The Aspen Institute

Today, 23 million people who have access to workplace retirement savings programs do not use them – and millions more who do save are not saving enough for long-term financial security. One opportunity for improving saver outcomes lies in exploring the latest insights about the potential for – and risks of—new digital tools and behavioral approaches. Design, automation, and other digital technologies can make a difference in getting more people to save more money. This event will explore how.

The Aspen Institute Financial Security Program and the Future of Work Initiative’s virtual discussion for people working in the retirement savings industry including plan sponsors, providers, and workplace benefits explored:

• The impacts of language, defaults, and design on retirement savings, especially for workers struggling to save — and how digital technology can help us get it right
• Opportunities to automate “next dollar” decision-making to help people manage competing financial priorities
• Why it matters for worker financial security that providers and plan sponsors are able to balance compliance and innovation
• What approaches we should consider to ensure fair, inclusive, and equitable financial security outcomes in a digitally driven world

Featured Speakers:

Saurabh Bhargava, Associate Professor of Economics, Department of Social and Decision Sciences, Carnegie Mellon University

Saurabh Bhargava is an Associate Professor of Economics at Carnegie Mellon University and an academic affiliate of the Jameel Poverty Action Lab at MIT. Dr. Bhargava’s primary research area of Behavioral Economics broadly explores decision-making and optimal policy design in the contexts of health insurance, retirement savings, program take-up, unemployment, medical adherence, and employee reward programs. Dr. Bhargava’s work has been published in journals such as JAMA, The Quarterly Journal of Economics, The American Economic Review, Psychological Science, and NEJM Catalyst and has received coverage from media outlets including The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Vox, Bloomberg, BBC News, CNBC, NPR, and Politico. He has also published in the Harvard Business Review and The Wall Street Journal. Formerly, he was a Visiting Scholar at the Russell Sage Foundation and an adjunct faculty at the Booth School of Business at the University of Chicago. Prior to starting his academic career, he worked at Mckinsey & Co. He holds an AB degree from Harvard University and a PhD in Economics from UC Berkeley.

Jonathan Godsall, Partner, McKinsey

Jonathan is a Partner in McKinsey’s New York office focused on insurance, employee benefits and asset management Jonathan is the co-leader of McKinsey’s Retirement practice in North America and serves firms on customer insights, strategy, operations, distribution, digital and data analytics. Jon holds a MBA from INSEAD and a MSC in International Economics from the London School of Economics. Jon earned his Bachelor from Amherst College in History and Politics.

Anuraag Tripathi, CEO, Manifest

Anuraag Tripathi is the CEO of Manifest – the easiest way to consolidate retirement accounts. Previously, he worked in investment banking and volunteered his time to restructure Illinois pension liabilities. Manifest is Anuraag’s third startup and second in the retirement industry. Before decreasing the administrative hurdles of transferring retirement accounts, he built a full-service recordkeeper for small businesses. Anuraag is passionate about maximizing retirement outcomes by applying technology to increase the accessibility, speed, and accuracy of financial services.

Stephanie Wan, Head of Experience Strategy, Cognizant Digital Experience and Partner, Idea Couture

Stephanie is the Head of Experience Strategy at Cognizant Digital Experience and Partner at Idea Couture, which is a human-centered design firm acquired by Cognizant in 2016. She leads a multidisciplinary group which includes strategists, design researchers, behavioural scientists and product realization specialists who create next-generation experiences. Stephanie has a background in business transformation in operations consulting.  She is a chemical engineer by education and a Lean Six Sigma Black Belt.

This event is free and open to the public.