On June 9, 2017, the Department of Labor partially implemented the fiduciary rule, which simply requires financial advisers to act in the best interest of their clients. The rule prohibits advisers from steering their clients toward lower-performing investments that pay the adviser a commission. The rule also levels the playing field for the many good actors in the retirement advice community who were already providing advice in their clients’ best interest. Americans deserve advice about their retirement plans untainted by conflicts of interest. The Council of Economic Advisers estimated that, prior to this rule, conflicts of interest in retirement advice were costing American families a staggering $17 billion a year. The fiduciary rule will save affected middle-class families tens of thousands of dollars for their retirement over a lifetime of savings if the updated rule is fully implemented and enforced. The Trump administration is considering delaying, weakening or killing the fiduciary rule, through an ongoing rule-making process at both the Labor Department and the SEC. If the rule is delayed, weakened or killed, retirement savers will lose billions of dollars to financial advisers.
Search Fiduciary Rule publications by content, author, and type.