The topic for Something to Think About is, “Race to Regulate Advice.” New rules aimed at stockbrokers have been proposed by the Labor Department that will have an enormous impact on the way Americans save for retirement.
The regulations will require brokers getting paid to provide investment guidance on a retirement account to act solely in the best interest of the investor. Until now, only registered investment advisers, not most stockbrokers and insurance agents, have to act as fiduciaries to serve the best interests of the investor. Do we need additional regulations to protect investor retirement accounts? Why are the new rules coming from the Labor Department when the Securities Exchange Commission has the responsibility to protect investors? Why do the new rules only apply to retirement accounts and not to all of your investments?
