If You Want Your Pension Done Right, Do It Yourself (Podcast)

To say retirement savings has been a hot topic lately would be an understatement. The Financial Analysts Journal author interview series has covered potential solutions to the retirement crisis — mandatory retirement savings and the floor-leverage rule — in previous blog posts; David Larrabee, CFA, recently wrote about the results of a reader poll regarding the primary cause of US pension plan underfunding; an online forum on 18 March will allow readers to share their perspectives on the state of US pensions; and Lauren Foster introduced readers to the new myRA plans and some solid retirement advice from Warren Buffett. Today, we’ll look at some simple, no-nonsense retirement saving rules set out by Stephen C. Sexauer and Laurence B. Siegel for the 93% of the US working population who can’t afford professional financial planning.

Rodney N. Sullivan, CFA, head of publications at CFA Institute, talked to Sexauer and Siegel about their article “A Pension Promise to Oneself,” which was published in the November/December 2013 issue of the Financial Analysts Journal. This was the first joint interview conducted for the FAJ author interview series, and both authors had a lot to say about managing personal pensions. They note that the retirement crisis is very real — problems with pensions “have filled the pages of the papers” — but they think there is a way to get things back on track.

“We really strongly believe that saving for retirement is not hopeless,” says Sexauer. “A lot of people have thought about this problem for a long time, and I think one of the things we did here was try to connect the pieces in a way the average person can use.”

The basic concept behind Sexauer and Siegel’s work is that it’s possible to create a defined contribution personal retirement plan that mimics the advantages of a traditional defined benefit employer-managed pension plan. To hear their thoughts about the motivation for their research, the options available for personal pension planners, and some myths about retirement, listen to the interview (above) or download the MP3.

CFA Institute members can access the full article, including an appendix with real-life examples, on the CFA Publications website.

Please note that the content of this site should not be construed as investment advice, nor do the opinions expressed necessarily reflect the views of CFA Institute.