Christine Benz

Christine Benz is director of personal finance and retirement planning for Morningstar. She is also the author of How to Retire: 20 Lessons for a Happy, Successful, and Wealthy Retirement. Email Christine at christine.benz@morningstar.com. She reads all of the emails she receives but doesn't always have time to send a personal response.

More From Christine Benz

What is the highest safe starting withdrawal rate? Morningstar’s latest State of Retirement Income report finds that retirees can withdraw as much as 3.7% as an initial spending rate for a 30-year horizon, factoring in current conditions such as high equity valuations and low bond yields.

Our research settled on a 3.7% safe withdrawal rate, but retirees can employ simple strategies to spend more.

The tax and retirement expert discusses whether to expect an extension of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act and strategies to benefit from low tax rates.

The Wealthramp CEO discusses the value of fiduciary advice, evolving fee models, and the decreasing importance of geography when selecting an advisor.

Composed of ultracheap Fidelity and Vanguard index funds, these three-fund portfolios provide exposure to every major asset class.

From contributions to conversions to distributions, don’t fall into these traps.

More About Christine Benz

Christine Benz is director of personal finance and retirement planning for Morningstar, Inc. She is also the author of a new book, How to Retire: 20 Lessons for a Happy, Successful, and Wealthy Retirement (Sept. 2024, Harriman House). She co-hosts a podcast for Morningstar, The Long View, which features in-depth interviews with thought leaders in investing and personal finance.

Benz joined Morningstar in 1993. Before assuming her current role she served as a mutual fund analyst and headed up Morningstar’s team of fund researchers in the U.S. She also served as editor of Morningstar Mutual Funds and Morningstar FundInvestor.

She is a frequent public speaker and is widely quoted in the media, including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Barron’s, CNBC, and PBS. In 2020, Barron’s named her to its inaugural list of the 100 most influential women in finance; she appeared on the 2021 list as well. In 2021, Barron’s named her as one of the 10 most influential women in wealth management.

She holds a bachelor’s degree in political science and Russian language from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

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