Here’s some good news for seniors. The Department of Labor has finally issued new regulations to protect the trillions of dollars Americans are saving for retirement from unscrupulous financial advisers. Advisers will have to put our best interests first! To quote the New York Times
“The Labor Department, after years of battling Wall Street and the insurance industry, issued new regulations on Wednesday that will require financial advisers and brokers handling individual retirement and 401(k) accounts to act in the best interests of their clients.”
Sounds good to me, but let’s not shout “Hallelujah!” just yet. The new regulations are not expected to take effect until next spring and who knows who will be in the White House or in control in Congress by then. Also, the financial industry may challenge the regulations in court.
Here are some details on what the new regs may mean for you.
It is one of those “It would be funny if it weren’t for…” things. A special regulations which states that financial advisers should put their client’s best interests first? That is needed? It is like saying “A special new law that states that people should not break into other peoples’ homes and steal their stuff.” It would seem to be already understood.
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