Kenneth Black Jr. Journal Author Award
Program Description
The Kenneth Black Jr. Journal Author Award was created in 1988 by the Foundation board of trustees to advance scholarly research and writing and to build the library of knowledge in financial services. The award accomplishes these objectives by recognizing the top three articles published in the Journal of Financial Service Professionals each year. Articles are selected for commendation by an independent panel of judges based on originality of the research, clarity of the writing, timeliness of the subject matter, and appropriateness for the Journal’s readership. Monetary awards of $1,500, $1000, and $500, respectively, are presented to the winning authors. The award program is named for Kenneth Black Jr., PhD, CLU, who served as the Journal’s editor from 1959 through 2001.
Authors, practitioners, and scholars are invited to consider submitting an article for possible publication in the Journal—and possible recognition with a Author Award. Each submitted article is sent to expert reviewers who then send their comments to the editor for a final determination on acceptance for publication. To guarantee the integrity of the process, the reviews are done blindly; that is, the reviewers do not know the identity of the author and vice versa. Articles published in the Journal are copyrighted by the National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors.
2024 RECIPIENTS
First Place:
Steve Parrish, JD, AEP, RICP, ChFC, CLU
Snowbirding: Financial Considerations of Owning Two Residences in Retirement
September 2023
Second Place:
Annemarie M. Kelly, JD, LLM
Lewis B. Hershey, PhD, MA
Coordinating an ABLE Account and a Special Needs Trust
January 2023
Third Place:
Douglas B. Richards, JD, MBA, CLU, CFP
March 2023
2023 RECIPIENTS
First Place:
Terence B. Stanaland, JD, ChFC, CFP
March 2022
Second Place:
Steve Parrish, JD, RICP, CLU, ChFC, AEP
A Survey of Planning Tools for Addressing Clients’ Diminished Capacity
July 2022
Third Place:
Michael W. Valenti, CPA, CFP, MAcc
Navigating the Tax Code in the Crypto Universe
May 2022
2022 RECIPIENTS
First Place:
Sophia Duffy, JD, CPA
Michael Finke, PhD, CFP
David Blanchett, PhD, CFA, CFP
The Value of Delayed Social Security Claiming for Higher-Earning Women
September 2021
Second Place:
David G. Freitag, CLU, ChFC, CRPC
Bruce Tannahill, JD, CPA/PFS, CLU, ChFC, AEP
Using Social Security Filing Strategies to Address Changed Circumstances
March 2021
Third Place:
Kathryn S. Berkow, PhD
Richard Jakotowicz, CFA, CFP
Navigating the Skew: Strategies for Facing the Underperforming Majority
November 2021
2021 RECIPIENTS
First Place:
Marc R. Belletsky, JD, CLU, ChFC, RICP
Christina Anstett, JD
Mark A. Teitelbaum, JD, LLM, CLU, ChFC
Life and Financial Planning in the Time of COVID-19
July 2020
Second Place:
Paul J. Schneider, JD, LLM
Final Regulations Could Expand the Use of Health Reimbursement Arrangements
July 2020
Third Place:
April Caudill, JD, CLU, ChFC, AEP
Buy-Sell Planning with Third-Party Ownership
March 2020
2020 RECIPIENTS
First Place:
Paul J. Schneider, JD, LLM
Divorce Is Hard, but a Failure to Change Life Insurance Beneficiaries Can Compound the Pain
May 2019
Second Place:
Lewis Hershey, PhD, MA
Annemarie Kelly, JD, LLM
Using Roth Conversions of Legacy Retirement Plans to Fund Special Needs Planning
March 2019
Third Place:
Zhixin Wu, PhD, ASA, MAAA
Lei Liang, PhD, CFA, CFP, CAIA, FRM
College Education Planning: Indexed Universal Life Insurance versus 529 College Saving Plans
March 2019
2019 RECIPIENTS
First Place:
April Caudill, JD, CLU, ChFC, AEP,
Best Practices in Buy-Sell Agreement Planning
November 2018
Second Place:
Alisha M. Harper, JD, LLM
Jonathan P. Smith, CRPC, APMA
Patricia Miller Selvy, PhD, CPA, CGMA
A Financial Advisor’s Guide to Avoiding Required Minimum Distribution Land Mines
May 2018
Third Place:
William Waller, PhD
David Nanigian, PhD, CFP
Michael Finke, PhD, CFP
Redemption Fees: Reward for Punishment
March 2018
2018 RECIPIENTS
First Place:
Lewis Hershey, PhD, MA
Annemarie M. Kelly, JD, LLM
Boris Abbey, PhD, JD, MBA
Enabling ABLE: Five Potential Positives for Implementing the ABLE Act
March, 2017
Second Place:
Robert Pokorski, MD, MBA
Brett W. Berg, JD, LLM, CLU, ChFC
Retirement Planning: Coping with Higher Health Care Costs
May, 2017
Third Place:
John L. Olsen, CLU, ChFC, AEP
Index Annuities: Looking under the Hood
November 2017
2017 RECIPIENTS
First Place (tie):
Kelly Dancy, JD
November, 2016
First Place (tie):
Alan Jay Koshner, Esq.
Reaching Favorable Life Insurance Outcomes in a Negotiated Divorce Settlement
March, 2016
Third Place:
David A. Gresham, JD, CLU, ChFC
Seeking Stable, Efficient Coverage for Long-Term Care with Asset-Based Products
July 2016
2016 RECIPIENTS
First Place:
Kenneth M. Cymbal, JD, LLM, CLU
July 2015
Second Place:
Stephen R. Pepe, JD
Home Equity Conversion Mortgage for Purchase: A Nonrecourse Financing Solution for Older Home Buyers
March 2015
Third Place:
Vickie Bajtelsmit, JD, PhD
Anna M. Rappaport, FSA, MAAA
When Should Your Clients Claim Social Security?
January 2015