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Retirement Clearinghouse in the News

Find news articles referencing RCH and our services, including Auto Portability

Apr
01
2019

Tax Day is coming — a perfect time to teach millennials why they shouldn’t cash out

April 15 is just around the corner. While many Americans dread Tax Day, April 15 presents defined contribution plan sponsors with an opportunity to demonstrate their value as fiduciaries, and as financial wellness advocates. Anyone who is 18 or older, not a full-time student, and not claimed as a dependent on someone else’s tax return is eligible for a retirement savings contributions credit (also known as a saver’s credit). This tax credit rewards people for making eligible contributions to their IRAs or employer-sponsored retirement plans. In his latest article in Employee Benefit News, Retirement Clearinghouse CEO Spencer Williams advocates for Millennials to invest the credit in their retirement plan, rather than spend it.

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Mar
26
2019

Shorter Employee Tenure Demands Progressive Plan Design

PLANSPONSOR's Amanda Umpierrez examines the latest research from EBRI revealing decreasing employee tenure, concluding that shorter tenure could adversely impact retirement plan success. Umperriez quotes RCH EVP Neal Ringquist, who ties decreasing tenure to destructive outcomes, such as cashing out, and RCH CEO Spencer Williams, who advocates for immediate plan eligibility and adoption of automatic enrollment provisions. Finally, EBRI's Craig Copeland, author of the research, addresses the beneficial impact of auto portability, stating that “[a]uto-portability will play an increasingly important role because it helps a lot with balance preservation.”

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Mar
22
2019

Auto-portability: A way to address 401(k) leakage

In his 3/22/19 article in BenefitsPRO, Pentegra's RIchard Rausser advocates for auto portability as a means to address the serious problem of "leakage" from the 401(k) retirement system. Rausser's article first looks to research from the Center for Retirement Research (CRR) and the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to underscore the dimensions of the leakage problem, and goes on to cite EBRI research that demonstrates the positive impact of auto portability. Rausser concludes by referencing the DOL's November 2018 actions on RCH's auto portability program, including the pending prohibited transaction exemption, stating that "others in the industry are strongly in favor of auto-portability."

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Mar
20
2019

How Auto Portability Serves the Best Interest of 401k Participants-Part 1

In his five-part series in 401kSpecialist, RCH's Tom Hawkins identifies five key reasons why an auto portability program serves the best interests of plan participants. Part 1 of the series examines the dramatically improved participant outcomes that result from a program of auto portability. Those outcomes, Hawkins contends, demonstrate that plan sponsors who adopt auto portability are acting prudently and solely in the interests of their plan’s participants and beneficiaries.

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Mar
20
2019

Asset Consolidation: Facilitating participant roll-ins

In its Feb-March 2019 edition, PLANSPONSOR Magazine addresses the topic of asset consolidation, taking the position that plan sponsors who promote in-plan consolidation (“roll-ins”) are benefiting both their plans and participants. The article cites key findings from RCH’s 2015 Mobile Workforce study, and quotes RCH President & CEO Spencer Williams, who maintains that a clear connection exists between roll-ins and financial wellness. Finally, the article updates readers on auto portability, with the DOL‘s November 2018 actions providing clarity for RCH's Auto Portability program, and as Williams explains, “set[ting] a new standard of care for automatic rollovers.”

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Mar
07
2019

2018 in review - ERISA guidance

Writing in Lexology, Eversheds Sutherland LLP provides a retrospective of guidance issued in 2018 by the Department of Labor (DOL) under ERISA, highlighting the DOL's sole 2018 Advisory Opinion, which addressed the RCH Auto Portability program. Linking to their earlier analysis of the Advisory Opinion, the authors further speculate on the DOL's motives, stating that "auto portability offers a means to advance the important policy goal of preserving and improving the efficiency of retirement savings, which may account for DOL’s willingness to engage on this issue."

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Mar
04
2019

5 ways to check if your automatic rollover program needs an upgrade

In his monthly column for Employee Benefits News, RCH Founder, President & CEO Spencer Williams offers plan sponsors a five-point checklist for automatic rollover programs, shining light on features that may require attention, particularly in light of the recent DOL guidance on auto portability.

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Feb
21
2019

Auto Portability: Preventer of 401k 'Leakage'

401kSpecialist's Brian Anderson finds a lot to like about auto portability in EBRI's Issue Brief No. 473, which compares outcomes of participants in 401k plans with auto-enrollment against defined benefit plans. The research, says Anderson, shows "how auto-portability in 401k plans could positively impact the retirement security for millions of job-changing Americans by preventing 401k plan leakage before it can occur." Anderson continues, writing: "[t]he concept of auto-portability is a darling of major retirement industry associations, and it’s not hard to see why."

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