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.

Why Roofers Retire Earlier than Professors

By Kerry Pechter Thu, Dec 10, 2015

To learn more about the link between physically demanding jobs and early retirement, researchers at the Center for Retirement Research developed a “Susceptibility Index” that assigns ratings to different...

Published December 10, 2015

Fidelity and Betterment: From Collaborators to Competitors

By Kerry Pechter Mon, Nov 30, 2015

Fidelity Investments is testing 'Fidelity Go,' a robo-advice portal aimed at Millennials, and building a digital interface between its affiliated advisors and its clearing service to replace the interface...

Published December 3, 2015

Removing ‘Lapse Risk’ from Variable Annuities

By Kerry Pechter Sun, Nov 29, 2015

“Almost every major variable annuity writer has absorbed large write-downs on ‘policyholder behavior assumption updates,’” said a Munich Re executive. “So how do we take out that risk?”

Published December 3, 2015

Deep in the Data Mines

By Kerry Pechter Fri, Nov 20, 2015

At the Society of Actuaries Equity-Based Insurance Guarantees conference in Chicago this week, the use of 'predictive modeling' to unearth buried or cryptic data was strongly encouraged.

Published November 20, 2015

Don’t Touch the Jenga Tower

By Kerry Pechter

Many observers think the Fed doesn’t need to raise rates. The actuary I met in Chicago this week was one of the few who believes that the Fed can’t...

Published November 20, 2015

Warren Whitepaper Missed the Mark

By Kerry Pechter Thu, Nov 12, 2015

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) thinks clients should be able to see the non-cash incentives offered to annuity salesmen. It would more useful if they could see the solutions that,...

Published November 12, 2015

RetirePreneur: Mark Warshawsky

By Kerry Pechter Wed, Nov 11, 2015

With his new venture, ReLIAS LLC, the well-known retirement scholar-turned-entrepreneur Mark Warshawsky plans to market a process for helping retirees build ladders of single premium immediate annuities with part...

Published November 12, 2015

TIPS for the Long Run?

By Kerry Pechter Thu, Nov 5, 2015

Whether you'd prefer the new Dimensional Target Date Retirement Income Funds over one of the "big three" TDFs might depend on whether you share Robert Merton and Zvi Bodie's...

Published November 5, 2015

DFA’s Gerard O’Reilly Explains His Firm’s New TDFs

By Kerry Pechter

Dimensional Fund Advisors calls its new target date funds "Retirement Income" funds. How does DFA justify that ambitious title? O'Reilly, DFA's co-Chief Investment Officer and head of research, explains....

Published November 5, 2015

On Background: An Insider Talks about the DOL Proposal

By Kerry Pechter Thu, Oct 29, 2015

What do broker-dealer executives really think about the DOL proposal and it's potential impact on their business? One executive spoke with RIJ recently.

Published October 29, 2015

Wisdom from Advisors to the ‘One Percent’

By Kerry Pechter Wed, Oct 28, 2015

To satisfy super-rich clients, be as inventive as Ray Croc when he invented the 15-cent hamburger, advisors at UBS, Merrill Lynch and Manchester Capital Management told members of the...

Published October 29, 2015

Congress Shuts $50,000 Social Security ‘Loophole’

By Kerry Pechter

The problem with file-and-suspend was that it threatened to bleed an estimated $10 billion a year from a system already suffering from financing issues.

Published October 29, 2015

Principal Adds ‘In-Plan’ Deferred Income Annuity Option

By Kerry Pechter Fri, Oct 23, 2015

Participants in Principal Financial defined contribution plans will be able to buy deferred income annuities a little at a time or in a lump sum just before retirement.

Published October 23, 2015

DOL “delouses” socially responsible investments

By Kerry Pechter

Economically-targeted investments, including socially-responsible mutual funds and "green bonds," can be offered in ERISA-regulated retirement plans if they offer competitive return expectations and no unusual risk, Labor Secretary Tom...

Published October 23, 2015

‘De-Risky’ Business

By Kerry Pechter Thu, Oct 15, 2015

Prudential has dominated the burgeoning market in jumbo pension buyouts. In the week following Prudential deals with JC Penney and Philips Electronics, RIJ spoke with Peggy McDonald (above), an...

Published October 15, 2015

The Link between Inequality and ‘Retirement Readiness’

By Kerry Pechter

“In North America – alone among regions – the population share of the middle class exceeds their share of wealth: in other words, the middle class as a group...

Published October 15, 2015

Takeaways from the FPA Conference in Boston

By Kerry Pechter Thu, Oct 1, 2015

At the Financial Planning Association's Business and Education Conference in Boston last weekend, Bill Reichenstein talked about tax-efficient withdrawal strategies, Steve Deschenes made a case for income-oriented American Funds,...

Published October 1, 2015

Questions for the DOL’s Tim Hauser

By Kerry Pechter

The DOL may believe that, by establishing a blanket “Best Interest” principle, it won’t have to pick winners and losers. But it can’t avoid picking winners and losers. A...

Published October 1, 2015

Will the ‘BIC’ Affect QLAC Sales?

By Kerry Pechter Thu, Sep 24, 2015

We're talking about the DOL's proposed Best Interest Contract exemption and sales of Qualified Longevity Annuity Contracts. "Most firms will just pass on this uncertainty and risk," said Caleb...

Published September 24, 2015

The DOL’s Missed Opportunity

By Kerry Pechter

By proposing a solution that could disrupt the distribution of financial products and deny broker-dealers a major source of revenue, the DOL guaranteed resistance. Instead, it might have required...

Published September 24, 2015

1 … 31 32 33 34 35 … 60

Data Connection

Lists*