Jackson's Cure for Retirement Planning Paralysis: Go-Karts

What You Need to Know

Dan Starishevsky, a Jackson marketing executive, has been talking about the power of play for years.
The company now offers clients a play wellness program to make retirement planning seem less overwhelming.
Alison Reed, a Jackson distribution executive, says the program can help clients think more clearly about their retirement goals.

Jackson has a solution for retirement planning clients’ inability to focus: Get them to ride go-karts.

Or, run through sprinklers.

The company now offers clients a play wellness program to make retirement planning seem less overwhelming.

The Lansing, Michigan-based annuity issuer sees inflation, rising interest rates, technology and Congress as some of the major forces shaping the market for annuities and retirement planning services now.

But Alison Reed, chief operating officer of the company’s Jackson National Life Distributors unit, said in a recent email interview that another factor affecting the retirement planning market is clients’ haziness.

She blames the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Since the pandemic began more than two years ago, a lack of clarity seems to exist among Americans in general, including those planning for retirement,” Reed said.

Dan Starishevsky, a Jackson marketing executive, has been making presentations for years about a “Play on Purpose” approach to reducing retirement clients’ stress levels, and getting clients ready to plan.