Consolidation Corner Blog

Spotlight on Cashout Leakage: The Fundamentals

In his five-part series in Consolidation Corner, 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 first article, Hawkins addresses the fundamentals of cashout leakage -- defining it, clearing up common sources of confusion, and identifying why the problem continues to persist.

How Auto Portability Serves Participants’ Best Interests: Part 5

In the 5th installment of his five-part series on "How Auto Portability Serves Participants' Best Interests", RCH's Tom Hawkins examines how auto portability can mitigate retirement savings cybersecurity risks. Auto portability, writes Hawkins, employs the simple-but-powerful principle of consolidation to lower cyber-risk by 1) reducing the cyber-threat attack surface, 2) minimizing fraud-prone, small-balance retirement savings accounts and 3) securely moving retirement savings forward.

How Auto Portability Serves Participants’ Best Interests: Pt 4 Auto Portability Enhances Participants’ Financial Wellness

In the 4th installment of his five-part series on "How Auto Portability Serves Participants' Best Interests", RCH's Tom Hawkins examines how a program of auto portability can enhance 401(k) participants' financial wellness. To make his case, Hawkins identifies three ways auto portability promotes financial well-being, including: 1) preventing unnecessary 401(k) cashouts, 2) helping 401(k) participants clear the "$10,000 hurdle" and 3) simplifying retirement planning.

A Plan Metric Every Sponsor Should Track: Participant-Retained Retirement Savings

In his latest article in Consolidation Corner, RCH President & CEO Spencer Williams advises retirement plan sponsors to consider tracking the average percentage of retirement savings that participants retain during their tenure. Auto portability, says Williams, can enable participants to preserve their small-balance savings through job changes. Going further, Williams encourages plan sponsors and consultants to apply the all-important “participant-retained savings” lens when evaluating automatic rollover programs, including metrics such as cash-out rates, median safe harbor IRA account duration and provider support for consolidation.

LIMRA Webinar Features Michael Kreps’ Update on Auto Portability

EBRI Webinar Examines Impact of Tenure on Retirement Savings

RCH's Tom Hawkins summarizes the April 10th EBRI webinar Trends in Employee Tenure, which offered EBRI’s latest research examining broad employee tenure trends, and the impact that shorter tenure has on retirement savings. The webinar’s presenters included Craig Copeland, EBRI and Spencer Williams, Retirement Clearinghouse (RCH), and was moderated by Stacy Schaus, Schaus Group LLC. In his portion of the presentation, Williams introduced the concept of “synthetic tenure” – whereby enhancing system-wide portability -- particularly for small accounts -- enables participants to preserve their savings through job changes, mirroring the success of EBRI’s longer-tenured, “consistent participation” population.

America's 401(k) System is Unsustainable - Let's Fix It

On Earth Day 2019, as we focus on creating a sustainable and eco-friendly environment, it's worth considering how the application of similar principles would benefit our retirement system. America’s 401(k) system is unsustainable – urgently requiring an upgrade to effectively deliver on its intended goal – helping millions of Americans enjoy a timely and comfortable retirement. The good news is that we're beginning to see important signs of action that could ultimately address the problem.

How Auto Portability Serves Participants’ Best Interests - Part 3: Auto Portability Could Lower Plan Expenses

In the 3rd installment of his five-part series on "How Auto Portability Serves Participants' Best Interests", RCH's Tom Hawkins examines how a program of auto portability can serve to lower plan expenses by 1) reducing small-balance accounts and 2) increasing plan assets. To illustrate these benefits, Hawkins uses the Auto Portability Simulation (APS) to model a hypothetical, 10,000 participant plan over 40 years, with and without auto portability.