John Rekenthaler's guest appearances

John Rekenthaler

NGPF Podcast

The Long View

Excess Returns 

Daniel Crosby

Jason Hsu

Rob Arnott

Tadas Viskanta

Ben Inker

Wade Pfau

Cullen Roche

Phil Huber

Michael Mauboussin

Meb Faber

Warren Buffett

Jean Chatzky

Paula Pant

Joe Saul-Sehy

Teresa Ghilarducci

OwlTail

Christine Benz

On this week’s episode, we’ll be chatting about “The State of Retirement Income” study that Christine and I recently co-authored with our colleague John Rekenthaler, who joins us for this conversation. This is the second year we’ve conducted this study, which examines how much retirees can safely withdraw in retirement. Much has changed since last year as the stock and bond markets have sold off and inflation has risen sharply. This can create uncertainty about whether retirement assets will sustain spending over a multidecade horizon, an issue we explore in this study. In this episode, I’ll be asking Christine and John about “The State of Retirement Income” study and key takeaways. For reference, you can find a link to the study in the show notes to this episode.Safe Withdrawal Rates“Determining Withdrawal Rates Using Historical Data,” by William Bengen, Journal of Financial Planning, October 1994.“The State of Retirement Income,” by Christine Benz, Jeff Ptak, and John Rekenthaler, Morningstar.com, 2022.“What’s a Safe Withdrawal Rate Today?” by Christine Benz and John Rekenthaler, Morningstar.com, Dec. 13, 2022.“How Much Do You Know When It Comes to Preparing for Retirement? Fidelity’s Retirement IQ Survey Uncovers Significant Knowledge Gaps,” Fidelity.com, March 6, 2017.“Bill Bengen: Revisiting Safe Withdrawal Rates,” The Long View podcast, Morningstar.com, Dec. 14, 2021.“Jonathan Guyton: What the Crisis Means for Retirement Planning,” The Long View podcast, Morningstar.com, June 16, 2020.“What’s a Safe Retirement Spending Rate for the Decades Ahead?” by Christine Benz and John Rekenthaler, Morningstar.com, Nov. 11, 2021.Inflation“How to Build a TIPS Ladder,” by John Rekenthaler, Morningstar.com, Dec. 8, 2022.“Is It Too Late to Inflation-Proof Your Portfolio?” Christine Benz and Susan Dziubinski, Morningstar.com, Nov. 14, 2022.The Retirement Spending Smile“What Is the ‘Retirement Spending Smile’?” by Wade Pfau, retirementresearcher.com.“Estimating the True Cost of Retirement,” by David Blanchett, Morningstar.com, Nov. 5, 2013.The Required Minimum Distribution Approach“Decision Rules and Maximum Initial Withdrawal Rates,” by Jonathan Guyton and William Klinger, Journal of Financial Planning, March 1, 2006.“Yes, RMDs Can Improve Your Portfolio,” by Christine Benz, Morningstar.com, May 3, 2022.“ABCs of RMDs,” by Christine Benz, Morningstar.com, June 15, 2022.Sequence of Return“Sequence Risk During Retirement,” by John Rekenthaler, Morningstar.com, Aug. 25, 2022.“Don’t Panic on Sequence of Returns,” by Amy Arnott, Morningstar.com, May 16, 2022.“How Worried Should New Retirees Be About Market Losses and High Inflation?” by Jeff Ptak and Christine Benz, Morningstar.com, Dec. 15, 2022.

On this week’s episode, we’ll be chatting about “The State of Retirement Income” study that Christine and I recently co-authored with our colleague John Rekenthaler, who joins us for this conversation. This is the second year we’ve conducted this study, which examines how much retirees can safely withdraw in retirement. Much has changed since last year as the stock and bond markets have sold off and inflation has risen sharply. This can create uncertainty about whether retirement assets will sustain spending over a multidecade horizon, an issue we explore in this study. In this episode, I’ll be asking Christine and John about “The State of Retirement Income” study and key takeaways. For reference, you can find a link to the study in the show notes to this episode.Safe Withdrawal Rates“<a href="https://www.retailinvestor.org/pdf/Bengen1.pdf" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Determining Withdrawal Rates Using Historical Data</a>,” by William Bengen, Journal of Financial Planning, October 1994.“<a href="https://www.morningstar.com/lp/the-state-of-retirement-income" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The State of Retirement Income</a>,” by Christine Benz, Jeff Ptak, and John Rekenthaler, <a href="http://morningstar.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Morningstar.com</a>, 2022.“<a href="https://www.morningstar.com/articles/1128840/whats-a-safe-withdrawal-rate-today" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">What’s a Safe Withdrawal Rate Today?</a>” by Christine Benz and John Rekenthaler, <a href="http://morningstar.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Morningstar.com</a>, Dec. 13, 2022.“<a href="https://newsroom.fidelity.com/press-releases/news-details/2017/How-Much-do-you-Know-When-it-Comes-to-Preparing-For-Retirement-Fidelitys-Retirement-IQ-Survey-Uncovers-Significant-Knowledge-Gaps/default.aspx" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">How Much Do You Know When It Comes to Preparing for Retirement? Fidelity’s Retirement IQ Survey Uncovers Significant Knowledge Gaps</a>,” <a href="http://fidelity.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Fidelity.com</a>, March 6, 2017.“<a href="https://www.morningstar.com/podcasts/the-long-view/140" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Bill Bengen: Revisiting Safe Withdrawal Rates</a>,” The Long View podcast, <a href="http://morningstar.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Morningstar.com</a>, Dec. 14, 2021.“<a href="https://www.morningstar.com/articles/988252/jonathan-guyton-what-the-crisis-means-for-retirement-planning" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Jonathan Guyton: What the Crisis Means for Retirement Planning</a>,” The Long View podcast, <a href="http://morningstar.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Morningstar.com</a>, June 16, 2020.“<a href="https://www.morningstar.com/articles/1066569/whats-a-safe-retirement-spending-rate-for-the-decades-ahead" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">What’s a Safe Retirement Spending Rate for the Decades Ahead?</a>” by Christine Benz and John Rekenthaler, <a href="http://morningstar.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Morningstar.com</a>, Nov. 11, 2021.Inflation“<a href="https://www.morningstar.com/articles/1128856/how-to-build-a-tips-ladder" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">How to Build a TIPS Ladder</a>,” by John Rekenthaler, <a href="http://morningstar.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Morningstar.com</a>, Dec. 8, 2022.“<a href="https://www.morningstar.com/articles/1124825/is-it-too-late-to-inflation-proof-your-portfolio" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Is It Too Late to Inflation-Proof Your Portfolio?</a>” Christine Benz and Susan Dziubinski, <a href="http://morningstar.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Morningstar.com</a>, Nov. 14, 2022.The Retirement Spending Smile“<a href="https://retirementresearcher.com/retirement-spending-smile/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">What Is the ‘Retirement Spending Smile’?</a>” by Wade Pfau, <a href="http://retirementresearcher.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">retirementresearcher.com</a>.“<a href="https://www.morningstar.com/content/dam/marketing/shared/research/foundational/677785-EstimatingTrueCostRetirement.pdf" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Estimating the True Cost of Retirement</a>,” by David Blanchett, <a href="http://morningstar.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Morningstar.com</a>, Nov. 5, 2013.The Required Minimum Distribution Approach“<a href="https://cornerstonewealthadvisors.com/decision-rules-and-maximum-initial-withdrawal-rates/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Decision Rules and Maximum Initial Withdrawal Rates</a>,” by Jonathan Guyton and William Klinger, Journal of Financial Planning, March 1, 2006.“<a href="https://www.morningstar.com/articles/888828/yes-rmds-can-improve-your-portfolio" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Yes, RMDs Can Improve Your Portfolio</a>,” by Christine Benz, <a href="http://morningstar.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Morningstar.com</a>, May 3, 2022.“<a href="https://www.morningstar.com/articles/1097613/abcs-of-rmds" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">ABCs of RMDs</a>,” by Christine Benz, <a href="http://morningstar.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Morningstar.com</a>, June 15, 2022.Sequence of Return“<a href="https://www.morningstar.com/articles/1111313/sequence-risk-during-retirement" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Sequence Risk During Retirement</a>,” by John Rekenthaler, <a href="http://morningstar.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Morningstar.com</a>, Aug. 25, 2022.“<a href="https://www.morningstar.com/articles/1094332/dont-panic-on-sequence-of-returns" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Don’t Panic on Sequence of Returns</a>,” by Amy Arnott, <a href="http://morningstar.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Morningstar.com</a>, May 16, 2022.“<a href="https://www.morningstar.com/articles/1129750/how-worried-should-new-retirees-be-about-market-losses-and-high-inflation" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">How Worried Should New Retirees Be About Market Losses and High Inflation?</a>” by Jeff Ptak and Christine Benz, <a href="http://morningstar.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Morningstar.com</a>, Dec. 15, 2022.

Christine Benz and John Rekenthaler: Revisiting What Is a Safe Retirement Spending Rate After a Tough Year

John Rekenthaler is Vice President of Research for Morningstar, the author of the Rekenthaler Report column, and a leading expert on the mutual fund industry. John has been with Morningstar almost since the beginning and has witnessed the evolution of the mutual fund and investing industries first hand. In this interview, we draw on John's extensive experience to cover a variety of topics related to the fund industry and investing in general. We discuss:  - the key attributes to look at when analyzing funds  - the pros and cons of passive investing - whether star fund managers are a thing of the past - judging fund managers by the company they keep  - the dangers of using macro data to time the market  - his biggest lessons from Morningstar founder Joe Mansueto  We hope you enjoy the discussion.  ABOUT THE PODCAST Excess Returns is an investing podcast hosted by Jack Forehand (@practicalquant) and Justin Carbonneau (@jjcarbonneau), partners at Validea. Justin and Jack discuss a wide range of investing topics including factor investing, value investing, momentum investing, multi-factor investing, trend following, market valuation and more with the goal of helping those who watch and listen become better long term investors. SEE LATEST EPISODES https://www.validea.com/excess-returns-podcast FIND OUT MORE ABOUT VALIDEA https://www.validea.com FOLLOW OUR BLOG https://blog.validea.com FIND OUT MORE ABOUT VALIDEA CAPITAL https://www.valideacapital.com FOLLOW JACK Twitter: https://twitter.com/practicalquant LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jack-forehand-8015094 FOLLOW JUSTIN Twitter: https://twitter.com/jjcarbonneau LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jcarbonneau

John Rekenthaler is Vice President of Research for Morningstar, the author of the Rekenthaler Report column, and a leading expert on the mutual fund industry. John has been with Morningstar almost since the beginning and has witnessed the evolution of the mutual fund and investing industries first hand. In this interview, we draw on John's extensive experience to cover a variety of topics related to the fund industry and investing in general. We discuss:  - the key attributes to look at when analyzing funds  - the pros and cons of passive investing - whether star fund managers are a thing of the past - judging fund managers by the company they keep  - the dangers of using macro data to time the market  - his biggest lessons from Morningstar founder Joe Mansueto  We hope you enjoy the discussion.  ABOUT THE PODCAST Excess Returns is an investing podcast hosted by Jack Forehand (@practicalquant) and Justin Carbonneau (@jjcarbonneau), partners at Validea. Justin and Jack discuss a wide range of investing topics including factor investing, value investing, momentum investing, multi-factor investing, trend following, market valuation and more with the goal of helping those who watch and listen become better long term investors. SEE LATEST EPISODES <a href="https://www.validea.com/excess-returns-podcast" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.validea.com/excess-returns-podcast</a> FIND OUT MORE ABOUT VALIDEA <a href="https://www.validea.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.validea.com</a> FOLLOW OUR BLOG <a href="https://blog.validea.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://blog.validea.com</a> FIND OUT MORE ABOUT VALIDEA CAPITAL <a href="https://www.valideacapital.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.valideacapital.com</a> FOLLOW JACK Twitter: <a href="https://twitter.com/practicalquant" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://twitter.com/practicalquant</a> LinkedIn: <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/jack-forehand-8015094" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.linkedin.com/in/jack-forehand-8015094</a> FOLLOW JUSTIN Twitter: <a href="https://twitter.com/jjcarbonneau" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://twitter.com/jjcarbonneau</a> LinkedIn: <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/jcarbonneau" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.linkedin.com/in/jcarbonneau</a>

Interview: The Past, Present and Future of Investing with Morningstar's John Rekenthaler

Our guest this week is John Rekenthaler. Rekenthaler is a director in Morningstar Research Services and a feature contributor to our platforms, including Morningstar.com. A lucid thinker and brilliant writer, his popular "Rekenthaler Report" column has become a must read among investors, financial advisors, fund industry participants, and beyond. Rekenthaler began his career at Morningstar in 1988 and has worn a number of hats, including leadership roles in our research and investment management divisions. Among other achievements, Rekenthaler has been a key player in developing some of Morningstar's best-known tools, including the Morningstar Rating for funds and the Morningstar Style Box. He holds a bachelor's degree in English from the University of Pennsylvania and a master's degree in business administration from the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business. BackgroundThe Rekenthaler Report Morningstar Rating for funds methodology Morningstar Style Box methodology Investor Behavior Morningstar's Mind the Gap study  Rekenthaler Report: "Mutual Funds: Where Fun Came to Die" Rekenthaler Report: "3 Reasons Index Investors Deserve Perdition (or Not)" Rekenthaler Report: "Up-Front Investment Fees Are (Almost) No More" IncentivesRekenthaler Report: "Give Performance Fees a Chance" How John InvestsRekenthaler Report: "What's in My Portfolio?" Most and Least Popular ColumnsRekenthaler Report: "Enough with Revenue Sharing!" Rekenthaler Report: "About that Rigging Claim" Flash Boys: A Wall Street Revolt, by Michael Lewis, March 2014. Compelling Academic ResearchRekenthaler Report: "Predicting Mutual Fund Returns With the Ownership Lens" "Judging Fund Managers by the Company They Keep," by Randolph Cohen, Joshua Coval, and Lubos Pastor; NBER Working Paper No. 9359, December 2002. The State of RetirementRekenthaler Report: "The Retirement Crisis That Isn't?" Teresa Ghilarducci "A Perplexing Tale About 401(k)s," by Scott Cooley; Morningstar.com, Nov. 26, 2015. Rekenthaler Report: "The British Show How to Improve 401(k)s" Best and Worst InnovationsRekenthaler Report: "Why ETFs Succeeded for Retail Investors" Rekenthaler Report: "Tactical-Allocation Funds: Even Worse Than Expected" Jack BogleRekenthaler Report: "Jack Bogle Strikes Back!" Rekenthaler Report: "Jack Bogle's (Somewhat) Accidental Legacy" Corporate Governance"Anticompetitive Effects of Common Ownership," by Jose Azar, Martin Schmalz, and Isabel Tecu; Journal of Finance, May 2018. Rekenthaler Report: "Are Index Funds Too Soft on CEOs?" Rekenthaler Report: "The Latest Salvo Against Indexing" Rekenthaler Report: "The Doctrine of Shareholder Value Has Indeed Helped Shareholders" Albert J. "Chainsaw Al" Dunlap  bio What John ReadsBerkshire Hathaway shareholder letters Joe Mansueto bio Reflections on InvestingRekenthaler Report: "My Investment Howler"

Our guest this week is John Rekenthaler. Rekenthaler is a director in Morningstar Research Services and a feature contributor to our platforms, including <a href="http://Morningstar.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Morningstar.com</a>. A lucid thinker and brilliant writer, his popular "Rekenthaler Report" column has become a must read among investors, financial advisors, fund industry participants, and beyond. Rekenthaler began his career at Morningstar in 1988 and has worn a number of hats, including leadership roles in our research and investment management divisions. Among other achievements, Rekenthaler has been a key player in developing some of Morningstar's best-known tools, including the Morningstar Rating for funds and the Morningstar Style Box. He holds a bachelor's degree in English from the University of Pennsylvania and a master's degree in business administration from the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business. Background <a href="https://www.morningstar.com/authors/208/john-rekenthaler" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The Rekenthaler Report</a> <a href="https://www.morningstar.com/content/dam/marketing/shared/research/methodology/771945_Morningstar_Rating_for_Funds_Methodology.pdf" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Morningstar Rating for funds methodology</a> <a href="https://www.morningstar.com/content/dam/marketing/shared/research/methodology/678263-StyleBoxMethodolgy.pdf" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Morningstar Style Box methodology</a> Investor Behavior Morningstar's Mind the Gap study Rekenthaler Report: "Mutual Funds: Where Fun Came to Die" Rekenthaler Report: "3 Reasons Index Investors Deserve Perdition (or Not)" Rekenthaler Report: "Up-Front Investment Fees Are (Almost) No More" Incentives Rekenthaler Report: "Give Performance Fees a Chance" How John Invests Rekenthaler Report: "What's in My Portfolio?" Most and Least Popular Columns Rekenthaler Report: "Enough with Revenue Sharing!" Rekenthaler Report: "About that Rigging Claim" <a href="Up-Front Investment Fees Are Almost No More" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"></a><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Flash-Boys-Wall-Street-Revolt/dp/0393244660" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Flash Boys: A Wall Street Revolt</a>, by Michael Lewis, March 2014. Compelling Academic Research Rekenthaler Report: "Predicting Mutual Fund Returns With the Ownership Lens" <a href="https://faculty.chicagobooth.edu/lubos.pastor/research/judging5.pdf" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">"Judging Fund Managers by the Company They Keep</a>," by Randolph Cohen, Joshua Coval, and Lubos Pastor; NBER Working Paper No. 9359, December 2002. The State of Retirement Rekenthaler Report: "The Retirement Crisis That Isn't?" <a href="http://teresaghilarducci.org/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Teresa Ghilarducci</a> "A Perplexing Tale About 401(k)s," by Scott Cooley; <a href="http://Morningstar.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Morningstar.com</a>, Nov. 26, 2015. Rekenthaler Report: "The British Show How to Improve 401(k)s" Best and Worst Innovations Rekenthaler Report: "Why ETFs Succeeded for Retail Investors" Rekenthaler Report: "Tactical-Allocation Funds: Even Worse Than Expected" Jack Bogle Rekenthaler Report: "Jack Bogle Strikes Back!" Rekenthaler Report: "Jack Bogle's (Somewhat) Accidental Legacy" Corporate Governance "<a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2427345" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Anticompetitive Effects of Common Ownership</a>," by Jose Azar, Martin Schmalz, and Isabel Tecu; Journal of Finance, May 2018. Rekenthaler Report: "Are Index Funds Too Soft on CEOs?" Rekenthaler Report: "The Latest Salvo Against Indexing" Rekenthaler Report: "The Doctrine of Shareholder Value Has Indeed Helped Shareholders" <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_J._Dunlap" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Albert J. "Chainsaw Al" Dunlap  bio</a> What John Reads <a href="https://www.berkshirehathaway.com/letters/letters.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Berkshire Hathaway shareholder letters</a> <a href="https://www.morningstar.com/company/about-us/joe" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Joe Mansueto bio</a> Reflections on Investing Rekenthaler Report: "My Investment Howler"

John Rekenthaler: Fund Manager Financial Incentives Are Irrelevant