351: Ted Benna: The $10 Trillion Inventor

Ted Benna was working for an insurance firm outside Philadelphia
about 40 years ago when he figured out how to use an obscure
provision of a 1978 tax law—section “401(k)”—and turn it into an
employee retirement account for contributions from both employees
and employers. He designed it as a fringe benefit for banks that
wanted to save taxes when they transferred bonuses to employees.
In the years since, however, it’s grown into much more—it’s now
the dominant way that Americans save for retirement, helping them
collectively amass trillions.