. Recalling that meeting, Webb notes that Williams and Johnson “had an idea for automating the transfer of 401(k) plan balances from one plan to another” and described the pair as “the men in white hats, trying to do good.”
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