Season 2 Episode 1: The Chicago Boys and the Chilean Model
Release Date: 03/22/2022
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.
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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_outlineOur tour around the globe starts in South America. Chile has been seen in retirement circles as an early pioneer in reforming their retirement system in the late 1970’s. While studied and admired by many, there are many more layers to the story when viewed from historical and current events.
Host Josh Cohen talks to two individuals who have played a meaningful role in shaping the system. University of Chicago educated Martin Costabal led efforts in the Chilean government to implement the new system in the midst of the Cold War. Cristian Rodriguez has led the largest retirement plan provider in the country, and is making the case for the systems long term survival.
Travel with us to Chile to hear about their unique history and hopefully learn from their creative retirement solutions.
Key Takeaways:
[:21] Josh Cohen, your host, states the main objective of Season 2: to explore how other countries around the world organized their retirement systems to accommodate a work force that is living longer and working much differently than what the previous generation did.
[3:50] Other countries looked up to Chile since they had updated and reformed their retirement system and it used to be viewed as a success. Josh talks about the wider political circumstances in Chile.
[5:03] Josh begins to explore the current state of the Chilean system by starting with its beginnings; that is why he talks with Martin Costabal who participated in its creation within the Chilean government.
[6:21] Martin shares how he got an offer from the University of Chicago that changed his life; he explains his personal and professional reasons for moving to the United States.
[10:30] General Augusto Pinochet Ugarte was self-declared president in Chile after a coup, while Martin was studying abroad.
[11:13] In August, 1974, Martin acquired an MBA from the University of Chicago and goes back to Chile to work in the Ministry of Economics with the purpose of instituting policies to reprivatize many industries and battling out of control inflation. He found that an economic blueprint called “The Brick” was already in place with those same goals.
[16:17] Martin focused on creating a new retirement system for Chile along with a group of 20 people, based on some foundations from “The Brick.”
[19:20] Cristian Rodriguez, Chairman of the Board of AFP Habitat, speaks about the organization and its role in managing pensions. Cristian has been working with Habitat for the past 23 years in several positions, he gives an overview of its evolution over the years.
[22:04] The Chilean retirement system lays on three pillars: 1. The government-backed foundational pillar (The solidarity pillar), 2. The employment based pillar (The contribution pillar), and 3. A voluntary saving system (similar to the IRA in the USA). Cristian talks about the pros and cons of each.
[34:47] One challenge for the system in Chile is that not all workers save the same. That is why there is a need to modernize the first pillar to include the informal and independent kinds of work that are becoming more and more prevalent worldwide. People also need to achieve a better understanding of the retirement system and the outcomes they will be generating.
[38:20] Josh talks about four main factors of any retirement system: Access, Adequacy, Alignment of Interest, and Innovation. He also shares his insights in regards to the Chilean retirement system.