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.

Would the DoL Proposal Deny Advice to the Masses?

By Kerry Pechter Thu, Jul 23, 2015

Forcing commissioned brokers and agents to act like fiduciaries would deprive middle-class investors of access to financial advice, critics of Labor's proposal argue. Maybe. It would almost certainly deprive...

Published July 23, 2015

Investments + Annuities = Healthy Retirement

By Kerry Pechter Wed, Jul 15, 2015

Many advisers still treat annuities and investments as apples and oranges--that is, not to be mixed up in a single retirement fruit salad. But experts Michael Finke, Wade Pfau...

Published July 16, 2015

Britain’s Exchequer Mulls an End to Tax Deferred Savings

By Kerry Pechter

Retirement industry watchers in the U.S. should watch what's happening in the U.K. It's a living experiment in pension and tax reform, and it could offer important lessons about...

Published July 16, 2015

‘No Comment’ from NAFA about its Form 990s

By Kerry Pechter Wed, Jul 8, 2015

The leading not-for-profit champion of fixed indexed annuities should explain the "diversion" of assets that was described in its IRS filing.

Published July 9, 2015

The Overlooked Income Vehicle, III

By Kerry Pechter Thu, Jul 2, 2015

Systematic withdrawals from DC plans are one of the simplest and cheapest ways to generate income from tax-deferred savings in retirement. Rollovers get the headlines, but more people advocate...

Published July 2, 2015

Four Little Words, Many Billions of Dollars

By Kerry Pechter

A phrase in the DOL's new Best Interest exemption could make it very hard for broker-dealer reps to accept commissions on the sale of variable annuities and proprietary mutual...

Published July 2, 2015

A three-bucket blueprint for de-accumulation, from the U.K.

By Kerry Pechter

Britain's public-option defined contribution plan, NEST, thinks that a decumulation strategy that used tax-deferred savings to fund a small cash bucket, a big income-generating bucket and a longevity annuity...

Published July 2, 2015

In New York, Hanging with Robos

By Kerry Pechter Thu, Jun 25, 2015

At the InVest financial technology conference in Manhattan last week, hundreds of robo-advisors, vulture capitalists, and Wall Street firms gathered to contemplate a prosperous and collaborative future.

Published June 25, 2015

The Overlooked Income Vehicle, II

By Kerry Pechter Wed, Jun 24, 2015

If more 401(k) plans offered systematic withdrawals, more money might stay in 401(k)s, and the DOL might not need to attempt the difficult and divisive task of policing rollover...

Published June 25, 2015

The DOL and the Robo-Advisors

By Kerry Pechter Thu, Jun 18, 2015

The DOL proposal will not make investment advice a commodity; it is a commodity. The DOL isn’t going to make thousands of financial salespeople obsolete; the digital advisory channel...

Published June 18, 2015

The Overlooked Income Vehicle

By Kerry Pechter Wed, Jun 17, 2015

Systematic withdrawals from 401(k) plans are a widely-available but rarely-used way to create retirement income. Perhaps because electronic transfers are virtually free, nobody's championing them.

Published June 18, 2015

In-Discretionary Accounts

By Kerry Pechter Thu, Jun 11, 2015

Investment performance of popular “Rep-as-Portfolio-Manager" accounts lags direct-sold packaged portfolios, say analysts at Cerulli Associates and Fuse-Research.

Published June 11, 2015

In FIA Arms Race, Hybrid Indexes are the Arms

By Kerry Pechter

Investors in Nationwide's New Heights fixed indexed annuities have a new index option: a globally diversified, multi-asset managed-volatility index from JP Morgan called MOZAIC.

Published June 11, 2015

MetLife launches QLAC as plan distribution option

By Kerry Pechter Thu, May 28, 2015

Participants in plans with MetLife group annuity contracts can put 25% of their qualified savings (up to $125,000) into this new deferred income product, whose premium can be excluded...

Published May 28, 2015

Inside the Beltway, Disinformation Reigns

By Kerry Pechter

An article in The Hill, the respected Washington newspaper and website, has gotten the DOL's conflict of interest proposal all wrong. It doesn't even mention rollover IRAs.

Published May 28, 2015

A Two-Headed Nightmare: The Robos and the DOL

By Kerry Pechter Thu, May 21, 2015

The Amazon-ification of financial services will eventually disintermediate tens of thousands of financial salespeople. If you didn't get the memo already, consider the conflict-of-interest proposal a final wake-up call.

Published May 21, 2015

England Swings (Away from Annuities)

By Kerry Pechter Thu, May 14, 2015

Until April 6, most Britons bought annuities with their DC savings. Now they can do as they wish with those ‘pension pots.’ BlackRock and AllianceBernstein see opportunity. ...

Published May 14, 2015

Offer Life Annuity and Whole Life in Tandem: Pfau

By Kerry Pechter

Retirees might be more willing to buy a life annuity if it’s part of a plan that also includes whole life insurance, says retirement guru Wade Pfau in a...

Published May 14, 2015

The next-gen adviser: Half person, half machine

By Kerry Pechter

What will retirement advice look like in the future: Will advisers use the digital advisory channel, or will the digital advisory channel use them? A new report from Celent...

Published May 14, 2015

Six Ways to Dress Up QLACs

By Kerry Pechter Wed, May 6, 2015

RIJ spoke with annuity manufacturers and distributors about their strategies for selling qualified longevity annuity contracts, which are deferred income annuities for IRA money. The favorite, but not unanimous,...

Published May 7, 2015

1 … 33 34 35 36 37 … 60

Data Connection

Lists*