Recent Developments

Auto-Portability Secures Bipartisan Backing in the House

NAPA Net reporter Ted Godbout analyzes the recently-introduced Advancing Auto-Portability Act of 2022 (H.R. 9252), which was proposed Oct. 28 by Reps. Brad Schneider (D-IL) and Ron Estes (R-KS), who are both members of the House Ways and Means Committee, where the legislation was referred. As Godbout points out, this companion bill to the previously-introduced Senate proposal of the same name means that auto portability legislative proposals enjoy both bicameral as well as bipartisan support.
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401(k) auto-portability bill floated in House

P&I DC reporter Brian Croce covers HR 9252 (Advancing Auto-Portability Act of 2022), introduced October 28th by Rep. Brad Schneider, D-Ill., and Rep. Ron Estes, R-Kan. The bill, writes Croce, "is a companion bill to legislation with the same name introduced in June by Sens. Tim Scott, R-S.C., and Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, that's aimed at reducing plan leakage."

Large providers team up for auto portability

Writing in JD Supra, The Rosembaum Law Firm's Ary Rosenbaum observes that "Fidelity Investments, Vanguard, and Alight Solutions have teamed up with Retirement Clearinghouse, LLC (RCH) to create a consortium of workplace retirement plan recordkeepers, Portability Services Network, LLC, to accelerate the nationwide adoption of auto portability.

House Bill Seeks Automatic Rollover Of Retirement Accounts

Writing in the legal publication Law360, reporter Jared Serre notes that the introduction of a bill (HR 9252) in the U.S. House of Representatives "would allow for the automatic rollover of savings from 401(k) accounts from one employer to another after a job change is made." The bill, which complements provisions previously introduced in U.S. Senate legislation, was co-sponsored by Rep. Ron Estes (R-KS) and Rep. Brad Schneider (D-IL).

A Decade in the Making: The Retirement Industry's New 'Utility'

Ignites' Beagan Wilcox-Volz covers a lot of ground in addressing the significance of the new, industry-led 'utility' that will facilitate the nationwide expansion of auto portability. Wilcox-Volz turns to industry experts, such as Josh Gotbaum and Michael Kreps, as well as key figures directly involved in the formation of the Portability Services Network, including RCH's Spencer Williams and Neal Ringquist, Fidelity's Dave Gray and Alight Solutions' Greg Long. Wilcox-Volz also quotes an Empower "spokesperson" as being "in the early stages of due diligence around potentially joining this proposed industry consortium" and that the firm "recognizes the need in the market for auto-portability."

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The Surprising Reason You Should Be Consolidating Your 401(k)s And IRAs

Suggest.com's Perry Carpenter points to three key factors -- including high levels of job-changing, increasing levels of auto enrollment and automatic rollovers of balances below $5,000 -- that converge to make a strong case for individuals consolidating their employer-sponsored retirement savings accounts. Carpenter finds a staunch proponent for consolidation in RCH president & CEO Spencer Williams, who states that "[f]rom a consumer perspective, the default should be 100% of the time to move your money." The piece goes on to cite four key benefits of consolidating account.

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Money, Power, Partnerships: BET Founder Bob Johnson Rallies For Blacks to Build, Preserve, and Pass Down Wealth

Black Enterprise's Derek Major reports on the fireside chat between Robert L. Johnson and Black Enterprise CEO Earl Butch Graves Jr. In the wide-ranging discussion, which is included as video in Major's piece, Johnson and Graves turn to Johnson's role in spurring the formation of the Portability Services Network (PSN), by "teaming up with Fidelity, Vanguard, and Alight Solutions—three of the nation’s largest 401(k) record keepers" to "accelerate the nationwide adoption of auto portability to help America’s underserved workers enhance their retirement finances."

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Fidelity, Vanguard team up to ease 401(k) portability when workers switch jobs

Scott Wooldridge, writing in BenefitsPRO, examines the "new partnership between 401(k) administrators could preserve more than $1 trillion in retirement savings." Utilizing RCH's auto portability solution, the new industry-led consortium will "particularly [benefit] minorities, women, and low-income workers." Wooldridge also quotes Bob Johnson, RCH Chairman, BET founder and Chair of the new Portability Services Network, praising proposed US Senate legislation, co-sponsored by Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) and Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH).

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