Got an expert on retirement? Here’s an overview of the media covering retirement and the topics they are talking about

Key Takeaways:

• Retirement is the #1 topic of interest to consumers and is the most frequent personal finance topic covered in the media.
• Retirement stories fall into several common topic categories. Connecting your stories to these themes can be helpful in securing coverage.
• There is a wide group of reporters covering the topic and several leading reporters at major news organizations worth following and connecting your experts with.

A recent AI search in deep research mode estimates that 37-46% of personal finance stories in some way or another focus on retirement. That seems about right to me. Retirement planning is the top reason people put aside money for the future according to several research studies. Retirement coexists with other top priorities like setting aside an emergency fund, growing investments/building wealth, healthcare costs and saving for a home purchase.

It may feel like Groundhog Day to the many journalists who have to regularly come up with new ideas on this well-trodden topic. And though financial PR pros working with retirement experts try hard to find something new to pitch, the truth is that most retirement coverage falls into similar themes

My AI collaborator actually tried to quantify the most commonly covered topics:

• Pure retirement planning stories: 18% of all personal finance content
• Healthcare/Medicare costs: 8% (85% retirement-focused) = 6.8% retirement content
• Social Security coverage: 6% (95% retirement-focused) = 5.7% retirement content
• Investment strategies: 15% (35% retirement-focused) = 5.2% retirement content
• Debt management: 12% (25% retirement-focused) = 3.0% retirement content
• Tax planning: 8% (40% retirement-focused) = 3.2% retirement content

Whether you are an asset manager focused on the retirement space, a fintech firm with technology or products to serve retirement investors or a wealth advisor with a retirement planning focus (isn’t that just about every wealth advisor?), connecting your expertise to these common themes can help you secure coverage. Many retirement stories fall into these main buckets:

1. Healthcare costs and Medicare planning. With Healthcare costs being one of the biggest concerns for most retirees, many struggle to get their arms around this unknown. This is a broad topic including Medicare misconceptions such as the gap between what Medicare covers and actual costs, coverage for prescription costs, and planning for and the costs of long-term care.
2. Social Security claiming strategies and anxiety about the future of the program. Social Security remains a huge portion of many retirees income. With a significant increase in benefits for those who wait to claim social security, there are countless stories on when to claim and, if waiting, how to bridge the gap between retirement and social security.
3. The 4% Rule and retirement withdrawal strategies. William Bengen suggested the strategy in the early 1990s as a way for retirees to begin drawing down retirement accounts and not outlive their money, and the “rule” is now widely used by advisors and consumers alike. Proponents and detractors of the rule focus on the issue of longevity risk and planning to make sure one doesn’t inadvertently spend too much and outlive their money. There is also widespread coverage of other withdrawal strategies including the bucket approach as well as guaranteed income strategies using products like annuities.
4. Sequence risk. Similar and related to the 4% rule and withdrawal strategies, sequence risk is the concept of the fragile investing decade and the challenge of managing market risk/de-risking portfolios as one moves into retirement.
5. Phased retirement and working longer. While research suggests that many retirees don’t make it to their official retirement age either by choice or due to health or loss of work, a slice of retirees keep working past traditional retirement age either by necessity or choice. Numerous stories focus on changing attitudes toward retirement, semi-retirement and blending work with leisure, and the gig economy’s impact on allowing more part-time retirees to remain engaged. Coverage focusses both on the financial aspects as well as the psychological and health benefits of working longer.
6. Retirement investment strategies in 401(k)s. This year’s news coverage of efforts to allow private market products in 401(k) is a good example of a story about investment strategies in qualified retirement plans like 401(k)s. Other stories of this ilk are about retirement income solutions like annuities being offered as in-plan options or target date of lifecycle funds or other investments meant to help retirees meet their goals.
7. Guaranteed income in retirement. Stories on using annuities and other sources of guaranteed income to create pension like income in retirement is another important retirement topic that is increasingly of interest to consumers.
8. Where and how to live in retirement. Stories on the interplay of taxes (state income/estate, sales/property taxes), healthcare access, climate risk, and insurance availability increasingly shape this topic. This topic also includes stories about moving closer to adult children (or not), housing decisions like downsizing and aging in place and how to prepare for/mitigate cognitive risk to your retirement.
9. Tax strategies for retirees. Stories on where to invest or where to withdraw money to minimize taxes in retirement are common. Coverage in this category includes saving in Roth versus traditional IRAs as well as gifting, estate and legacy planning strategies to minimize taxes.

If you can find ways to have your experts shed new light on any of these themes, there are many reporters who keep beating this not-yet-dead horse and may be interested in talking to them. Frame up stories that offer utility to readers such as surveys, checklists, calculators and decision frameworks (e.g. 3 reasons to consider a Roth Conversion). Keep in mind recurring news hooks like the annual Social Security COLA announcements, Medicare enrollment season, annual health care cost estimates and market news/shifts that may affect retirees (inflation, bond yields, market downturns).

Some of the top retirement writers and columnists we’ve talked to or pitched in the past include:

• Christine Benz, Jeff Ptak and Amy Arnott, Morningstar
• Anne Tergesen, Veronica Dagher and Ashley Ebling, Wall Street Journal
• Sandra Block, Kiplinger’s Personal Finance
• Mark Miller, Reuters and Morningstar
• Kerry Hannon, Yahoo Finance
• Richard Eisenberg, Next Avenue
• Alessandra Malito, Beth Pinsker and Jessica Hall, Marketwatch
• Elizabeth O’Brien, Barron’s
• Debbie Carlson, freelance for Barrons, WSJ and others
• Robert Powell, Retirement Daily, TheStreet.com

There are also numerous reporters covering the industry that write about retirement for publications like Pensions & Investments, Plan Sponsor, NAPA.net and 401(k)Wire.com. You can also explore reaching out to industry influencers like Michael Kitces, Ed Slott and Bob Veres who value insights on this topic that is so important to many in the wealth management industry.