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b"With\\xa0Douglas Harbrecht, Director of New Media at Kiplinger.com

Because not all financial advisors operate under the same ethical standards as a fiduciary, the Department of Labor has proposed to Congress a new set of regulations designed to protect the investor saving for retirement.
Doug Harbrecht, Director of New Media at Kiplinger.com, wants every investor to understand the importance of vetting his or her financial advisor since this is the person who stewards your money and has your retirement future in his hands. The Department of Labor, Doug says, may face heavy opposition in Congress over these proposed rules because, if passed, every financial professional will be held to the same standards as a fiduciary. The important distinction is that a fiduciary is required to operate solely in the client\\u2019s best interest and not, as is often the case with non-fiduciary advisors, to garner the most commissions by pushing products that are just okay, that are suitable, but not the best options for the client. The intention is to eliminate the salesperson aspect of the financial industry.
Whether or not the Department of Labor is successful in its endeavor, Doug encourages every investor to be pro-active in selecting a financial advisor by asking the question, \\u201cAre you a fiduciary, a registered investment advisor?\\u201d\\xa0 If the answer is no or if you get a rope-a-dope response, move on.
Many financial advisors who are fiduciaries work on a fee-only basis and, in addition, will tend to put you into a balanced program designed solely to meet your retirement goals.
The importance of having a trusted and open relationship with your financial advisor cannot be over-stated. It\\u2019s your hard-earned money, and you deserve the most financially rewarding and secure retirement available to you.
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Steve Pomeranz: New rules abound designed to help the investor.\\xa0 That's the headline you are seeing more of if you pay any attention to the investment world.\\xa0 What are the rules and how do they protect you?\\xa0 With me is Doug Harbrecht, Media Director at Kiplinger.com.\\xa0 Hey, Doug, welcome to the show.
Doug Harbrecht: Hey, Steve.\\xa0 Nice to be here.
Steve Pomeranz: The Department of Labor aims to keep bad investments out of people's retirement accounts.\\xa0 How do they propose to do this?
Doug Harbrecht: They're raising the bar on investment advice that is provided to retirement savers, not all savers and not all Americans, but those who are saving money for retirement.\\xa0 Basically, this new rule would say that, essentially, anyone providing investment advice on a retirement account for compensation\\u2014for fees or commissions or whatever\\u2014they must act as what's called a fiduciary.\\xa0 I know that word may put people to sleep but what it means, in essence, is that the advisor has to put the investor's interests first, ahead of his or her own, that the saver's interest come first.\\xa0 What that differentiates it from is that for brokers who just try to sell you a product, whether it be an insurance product or whatever and they only have to make sure that it's suitable to your needs.\\xa0 They don't have to be looking out for you. They just have to make sure that it's suitable for your needs.
Steve Pomeranz: If someone recommends something that may pay them a higher commission, it still might be suitable to their needs, but it's not really under the fiduciary standard where your needs and future come first. So it's a much broader definition, and I would say to our listeners here that anyone who is using investment advice or looking to seek investment advice should know the difference and should know the term fiduciary because that is a much highe..."