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.

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 Pl...

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 fr...

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...

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 prop...

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.

Josh gets on the ground insights from three colleagues in PGIM's Institutional Relationship Group: Ben Price, Howard Nowell, and Philip Hsin.  

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.

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.

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.

Most 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 t...

Often retirement policies in a country are a result of a patchwork of initiatives over time.   Wouldn ' t it be nice if a country could take more of a blank slate approach?     In this episode, Josh Cohen interviews Helen Dean, CEO of the National Employees Savings Trust, or NEST, which is the largest pension scheme in the United Kingdom based on the number of members. Helen has played a central r...

Here's what you need to know about Australia's Retirement System: It's really big.  It's government mandated.  It's privately run.  It's really sophisticated. Still curious?  Host Josh Cohen's two guests have played meaningful roles in the system's development from the highest levels of government and industry.  The Honorable Nick Sherry started one of the first modern Superannuation Funds in Aust...

Our 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.  Univer...

Season 2 is almost here! We will be taking this podcast global, learning the unique challenges, historical events, and creative solutions developed to meet the ever-evolving challenges associated with retirement systems.

Mike Barry, Josh's long-time friend and retirement policy expert, returns to discuss episodes from the 2 nd  half of season 1 while weaving in related experiences and expertise.

Hear outtakes from Don Ezra (guest from Ep. 8), who shares tales about the opportunity that followed the collapse of the Soviet Union, his collaboration with Nobel Prize winner Bill Sharpe and his present day activities.

Josh invites colleagues David Blanchett and Mikaylee O'Connor of the recently established PGIM DC Solutions team to discuss their background, DC plan innovation, and the role of employers in the retirement space.

In this bonus episode, Brigitte Mardian (guest from Ep. 5) shares stories about her early work, her current research into rainy day savings accounts, and how she earned her current role as Dean of the Brigham Young University Marriott School of Business.

As retirement plans change and evolve, consultants have become trusted guides for accidental plan sponsors.    Episode guests Don Ezra and Rich Nuzum have stood at the highest perch in the world of consultants. Don's decades at Russell and Rich's current role in leadership at Mercer span the dawn of the retirement investing consultancy to the present day, where trillions of dollars are invested in...

Jerry Schlichter and Jamie Fleckner have some things in common. They both got into law through political activism, and they've built their careers on ERISA litigation. But where they differ is largely about who their clients are. One represents plan sponsors and their providers, the other represents employees who feel they have been wronged, and their legal battles have shaped how the defined cont...

While saving for retirement has been simplified and streamlined in recent decades, with tools like auto-enrollment and target date funds, the retirement savings ecosystem is anything but simple. It's a complex confluence of innovators, service providers, employers, workers, consultants, lawyers, and, yes, government officials. Regulators play a huge role in our industry, so understanding who they...

The future of defined contribution retirement savings will always be marked by two key concepts: putting individual investors first when designing plans, and constantly innovating. Over the course of the next four episodes, we're going to discuss how regulation, litigation, and the role of consultants both support and deter innovation. We're going to start with two featured guests who laid the fou...

Josh reviews the first four full-length episodes of the podcast with long-time friend Mike Barry, President of O3 Plan Advisory Services LLC, who offers his thoughts while also sharing some personal experiences from 40+ years' in the benefits field. 

Josh engages in an energetic discussion with two colleagues and long-time Defined Contribution (DC) experts David Skinner and Sara Shean from PGIM Real Estate. The discussion covers the evolving DC environment, the challenges facing plan sponsors, and the role of real estate in DC.