Season 2 Episode 4: Singapore’s All-in-One System
Release Date: 05/11/2022
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_outlineMost retirement systems across the globe have three pillars: a government run social security system, an employment-based retirement system, and, finally, additional individual retirement savings.
On the fourth stop of our global tour, we travel to a country where the government runs the whole thing…Singapore! Their comprehensive system goes beyond retirement and is run by the government through the Central Provident Fund (CPF).
In this episode, Josh Cohen interviews Desmond Chew, a senior manager at CPF, to help explain its history and how it works, and Joe Cherian, a professor who lays out a methodology which helps evaluate both Singapore’s system and others around the globe. Join us to hear about this all-in-one approach!
Key Takeaways:
[:25] Josh Cohen, your host, introduces today’s topic: Singapore, whose government runs the whole retirement plan, and in fact, reaches well beyond retirement.
[2:25] Singapore established a mandatory retirement system called the Central Provident Fund (CPF) the basis of the system played today.
[2:50] Mr. Desmond Chew (Group Director- Housing) has served in the CPF for more than 20 years. Desmond explains what exactly CPF is and what is its role.
[7:51] CPF supports other goals apart from retirement, Dr. Chew speaks about the importance of public housing.
[10:52] MediSave are contributions that increase as workers age and its purpose is to be destined for medical expenses. Desmond shares the most important aspect.
[13:08] Josh and Desmond dive deep into how the money is invested and the role the GIC plays.
[15:25] Desmond talks about the case of those individuals who are ready to take more risks with their savings.
[16:45] The system balances individual choice with collective responsibility, Dr. Chew explains how.
[20:02] Joseph (Joe) Cherian (Professor of Finance at NUS Business School) shares his background and career journey.
[22:10] Joe talks about what happened in 2014, a conflictive time for Singapore’s retirement system.
[22:54] Joe wrote an article named: Seven Pillars of a Good Retirement System, stating why CPF meets most of these pillars and the possible areas for improvement.
[30:06] Can the US or other countries adopt a system like this? Joe thinks it's difficult to emulate the historical and governmental influence, so he does not recommend it unless the country has a good and solid government.
[33:06] Stayed tuned for the bonus episodes!
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