Now that the Trump administration has nixed the fiduciary standard which would have required financial advisors to hold the best interests of their retirement clients above their own pocketbooks. The Obama administration’s Labor Department had proposed a rule that financial sales people/brokers/advisors who deal with retirement accounts and clients would have to follow a fiduciary standard whereby they would have to act in their client’s best interests rather than selling the client a financial product that produced the highest commission. Well forget that! Unless you work with a certified financial planner (CFP) or other professional who follows a fiduciary standard don’t trust your “advisor” to do what is in your best interest.
Currently the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) chair is proposing a new ruling to protect consumers that would require brokers to disclose their sales incentives, sales contests and commissions.
“Most brokerage firms pay their employees more for selling certain products over others, depending on how lucrative they are. This can result in customers paying more for products and services than they need to, though brokers defend the practice as the only way to reasonably offer a range of investment options.” (“Brokers fight to keep pay perks, by Gabriel T. Rubin. The Wall Street Journal, 12/26/18 p. B1.
Source: Financial Planning for Women