Dan Otter and Scott Dauenhauer: Why Retirement Savings Options for Educators Are So Bad

Our guests on the podcast today are Dan Otter and Scott Dauenhauer. Together they run the website 403bwise, which is geared toward providing education and advocacy on retirement planning for educators. Dan started 403bwise in 2000 with John Moore as a means of shedding light on the often opaque landscape of retirement plans for K-12 educators. Scott is a certified financial planner and principal and owner of Meridian Wealth Management. He got interested in the 403(b) space after researching retirement plan options available to his wife, who is a teacher. They've each written books about 403(b)s and retirement planning for K-12 educators. Dan's is called Teach and Retire Rich , while Scott's book is called Wild West: Providing Fiduciary Advice to Public School Employees . They also host a podcast called Teach and Retire Rich , and they recently released a short podcast series called Learned by Being Burned: Teachers in the K-12 403(b) . Background 403bwise.org Dan Otter Teach and Retire Rich , by Dan Otter Scott Dauenhauer Wild West: Providing Fiduciary Advice to Public School Employees , by Scott Dauenhauer Teach and Retire Rich podcast Learned by Being Burned podcast The Ins and Outs of 403(b)s “ 401(k) and 403(b) Plans: Knowing the Difference ,” investopedia.com, March 19, 2021. “ Many Teacher Pension Plans Get Failing Grade ,” by Kaitlin Mulhere, money.com, Aug. 31, 2021. “ How 403bwise.org Provides Financial Education to K-12 Employees ,” by Dan Otter, investmentnews.com, April 9, 2021. What Is a 457 plan? “ 457(b)s: The Solution to Bad K-12 403(b) Plans? ” by Dan Otter, investmentnews.com, July 29, 2021. “ Project Aims to Grade 14,000 School Districts’ 403(b) Plans ,” by Emile Hallez, investmentnews.com, Jan. 4, 2022. “ The Two Faces of 403(b) Index Funds ,” by Scott Dauenhauer, 403b.substack.com, Oct. 7, 2021. 403bCompare.com NEA DirectInvest Next Gen Personal Finance “ Bringing Personal Finance to the Classroom for Generation Z ,” by Ann Carrns, nytimes.com, March 18, 2022. New York State Deferred Compensation Plan Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.