A Conversation with American College of Financial Services Researchers Kaylee Ranck & Eric Ludwig

It is an unfortunate truth that the U.S. investing public exhibits low levels of literacy when it comes to retirement planning. In fact, one in five Americans earned a passing grade on a retirement income literacy quiz conducted recently by a team of academic researchers at the American College of Financial Services. The results show that years of educational efforts on the part of the advisory industry and retirement service providers appear to be falling short.

In this episode of ThinkAdvisor’s podcast series, Retirement in Focus — How Advisors Can Get Clients Ready, we’re joined by two of the lead researchers behind the survey: Eric Ludwig, Ph.D, director of the Center for Retirement Income and program director for the Retirement Income Certified Professional (RICP) program at the American College of Financial Services, and Kaylee Ranck, Ph.D, director of college research for the American College of Financial Services.

Ludwig, Rank and podcast host John Manganaro discuss some surprising findings from the new survey, as well as the duo’s academic backgrounds and their experiences organizing and executing ambitious research projects. Other topics explored in the episode include:

• How to build effective teams of researchers and advisors.
• How unpaid caregiving and health care costs can derail retirement readiness.
• How advisors can more effectively educate and support their retiring clients.
• What retirement income research projects are on the horizon and more.

To listen to the previous episode, click here.