Johnny RetirementSeed

By Kerry Pechter
Steve Vernon, actuary-turned-retirement-guru, travels the country spreading retirement planning wisdom... and promoting his books and website: "I joke that I’m a ‘one-rat’ experiment. I’m living the lifestyle I advocate. And then I write about it.”

NARPP Hopes to Do What Auto-Enrollment Hasn’t

By Jenna Gottlieb
The National Association of Retirement Plan Participants aims to boost 401(k) deferral rates through behavioral finance techniques. Despite its name, its direct ties are to plan sponsors and providers. (Photo of NARPP founder Laurie Rowley by Rob Myers.)

A New Robo-Advisor Eyes the 401(k) Space

By Kerry Pechter
"blooom is like a dietician who doesn’t just give you advice on how to eat. It’s like a dietician who actually drives to your store, does your grocery shopping for you and comes back to your house and cooks all your meals for you,” says blooom co-founder Chris Costello (above).

A Sense that the Worst Is Over

By Kerry Pechter
At the IRI annual conference in this quaint colonial village, the annuity industry shared a sense that, after several hellish years, the worst may be over.
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American Equity Has ‘Big Mo’ in Agent FIA Sales

By Kerry Pechter
“We weren’t surprised by the ranking,” Kirby Wood, chief marketing officer at American Equity Investment Life, told RIJ regarding the results of the Cogent Reports Fixed Indexed Annuity Brandscape survey. “We’ve been a top five FIA carrier for 58 of past 62 quarters."

Nobelist Bill Sharpe Talks about Investing

By Robert Huebscher
Near the close of this interview with Sharpe, which was published last week in AdvisorPerspectives, the Nobelist mentioned that one of his favorite publications is Retirement Income Journal... though he chided us for using annuity industry jargon too often.
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