Consolidation Corner

In his 10/2/15 MarketWatch article Let a Roll-in Increase Your Retirement Income, RCH President & CEO J. Spencer Williams advises retirement savers to bring their savings with them, vs. leaving their accounts behind -- or worse, cashing out.

How many of us will be so fortunate as to participate in an employer-sponsored retirement plan every day of our working careers? Or, for an even more uncommon scenario, how many of us will work for the same company for 30 or 40 years? Yet, as has been amply established by the Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI), those who can raise their hands and respond “yes” to either of these questions routinely show up in the top decile of savers who are well-prepared for retirement—and these participants provide a clear blueprint for retirement-saving success.

On Wednesday, September 30^th, the Women’s Institute For a Secure Retirement (WISER), in collaboration with Retirement Clearinghouse (RCH), hosts a Forum entitled The Leading Edge - Auto Portability: Solution to Prevent Cash Outs & Preserve 401(k) Assets.

At Retirement Clearinghouse (RCH), the 4^th quarter is the busiest time of the year, as many plan sponsors look to complete plan terminations and mandatory distributions before the end of the year. However, to follow appropriate communication timeframes, deadlines to initiate the necessary communications process needed to complete these year-end plan initiatives are fast approaching.

I can still vividly recall the summer afternoon that my mom burst through our front door, anxiously asking where my little sister was.  I was 10 at the time, and my sister was 7.  “She’s in the backyard with her friends….why do you ask?”  One look out the window gave me the answer: our next door neighbor had been changing his oil, when the car slipped off the jack, crushing him beneath its weight.   

In his September 2^nd, 2015 MarketWatch article One Solution to Three Costly Retirement-Saving Mistakes, RCH’s CEO Spencer Williams provides insight as to why a majority of Americans are not very confident in their retirement readiness. Three costly mistakes consistently plague retirement savers:  1) leaving 401(k) accounts behind when changing jobs, 2) prematurely cashing out and 3) not informing prior employers’ retirement plan record-keepers about address changes.

Whenever I am meeting with a plan sponsor, TPA or recordkeeper for the first time, I ask about returned mail related to missing participants; and almost every time I get…“the look”. The look and/or eye roll that instantly says that returned mail is definitely a problem. The entire retirement industry is all-too-familiar with returned mail related to missing participants. In addition to the money wasted on materials and mailing costs, missing participants create administrative burdens and increase the plan’s fiduciary liability risk.  So, what’s a fiduciary to do?

Give ‘Em What They Want—And Need!

Warren Cormier, CEO of Boston Research Technologies, recenty published a research study that revealed that a large majority of plan participants are receptive to consolidating their retirement savings accounts in their current plans.

The Case for Automatically Moving Mandatory Distributions Forward

The mandatory distribution-to-Safe Harbor IRA plan feature as commonly utilized today was conceived in 2001 and launched in 2005 with good intentions, and for valid reasons. A mobile workforce, combined with a lack of retirement savings portability, had created a burgeoning problem for plan sponsors: an explosion of small-balance (less than $5,000) accounts left “stranded” in-plan, resulting in rampant cashouts, missing participants, uncashed distribution checks and the like. These problems only accelerated with the widespread adoption of auto enrollment, beginning in 2009.  

“Make the smart decision the easiest decision.”

This seems like an obvious goal for plan sponsors when designing participant directed retirement plans, and it’s certainly driven the rapid adoption of the autos – auto enrollment, auto deferral escalation and auto pilot investment options, such as target date funds.