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

Creative Planning’s Peter Mallouk, one of the largest RIAs in the country, caused a minor controversy last week with his criticism of target-date funds, calling them a “terrible choice for most people.”

An intense yet respectful debate then erupted on Twitter, which is almost unheard of for the platform, with Morningstar’s Christine Benz, among others, weighing in. Benz joined us to discuss the spat and much more, including possible changes to back-door Roths, HSAa, and what’s new in retirement income research.  

Sponsored By: T. Rowe Price 

We’re joined by Gerard Baker, Editor-at-Large of The Wall Street Journal and author of the weekly “Free Expression” column.

Baker previously served as Editor-in-Chief of The Wall Street Journal and Dow Jones from 2013 to 2018 and has been a journalist for over 30 years. Our discussion touched on inflation, ESG, Bitcoin, and, of course, retirement-related issues.

Sponsored By: T. Rowe Price

Chad Johansen is a Partner and Director of Consulting with California-based Plan Design Consultants, and he’s also its resident 401k nerd. And thank God for that, because without him, the firm’s weekly Retireholi(k)s webcast would devolve into even more of a drunken mess than it already is. If you’re completely lost, check out the latest issue of our magazine. In the meantime, Johansen had great insight about the challenges he sees for independent TPAs and 401k advisors, their move towards wealth management, and what the industry can and should do better.

We had a controversial question about bitcoin in 401(k)s, so of course, we went to Anthony Scaramucci, the investment manager and political heavyweight who the New York Post called one of the city’s top powerbrokers. He launched his bitcoin fund in January, and the timing could not have been better, as the price skyrocketed in the following months. His high-profile SALT conference, with its extremely high-profile guests and speakers, is in-person once again at the Javits Center in New York, September 13 – 15. We spoke with Anthony about bitcoin, baseball, how it feels to get roasted on Saturday Night Live, and the exciting features at this year’s conference.