Products March 23, 2021

iJoin, PenChecks Automate Force-Out IRA Processing

The firms say it can replace what has traditionally been a tedious, manual process.

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iJoin and PenChecks Trust have created an automated, seamless integration to process force-out individual retirement accounts (IRAs) from 401(k)s and other qualified retirement plans.

The automated workflow identifies and confirms potential distribution candidates, performs required address verifications and notification mailings, and sweeps funds to open new force-out IRAs for individuals who did not roll over their balances or request a distribution.

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The Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) provides for a force-out distribution and rollover to an IRA for terminated participants with vested balances of less than $5,000. This has traditionally been a labor-intensive and costly process for recordkeepers, iJoin and PenChecks say, and as a result, many recordkeepers have handled this task less frequently than would be optimal from a workflow or customer service perspective.

The solution is now available for iJoin users with the ACT Module enabled and that use PenChecks to perform distribution processing.

The firms say the more frequent and automated processing on recordkeeping platforms benefits:

  • Employees, who are less likely to become unreachable;
  • Employers, whose human resource (HR) departments will need to respond to fewer inquiries from former employees about reuniting them with their balances; and
  • Recordkeepers, as they replace a traditionally manual process of adjudicating and processing these requests, especially the funding of IRAs for missing participants.

“iJoin and PenChecks are two organizations that exist to innovate to make retirement plans work better for those who benefit by them, as well as those who serve them,” says Steve McCoy, CEO of iJoin. “This integration with PenChecks improves service quality by recordkeepers, while helping them maintain compliant processes and improve internal efficiency.”

PenChecks President and CEO Spiro Preovolos adds: “iJoin’s recordkeeper data integration complements our technology and enables the full automation of the force-out IRA process, from initial screening to new account funding. It’s an important component of evolving internal workflows, and we’re excited to partner with iJoin to bring this to our industry partners.”

Compliance March 22, 2021

Senate Confirms Marty Walsh as Labor Secretary

The full Senate voted Monday evening to approve the nomination of Boston Mayor Marty Walsh to lead the U.S. Department of Labor at critical time for the U.S. economy and its workforce.

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The U.S. Senate voted Monday evening to approve the nomination of Marty Walsh to the role of labor secretary, nearly two months after his confirmation hearing.

The affirmative vote comes at a critical time for the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), which is expected to play a big role in the Biden administration’s effort to help the U.S. economy bounce back from the ongoing coronavirus crisis. Beyond issues related to the surge in unemployment and the outsized impact the COVID-19 pandemic has had on small businesses and communities of color, the DOL is also engaged in other key regulatory projects. Notable among these is the restatement of the fiduciary duty under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) and the implementation of provisions of the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement (SECURE) Act.

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Though Walsh’s confirmation hearing presented a wealth of interesting and informative commentary from the nominee and the senators on the committee, retirement industry stakeholders might have been a bit disappointed in the end. Relatively little of the hearing’s airtime, either on the part of Walsh or the questioning senators, was dedicated to retirement security issues. Given Walsh’s deep ties to organized labor, the nominee and senators paid some attention to the multiemployer union pension funding crisis, but much more time was spent on issues such as the federal minimum wage, systemic economic inequality and the broader recovery from the pandemic.

During his nomination hearing, Walsh shared telling details about his own life and work experience, recalling how, at the age of 7, he was diagnosed with lymphoma.

“With great treatment at Boston Children’s Hospital and the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, I recovered, and I’ve had an amazing experience on my life’s journey,” Walsh said. “I followed my father into his profession in my 20s, and because of the same union-provided benefits that saved my life as a child, I went into alcohol recovery. I share this story because I know first-hand how important mental health and substance abuse support is for workers. These are not just policies to me. I’ve lived them.”

Walsh’s subsequent answers to senators’ questions repeatedly highlighted his belief in the importance of implementing innovative policies to help underserved workers, especially minorities, veterans and LGBTQ individuals. 

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