Oct 27, 2015
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Rep. Scott Garrett (NJ-05) Chairman of the Financial Services Subcommittee on Capital Markets and Government-Sponsored Enterprises, issued the following statement after voting for H.R. 1090, the Retail Investor Protection Act:
Rep. Garrett speaks in support of the Retail Investor Protection Act
and the retirement savings of hard working New Jersey families on the House Floor.
“Today the House stood up for New Jersey families who are scraping and saving their hard-earned money to have a comfortable retirement by giving them the ability to make investment choices that are right for them. If the Department of Labor (DoL) rule goes forward, access to good financial advice will become a privilege enjoyed only by the wealthy. The Retail Investor Protection Act will ensure that the DoL’s proposed rule won’t inflict even more damage on middle and lower income Americans who are seeking guidance from a financial professional about their retirement savings.”
Background:
The DoL’s proposed rule changes to The Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) could limit the access of middle and lower income Americans to retirement planning and investment guidance. Because of the heightened liability for providers contained in the rule, account minimums will rise – in some cases to as high as $100,000 – leaving millions of Americans without access to their financial advisor. The Retail Investor Protection Act would prohibit the Secretary of Labor from issuing any regulation that would define when an individual would be considered a fiduciary until 60 days after the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issues a final rule which would govern standards of conduct for dealers and brokers under the Dodd-Frank Act.
