Episode 81: Portability Services Network Update with Neal Ringquist
In episode 81 of CAPTRUST's Revamping Retirement podcast, hosts Audrey Wheat and Peter Ruffel welcome back Neal Ringquist, EVP & Chief Revenue Officer of Retirement Clearinghouse, for a deep dive into auto portability and the Portability Services Network (PSN). Neal explains how auto portability enables seamless retirement balance transfers between employers, backed by regulatory support and a consortium of major recordkeepers. The conversation highlights key adoption metrics—over 21,000 plan sponsors enrolled and 16,700 completed transactions—and explores future applications like the Saver’s Match. The episode also clears up common misconceptions and encourages plan sponsors to engage in expanding PSN’s impact.
Safe Harbor IRAs Are Failing Participants: Report
Paul Mulholland, writing in PSCA.org, examines new research released by PensionBee that is critical of safe harbor IRAs, typically used as vehicles to house small 401(k) balances (<$7000) forced out during an automatic rollover process. While the research calls for safe harbor IRA reform, Mulholland turns to RCH EVP Neal Ringquist, who explains that reforming safe harbors is inadequate, because the automatic rollover process "leads to high participant cash outs,” and “that’s why auto portability is a better solution.”
Commentary: Once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to close America’s wealth gap
Retirement Clearinghouse and Portability Services Network Chairman Robert L. Johnson, writing in Pensions & Investments, makes a compelling case for three public policy initiatives -- Auto Portability, the Saver’s Match and Trump Accounts -- that represent a chance "to reshape the trajectory of retirement savings -- and finally confront America’s stubborn wealth gap." Johnson recounts his personal journey, a timeframe which coincides with some key milestones, including the inception of America's 401(k) system, and a widening of the wealth gap. Johnson closes with a call to action, urging "public and and private sectors to seize this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to give America’s chronically under-served and under-saved workers generational wealth."
Vanguard: 42% of US Participants Are on Track to Maintain Lifestyle in Retirement
PLANSPONSOR's Emily Boyle reports on new research, released by Vanguard, which assesses the readiness of American workers for retirement. Fiona Grieg, global head of investor research and policy at Vanguard’s Investment Strategy Group, provides Boyle with highlights from the report, entitled “The Vanguard Retirement Outlook: Strong National Progress, Opportunities Ahead." Addressing DC plan design, Grieg notes that "having a recordkeeper that participates in the Portability Services Network can help reduce leakage. When an employee switches jobs, if their old and new jobs both participate, a retirement account balance less than $7,000 rolls over automatically into an active account with their new employer."
Talking Points: Third Time No Charm in ‘Forgotten Account’ Fantasy
Retirement industry icon Nevin Adams takes to NAPA Net to write a critique of newly-released research which suggests that there are $2 trillion in 'forgotten' 401(k) accounts. In his piece, Adams systematically dismantles both the methodology and conclusions behind the report, while offering EBRI’s auto portability analysis and benefits as sensible research counter-points to the hyperbole surrounding the analysis of 'forgotten' accounts.
More Than $2T Sitting in 'Left-Behind' 401(k)s
Beagan Wilcox-Volz, writing in Ignites, examines new industry analysis projecting that $2 trillion is "left behind" in "forgotten" 401(k) accounts. In the article, Wilcox-Volz turns to Anqi Chen of the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College, who notes that "today there are solutions that make the process less cumbersome" -- citing increased plan sponsor adoption of auto portability via the Portability Services Network, adding that "[t]his growth is encouraging, and I think it will make workers' hard-earned retirement savings much more portable."
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Nearly 21,000 Plan Sponsors Have Adopted PSN Auto-Portability
PLANSPONSOR's Emily Boyle reports on the latest news from the Portability Services Network, the consortium of defined contribution plan recordkeepers who have championed auto portability. Boyles writes that "20,997 plan sponsors have elected to adopt automatic portability, as of September 30. The number reflects a 1,225-plan (6.2%) increase from the 19,772 plans reported as of June 30." Boyle's piece extensively quotes RCH EVP & Chief Revenue Officer Neal Ringquist, and also quotes Empower's Dave Gray from a prior interview.
Auto Portability: Meeting the Needs AND Wants of Participants
When American workers change jobs, the fate of their retirement savings is often left hanging in the balance – especially for those with accounts less than $7,000. But today, with the continuing adoption of auto portability via the Portability Services Network, the story is changing. Auto portability is now beginning to address the most pressing needs of small-balance participants: reducing cashout leakage, automating consolidation, and making the preservation of retirement savings the default, “easiest choice” – while also closely aligning with what participants want, as revealed in multiple, authoritative surveys.
