Increasing Retirement Security with Neal Ringquist and Spencer Williams

Aug 8, 2023

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In today’s mobile workforce, Americans are chasing new challenges, higher salaries, and better benefits by switching jobs. According to the Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI), the typical 401K plan participant will have 9.9 jobs throughout their professional journey, equating to approximately 14.8 million workers with retirement savings finding new jobs each year. While transitioning to a new role sounds appealing on paper, what happens to the 401K plan that employees spent so much time contributing to when they leave their former employer?

This week, Jack talks with Neal Ringquist, Chief Revenue Officer for Retirement Clearinghouse, and Spencer Williams, President and CEO, about increasing retirement security and ensuring that your previous 401K plan doesn’t get left behind. Auto portability is the routine, standardized and automated movement of an inactive participant’s retirement account from a former employer’s retirement plan to their active account in a new employer’s plan. Auto portability is a convenient choice for both employees and advisors because it preserves retirement savings automatically.

In this episode, Neal and Spencer talk to Jack about how auto portability benefits retirees and advisors alike, four major hurdles of auto portability, and the future of preserving retirement savings.

Key Takeaways

[01:37] - What sparked the creation of Retirement Clearinghouse and how did it turn into Portability Services Network?
[04:29] - What is auto portability?
[07:20] - What are the major hurdles of auto portability?
[11:54] - Why did industry players come together to support auto portability?
[14:22] - When will auto portability become the norm?
[18:10] - Where does Neal see auto portability going over time?
[20:16] - The convergence of workplace and wealth.
[24:20] - Spencer’s key takeaways.
[25:31] - Neal’s key takeaways.
[27:07] - Spencer and Neal’s hobbies outside of work.

Quotes

[19:12] - “The network effect, over time, can be huge and can be leverageable to solve many problems beyond the portability issue.” ~ Neal Ringquist

[21:29] - “If you think about the benefits down the road from an industry perspective, there shouldn't be an advisor on the planet who is against auto portability. It simply creates better customers for them later, and they don't have to lift a finger.” ~ Spencer Williams

[24:26] - “Create an infrastructure that enables the free flow of a worker's savings to follow them to their new employer plan. With the right communication, it’ll just happen automatically. Otherwise, there’s no compounding, there’s no advantage in investing in the U.S. economy.” ~ Spencer Williams

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