61. Shaping the Future of Retirement: Insights with Brian Graff and Karen Neeley

Join us on this episode of The Wave Strength as host Jim Breen interviews Brian Graff, CEO of the American Retirement Association (ARA), and Karen Neeley, Senior Vice President and Head of Institutional Retirement Solutions Group at Pacific Life. Brian and Karen discuss the critical role of education, innovation, and legislative efforts in shaping the future of retirement planning. Learn about the importance of lifetime income solutions, the impact of recent legislation, and the collaborative efforts needed to drive meaningful change in the industry. Discover how ARA and Pacific Life are working together to enhance retirement security. Don't miss this insightful conversation with two industry leaders! 

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About Brian Graff
Brian H. Graff, Esq., is the Chief Executive Officer of the American Retirement Association, the umbrella organization for the American Society of Pension Professionals and Actuaries (ASPPA), the American Society of Enrolled Actuaries (ASEA), the National Association of Plan Advisors (NAPA), the National Tax-deferred Savings Association (NTSA), and the Plan Sponsor Council of America (PSCA). Graff oversees the American Retirement Association’s operations, and working with the Board of Directors, charts the strategic direction for the organization. Graff also serves as the Executive Director of ASPPA and NAPA. The American Retirement Association is a national organization of more than 25,000 retirement plan professionals who provide advisory and administrative services for qualified retirement plans covering tens of millions of American workers. Graff received his doctoral degree in law, cum laude, from the University of Pennsylvania Law School in Philadelphia. He holds a Bachelor of Science in accounting with distinction from Cornell University in Ithaca, NY.

About Karen Neeley: 
Senior Vice President, Head of Institutional Retirement Solutions Group
Karen is the head of Institutional Retirement Solutions at Pacific Life, where she leads the Pension Risk Transfer and Defined Contribution Lifetime Income business lines. She is responsible for go-to-market strategy, product development, distribution, operations, and customer engagement. Karen has served in the financial services industry for nearly two decades, with extensive experience in retirement, across the defined benefit and defined contribution sectors. Prior to joining Pacific Life in 2023, she held leadership positions across distribution, strategy, and actuarial, with an emphasis on transformative growth and delivering retirement outcomes, at several Fortune 500 companies. In 2025, she joined the Defined Contribution Institutional Investment Association (DCIIA) Executive Committee as Vice Chair of the Retirement Income Committee. 

In This Episode: 

00:00 Introduction

00:54 Meet the Guests: Karen Neeley and Brian Graff

01:20 Karen Neeley's Background and Role

02:09 Brian Graff's Background and Role

03:35 Overview of ARA's Sister Organizations

05:39 The Energy of NAPA Conferences

07:49 Importance of Engagement and Communication

08:36 Retirement Income Solutions and Education

13:02 Legislative Efforts and Innovations

16:58 Future Goals of the ARA

20:43 The Importance of Social Security

24:41 Connecting with the ARA

25:45 Final Thoughts

#RetirementPlanning #NAPA #ARA #PacificLife #IncomeSolutions