The fiduciary standard for retirement plans will happen. Enough said.

Our democratic process worked beautifully in this case, says the Journal. The public was heard and the people got what they wanted – more retirement plan fleecing. How dare the DOL demand that financial advisers put the interests of their clients first when handling Americans’ hard earned retirement savings? Don’t the clients deserve to be heard from on this matter?  Thankfully, Democrats and Republicans, and financial lobbying groups like the Financial Roundtable and the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association banded together in the public interest by objecting to this proposal, says the Journal – on its Opinion page. “Even the liberal Consumer Federation of Americaobjected.”Buried elsewhere in the Journal there is a little news (i.e., not opinion) article called “Delay on Pension Oversight” that tells a slightly different story. Here it is stated that the proposal met “heavy resistance on Wall Street, amid questions about its cost and the impact upon investors’ retirement choices.” No mention of mass public revolt in this article. Odd.

Although the fiduciary standard on retirement plans has been delayed, once it is made public the standard may become more stringent than first proposed.

Please comment or call to discuss how this affects you and your organization.