Episode 3 - Grading America's Retirement System
Release Date: 03/23/2021
Bonus: Episodes Recap with Michael Kreps
The Accidental Plan Sponsor®
In the second half of season two, Josh and co-host Michael Kreps explored different ideas to reshape our country’s retirement system. Listen to their recap and reflections on the various approaches and proposals.
info_outline
Season 2 Episode 8: Non-Accidental Plan Sponsors
The Accidental Plan Sponsor®
As we wrap up season 2 of the podcast, Josh Cohen and guest co-host Michael Kreps come full circle to discuss alternative approaches to the U.S.’s employer-based retirement system. Instead of employers playing the role of the plan sponsor, what if the Federal Government stepped in? Or, what about the private sector? We discussed the proposed Retirement Savings for American Act, Pooled Employers Plans (PEPs) and much more. Josh and Michael are joined by two prominent influencers in the retirement space: Teresa Ghilarducci, professor of economics at The New School for Social Research, and Rick...
info_outline
Season 2 Episode 7: The Implementers
The Accidental Plan Sponsor®
Josh Cohen and guest co-host Michael Kreps have been telling the story of how some policy makers, think tanks, industry groups and politicians worked to address some of the gaps in our retirement system. One of those gaps is the millions of Americans that don’t have access to workplace savings plans. In this episode, they focus on the work being done at the state level and the process of moving from policy design and legislation, to implementation. They speak with two individuals who have been instrumental in getting these plans implemented: Katie Selenski, executive director...
info_outline
Season 2 Episode 6: Laboratories of Democracy
The Accidental Plan Sponsor®
In the 1932 Supreme Court ruling, Justice Louis Brandeis popularized the phrase “laboratories of democracy“ to describe how “a single courageous state may, if its citizen choose, serve as a laboratory and try novel social and economic experience without risk to the rest of the country.” Many states have looked to become laboratories to address some of the gaps in the US current retirement system that federal policy hasn’t yet been able to successfully solve. Josh Cohen and guest co-host Michael Kreps talk to two early experimenters, Hank Kim and Daniel Biss, to learn from...
info_outline
Season 2 Episode 5: This Odd Couple’s Auto IRA Proposal
The Accidental Plan Sponsor®
The Auto IRA concept has been one of the most influential proposals to address gaps in the current US retirement system, namely the persistent coverage gap for small private-sector employers. Josh and guest co-host for the next few episodes, Michael Kreps, discuss the genesis of auto-IRAs with two individuals from different political backgrounds who came together to conceive and promote the proposal and implementation efforts: guests David John and Mark Iwry. David is a Senior Policy Advisor at the AARP Public Policy Institute and the Deputy Director for the Retirement...
info_outline
Season 2 Mid-season Trailer
The Accidental Plan Sponsor®
For the second half of season 2, Josh Cohen will be joined by guest co-host Michael Kreps, Principal at Groom Law Group, to dissect the biggest questions and potential solutions that are being worked on in the retirement space.
info_outline
Bonus: Perspectives from Josh’s Global Colleagues
The Accidental Plan Sponsor®
Josh gets on the ground insights from three colleagues in PGIM’s Institutional Relationship Group: Ben Price, Howard Nowell, and Philip Hsin.
info_outline
Bonus: Meet Josh’s New Boss
The Accidental Plan Sponsor®
Michael Miller, a long-time industry veteran and Head of PGIM DC Solutions, joins Josh to share how he got into the retirement space and some insightful perspectives on DC trends and pressing issues.
info_outline
Bonus: Josh’s Key Takeaways: Non-US Retirement Systems
The Accidental Plan Sponsor®
In the first half of season 2, Josh traveled the globe to hear from local experts about how their countries tackled the challenge of building a retirement system. Listen to Josh’s reflections on lessons learned and common themes.
info_outline
Bonus: Global Episodes Recap with John Mitchem
The Accidental Plan Sponsor®
John Mitchem, global financial consultant and retirement expert, joins Josh to discuss episodes from the first half of season 2 while weaving in his experiences and expertise.
info_outlineIn the first two episodes of this series, we examined the history of the employer-based retirement system. But how is it working out today?
The success of the creation and implementation of the employer-based 401(k) and other defined contribution retirement plans is seen not only in its exponential growth in all measurable metrics but also in the fact that it has succeeded in helping millions of Americans retire well. That said, the system, as it’s designed and operating today, is far from perfect, stranding some without access to the tools of a comfortable retirement and discouraging attempts at innovation.
In this episode, host Josh Cohen asks respected industry leaders to grade the system on four crucial factors of success: Access, Adequacy, Alignment, and Innovation.
Featured Guests:
• Lori Lucas, President & CEO of the Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI)
• Lew Minsky, President & CEO of the Defined Contribution Institutional Investment Association (DCIIA)
Key Takeaways:
[:34] How is the retirement system doing today? To answer this question, your host Josh Cohen recruited some of his long-time friends, who happen to be industry experts.
[2:27] Lori Lucas is the President and CEO of the Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI). She shares what they do and how she came to be in this position.
[5:04] Lew Minsky is the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Defined Contribution Institutional Investment Association (DCIIA). He talks about getting bit by the public policy bug and his journey to co-founding the DCIIA.
[8:27] With the help of our experts we’re going to be grading the system according to 4 aspects, red pens out everyone.
[9:24] Grade 1: Access. Lori weighs in with the ERBI research on 401k’s and grades according to organization size. Lew adds a caveat before handing out easy grades here.
[13:29] Grade 2: Adequacy. Lew feels adequacy scores higher than access if one important condition is met, however Lori’s enthusiasm wavers.
[18:00] Grade 3: Alignment. This relates to the sponsor entity’s interest being aligned with the successful retirement of employees. Lori’s grade is linked to the importance of promoting overall employee financial wellness. Lew offers that theory and practice diverge on this front and that there is an elephant in the room...
[24:20] Grade 4: Innovation. DCIIA has been hosting an annual excellence and innovation award, Lew mentions that efforts will need to continue. Both Lew and Lori speak to the elephant of litigation coming back into the room.
[27:48] Lori and Lew weigh in on the podcast name: The Accidental Plan Sponsor!
[29:30] Josh offers a summary of the system, thanks Lew and Lori for their contribution to this episode, and opens up the discussion for episode 4 on how certain plan sponsors challenged the status quo and innovated in the retirement savings space.
Thank you for tuning in. If you liked what you heard, please subscribe and leave us a review wherever you listen to your podcasts.
Links:
Mentioned in this episode:
More about Lori Lucas, President and CEO of the Employee Benefit Research Institute.
More about Lew Minsky, President and CEO of the Defined Contribution Institutional Investment Association.