In horror movies, embattled humans facing a zombie apocalypse eventually realize that no one is coming to save them and must take decisive action to save themselves from oblivion.

There’s a lesson here for plan sponsors who must confront the problem of locating missing participants.

In the near-term, there’s likely nothing that will spare plan sponsors from addressing the missing participant problem head-on. In the face of uncertainty, they must take decisive action to avoid being overwhelmed, including implementing effective, common-sense search practices, and pairing those search practices with other actions that will minimize the incidence of missing participants over time.

In the summer, we are used to temperatures spiking. But in addition to record-breaking temperatures and erratic weather, this summer has also brought a sharp increase in 401(k) hardship withdrawals.

Americans’ lack of retirement preparedness has long been an area of concern for our nation. But findings in a recent study underscore that, despite all of the media articles offering tips for how to save more for retirement, many Americans are still making a self-destructive decision that can leave them with less when they retire.

The increase in the automatic rollover threshold from $5,000 to $7,000, as provided for in section 304 of the SECURE 2.0 legislation, will become effective for mandatory distributions made after December 31, 2023.

What will be the impact of these provisions, if fully embraced by plan sponsors? One thing is certain – on both a one-time and ongoing basis, far more terminated participants will be subject to the automatic rollover provisions of their former-employers’ plans.

Anyone of sufficient age who exercises regularly knows that gains become harder as you grow older. While improvements are possible, increased effort doesn’t always work. Instead, older fitness aficionados dial in the quality and efficiency of their workouts to experience continued gains.

Knowledge is power, as the saying goes. As Americans observe another Financial Literacy Month, members of the retirement services industry have an opportunity to pause and think about how they can help empower more people to achieve a financially secure retirement.

When it comes to locating missing retirement plan participants, there’s no substitute for an effective electronic, or “e-search.” However, retirement plan sponsors will inevitably encounter scenarios where periodic e-searches alone will not suffice.

To quote Ferris Bueller: “Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.”

For those accustomed to a glacial pace of change in the world of retirement, you could be forgiven if you’ve missed two very recent, tectonic shifts toward the system-wide adoption of auto portability, the new default plan feature that automatically moves small balance retirement savings forward as participants change employers, saving them time and money, while dramatically reducing cashout leakage.

The passage of the Securing a Strong Retirement Act of 2022 (known as “SECURE 2.0”) reinforces the bipartisan commitment in Congress to helping Americans save more for retirement. Signed into law as part of a $1.7 trillion omnibus spending bill signed by President Biden on December 29, the legislation includes a variety of provisions, including the expansion of automatic enrollment in 401(k) and 403(b) plans. Fortuitously, SECURE 2.0 measures related to auto portability come shortly after the launch of an industry initiative to make auto portability—a technology solution that can operate in tandem with auto enrollment to optimize plan participants’ retirement outcomes—much more accessible to plan sponsors across the country.

Last year at this time, our firm predicted that 2022 would be a pivotal year for retirement savings portability. It turns out we were right, but we confess to being pleasantly surprised at just how consequential (and positive) the year has been, and it’s not over yet.

Here’s a rundown of key events during 2022 that have helped to positively shape the future of retirement savings portability: