Kerry Pechter, Author at Retirement Income Journal

Articles by Author: Kerry Pechter

Editor and Publisher of Retirement Income Journal, Kerry Pechter is author of Annuities for Dummies (Wiley, 2008) and former editor of the SourceMedia publication, Annuity Market News/Retirement Income Reporter. He has been an annuity columnist for Senior Market Advisor, and his feature articles have appeared in The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Men's Health and many other national publications. From 1997 to 2006, he was a writer and editor supporting the Retirement Resource Center at The Vanguard Group. In 2009, he traveled to Taiwan and reported on the retirement industry there as a fellow of the National Press Foundation. A graduate of Kenyon College and recipient of a fellowship in creative writing at Indiana University, Pechter resides in Emmaus, PA, with his wife Lisa, the director of marketing and publicity for the Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival at DeSales University.

‘We Shall Never Surrender!’

By Kerry Pechter Fri, Mar 16, 2018

At the Insured Retirement Industry's marketing conference in Orlando this week, speakers from AXA, Brighthouse Financial (formerly MetLife’s retail division), Great-West Financial, Jackson National Life, and New York Life...

Published March 16, 2018

‘Circuit Split’ over DOL Fiduciary Rule?

By Kerry Pechter

In my opinion, allowing IRA rollover money to escape the protections and restrictions that govern 401(k) plans will eventually nullify the federal government’s rationale for tax deferral—a benefit that...

Published March 16, 2018

Allianz Life’s New FIA Aims for Accumulation

By Kerry Pechter Thu, Mar 8, 2018

'By using volatility controlled indices, we can offer higher caps,' said Matt Gray, vp of product innovation at Allianz Life. 'In such a low-rate environment, those higher caps have...

Published March 8, 2018

A Fintech Fix for the Small Plan Cost-Crisis

By Kerry Pechter Thu, Mar 1, 2018

'We’re offering to clean house in a very fragmented broker market,' said Shin Inoue, CEO of ForUsAll, a turnkey 401(k) provider. Founded in 2014 by three former Financial Engines...

Published March 1, 2018

Homage to Andalusia

By Kerry Pechter

Sevilla’s residents radiated a comforting joie de vivre. That, along with the Andalusian sunshine, made my spouse and I think seriously about returning, if not retiring, to southern Spain.

Published March 1, 2018

Building a Personal Pension, a Month at a Time

By Kerry Pechter Thu, Feb 22, 2018

Recent filings show that Prudential plans to launch a direct-sold, auto-pay, multi-premium fixed deferred income annuity called GIFT, or Guaranteed Income for Tomorrow.

Published February 22, 2018

IRI Presents its Lobbying Goals for 2018

By Kerry Pechter

The Insured Retirement Institute, which advocates for the interests of manufacturers and distributors of annuities on Capitol Hill, held a somewhat muted press conference this week.

Published February 22, 2018

Spain Looks for New Ways to Save

By Kerry Pechter Thu, Feb 15, 2018

Spain plans to reduce the fiscal burden of its national pension by dropping cost-of-living increases. Retirees will need to offset the loss of purchasing power with other savings. But...

Published February 15, 2018

How to Have Enough Money for Retirement

By Kerry Pechter Wed, Feb 7, 2018

More than 10,000 economists converged last month on Philadelphia (where Ben Franklin's bronze likeness idles on a bench on the Penn campus) for the American Economic Association's annual meeting....

Published February 8, 2018

Not All 401(k)s are Created Equal; Should They Be?

By Kerry Pechter

Teresa Ghilarducci's proposal for mandatory U.S. retirement plans is no more radical than changes proposed overseas.

Published February 8, 2018

Why Bruce Springsteen Is America’s Most-Likely Income Annuity Buyer

By Kerry Pechter Thu, Feb 1, 2018

Cannex, the Canadian-American annuity data shop, has just released its analysis of 2017 sales of immediate and deferred income annuities. It turns out New Jersey-ites buy the most income...

Published February 1, 2018

A ‘Blueprint’ to Sell Income Annuities Direct

By Kerry Pechter Wed, Jan 31, 2018

Abaris Financial, founded in 2014 to market SPIAs, DIAs and QLACs online, has rebooted itself as Blueprint Income. It hopes to sell single-premium immediate and deferred annuities as well...

Published February 1, 2018

Flat Rich: How Airbnb Saved the Quinteros’ Retirement

By Kerry Pechter Thu, Jan 25, 2018

How a family in Seville, Spain, fixed their retirement income shortfall by investing in two Airbnb apartments in Barrio Santa Cruz, a magnet for lovers and other tourists.

Published January 25, 2018

The Fragility of VA Living Benefit Guarantees

By Kerry Pechter

Their reliance on VA with living benefits has made life insurers 'more like pension fund managers because they have risky assets and guaranteed liabilities,' write economists at NYU-Stern and...

Published January 25, 2018

Spain’s Pension Outlook: Sunny with a Chance of Austerity

By Kerry Pechter Thu, Jan 18, 2018

To study the Spanish retirement system, RIJ has temporarily relocated to Seville. We start with a look at the public pension system (a contributory, pay-as-you-go system like Social Security...

Published January 18, 2018

Morningstar’s Take on Income Annuities

By Kerry Pechter

In a recent article, Morningstar's Canadian research director shows, mathematically, how one might use term life insurance and income annuities (in sequence) to cope with one of life's known...

Published January 18, 2018

The Elusive ROI of Financial Wellness Efforts

By Kerry Pechter Thu, Jan 11, 2018

Estimates for the return-on-investment from financial wellness programs vary. One source puts the savings at $50 per employee per year for every incremental (1 to 10) increase in average...

Published January 11, 2018

Anecdotal Evidence: Voya, Northwestern Mutual and Fake DOL Comments

By Kerry Pechter Thu, Jan 4, 2018

New Year's reflections on: Voya's departure from the annuity business, Northwestern Mutual's new live-for-today television ads, and the Wall Street Journal's exposure of counterfeit postings on the DOL fiduciary...

Published January 4, 2018

Jellyvision Knows Financial Wellness

By Kerry Pechter Wed, Jan 3, 2018

In this first of a two-part series on financial wellness, RIJ talks with the customer insight chief of a leading vendor in the field. 'We ask, ‘Where is the...

Published January 4, 2018

‘Public-Option’ Workplace IRAs Proceed in Oregon, California

By Kerry Pechter Thu, Dec 21, 2017

“The day after President Trump signed the repeal , we had a press conference and announced that we were proceeding as planned,” said Katie...

Published December 21, 2017

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