News

Cash-out leakage is still too high — and auto portability can help

In his latest byline in Employee Benefit News, RCH President & CEO Spencer Williams takes on cash-out leakage -- which remains a big problem for the U.S. retirement system. Citing research that examines auto portability in tandem with various legislative proposals to help Americans save more for retirement, Williams makes the case that, with auto portability, millions of participants will no longer find cashing out to be the easiest option when they switch jobs, and will preserve their retirement savings instead.

Promising Policies to Reduce 401k Cashout Leakage

In the fourth installment of his five-part series on 401(k) cashout leakage, RCH's Tom Hawkins examines three policy options to address the problem, and finds that policies facilitating portability and addressing financial emergencies have the most promise. Facilitating portability, adds Hawkins, is extensively supported by research -- and in the case of auto portability -- has an already-established regulatory framework with no barriers to widespread adoption.

CNBC Video: Robert L. Johnson Addresses Auto Portability's Importance

In a 9/12/19 interview with CNBC’s Squawk Box, Robert L. Johnson, Founder & Chairman of The RLJ Companies, and majority owner of Retirement Clearinghouse (RCH), goes in-depth on auto portability, praising the Trump administration’s favorable actions, while also noting the ongoing bipartisan support for the new plan feature. Johnson offers the CNBC panel a primer on how auto portability works, it’s significant benefits for Americans’ retirement security -- particularly minorities -- and the importance of gaining rapid adoption to deliver on its promise.

DOL Update on Auto-Portability Arrives

Writing in WealthManagement.com, Ed McCarthy chronicles the rising anticipation this summer, as industry observers expected the DOL to issue a final transaction exemption for RCH Auto Portability program. That guidance, McCarthy observes, occurred on 7/31/19, but not before the RCH program had already proven its value. McCarthy, speaking with RCH President & CEO Spencer Williams, draws attention to the prior deployment of the auto-portability technology in "pilot mode" for a large plan sponsor, where it has already located and matched over 6,000 accounts belonging to active participants in the plan. According to Williams, the combination of the DOL's guidance and the successful deployment of the technology will now allow RCH to "push [auto-portability} out into the market on a wholesale basis."

Newly Sanctioned Auto Portability Solution Could Boost Retirement Savings by Trillions

In her 8/23/19 article, carried in both PLANSPONSOR and PlanAdviser, reporter Rebecca Moore links the most-recent regulatory actions from the DOL on the RCH Auto Portability program with the 8/15/19 EBRI Issue Brief, which projects the overall, 40-year present value of auto portability at nearly $2 trillion. Moore addresses the key findings from the latest EBRI research, which include new projections of 401(k) cashout leakage ($92.4 billion in 2015), projections of auto portability as a standalone policy initiative, auto portability paired with other legislative proposals, and finally, the beneficial impact of auto portability on specific demographic segments.

Also featured in PlanAdviser

Auto Porting Old 401(k) Balances Could Save $2T: Report

In his 8/22/19 article, Ingites' Emile Hallez reports on the Employee Benefits Research Institute (EBRI) 8/15/19 Issue Brief, which projects significant public policy benefits from the application of auto portability to the problem of cashout leakage. Auto portability, says Hallez, represents "a single policy change...[that]...could increase U.S. retirement savings by as much as $2 trillion over 40 years." Hallez then links the EBRI research to recent guidance issued by the DOL for the RCH Auto Portability program.

401k Auto Portability ‘Significantly Reduces’ Retirement Savings Gap: EBRI

401k Specialist Editor-in-Chief John Sullivan reviews EBRI's latest Issue Brief, which highlights the problem of 401(k) cashout leakage, while projecting impressive, beneficial impacts of auto portability on addressing the leakage issue. As Sullivan article leads off, "the numbers are in, and solid" and include analysis of auto portability's benefits as a standalone initiative, as well as in tandem with other policy initiatives that expand plan access. Regarding policies that expand access, Sullivan quotes EBRI Research Director Jack VanDerhei, who states “our analysis further suggests that an auto portability initiative that reduces plan leakage can materially augment such efforts.”

Auto portability would reduce plan leakage – EBRI study

P&I's Brian Croce reports on the new EBRI study examining the impacts of auto portability, finding that the plan feature "would significantly reduce plan leakage" -- estimated by EBRI at $92.4 billion per year. Croce recaps the impressive benefits projected for auto portability under EBRI's RSPM model, and notes the recent actions by the U.S. Department of Labor, who "gave Retirement Clearinghouse the green light to expand its auto-portability program, which is expected to reduce plan leakage and missing participants."