The White House Conference on Aging was the backdrop for direct remarks from President Obama on broker conflict-of-interests and state-run retirement plans. As expected, he’s against the former and for the latter.
“For Americans who are doing the hard work of saving for retirement, let’s make sure that they get a fair deal,” the president remarked on Monday from the White House’s East Room when referring to the DOL’s fiduciary proposal, which the administration formally backed earlier this year. “I announced new steps we’re taking to protect Americans by cracking down on conflicts of interest in retirement advice. The goal here is to put an end to Wall Street brokers who benefit from backdoor payments or hidden fees at the expense of their clients.”
And for the many brokers out there who are “doing the right thing,” he continued, this rule “levels the playing field for them and their customers. The notion here is, is we want to make sure responsibility is rewarded and not exploited. So there’s a consumer protection element to this whole thing.”
In additional comments about methods to “make it easier for people to save for retirement,” the president pointed states that are “stepping up” to create new ways for people without a workplace plan to save for retirement, which he said are about one-third of American workers.
“We want to do everything we can to encourage more states to take this step. So I’ve called on the Department of Labor and Tom Perez to propose a set of rules by the end of the year to provide a clear path forward for states to create retirement savings programs. And if every state did this, tens of millions more Americans could save for retirement at work.”
See Also:
- President Obama to Ease 401(k) Rules in Upcoming Budget
- 401(k) Fees Remain a ‘Black Box’ for Most Americans
With more than 20 years serving financial markets, John Sullivan is the former editor-in-chief of Investment Advisor magazine and retirement editor of ThinkAdvisor.com. Sullivan is also the former editor of Boomer Market Advisor and Bank Advisor magazines, and has a background in the insurance and investment industries in addition to his journalism roots.