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“broadly enough to pay folks full retirement benefits for the In 2016, Kotlikoff ran for U.S. president as an independent,
next 75 years.” largely to highlight his concern with the ballooning U.S. debt.
She also says there’s “very little evidence” that many Today, he continues to speak out on U.S. fiscal policy and has
employees have been raiding their 401(k) accounts in the advised President Biden to scrap Social Security and start anew.
pandemic. One fact supporting this argument is that many of Kotlikoff also shares his views on how investors can improve
those who lost their jobs over the past year or so largely didn’t their retirement savings or get more out of their retirement
have 401(k) plans. benefits. This includes describing how cash-strapped seniors
can get the most out of Social Security and tap into their home
Meanwhile in the private sec- equity via reverse mortgages. He’s a prolific writer on retire-
tor, Thasunda Brown Duckett ment and sells web-based software such as “Maximize my
is the new CEO of financial Social Security,” often used by advisors.
services giant TIAA, succeed-
ing Roger Ferguson Jr. As Marcia Mantell is an “advisor’s advisor” when it comes to retire-
the firm’s first female CEO, ment consulting. Her firm, Mantell Retirement Consulting, has
Duckett has broken a glass ceil- been busy offering insights on strategic retirement business
ing at the organization — just development and marketing communications services since 2005.
as Jane Fraser did at Citigroup
in March.
TIAA, a 103-year-old life
insurer and annuity provider,
has a large non-insurance asset
management operation with
$1.3 trillion assets under management. It merged with Nuveen
Investments in October 2014 and then moved its asset manage-
ment business under the Nuveen brand.
As for Duckett, she led consumer banking at JP Morgan
Chase since 2016. This entailed directing banking opera-
tions with about $600 billion in deposits, 4,900 branches and
40,000 employees. She also was in charge of the branch and She writes frequent blog posts on these topics, has authored
market expansion, as well as digital account engagement. books on women and retirement, and trains advisors on how
Duckett’s family rose from the ashes, literally. Their to best work with clients, especially when it comes to Social
Louisiana home was lost after the Ku Klux Klan set it on fire. Security, Medicare and benefits for divorced spouses. She also
The family ended up in Texas, where Duckett got her bach- hosts workshops for women on the topic.
elor’s in finance and marketing from the University of Houston In addition, Mantell provides straight talk about what
and a master’s degree from Baylor University. divorced women can and can’t do in claiming an ex’s Social
Security benefits. (No, they can’t get half of his and all of
Economist Laurence Kotlikoff is the William Fairfield hers — and must pick one, she points out.)
Warren Professor at Boston University and a nationally
recognized Social Security and retirement expert. Ed Slott, a nationally
recognized expert on
financial planning and
individual retirement
accounts, just launched
Waters: Bloomberg; Warren: Bloomberg and tax planning with
a self-study program on
retirement distribution
The American College of
Financial Services. Slott,
who leads Ed Slott and
Company, also recently
authored the popular book “The New Retirement Savings
Time Bomb.” His insights are considered must-reads by finan-
cial advisors, CPAs and attorneys.
MAY 2021 INVESTMENT ADVISOR 31