A proposal is under consideration by the Obama administration that may set new rules for retirement advisors concerning retirement accounts.
Many elder law advocates have expressed concern that there is insufficient oversight of retirement advisors that could allow risky investments favoring the advisors over the client.
The Hill, in a recent article entitled “Retirement advice rule nears White House approval,” reports that the Obama administration is expected to give approval for a new rule designed to fix the problem.
The rule would make retirement advisors “fiduciaries” of their clients. This would legally require advisors to act in the best interests of their clients. As a consequence, advocates reason that advisors will not steer clients to investments that benefit advisors more than clients if they advisors can be held accountable.
However, this proposal does have its detractors.
Republicans in Congress have sought to stop it, but have so far been unsuccessful. They believe that the rule will make getting retirement advice more difficult and more expensive.
New rule or no new rule, one way you can protect yourself from bad retirement advice is to avoid planning for retirement in a vacuum.
A person planning retirement might be wise have their estate planning attorney and their retirement planner work together.
Reference: The Hill (Jan. 29, 2016) “Retirement advice rule nears White House approval”
