To Roth or not to Roth, that is the question. With the option to make Roth contributions now offered in well over 50% of workplace retirement plans by most surveys, it is great to see more acceptance of Roth but there are still a lot employers who are either not making it available, or who might offer it but don’t recognize the full scope of benefits it offers their employees.
To help inform the conversation I was excited to have Katherine Roy, Managing Director and Chief Retirement Strategist and Head of Individual Retirement for J.P. Morgan Funds join me! We kick things off clarifying a few misperceptions about Roth, then we delve into few features of Roth that don’t get a lot of attention for both lower and higher paid employees and then we close the proverbial door with some thoughts on the "Backdoor Roth 401(k)". And under the banner of I would rather be lucky than good, with the current push for tax reform and the talk of the “Rothification” of 401(k) plans, our timing could be better and we get some great insight from Katherine there as well.
Guest Bio
Katherine Roy, managing director, is Chief Retirement Strategist and Head of Individual Retirement for J.P. Morgan Funds. In this role, Katherine is responsible for delivering timely personal retirement-related insights to financial advisors. Focused on the retirement income-related landscape for more than 10 years, Katherine specializes in identifying themes, strategies and solutions that can help advisors successfully partner with individuals in the transition and distribution life stages.
Katherine is consistently ranked as a top speaker at major industry and firm-specific conferences and events. She also has been interviewed and quoted in the financial press on a variety of key retirement planning topics.
Prior to joining the firm, Katherine was Head of Personal Retirement Planning & Advice at Merrill Lynch where she led strategy and innovation in retirement income solutions for individuals, and the retirement planning, advice and guidance programs available to integrated benefits plan participants. She also held several roles in financial planning product development, participant communications and consulting, and interactive client experience initiatives. Katherine received a B.A. from Yale University and is a Certified Financial Planner®.
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 eighty prior on-demand audio interviews here. Don't forget to subscribe as we release a new episode each Friday!