News

DOL Exemption Paves Way for Auto Portability

PLANSPONSOR's Lee Barney covers the DOL's final prohibited transaction exemption (PTE) for the RCH Auto Portability program, interviewing RCH President and CEO Spencer Williams. In the article, Williams characterizes the DOL's action as the final regulatory guidance required for plan sponsors and recordkeepers to pursue the program, indicating that he is very encouraged, having worked the issue for five years, adding: "we are very passionate about creating a new benefit for participants and solving the leakage issue.”

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‘Auto-portability’ gets green light from DOL

In an 8/1/19 article, the editorial staff of the Retirement Income Journal covers the US Department of Labor's issuance of a final prohibited transaction exemption (PTE) for the RCH Auto Portability program. The article cites the final PTE as a key milestone in a five-year effort to gain regulatory approval for auto portability, and credits RCH executives Spencer Williams and Tom Johnson for their ongoing efforts since 2014.

DOL Issues PTE 2019-02 on IRA Auto-Portability

The Thomson Reuters Practical Law website (Westlaw) reports on the DOL's issuance of the finalized PTE 2019-02 for the RCH Auto Portability program. The article provides readers with some background on auto portability, focusing on the legal underpinnings established by both the PTE as well as the DOL's Advisory Opinion 2018-01A, before turning to the practical implications of auto portability in addressing the problem of retirement plan leakage.

Auto portability program gets thumbs up by regulators

In his 7/31/19 article, P&I Legal and Regulatory reporter Brian Croce covers the Department of Labor's issuance of their final prohibited transaction exemption (PTE) for RCH Auto Portability, stating that the DOL's action "gave Retirement Clearinghouse LLC the green light ..to expand its auto-portability program, which is expected to reduce plan leakage and missing participants." Croce quotes Robert L. Johnson, founder and chairman of The RLJ Companies, as well as RCH Founder, President and CEO Spencer Williams.

DOL guidance gives OK to retirement savings auto portability program

Employee Benefit News' Caroline Hroncich reports on the Department of Labor's issuance of a final prohibited transaction exemption (PTE) for the RCH Auto Portability program, which she characterizes as "a move which may decrease the likelihood employees cash out their retirement plans when they switch jobs." Hroncich quotes RCH Founder, President and CEO Spencer Williams, as well as Jan Jacobson, senior counsel for retirement policy at the American Benefits Council.

DOL Okays RCH's Auto-Portability Program

NAPA Net's Ted Godbout covers breaking news that the US Department of Labor has granted final approval to Retirement Clearinghouse (RCH) for a Prohibited Transaction Exemption (PTE) for the RCH Auto Portability program. As Godbout states, "the RCH Program seeks to help eliminate duplicative fees and reduce retirement savings leakage by providing individuals who are changing jobs with a way to transfer retirement assets from their prior employers’ plans to their new employers’ plans." Godbout also references the DOL's Advisory Opinion 2018-01A, issued in November 2018, and cites EBRI research indicating that system-wide adoption of auto portability for "smaller accounts alone would save $1.5 trillion."

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401k Cashout Confusion: Who’s Doing It and Why?

In his five-part series in 401k Specialist, RCH's Tom Hawkins sheds light on the problem of cashout leakage, a silent crisis that unnecessarily robs millions of Americans of their retirement security. In his second article in the series, Hawkins examines the demographics of 401(k) cashout leakage, identifying those segments of the population most impacted by the problem, as well as those who stand to benefit the most from a solution.

Preparing Employees for Retirement, a Global Comparison

PLANSPONSOR's Amanda Umpierrez reports on the major findings from the 2019 Aegon Retirement Readiness Survey, which provided a comparative analysis of retirement readiness in countries around the world. Summarizing the key takeaways for employers, Umpierrez turns to Transamerica's Catherine Collison, who suggests "that the U.S. government can require employers to offer auto-enrollment in retirement plans......and can continue efforts to implement retirement plan auto-portability."

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