Janet Bodnar is Editor of Kiplinger’s Personal Finance magazine. Over her career at Kiplinger, Bodnar has written about a wide range of topics on investing, money management and the economy. During her tenure as Editor since 2009, Kiplinger’s has twice been honored for general excellence by the Society of American Business Editors and Writers.
Bodnar is a nationally recognized expert in the field of children’s and family finances, financial literacy, and women and money. She is the author of Money Smart Women: Everything You Need to Know to Achieve a Lifetime of Financial Security (Kaplan). Praising Money Smart Women, Time magazine noted that Bodnar “avoids the patronizing finger-wagging and sticks to giving advice that women can really use.” She writes Kiplinger’s “Money Smart Women” column and speaks frequently on the subject of women’s finances.
Bodnar is also the author of Raising Money Smart Kids (Kaplan), which was a finalist in the personal finance category of the Books for a Better Life awards, honoring the best self-improvement books. It was also a selection of the Washington Post’s Color of Money book club. Her “Money-Smart Kids” column appears regularly at www.kiplinger.com/columns/kids.
Bodnar has appeared on Oprah, Today, Good Morning America, The Early Show on CBS, Fox, CNBC, CNN and PBS. She has done hundreds of radio and TV interviews, and is a weekly contributor to WTOP, the major all-news radio station in Washington, D.C. She is a popular speaker, and has been quoted in publications ranging from The Wall Street Journal and Institutional Investor to Parents and Glamour.
Bodnar has been recognized by American University for excellence in personal finance reporting, and by the National Council on Family Relations for her televised reports on children and money. The audio version of her book (read by the author) received three “best of” awards, from Publishers Weekly (business category), Library Journal (nonfiction) and the Audio Publishers Association (educational category).
Prior to joining Kiplinger’s, Bodnar worked for The Providence Journal and The Washington Post. She is a graduate of St. Bonaventure University, and is a member of the school’s Board of Trustees. She received her master’s degree in journalism from Columbia University, where she was also a Knight-Bagehot Fellow in Business and Economics Journalism.
Married, she is the mother of three children. Follow her tweets at www.twitter.com/janetbodnar.
Jared Bernstein joined the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities in May 2011 as a Senior Fellow. From 2009 to 2011, Bernstein was the Chief Economist and Economic Adviser to Vice President Joe Biden, executive director of the White House Task Force on the Middle Class, and a member of President Obama’s economic team.
Bernstein’s areas of expertise include federal and state economic and fiscal policies, income inequality and mobility, trends in employment and earnings, international comparisons, and the analysis of financial and housing markets.
Prior to joining the Obama administration, Bernstein was a senior economist and the director of the Living Standards Program at the Economic Policy Institute in Washington, D.C.
Between 1995 and 1996, he held the post of deputy chief economist at the U.S. Department of Labor.
He is the author and coauthor of numerous books for both popular and academic audiences, including “Getting Back to Full Employment: A Better Bargain for Working People,” “Crunch: Why Do I Feel So Squeezed?,” nine editions of “The State of Working America,” and his latest book “The Reconnection Agenda: Reuniting Growth and Prosperity.” Bernstein has published extensively in various venues, including The New York Times, Washington Post, and the Financial Times. He is an on-air commentator for the cable stations CNBC and MSNBC, contributes to The New York Times’ Upshot blog and The Washington Post’s PostEverything blog, and hosts jaredbernsteinblog.com.
Bernstein holds a PhD in Social Welfare from Columbia University.
Jason J. Fichtner is a senior research fellow at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University. His research focuses on Social Security, federal tax policy, federal budget policy, retirement security, and policy proposals to increase saving and investment.
Previously, he served in several positions at the Social Security Administration, including as deputy commissioner of Social Security (acting), chief economist, and associate commissioner for retirement policy. He also served as senior economist with the Joint Economic Committee of the US Congress.
His work has been featured in the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, Investor’s Business Daily, the Los Angeles Times, the Atlantic, and USA Today, as well as on broadcasts by PBS, NBC, and NPR.
He also serves as an adjunct professor at the Georgetown McCourt School of Public Policy, the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, and the Virginia Tech Center for Public Administration and Policy, where he teaches courses in economics, public finance, public policy process, public management, and public budgeting processes.
Fichtner earned his BA from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor; his MPP from Georgetown University; and his PhD in public administration and policy from Virginia Tech.
Fichtner is the author of “The Hidden Cost of Federal Tax Policy” and the editor of “The Economics of Medicaid.”
Clinton Key is the research officer for savings and financial security at The Pew Charitable Trusts. The project conducts original research that explores when, how, and how much American households save, examines how savings are used for financial security, and evaluates the potential of programs and policies to improve the financial situation of Americans. In leading this research portfolio, Key develops and implements rigorous data collection and analysis strategies to create a better understanding of household saving behavior and the role of savings in people’s lives. As a primary spokesman for the project, he presents findings to diverse audiences, including policymakers, across the country.
Previously, Key was the research director for the asset-building program at the University of North Carolina’s School of Social Work and a consultant for the Center for Social Development at Washington University in St. Louis. He designed field experiments and statistical investigations into the saving and consumption habits of American households and evaluated the effectiveness of programs designed to help families build savings and assets. He spoke and wrote about savings, household balance sheets, and research methods for a variety of audiences.
Key holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Chicago and a master’s degree from the University of North Carolina.
Caroline Ratcliffe is a senior fellow and economist at the Urban Institute. An expert in the asset building and poverty fields, she has published and spoken extensively on the role of emergency savings, poverty, consumer use of alternative financial sector products, and welfare programs and policies. Ratcliffe testified before the US House Committee on Agriculture and the District of Columbia’s City Council on implications of persistent child poverty. She also provided testimony to the US Senate Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee on closing the racial wealth gap. Her research has been published in academic journals and cited in elite media outlets, including the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and the Economist. Ratcliffe held previous positions at the Congressional Budget Office and Brookings Institution, and as a visiting associate professor at Georgetown University. She holds a PhD in economics from Cornell University.
