401(k) Specialist Podcast

Student loan debt is a big problem that’s getting bigger, affecting multiple aspects of an employee’s financial life, retirement savings being just one. Laurel Taylor is doing something about it. The MIT grad and CEO of innovative fintech firm FutureFuel.io are out to CRUSH student debt in the workplace and beyond.

Taylor joins us to discuss the scope of the problem, if it’s getting better or worse and how advisors can help. We also somehow drag the American Retirement Association’s Nevin Adams into all of it.

You’d be hard-pressed to find a better ambassador for the 401k advisory space than Brad Arends. The Co-Founder and CEO of intellicents sit on conference panels, organizing committees, and anywhere else to get the word out about helping underserved American workers save for retirement.

His focus goes far beyond simply investing in the 401k, and he’s banging the drum about what it will really take to achieve successful retirement outcomes while ensuing profitability for advisors and their firms.

SageView Advisory Group’s Rodney Balbuena is a bilingual 401(k) advisor in Southern California who also happens to be our Top Advisor By Participant Outcomes for February.

Through a combination of technology and one-on-one meetings, he’s tripled employee deferral rates over the course of five years. But the emotional impact of market corrections threatens his hard work. He joins us to discuss it, and more, and we begin with the one-on-one meetings.

How does the U.S. retirement system compare with other countries in retiree satisfaction? For all its faults, you’d be surprised.

Andrew Biggs, one of the busiest people we know, is a Forbes columnist, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, and is a member of the Financial Oversight and Management Board for Puerto Rico. He recently took a look at the issue and came away with a number of interesting observations.

Will Hackler is a big personality with a big book of 401k business, and he’s also our Top Advisor By Participant Outcomes recipient for January.

One of the most competitive advisors we’ve come across, the president of Integrated Pension Services joins us to describe the particular case of which he’s most proud, why he chose to narrow his business focus, and his surprising take on auto portability.

Dr. Wade Pfau ran neck-and-neck with Morningstar’s Christine Benz as our most popular podcast guest of 2021 and we're excited to have him back to kick off season two.

Inflation is a major topic at the moment and Pfau, author, speaker, and professor at the American College of Financial Services, describes its effect on retirement income. He also explains tax-efficient retirement distributions and weighs in on the 4% controversy.

Anyone who knows Pete Swisher knows that he’s the go-to resource for anything fiduciary and pool plan-related. His pension expertise and industry tenure make the self-proclaimed ‘pension geek’ highly sought after, especially with all that’s happening on the regulatory front. 

He recently announced a partnership with top ERISA attorney Jason Roberts of Pension Resource Institute (PRI). The new venture, Group Plan Systems or GPS helps plan sponsors and advisors bridge a major fiduciary gap too that’s often overlooked.

Sponsored By: T. Rowe Price

Brian Graff recently celebrated 25 years at the helm of the American Retirement Association, and he posted side-by-side budgets on LinkedIn from 1996 and 2021. Let’s just say it’s grown considerably over two-plus decades. Graff joined us to discuss his anniversary and his achievements but true to form he preferred to keep the focus on the ARA and retirement plans.

We spoke about how the organization maintains its delicate bipartisan balance, auto portability, and other upcoming issues, as well as a story from his childhood which, intentional or not, makes him perfect for his chosen profession.

Sponsored By: T. Rowe Price

Guaranteed income in retirement plans is a big issue—big because it’s important, complex, and getting a lot of attention, especially in the wake of the SECURE Act. It’s increasingly an industry focus, and now several players have come together to form a Lifetime Income consortium. Broadridge Fi360 Head John Faustino said it’s a targeted initiative to catalyze lifetime income adoption for the industry overall.

Faustino joins us to discuss the consortium, why lifetime income is critical, and address some of the criticism of guaranteed products. 

It’s hardly news to note the red-hot M&A market in the 401(k)-advisory space, but Dick Darian tells us why it’s happening, how long it will continue, and how advisors can capitalize.

We’re not talking about walking away with a pile of money, necessarily, but how an acquiring partner can provide scale and resources to grow the business further. Darian, founder of M&A consulting firm Wise Rhino Group, will discuss all this and more, including the “Goldilocks Zone” in which the retirement plan business now exists. He’ll explain right after theses messages.

Sponsored by: T. Rowe Price