By Irene Ng
I worry about my children and grandchildren saving enough money to live comfortably in retirement. They live in a world where guaranteed pensions are becoming rare, so they’ll be almost totally dependent on retirement investment earnings to supplement Social Security.
But the way things stand, many Americans are headed for sub-par returns on their investments. That’s because not all financial advisers are required to put their clients interests first. Some advisers pocket bigger commissions for themselves by steering hard working Americans to higher-fee or more risky investments. This conflicted advice costs Americans as much as $17 billion a year.
The U.S. Department of Labor has proposed a rule that would close this loophole and require all financial advisers to put their clients’ interests first. The House passed a bill to block the rule, H.R. 1090, and our U.S. representative, Grace Meng, should be commended for voting against the bill. But the fight is not over. Tactics keep popping up in Congress to delay, water down or block the rule, and we need Representative Meng to stay strong and continue to oppose any and all such efforts.
Irene Ng
Bayside
