News

How Flexible Can Annuities Be?

Writing in PLANSPONSOR, Elizabeth Harris examines how today's annuity solutions are evolving to provide both guaranteed lifetime income and greater participant flexibility. Retirement Clearinghouse (RCH) Chief Marketing Officer Tom Hawkins shares his perspective on the importance of portability and preserving retirement savings as workers change jobs, highlighting how flexible retirement income solutions can better meet the needs of today's increasingly mobile workforce. Hawkins' comments reinforce Retirement Clearinghouse's commitment to helping participants maintain continuity in their retirement savings while expanding access to lifetime income options.

The “Plumbing” Needed to Improve the Retirement Saving System

Writing in his Retirement Translator substack, Andy Eschtruth, Director of the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College, examines the longstanding requirement to establish "digital connections" to facilitate "moving money easily, accurately, and securely among various actors in the retirement savings system, including employers, recordkeepers, payroll providers, banks, the Treasury, and individuals." Eschtruth refers to this colloquially as "plumbing" and credits Retirement Clearinghouse (RCH) as being both a pioneer and a visionary in establishing auto portability and in advocating for a broader digital solution that would function as "as a shared utility that would be available to all actors and versatile enough to build once and use many times.”

Busting 5 Key Myths About Auto Portability

Writing in 401K Specialist, Senior Vice President of Portability Services Network (PSN) Strategy and Development Steve Holman separates fact from fiction by examining five persistent "myths" concerning auto portability. Following his truth-telling, Holman observes that "the continued need to debunk myths about auto portability is actually a sign of how far the solution has come" and that "the conversation has shifted from whether auto portability can work to how quickly adoption will continue to grow."

The Participant Case for Retirement Plan Auto Portability

In the first follow-on article to his earlier piece The Plan Sponsor Case for Auto Portability, Steve Holman, Senior Vice President, PSN Strategy & Development makes the participant case for auto portability. Writing in PSCA, Holman explains auto portability’s beneficial impact on plan participants, which “helps participants avoid cashing out prematurely, keeps their savings invested, simplifies their financial life and builds a stronger retirement future.”

Exploring Auto Portability and the Future of Small Balance Accounts

NAGDCA Executive Director Matt Petersen sits down with Greg Long of Alight Solutions to discuss auto portability, a solution designed to help retirement savings follow participants as they change jobs and reduce leakage from small balance accounts.

Deloitte Teams Up With a Tar Heel Ally to RKers

The 401kWire's Selma Khenissi reports on the 6/30/26 press release announcing a strategic relationship between Retirement Clearinghouse and Deloitte Consulting, providing quotes from RCH Chairman Bob Johnson, as well as Jason Salzetti, CEO and Chair at Deloitte Consulting LLP. Khenissi also mentions RCH's role in "powering the Portability Services Network."

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Strengthening Missing Participant Policies: What’s New?

Writing in 401k Specialist, Tom Hawkins observes that a documented, well-structured missing participant policy is not just an operational necessity but is a core fiduciary responsibility. To that end, Hawkins informs readers that, as of 6/15/26, RCH has released a newly updated missing participant policy template (available for download here), reflecting evolving regulatory expectations and practical lessons from ongoing enforcement activity over the last two years. The new template, writes Hawkins, has “six key enhancements” that “represent a meaningful evolution from the foundational framework outlined in 2024.”

Previously featured in the RCH Consolidation Corner blog

Retirement Clearinghouse, Deloitte Expand Retirement Portability Services

Amanda Umpierrez, writing in 401k Specialist, covers the 6/30/26 announcement that Deloitte and Retirement Clearinghouse (RCH) have entered into a new partnership to address retirement savings portability, writing: "the new collaboration will use Deloitte’s services to expand adoption of RCH’s technology, and aims to help participants, especially lower-income workers, transfer retirement accounts seamlessly." Umpierrez also shares quotes from Robert L. Johnson, chairman of RCH, and Jason Salzetti, CEO and chair, Deloitte Consulting LLP.