If you couldn't tell, the COVID pandemic and its impact on the economy, retirement plans and individuals has really gotten me thinking. Along those lines, a recent presentation from this week's return guest, David Blanchett, the head of retirement research for Morningstar's Investment Management group, on Total Economic Worth, struck a chord. A very interesting concept that I felt was very applicable to retirement plans to help communicate the importance of saving today and how that translates to resources to fund your lifestyle in retirement. We cover that and much more today in a fast paced and entertaining episode. If you listen to your podcasts on 1.5 or 2 times the normal pace, you might not want to do that for this one. Also, if you didn't know you can listen to podcasts at a faster pace, your welcome and now you can listen to more episodes in a shorter period of time!

If you like what you hear from our guests on the podcast, be sure to look them up on LinkedIn or other social media sites. Let them know you enjoyed listening to them on the 401(k) Fridays Podcast and engage what the put out into the world. That always helps great repeat guests like David have an easy decision on whether to join me again.

That's it, I hope you enjoy my conversation with David!

Guest Bio

David M. Blanchett, PhD, CFA, CFP® is head of retirement research for Morningstar Investment Management LLC. In this role, he helps develop and maintain methodologies relating to wealth forecasting, general financial planning, automated investment selection, and portfolio assignment for Morningstar Investment Management LLC. Prior to joining Morningstar, he was the Director of Consulting and Investment Research for the Retirement Plan Consulting Group at Unified Trust Company. He has published over 100 papers in a variety of industry and academic journals. His research has received best paper awards from the Academy of Financial Services (2017), the CFP Board (2017), the Financial Analysts Journal (2015), the Financial Planning Association (2020), the International Centre for Pension Management (2020), the Journal of Financial Planning (2007, 2014, 2015, 2019), and the Retirement Management Journal (2012).

He is currently an Adjunct professor of Wealth Management at The American College of Financial Services, an Expert Panelist for the Wall Street Journal, a member of the Executive Committee for the Defined Contribution Institutional Investment Association (DCIIA), and a member of the ERISA Advisory Council. In 2014, InvestmentNews included him in their inaugural 40 under 40 list as a "visionary" for the financial planning industry, and in 2014, Money magazine named him one of the brightest minds in retirement planning. He holds a bachelor's degree in Finance and Economics from the University of Kentucky, a master's degree in financial services from the American College, a master's degree in business administration from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, and a doctorate in personal financial planning program from Texas Tech University. When David isn't working, he's probably out for a jog, playing with his four kids, or rooting for the Kentucky Wildcats.

401(k) Fridays Podcast Overview

Struggling with a fiduciary issue, looking for strategies to improve employee retirement outcomes or curious about the impact of current events on your retirement plan? We've had conversations with retirement industry leaders to address these and other relevant topics! You can easily explore over 200 prior on-demand audio interviews here. Don't forget to subscribe as we release a new episode each Friday!