Auto Portability - Recent Developments
Find the most-recent auto portability media coverage and developments.
Help Where It Hurts
Writing in The Leader's Edge, contributor David Tobenkin examines the latest developments in benefits packages designed to improve the financial well-being of employees. Quoting a host of influential industry voices, Tobenkin cites RCH President & CEO Spencer Williams' efforts in pioneering & offering auto portability to address retirement savings lost during job changes, while acknowledging Alight Solutions for becoming an early adopter of the program. Tobenkin also quotes The RLJ Companies' founder, Chairman and RCH majority owner Robert L. Johnson on the need to help employees save for unexpected financial shocks.
Former EBSA Head Rutledge Offers Favorable View on Auto Portability
In a podcast with 401k Specialist Editor-in-Chief John Sullivan, former DOL & EBSA Assistant Secretary Preston Rutledge offered his views on a variety of topics, including auto portability, stating: “the guidance on auto portability was a good development. It has the potential to make sure that your 401(k) account makes the move from your old employer to your new employer and it may help find missing participants.”
'Auto Portability' Set to Attack
A feature article in 401k Specialist Magazine by Brian Anderson takes a deep dive into RCH's auto portability program, examining a myriad of key aspects of the "newest automatic feature...poised to alleviate the longstanding problem of cash-out leakage." In the piece, Anderson quotes The RLJ Companies Founder & Chairman Robert L. Johnson, RCH President & CEO Spencer Williams and Alight Solutions' EVP Alison Borland.
Far Out: What If Timothy Leary Was a 401k Plan Sponsor?
In the 1960’s, counter-culture guru Timothy Leary urged a generation to “turn on, tune in and drop out.” If Leary was still around and sponsoring a 401(k) plan, he might urge participants to “save up, move on and cash out.” While that sounds contradictory and profoundly ill-advised, it’s exactly what 5 million job-changing 401(k) participants do in the 1st year following separation. In his latest opinion piece in 401k Specialist Magazine, RCH's Tom Hawkins explores the reasons for so many cashouts, and how – with viable solutions now available – plan sponsors should fully-embrace seamless plan-to-plan portability.
Every dollar counts in today’s zero-interest-rate environment
In his latest article for Employee Benefit News, RCH President & CEO Spencer Williams analyzes the phenomenon of low interest rates and its long-term effects on retirement savers. Williams observes that, in a low interest rate environment, more savings are required to generate an equivalent amount of retirement income, so avoiding unnecessary cashout leakage is paramount. To achieve this goal, Williams urges plan sponsors to adopt auto portability, a technology solution that's "available to help sponsors make every dollar count for participants during these extraordinary times."
Alight Solutions Releases New Study on Small-Balance Cashouts
Alight Solutions, a leader in defined contribution plan services, released a new study that addresses the problem of small-balance 401(k) cashouts. The study, The impact of 401(k) cash-outs on retirement income, examines the very high prevalence of small-balance 401(k) cashouts, the low incidence of 401(k) roll-ins and provides illustrations that depict the importance of preserving these small balances for retirement. Finally, the study points to RCH Auto Portability as an important "emerging new tool" in the fight against cashouts, for which Alight is "pleased to be an early adopter."
How to Handle the Explosion of Small-Balance IRAs
In his opinion piece in 401k Specialist Magazine, RCH's Tom Hawkins examines EBRI's 10/1/20 Fast Facts - Losing Ground Safely: Small IRAs’ Large Stake in Money - which provides new insight into the magnitude of a small-balance IRA “explosion” fueled by automatic rollovers, as well as the sub-optimal retirement outcomes they produce. EBRI's new information provides yet another data point in favor of 401(k) consolidation via auto portability and could serve to inform future regulatory guidance by expanding auto portability’s mandate to consolidate these previously “stranded” safe harbor IRAs back into our 401(k) system.
From Tired to Inspired: A Roadmap for 401k Roll-ins
In his latest article in 401k Specialist Magazine, RCH's Tom Hawkins walks readers through a "roadmap" for the progression of 401(k) roll-ins from ‘tired’ to ‘wired’ and finally, to the ‘inspired’ state that will eventually characterize 401(k) plan-to-plan portability. The article also includes a video providing viewers with the essential points made in the piece.