Ken
O’Brien
As defined-benefit pensions gradually disappear from
the U.S. workplace, workers are increasingly relying on 401(k) plans for
retirement security. One casualty of the
House budget talks to avert a government shutdown may be a proposed rule
requiring investment advisers to act in the best interests of their clients,
according to multiple House Democratic sources.
Backers of the fiduciary rule say it would give
workers some basic protection by discouraging 401(k) brokers from pushing plans
based on the fees going to those brokers' firms -- fees that, over the course
of a worker's career, can significantly eat into a retirement plan's potential
growth.
