According to Senator Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala, no one, including President Biden, Senator Elizabeth Warren, and the federal government, has the right to tell 401k participants how to invest.
To that end, Tuberville introduced The Financial Freedom Act last week, legislation prohibiting the Department of Labor (DOL) from “issuing a regulation or guidance that limits the type of investments that self-directed 401k account investors can choose through a brokerage window.”
“Folks work for decades, live within their means, and invest wisely so they can retire comfortably,” Tuberville said in a statement. “Now, the Biden administration has taken it upon itself to dictate what assets are viewed worthy of retirement investment, taking the decision away from individual investors by issuing regulatory guidance targeting cryptocurrency.
“This is government overreach at its finest,” he continued. “The government has no business standing in the way of retirement savers who want to make their own investment choices. When you’ve earned your paycheck, how you invest your money should be your decision. My legislation makes sure that is the case.”
Tuberville’s office said the Financial Freedom Act is in response to March 10 regulatory guidance released by the Employee Benefits Security Administration, which it claims attempts to bar 401k investors from investing in cryptocurrency. It also undermines the ability of 401k plans to offer brokerage windows, which give retirement plan participants the ability to control how their assets are invested personally.
The guidance “threatened that employers and investment firms could be subject to a DOL investigation and enforcement actions should they allow individuals to invest in cryptocurrency using brokerage windows.”
Tuberville’s legislation would allow retirement savers to invest “as they see fit” and ensure plan sponsors and financial firms are not punished for enabling investors to exercise financial freedom.
In an op-ed on CNBC’s website, Tuberville referenced Fidelity Investment’s recent bitcoin announcement and the DOL’s rapid response, “America was built on the idea that we each chart our own destiny. The government-knows-best approach being pushed by the current administration runs counter to the values that made our country the most prosperous nation in history.”