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Five Tips for Documenting Missing Participant Searches

If a tree falls in the forest, does it make a sound? Opinions are split on this weighty philosophical matter, but a more-definitive answer to another question may surprise you. If a search for a missing participant is not properly documented, is it a diligent search? To regulatory authorities who may scrutinize a plan sponsor’s search efforts, the answer is decidedly “no.” For a regulator to consider a search to be diligent, it must be well-documented, and to do otherwise can result in audits, penalties and increased fiduciary risk. In his latest opinion piece in 401k Specialist, Tom Hawkins offers readers five tips that will help them better-document their missing participant searches.

Many Americans make this financial mistake when switching jobs — here’s how to avoid it

Writing for McClatchy Newspapers, Bethan Moorcraft addresses the "shocking number of Americans [who] make the same mistake when they switch jobs" and cash out their defined contribution savings. Featured in The Charlotte Observer as well as a host of other McClatchy-owned publications across the United States, Moorcraft references the recent study by the UBC Sauder School of Business, which found that 41.4% of employees cash out following a job change. Moorcraft also cites data supplied by Retirement Clearinghouse in a 2017 blog post, noting information supplied in the RCH piece that "only around a third of 401(k) leakage was due to emergencies" and that most cashouts were "due to 'friction' in the 401(k) rollover procedure and a lack of education."

Behind on your retirement savings? Here's one feature that can help workers catch-up

Nora Colomer, writing for Fox13 Seattle, examines the positive impact programs that increase participation -- such as auto enrollment -- on bridging the benefits and savings gap that exists among different employee communities. Colomer also references Vanguard's support for auto portability, quoting the firm in a recent statement. "Auto-portability helps plan participants receive benefits to which they are entitled by consolidating retirement accounts from various employers," Vanguard said. "For plan sponsors, this feature could help reduce the incidence of 'missing participants.'"

As Time Passes, the Gains Become Harder

RCH's Tom Hawkins, writing in 401k Specialist, observes that our nearly 45 year-old defined contribution system may face diminishing returns as it tries to generate future growth, and should focus on quality and efficiency as it simultaneously expands access. Using fitness as an analogy, Hawkins offers a "workout plan" for the DC system, including plugging leakage through increased portability and emergency savings, while fostering increased retirement savings consolidation to avoid an explosion in small accounts. When combined with expanded access initiatives, these measures can dramatically increase Americans' retirement security, over and above expanding access alone.

Rapid Change, Real Momentum: Assessing America’s Progress Toward Inclusive Retirement Savings

In October 2022, policymakers, financial services executives, academics, advocacy leaders, and financial technology innovators gathered for the sixth annual Aspen Leadership Forum on Retirement Savings. An in-person event for the first time since early 2020, this Forum set out to advance solutions to ensure that everyone in America can benefit from our retirement savings system. The just-released report from that meeting identifies retirement plan portability as vital to addressing the problem of job-changing and cashout leakage, and the report heaps superlatives on the newly-formed Portability Services Network, an industry-led consortium dedicated to the adoption of auto portability.

How Employers Can Address the Nurse Retention Problem

PLANSPONSOR's Remy Samuels takes on the issue of nurse retention, which is a big problem in the healthcare services industry -- where high levels of job-changing can lead to financial problems, including excessive cashout leakage. Samuels turns to Fidelity EVP Sangeeta Moorjani, who identifies components of SECURE 2.0 that may help alleviate the problem, including auto portability. SECURE 2.0 allows healthcare plan providers to offer auto portability, which will automatically transfer retirement accounts from plan-to-plan, which is "particularly beneficial for nurses with low retirement account balances." Moorjani adds: "[i]f you’ve saved [for retirement] at one hospital and you move to another hospital with a different plan sponsor, those savings travel with you."

Are automatic rollovers the way of the future?

Retirement reporter Nathan Place, writing in Employee Benefit News, suggests that auto portability could represent a solution to "botched" 401(k) rollovers, which "are a major stumbling block for retirement savings." Since auto portability is a default, automated process, "you don't have to take any action" states Yanwen Wang, a co-author of a recent cashout leakage study. Place goes on to describe the new Portability Services Network, an industry-led utility formed by leading recordkeepers, along with Retirement Clearinghouse (RCH). Place turns to two Vanguard experts for their views -- including Dave Stinnett, head of strategic retirement consulting, and Steve Holman, head of the institutional investor group.

Also featured in Financial-Planning.com

This simple way to fix the wealth gap between Blacks and Whites is far better than reparations

Fox News Senior Political Analyst Juan Williams, prominently featured on live network TV, writes a FoxNews.com opinion piece, where he profiles entrepreneur Robert L. (Bob) Johnson's "better idea" for closing the racial wealth gap -- auto portability. Williams heaps praise upon Johnson and auto portability, which was brought into existence following Johnson's hire of "a veteran retirement industry executive, Spencer Williams, to create the structure for seamless transfer of 401(k) accounts." In the piece, Williams characterizes auto portability as being able "to increase Black wealth through current economic rules instead of placing distant hope in some day seeing reparations."

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