The US House of Representatives will soon vote on H.R. 1090, the “Retail Investor Protection Act of 2015,” sponsored by Congresswoman Ann Wagner (R-MO). This legislation protects the ability of millions of American families and savers to seek sound financial advice toward their retirement savings. ATR supports this important legislation and urges all members of Congress to vote for H.R. 1090.
The Obama Department of Labor recently proposed a series of new guidelines known as the “fiduciary rule.” This rule imposes crushing new regulations on IRAs and the millions of Americans that have put their hard-earned income into one.
Under the rule, IRA companies will be prohibited from offering basic, yet important investment advice to IRA holders including providing guidance to roll a 401(k) into an IRA, and which funds to invest in.
These new regulatory burdens will shut out prospective new IRA users and make life difficult for the millions of existing IRA users. In total, it is estimated that these regulations will cost $5 billion to implement and impose $1 billion in annual costs.
Rep. Wagner’s legislation blocks the fiduciary rule from being implemented and preserves access to important and sound financial advice. In its place, this legislation gives the Securities and Exchange Commission guidelines to construct any rule in consultation with Congress.
This bipartisan legislation has already been approved by the House Financial Services Committee and ought to be passed by full House. ATR supports this legislation and urges all members of Congress to vote for it.