Nevin's Data "Points"

  There was some good news — and some disappointing news — about the take-up of a “new” plan design last week. It was the first anniversary of a coalition of recordkeepers called the  Portable Services Network  (PSN) — a consortium of firms that includes Alight, Vanguard, Fidelity Investments, Empower, TIAA and Principal — not to mention the Retirement Clearinghouse, whose  long-term patience  and commitment made the concept of auto-portability a reality. There’s even  support for auto-portability  in SECURE 2.0.      The Good News The good news: PSN reported that in its first year of operation — more than 15,000 plans representing approximately 5 million participants have signed up for auto portability. According to a press release, 549 auto portability transactions have been completed as of Dec. 1, 2024; and 7,841 auto portability transactions are “in motion” as of Dec. 1, 2024. In-motion transactions are those where the Retiremen...

So, how many 401(k) accounts do  you  have? At the moment, I have four—one from each of the employers in my career (including this one), all except the first one (that one went for law school and a house downpayment). Apparently I’m not alone. A recent  survey  of Plan Sponsor Council of America members found that only 18% of respondents had a single 401(k) account. Nearly as many (14.3%) had five. As it turns out, three was the most common response. I joke that it’s just “market research”—after all, what better way to assess the quality of various retirement plan offerings than to have your own 401(k) supported by some of the best? Sure, there’s been institutional pricing at one that I’d hate to lose, access to a specific managed account platform that I value, and a really cool online platform at another—and then, in the back of my mind, is a concern that the taxability detail might get “jostled” in the process—in short, plenty of reasons to rational...