James (Jim) Mahaney is a vice president with the Strategic Initiatives unit of Prudential. Jim’s focus is currently in the area of research and thought leadership for the firm.  In this capacity, Jim has authored several research papers primarily focused on retirement-related issues. Recently, he has been active as an invited speaker sharing ideas on integrating retirement savings and Social Security. Due to his unique expertise in this area, Jim’s work has been featured in The Wall Street Journal, Kiplinger’s Retirement Planning Guide, The New York Times, USA Today, and Forbes. In his career at Prudential, Jim has been active in the development of products for individuals to use for retirement. In 2006, Jim was part of a small group of individuals that designed and launched the first guaranteed lifetime withdrawal benefit for the 401(k) market. He has been awarded three patents from the U.S. Patent Office. In addition, Jim currently serves on the Advisory Board of The Journal of Retirement.