News

401k Real Talk Episode 148: April 16, 2025

In his recurring 401(k) Real Talk video series, Fred Barstein, Founder & CEO of The Retirement Adviser University (TRAU), covers the major 401(k) topics of interest to plan advisors. In this episode, Barstein reports on the December 2024 announcement from the Portability Services Network (PSN) regarding plan sponsor adoption. Barstein hails the accomplishment and gives substantial credit to "the Retirement Clearinghouse, led by Spencer Williams, [who] was the driving force behind the network" while individually naming each of PSN's member recordkeepers, adding that "membership is open to all recordkeepers."

Auto Portability Is Changing Retirement—Here’s Why It Matters Now

Join podcast host Rebecca Hourihan as she sits down with industry experts Spencer Williams and Neal Ringquist from Retirement Clearinghouse (RCH) to explore the game-changing innovation of auto portability. Discover how the Portability Services Network (PSN) is tackling the challenge of maintaining retirement savings as employees change jobs, what it took to bring this idea to life, and why it matters to the evolving mobile workforce.

This 401(k) Change Could Help 3 Million More Americans Afford Retirement

Adam Hardy, lead data journalist at Money.com, analyzes the recent Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI) issue brief that modeled the impact of three "automatic" defined contribution features - auto enrollment, auto escalation and auto portability. By itself, the EBRI research finds that auto portability could reduce the retirement savings shortfall (RSS) by 11.4%, and if taken together with the other features "the benefits are compounded."

More Good News on the Retirement Saving Front

The American Retirement Association's John Sullivan, writing in NAPA Net, runs down "good news" in the retirement landscape, as reflected in Morningstar's 2025 Retirement Plan Landscape Report. Quoting Morningstar's Liam Mitchell, Sullivan writes that "referencing efforts to encourage widespread auto portability adoption, [Mitchell] said it 'bears watching in the coming years to see if they will help stem this flow'" of assets leaving the DC plan system.

Transforming Retirement Savings with Auto Portability (Ep.50)

In episode 50 of The 401(k) Marketing Podcast, 401(k) Marketing's Rebecca Hourihan sits down with RCH's Spencer Williams and Neal Ringquist for a wide-ranging discussion on the "fascinating journey of auto portability from concept to critical mass." The three discuss the role of the Portability Services Network (PSN) and its collaboration with major record keepers, how shifting demographics and technology are reshaping retirement savings behavior, navigating the mechanics of auto portability, and exploring the significant impact of auto portability on underrepresented communities and in reducing cash-out leakage.

Recordkeepers Are the Key to PSN Auto-Portability

Writing in PLANSPONSOR, RCH & PSN President Spencer Williams provides readers with a unique point-of-view on how auto portability works, from the perspective of industry adoption. Citing PSN's "remarkable success in its first year" with over 15,000 plans choosing to adopt the service, Williams describes the roles of recordkeepers and employers in stoking auto portability's accelerating adoption. Williams' piece also focuses on the importance of reciprocity between recordkeepers, regulatory compliance, cybersecurity and accountability -- and observes that "PSN auto portability is a balanced, complex, integrated and interdependent system."

Auto Portability Updates: What Plan Sponsors Should Know

A PNC Bank Insights article provides their corporate client base with a succinct and positive overview of auto portability, as delivered by the Portability Services Network (PSN), with technology provided by Retirement Clearinghouse (RCH). The PNC piece addresses key facts that plan sponsors should know, and lays out a list of key auto portability benefits.

Automated features in workplace retirement plans can close savings shortfalls

Pensions & Investments reporter Margarida Correia recaps the latest retirement research from EBRI, which examines the impact of key "automatic" features utilized in defined contribution retirement savings plans. Correia notes that the EBRI report indicated the combination of "automatic enrollment, automatic escalation and automatic portability -- the retirement saving shortfall would close by 16%."

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