RCH Applauds White House Initiatives to Improve Retirement Savings Portability

CHARLOTTE, N.C. and BETHESDA, MD.—January 26, 2016—Robert L. Johnson, Founder and Chairman of the RLJ Companies and majority investor in Retirement Clearinghouse, LLC, welcomes President Barack Obama’s initiatives to enable more Americans to create a retirement nest egg, and make it easier for American workers to move their retirement savings into their new employers’ plans when they change jobs.

“We thank President Obama for highlighting the importance of seamless portability for retirement savers,” said Mr. Johnson. “Retirement Clearinghouse’s efforts to advocate for, and implement, auto portability across the country is another example of how innovation and dedication from non-government entities can inspire public policy benefits that produce a tremendous impact for hard-working Americans, and particularly minority Americans who need more retirement savings. We are also grateful to the bicameral group of Congressional members, led by Senator Patty Murray (D-Wash.), who in November urged the Employee Benefits Security Administration to issue guidance on auto portability for employers.”

Auto portability cures the twin issues of leakage and lost/missing accounts that plague the small balance segment of the mobile workforce—the younger and lower-income workers with less than $5,000 in their accounts—by employing innovative and scalable technology to automatically move their savings forward to their new employers’ plans when they change jobs.

“Retirement Clearinghouse has been working with the Departments of Labor and Treasury, legislators on Capitol Hill, industry associations, financial services companies and plan sponsors to deliver portability solutions to large and small employers,” said Spencer Williams, President and CEO of Retirement Clearinghouse. “We are thrilled that the White House and Labor Department are providing much-needed emphasis on the need for innovative technologies that can produce better retirement savings outcomes for millions of Americans.”

Beginning in 2014, Retirement Clearinghouse has been engaged in an open and collaborative dialogue with a group of the largest retirement services providers about implementing, on a national scale, a utility model which has all the elements of a cooperative structure, enabling workers to seamlessly and automatically move their 401(k) accounts from employer to employer—through a safe harbor IRA—when they change jobs. Through its experience in the field, and guided by feedback from key stakeholders, Retirement Clearinghouse has come to understand that such a structure provides the most benefit to participants, plan sponsors, retirement service providers and other stakeholders in the U.S. retirement system.

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