OK #fintwit friends. I know there are lots of bad things happening in the world, but I’m going to spend a little time today explaining why the Dept of Labor’s new advice rule is one of them.

Stop the #BadAdviceRule

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So, what’s not to like about the DOL’s new #BadAdviceRule?

If you are a retirement saver, pretty much everything.

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https://consumerfed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/DOL-Bad-Advice-Rule-Fact-Sheet-7.9.20.pdf

DOL has reinstated an outdated definition of fiduciary investment that is so full of loopholes financial firms will only be fiduciaries when they want to be. And they don’t often want to be.
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As a result, under DOL’s #BadAdviceRule much of the advice retirement savers receive won’t be held to a fiduciary standard.

And the standard is LEAST likely to apply when it is needed MOST.

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Recommendations to roll money out of a retirement plan to buy an insurance annuity, bitcoin, or gold – where the risks are huge and the rules are weak – will almost never be held to a fiduciary standard under DOL’s #BadAdviceRule.

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Thanks to the DOL’s watered down best interest standard, modeled on SEC’s Reg BI, things don’t get much better when the “fiduciary” standard does apply.
6/9 https://consumerfed.org/press_release/while-american-workers-face-ongoing-struggle-to-save-for-retirement-department-of-labor-appears-poised-to-strip-them-of-important-protections/

Incentives that reward harmful advice – including contests that encourage inappropriate rollover recommendations – will be permitted, with predictable results for vulnerable retirement savers.
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No one does worse under DOL’s #BadAdviceRule than the millions of Americans who save for retirement in an IRA.

The rule exposes them to advice tainted by toxic conflicts and provides no recourse when they suffer financial harm.

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Workers and retirees who struggle to make ends meet need retirement investment advice they can trust. They won’t get it under DOL’s #BadAdviceRule.

Stop the #BadAdviceRule
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