I think I learned in American politics that first semester in Stony Brook that if men were angels, there would be no need for government. If people did the right thing, there would be no need for government regulation.

I’m happy that the new fiduciary rule will limit the abuses that I saw when it came to rollovers to an Individual Retirement Account when a broker would push a high-fee product that wasn’t in the participant’s best interest, instead of keeping the money in the plan or a cheaper investment solution. I know the abuse because I got hoodwinked into rolling over a 401(k) account balance once to an unlisted REIT, that was then the focus of a class action lawsuit. The kicker is when the broker switched brokerage firms, tried to get my business, and then started to deride the REIT he sold me at the other firm.

When it comes to retirement savings anything connected with retirement plan assets, should require a fiduciary standard.