July 31, 2010
Years ago, in its infinite wisdom, Congress passed some consumer protection laws regarding pension plans which were purported to protect lower paid employees from being discriminated against in Qualified Retirement Plans. The result was that employers no longer found these plans attractive and lower paid employees now get no or substantially reduced retirement benefits.
You are now considering imposing restrictions on registered representatives who wish to advise clients. If you pass these, I predict fewer of us will be willing to go through the "hassles" of advising clients. Who will benefit? I'm not sure, but I can tell you who will be hurt. Those individuals who need someone to guide them to put away money for the future and based on my 40 years in the financial service industry that includes virtually everyone. Don't over regulate those of us in the field or we'll limit ourselves (for good economic reasons) to only the very wealthy who probably need our help the least. You will penalize the middle class. . . again. Think of the consequences of your actions. The path to "something" is paved with good intentions.