During 2025, important developments emerged around retirement savings portability, including auto portability. Taken together, they suggest that portability is moving from an emerging concept toward a scaled capability within the defined contribution system. Key developments include:
• Rapid growth in auto portability adoption
• Public support for auto portability from leading DC recordkeepers
• A reframing by industry thought leaders of the “forgotten” 401(k) accounts issue through the lens of portability
Portability has long been a friction point in the DC system, and 2025 offered new evidence of what scaled solutions can look like. Let’s examine these developments and consider how retirement savings portability is being positioned to increase retirement security in 2026 and beyond.
#1: Rapid Auto Portability Adoption
Auto portability—an emerging plan feature, operational through the Portability Services Network (PSN) that automatically consolidates small balances (less than $7,000) for job-changing participants—saw rapid adoption by plan sponsors during 2025, as reflected by published adoption statistics.
The year began with 15,000 plans having made the decision to adopt auto portability, as announced in a December 2024 PSN press release. As of 9/30/25, that number had risen to 20,997 plans—an increase of about 40% over the first three quarters of 2025.
At the recordkeeper level, adoption also expanded meaningfully:
• In September, Empower’s Dave Gray, EVP of the firm’s Enterprise Solutions group, stated that “over 11,000 of the plans we work with have signed up” for auto portability.
• In November, Fidelity reported that 9,200 Fidelity plans had adopted auto portability, representing more than one-third of its 26,500 corporate defined contribution plans.
These figures suggest adoption is expanding beyond early adopters and into broader segments of the DC market. For plan sponsors, the practical appeal is straightforward: fewer small accounts left behind, fewer cash-outs, and a more continuous participant savings journey. Over time, that can translate into higher retained savings and reduced administrative friction associated with terminated participants.
Auto portability is a meaningful step forward for small balances, though broader portability for larger accounts and cross-platform standardization remain areas the industry continues to explore.
#2: Leading DC Recordkeepers Go On Record with Support
Three of the nation’s largest defined contribution recordkeepers—Fidelity, Empower and Vanguard—all went on the record with their strong support for auto portability:
- In June 2025, Vanguard’s Steve Holman, principal and head of Workplace Solutions Distribution Enablement and a PSN board member, described why Vanguard embraced auto portability, noted progress in plan sponsor adoption, and explained why he believes adoption benefits both sponsors and participants.
- In September 2025, Empower’s Dave Gray, a founding PSN board member, cited the firm’s 11,000-plan adoption figure and pointed to growing interest from large sponsors. Gray observed that more large plan sponsors are becoming comfortable enough as fiduciaries to add auto portability to their plans.
- Also in September 2025, Fidelity leaders highlighted auto portability in a public discussion of retirement policy and participant outcomes, underscoring its alignment with long-term savings behaviors.
When providers of this scale publicly support a capability—and connect that support to measurable adoption—it signals a broadening industry alignment around portability as a practical approach to reducing leakage. It also reflects a shift from debating whether portability is needed to focusing on how it can be implemented responsibly and efficiently.
#3: Reframing the ‘Forgotten Accounts’ Issue Through Portability
In late September, a recurring analysis was released asserting there are 31.9 million “forgotten” 401(k) accounts housing $2 trillion. Several retirement industry thought leaders challenged the claim and urged a more precise framing of the underlying issue.
As the conversation evolved, a clearer point emerged: the persistence of stranded, inactive accounts is less about participants forgetting their savings and more about systemic friction that makes transferring balances difficult when workers change jobs. From that perspective, the lack of efficient, default portability—not participant behavior—drives much of the problem.
This reframing matters. It shifts discussions away from counting “lost” accounts toward addressing the structural reasons accounts become left behind, and it highlights portability solutions, including auto portability, as mechanisms that can materially reduce leakage and keep retirement assets connected to active participants.
What’s Ahead for 2026?
While no one can predict the future with certainty, the pattern from 2025 is clear: retirement savings portability—especially for small-balance accounts—is becoming a more central element of plan design discussions.
If adoption continues to broaden, portability could move closer to standard practice, particularly for sponsors seeking to reduce small-balance leakage and support stronger participant outcomes. The progress made in 2025 indicates that the industry now has both the infrastructure and provider engagement to continue advancing portability in 2026 and beyond.
In short, 2025 appears to have been an inflection point. The groundwork laid this year positions portability to play a growing role in strengthening retirement security for millions of workers.
SEE ALSO:
• A Third of Fidelity 401(k)s Have Adopted Auto Portability
• Auto Portability: Meeting the Needs AND Wants of Participants