The Retirement Black Box

“The Retirement Black Box gives a practical and easy-to-understand overview of target-date funds—a blueprint for plan fiduciaries and advisors to thoughtfully evaluate their options.”
— Michael Goss
President & Chief Revenue Officer, Wealthspire; Cofounder, President, and Managing Partner, Fiducient Advisors

“The Retirement Black Box shines an important light on the structural decisions inside target-date funds that many fiduciaries and investors rarely see. As an outsourced CIO working closely with financial advisors and retirement plans, I appreciate how clearly this book explains why glide paths, asset allocation, and fees can shape retirement outcomes over decades. Dr. Leite provides a thoughtful and practical framework that fiduciaries can use to better understand and oversee one of the most important investment decisions in the retirement system.”
— Al Cumplido, CFA
Founder & Co-CIO, AMP Consulting Group

“Target-date funds have quietly become the default retirement vehicle for millions of Americans, yet most investors have only a vague sense of how they work. Dr. Leite’s new book changes that. With clarity and care, he strips away the jargon—glide paths, equity roll downs, to-versus-through construction—and replaces it with plain language and intuitive examples that finally make these products feel knowable. The Retirement Black Box is a rare finance book that respects the reader’s intelligence without demanding a CFA to follow along. Whether you are a plan fiduciary, a curious investor, or advising clients with decades of retirement savings at stake, you will close this book with a sharper understanding of what your target date fund is really doing on your behalf—and why it matters.”
— Stephanie Pierce
Deputy Head, BNY Investments

“Dr. Brian Leite’s The Retirement Black Box addresses one of the most important challenges facing Americans today: how to save for and sustain income throughout retirement. As retirement horizons lengthen and economic conditions become more uncertain, the distinction between saving ‘to’ retirement and investing ‘through’ retirement has become increasingly important. This book is a timely and thoughtful wake-up call for plan fiduciaries and participants alike, highlighting the long-term implications of target-date fund design and the impact these decisions can have on retirement outcomes.”
— Judy Marlinski
Independent Chairperson of the Board, Newton Investment Management; Former President, Fidelity Institutional Asset Management; Former President, Fidelity International - Japan

BRIAN LEITE, DBA, MBA, CFA, CFP®, CPFA, CEBS

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