2026 Best Minds Retirement Symposium

Jean Chatzky

Jean Chatzky is the founder and CEO of HerMoney, as well as the coaching programs FinanceFixx and InvestingFixx. She’s the host of the podcast "HerMoney With Jean Chatzky" and appears on the TV show "Opportunity Knocks," which airs on PBS. Jean is a columnist for AARP and an education fellow for LIMRA’s Lifetime Income Initiative. She was also the Financial Editor on NBC's Today Show for 25 years. Jean is an award-winning journalist and broadcaster, a New York Times and Wall Street Journal best-selling author, and a fierce advocate for financial literacy. Her latest books include “Money Rules,” “Women with Money,” and “How To Money.” Find her at HerMoney.com or @JeanChatzky everywhere. 

Jason J. Fichtner, Ph.D.

Jason J. Fichtner is Executive Director of the LIMRA Retirement Income Institute. His areas of expertise focus on Social Security, federal tax policy, federal budget policy, retirement security, and policy proposals to increase saving and investment.

He is a Policy Fellow at the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research (SIEPR) at Stanford University, a Senior Policy Fellow at the Center for Social Development (CSD) at the Brown School, Washington University in St. Louis, and a Senior Fellow at the National Academy of Social Insurance (NASI).

Fichtner is on the Board of Directors for the FINRA Investor Education Foundation and a Member of the Puerto Rico Pension Reserve Trust, where he serves on both the Pension Benefits Council and the Pension Reserve Board.

Fichtner has significant government experience, having served in several positions at the Social Security Administration, including as Deputy Commissioner of Social Security (acting), Chief Economist, and Associate Commissioner for Retirement Policy. He also served as a senior economist with the Joint Economic Committee of the US Congress and as an economist with the Internal Revenue Service. He has held teaching positions at Johns Hopkins University – School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), Georgetown University and Virginia Tech.

He has testified on numerous occasions before the United States Congress and his work has been featured in the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, Investor’s Business Daily, the Los Angeles Times, the Atlantic, the USA Today, and other major media outlets, as well as on broadcasts by C-SPAN, PBS, NBC, NPR, and SiriusXM.

Fichtner earned his BA from the University of Michigan; his MPP from Georgetown University; and his PhD from Virginia Tech.

Fichtner is the author of “The Hidden Cost of Federal Tax Policy” and the editor of “The Economics of Medicaid.”