Retirement Clearinghouse Appoints Industry Veteran E. Thomas Johnson Jr. To Promote Solutions to Retirement System Challenges Stemming From Millions of Employees Entering, Exiting 401(k) Plans Annually

CHARLOTTE, N.C., March 13, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Retirement Clearinghouse, LLC (RCH) has appointed E. Thomas Johnson Jr. as a senior advisor to help promote awareness of the costs and complexities associated with the estimated 9 million employees entering and exiting workplace retirement plans each year, and RCH's innovative suite of services for addressing them.   

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Johnson, who also will serve on the firm's executive management team, joins an experienced team of industry veterans and thought leaders.

In his role, Johnson will promote:

• RCH solutions that enable sponsors of 401(k) and other retirement plans to help employees more easily and prudently save for retirement by consolidating their savings, generally in the workplace, when changing jobs;
• emerging best practices for plan sponsors to manage retirement plans with greater efficiency, less risk and lower costs; and
• the advantages of helping participants consolidate workplace retirement savings, including increased savings, fewer cashouts, and greater ease in tracking and managing savings.

"Tom, whose late father is known as the "godfather" of the 401(k) for his role in creating the first 401(k) plan, will use his unique combination of experience, commitment and relationships to raise awareness of the challenges facing our retirement system and to elevate our brand in the marketplace," said J. Spencer Williams, president and CEO of RCH. "We're delighted to have him on our team and leading the effort to get people in our industry thinking about these important issues."

Each year, an estimated 9 million workers enter and exit workplace retirement plans. When they do, they often make bad choices about what to do with their retirement plan savings, such as cashing out, keeping their savings in multiple IRAs, or leaving their 401(k) accounts behind them in their former employers' plans.

By contrast, RCH's services enable plan sponsors to establish programs that help employees consolidate retirement savings when moving from job to job. The services simultaneously help sponsors manage plan costs and risks.

Johnson said that working with RCH will enable him to contribute to fulfilling the 401(k) system's promise by promoting simple and cost-effective retirement plan enhancements that will make it easier for more Americans to build, manage and consolidate their retirement savings.

"The 401(k) system has helped millions of people save trillions of dollars for retirement, and they're better off because of it," he said. "Still, there are opportunities to improve the system for all workers and especially for the little guys that often are overlooked. RCH is the only company I know with the leadership and innovation to address these critical challenges facing workers and employers today."

Johnson has more than 30 years of experience as a senior executive in the retirement savings and retirement income industries with such leading institutions as Federated Investors, MassMutual Financial Group, and most recently New York Life Insurance Co. He is involved in many industry groups and associations.

For more information on Retirement Clearinghouse, an RLJ company, visit www.RCH1.com.

Media Contacts:

[email protected] 

Patrick Collins
617-553-0349

Kathleen Gilroy
978-358-7282

About Retirement Clearinghouse

Retirement Clearinghouse (RCH) is the leading specialist in employee retirement plan transition (job changer) services, with best practices designed to improve outcomes for retirement plan sponsors, participants, and providers. RCH's programs increase plan assets, improve plan efficiency, lower plan costs and reduce fiduciary risk while providing participants with one-on-one, beginning-to-end assistance in the complex process of consolidating and managing their workplace retirement savings accounts. In keeping with its commitment to ease of use, RCH works with sponsor's existing recordkeepers and conforms to existing plan rules, requiring no major plan changes. RCH has streamlined more than 10,000 sponsor plans, helped more than 625,000 participants, guided billions of dollars in transactions, and reduced cashouts. RCH's experienced management team has a long record of thought leadership and innovation in the retirement savings industry. An RLJ company, RCH is based in Charlotte, NC, and is on the web at www.rch1.com.

About RLJ Companies

The RLJ Companies, founded by Robert L. Johnson, is an innovative business network that provides strategic investments in a diverse portfolio of companies. Within The RLJ Companies portfolio, Johnson owns or holds interests in businesses operating in hotel real estate investment; private equity; financial services; asset management; insurance services; automobile dealerships; sports and entertainment; and video lottery terminal (VLT) gaming. The RLJ Companies is headquartered in Bethesda, MD, with affiliate operations in Charlotte, NC; Little Rock, AR; Los Angeles, CA; San Juan, PR; and Monrovia, Liberia. Prior to founding The RLJ Companies, Johnson was founder and chairman of Black Entertainment Television (BET).

SOURCE Retirement Clearinghouse LLC (RCH)