News

Principal Joins Portability Services Network

PlanAdviser's Natalie Lin breaks down the 7/6/23 announcement by Principal that it has joined the Portability Services Network (PSN), "a consortium of retirement plan service providers seeking to help workers with lower balances transfer their workplace retirement accounts when changing employers." Lin notes that "[t]he addition of Principal means the country’s five largest recordkeepers by assets are now part of the network."

PRESS RELEASE: Principal® joins industry consortium to support automatic portability of U.S. retirement accounts

(DES MOINES, Iowa) – Principal Financial Group® today announced it joined the Portability Services Network, LLC (PSN), a consortium of retirement plan service providers focused on helping America's under-served and under-saved workers improve their retirement outcomes by making it easier to transfer their workplace retirement accounts when changing employers. Principal® is a board member and one of seven owning members of PSN, which utilizes the auto portability solution created by Retirement Clearinghouse, LLC (RCH).

Read the entire press release here.

The 401(k) ‘House-Cleaning’ to Come

The increase in the automatic rollover threshold from $5,000 to $7,000, as provided for in section 304 of the SECURE 2.0 legislation, will become effective for mandatory distributions made after December 31, 2023. What will be the impact of these provisions, if fully embraced by plan sponsors? One thing is certain – on both a one-time and ongoing basis, far more terminated participants will be subject to the automatic rollover provisions of their former-employers’ plans. Writing in 401k Specialist, RCH's Tom Hawkins explores the impact of an increased threshold that, when paired with the advent of auto portability and the operational status of the Portability Services Network (PSN), could mean that small balance terminated participants will finally come out on top.

Alight Solutions Releases 2023 Universe Benchmarks Report

Alight Solutions, one of the nation's largest defined contribution recordkeepers and a founding owner member of the Portability Services Network (PSN), released their 2023 Universe Benchmarks report -- the latest in a long line of annual reports that illustrate how workers are saving and investing in defined contribution (DC) plans. The report notes that cashout leakage increased in 2022, where 45% of participants cashed out, compared to 39% in 2021, while adding that the highest leakage levels were observed "almost always [in] small balances." Under the heading of trending topics and considerations, Alight also suggests that plans "add auto-portability" as it can "easily help transfer balances into the plan for new hires."

Direct link to the full 2023 Universe Benchmarks Report

Five Tips for Documenting Missing Participant Searches

If a tree falls in the forest, does it make a sound? Opinions are split on this weighty philosophical matter, but a more-definitive answer to another question may surprise you. If a search for a missing participant is not properly documented, is it a diligent search? To regulatory authorities who may scrutinize a plan sponsor’s search efforts, the answer is decidedly “no.” For a regulator to consider a search to be diligent, it must be well-documented, and to do otherwise can result in audits, penalties and increased fiduciary risk. In his latest opinion piece in 401k Specialist, Tom Hawkins offers readers five tips that will help them better-document their missing participant searches.

Many Americans make this financial mistake when switching jobs — here’s how to avoid it

Writing for McClatchy Newspapers, Bethan Moorcraft addresses the "shocking number of Americans [who] make the same mistake when they switch jobs" and cash out their defined contribution savings. Featured in The Charlotte Observer as well as a host of other McClatchy-owned publications across the United States, Moorcraft references the recent study by the UBC Sauder School of Business, which found that 41.4% of employees cash out following a job change. Moorcraft also cites data supplied by Retirement Clearinghouse in a 2017 blog post, noting information supplied in the RCH piece that "only around a third of 401(k) leakage was due to emergencies" and that most cashouts were "due to 'friction' in the 401(k) rollover procedure and a lack of education."

Behind on your retirement savings? Here's one feature that can help workers catch-up

Nora Colomer, writing for Fox13 Seattle, examines the positive impact programs that increase participation -- such as auto enrollment -- on bridging the benefits and savings gap that exists among different employee communities. Colomer also references Vanguard's support for auto portability, quoting the firm in a recent statement. "Auto-portability helps plan participants receive benefits to which they are entitled by consolidating retirement accounts from various employers," Vanguard said. "For plan sponsors, this feature could help reduce the incidence of 'missing participants.'"

As Time Passes, the Gains Become Harder

RCH's Tom Hawkins, writing in 401k Specialist, observes that our nearly 45 year-old defined contribution system may face diminishing returns as it tries to generate future growth, and should focus on quality and efficiency as it simultaneously expands access. Using fitness as an analogy, Hawkins offers a "workout plan" for the DC system, including plugging leakage through increased portability and emergency savings, while fostering increased retirement savings consolidation to avoid an explosion in small accounts. When combined with expanded access initiatives, these measures can dramatically increase Americans' retirement security, over and above expanding access alone.