Retirement Income is the Outcome: Will Your Employees Outlive Their Savings?

Think for a minute about how much effort you and your retirement service partners have put into encouraging more employees to save and invest properly in your workplace retirement plan.  Now, turn the conversation around.  How much time and energy have you spent thinking about ways to help employees understand how to use their retirement savings to replace their income when they leave the workforce?  To help shed some light on the whole retirement income conversation I'm excited to have Jody Strakosch of Strakosch Retirement Strategies where she brings investment and retirement solutions to the defined contribution market for asset management firms.  Prior to starting her own firm, Jody worked for MetLife where she became a recognized defined contribution and institutional retirement income subject matter expert. She was the key architect of several significant market-first products, supported public policy initiatives, and represented MetLife with the media, at conferences and in industry groups.  During our conversation we discuss what options employers have available to them, tackle some of the concerns around introducing a retirement income option in your retirement plan and whether or not retirement income strategies will become the next big plan design trend or a lightning rod for fiduciary liability.  Oh, and Jody introduces me to a new word, "automaticity" be sure to listen for that.  Finally, if you like a little enthusiasm and passion, Jody definitely brought to our conversation!  Guest Bio Jody Strakosch founded Strakosch Retirement Strategies, LLC to bring investment and retirement solutions to the defined contribution market for asset management firms. Jody offers in-depth retirement market expertise, product development and strategic positioning to align with today's challenges for investment management and service providers seeking to enhance their profiles in the defined contribution / defined benefit marketplace. Consulting assignments have ranged from helping investment managers design innovative retirement income solution programs for defined contribution plans, writing public policy and market landscape papers, serving as program manager for an industry- led coalition to increase American's savings, speaking engagements at client conferences, researching specific target-date fund market opportunities, and strategic initiative development. Jody is an active member of DCIIA (Defined Contribution Institutional Investment Association), on the Advisory Council of WISER (Women's Institute for Secure Retirement), and a member of the Advisory Board for Institutional Investor's Journal of Retirement. Jody worked for MetLife where she became a recognized defined contribution and institutional retirement income subject matter expert. She was the key architect of several significant market-first products, supported public policy initiatives, and represented MetLife with the media, at conferences and in industry groups. Jody holds the Bachelor of Arts in Sociology from Wellesley College and the Master of Arts in Gerontology from the Davis School of Gerontology at the University of Southern California. 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 workplace retirement plan? We've had conversations with retirement industry leaders to address these and other relevant topics! You can easily explore over seventy-five prior on-demand audio interviews here. Don't forget to subscribe as we release a new episode each Friday!