Top earners are saving more for retirement. Everyone else is saving less.
Writing in USA Today, personal finance reporter Daniel de Visé examines new retirement research from Dayforce with troubling findings, suggesting that "many American workers [are] losing ground on retirement savings between 2021 and 2024" while "top earners" have gained the most. De Visé turns to Matt Bahl, vice president and head of workplace solutions at the nonprofit Financial Health Network, who suggests that employers take advantage of several strategies, including "auto-portability, a mechanism that automatically transfers a retirement plan to a new employer when someone changes jobs."
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Millions lose out as job changes trigger involuntary 401(k) rollovers
Seeking Alpha's Rob Williams reports on the problems encountered by small-balance, job-changing participants who are involuntarily forced-out of their former employer's 401(k) plan and into safe harbor IRAs. Drawing upon the 11/15/25 article on the same topic by Anne Tergesen in the Wall Street Journal, Williams refers to comments by RCH & PSN CEO Spencer Williams, who leads the effort dedicated to reforming the longstanding practice through auto portability, which automatically moves these small-balance retirement balances forward.
Forgotten 401(k) Accounts Are Costing Americans Billions in Lost Investment Gains
The Wall Street Journal's Anne Tergesen takes on the topic of left-behind 401(k) savings and the participant outcomes that occur when small-balance accounts are forced out in safe harbor IRAs, where they can languish in an environment characterized by high fees and sub-optimal investments. Tergesen turns to RCH and Portability Services Network (PSN) CEO Spencer Williams, along with Fiona Grieg of Vanguard (an owner-member of PSN), who provide their views on the problem, while Tergesen goes on to describe auto portability's emerging role in moving these balances forward within the 401(k) system.
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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.
