REGULATION: New deadline granted for advice bill

alarm-clock“The House Ways and Means Committee was granted another extension for consideration of a bill that would limit who can provide investment advice to 401(k) plan participants. The committee now has until Jan. 19 to debate HR 2989, which was already approved by the House Education and Labor Committee last year. The bill would change reporting and disclosure rules pertaining to fees and expenses related to 401(k) plans; a provision that would require plan sponsors to hire only independent investment advisers to counsel plan participants might be pulled from the bill, according to published reports. For details of the measure, visit thomas.loc.gov/.
Read Article on InvestmentNews.com

Translation: After throwing the early ’09 DoL proposal in the trash, which would have allowed for conflicted advice to be delivered to 401k investors, there is some urgency in getting this done. Fast. And right. The clock seems to be ticking, but we have heard that before. People understand that the vast majority of investors are not well positioned or have the time to be their own investment manager and actuary. I don’t fix my own car…isn’t that the same concept?