by: Lawrence J. Zeller, MSPA, ASA, Enrolled Actuary
Preferred Pension Planning Corporation will be celebrating our 40th anniversary in 2026. Hard to believe! I’ll start by looking back to remember how we got here.
In 1986 I was working for a pension administration firm called Actuarial Services, Inc. in Union, NJ. The owner, Wynn Kent, was someone whom I admired greatly. When Mr. Kent decided to retire, he sold his company to a large international insurance and benefits consulting firm. My father, who was the lead partner in a very successful accounting firm, convinced me I could build my own pension administration firm. But with three young boys (aged 5, 3, and 4 months) at home, would I be able to support my family while starting a new business?
In the next few years, the pension business expanded rapidly, and in 1993 I decided to devote my full efforts to growing Preferred Pension Planning. By the year 2000, PPPC had 12 employees, including Brian Kane, who is PPPC’s longest tenured employee and continues to do a fantastic job as Business Development Director.
Perhaps the biggest change in PPPC’s history came in 2016. Led by an incredibly strong management team, we restructured the operation of the company to give the staff a much larger role. Clients and advisors responded enthusiastically, and the company continued to grow. Not coincidentally, that same year my oldest son Corey joined PPPC and made an immediate and tremendously positive impact. He brought a wealth of IT knowledge and rapidly passed the exams to become an Enrolled Actuary.
As I have reduced my role at the firm and look forward to my retirement at the end of this year, I know the company is in better shape now than it has ever been. Thanks to Corey’s leadership, we’ve overhauled our technology, revamped the office, and implemented employee-friendly personnel policies.
There are so many people I’d like to thank for the success of PPPC. I wish I could name them all! Our incredible staff; our wonderful clients; accountants, financial advisors, attorneys, and others who have supported us; our colleagues in the industry; vendors and service providers who have given us the tools to succeed; and perhaps most importantly, our families who have understood when we worked those 80 hour weeks before big deadlines, or while studying for exams.
I’ve greatly enjoyed my career, and I’m thrilled to know that as we move forward, PPPC will continue to provide the highest quality pension administration services to our clients.