January 30, 2014 Archives - Retirement Income Journal

Obama Gives ‘Auto-IRA’ a Shout Out—and a New Name

By Kerry Pechter

Mr. Obama has ordered the creation (on a pilot basis) of a "myRA" program, bringing closer to fruition a multi-year effort by liberal policymakers to expand access to workplace retirement savings plans. The illustration is of myRA's cousin VERA.

A Physician Heals Himself (Financially)

By Kerry Pechter

Baltimore radiologist Dimitri Merine hopes to retire in seven years, at age 63. So he created a do-it-yourself retirement income plan, using systematic withdrawals, dividends, a bond ladder and a deferred income annuity.

A Chat with Jackson’s Cliff Jack

By Kerry Pechter

The executive vice president and head of retail at Jackson National Life (and former chairman of the National Association of Variable Annuities) spoke with RIJ about the two kinds of advisers, about fixed indexed annuities and about being the top annuity seller.

Probing the Minds of Advisers

By Kerry Pechter

Manufacturers trying to build retirement income solutions for advisers face the fact that advisers vary widely in their approaches to retirement planning, says Howard Schneider of Practical Perspectives, which has co-produced a new survey with GDC Research.

Featured

Time to Redefine Defined Contribution?

By Ben Norquist

The shortcomings of the voluntary retirement savings system in the U.S. should no longer be ignored, writes our guest columnist, the co-founder, president and CEO of Convergent Retirement Plan Solutions LLC, a participant training provider.

Pondering the End of QE

By Kerry Pechter

"After more than five years, QE has arguably entrenched expectations for continued low or even negative real interest rates – acting more like addictive painkillers than powerful antibiotics," writes this columnist, the former chairman of Morgan Stanley Asia.

News

Fidelity tops two lists of ‘top-of-mind’ retirement brands

By Kerry Pechter

In two surveys, Cogent Reports (formerly Cogent Research), a unit of Market Strategies International since last May, asked plan advisors and investors to name the most familiar DC providers and rollover destinations, respectively.

Armenians protest mandatory national DC plan

By Kerry Pechter

Protesters have argued that people should be able to decide what happens to their salaries, and that any supplementary pension payment should be voluntary, IPE.com reported.