Spencer Williams

Plan sponsors can help find retirement accounts with the help of “auto-locate,” a technology that creates links between record-keeping systems and establishes a virtual database of all employee records.

The best way for plan sponsors to keep missing retirement participants to a minimum is to adopt auto-portability for accounts with less than $5,000, and actively encourage account consolidation among those with larger balances.

Employers should concentrate on adopting measures that enable seamless plan-to-plan savings portability for participants, especially for employee accounts with less than $5,000.

Making plans transferable from employer to employer can help clients attract and retain top talent.

If plan sponsors don’t use technology to create seamless plan-to-plan portability, they risk turning their accounts into islands cut off from other retirement plans.

Pension account auto-portability can provide security to millions of retirement-savers across America.

Pension account auto-portability can provide security to millions of retirement-savers across America.

Plan sponsors should end automatic cash-outs, offer roll-ins as part of a financial wellness program and engage all participants on crucial decision-making.

Workers often don’t aggregate old retirement savings plans at new jobs, leaving behind orphaned accounts that need attention.

The fewer systems where a 401(k) participant has an active account, the less likely that employee’s sensitive data will be compromised.

A lack of widespread auto-portability in the present U.S. retirement system is causing many plan sponsors to pay plan cash-outs to terminated employees.

A lack of widespread auto-portability in the present U.S. retirement system is causing many plan sponsors to pay plan cash-outs to terminated employees.

The sheer number of modest, inactive 401(k)s — along with the friction in the industry that makes it difficult to seamlessly transfer the balances from plan to plan as participants change jobs — is causing a lot of undue stress.

The sheer number of modest, inactive 401(k)s — along with the friction in the industry that makes it difficult to seamlessly transfer the balances from plan to plan as participants change jobs — is causing a lot of undue stress.

With high medical prices causing many workers to contribute less to their 401(k)s, plan sponsors should encourage employees to consolidate savings in their current-employer plan to help them in their post-work years.

With high medical prices causing many workers to contribute less to their 401(k)s, plan sponsors should encourage employees to consolidate savings in their current-employer plan to help them in their post-work years.

Retirement sponsors need to put a stop to tens of billions of dollars leaving the nation’s retirement system due to cash-outs.

Retirement sponsors need to put a stop to tens of billions of dollars leaving the nation’s retirement system due to cash-outs.

Plan sponsors need to improve employees' well-being by actively encouraging roll-ins.

Plan sponsors need to improve employees’ well-being by actively encouraging plan roll-ins.