How much are you paying your financial advisor? How much are they earning in commissions?

Now that the Trump administration has nixed the fiduciary standard which would have required financial advisors to hold the best interests of their retirement clients above their own pocketbooks. The Obama administration's Labor Department had proposed a rule that financial sales people/brokers/advisors who deal with retirement accounts and clients would have to follow a fiduciary standard whereby they would have to act in their client's best interests rather than selling the client a financial product that produced the highest commission.  Well forget that! Unless you work with a certified financial planner (CFP) or other professional who follows a fiduciary standard don't trust your "advisor" to do what is in your best interest.
Currently the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) chair is proposing a new ruling to protect consumers that would require brokers to disclose their sales incentives, sales contests and commissions.

"Most brokerage firms pay their employees more for selling certain products over others, depending on how lucrative they are. This can result in customers paying more for products and services than they need to, though brokers defend the practice as the only way to reasonably offer a range of investment options." ("Brokers fight to keep pay perks, by Gabriel T. Rubin. The Wall Street Journal, 12/26/18 p. B1.

Fiduciary Rule Delayed by Trump Administration

The Labor Department said an 18-month postponement of enforcement of several key provisions of the fiduciary rule has become official. The effective date of the best-interest contract exemption and related exemptions has been changed from Jan. 1, 2018, to July 1, 2019.
Financial "advisors" can continue to put their own financial interests ahead of their clients thanks to the pro-business, anti-consumer Trump administration.Financial salespersons can continue to recommend investments that line their pockets and put their own interests ahead of their clients.
Why should advisors put their clients best interests ahead of their own? Just one more anti-consumer action from the current powers.
Have you asked your "advisor" yet whether he is a fiduciary? If not, it's long past time.

Brokers Fight Rule to Favor Best Interests of Customers

If you think your broker or financial “advisor” has your best interests at heart, think again. “David O’Brien, a certified financial planner, has tried to repair the retirement portfolios of several victims over the years. There was the high school science teacher who didn’t realize she had been sold a variable annuity, where layers of incomprehensible fees devoured nearly 2.5 percent of her retirement savings each year. Then there was the woman fighting cancer, who was also sold a high-cost annuity, but whose underlying investments were tied up in a money-market type fund — one that cost 1.5 percent annually.”  “Brokers are not necessarily required to act in their customers’ best interest, even if they are advising on their retirement money. While that would seem to be a basic consumer protection, in Washington and on Wall Street it has proved to be wildly contentious.” Don’t deal with any financial professional who doesn’t have a fiduciary responsibility to put your interests first. Tara Siegel Bernard explains the details in the New York Times:  http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/13/your-money/rule-to-make-brokers-act-in-clients-interest-still-pending-after-4-years.html?ref=your-money

You Probably Have No Idea What You Pay Your Financial Advisor In Fees

"Most people have an idea of what they’re being charged for a service, but just like phone bills and bank account statements, there are plenty of hidden or additional charges that go largely unnoticed and might be affecting your bottom line. So as for your investment accounts... the only real way to know is to investigate what’s inside…there may be some surprises." Learn more from Roger Gershman at: http://www.forbes.com/sites/rogergershman/2014/06/03/you-probably-have-no-idea-what-you-pay-your-financial-advisor-in-fees-heres-why/

An Ethics Test Your Adviser Might Not Pass

Does your financial advisor place your best interests first? A new study suggests otherwise.
Only 10% of Americans' managed assets are being handled by firms that meet the highest ethics standards. "The majority of firms handling investments may have conflicts of interest or have run afoul of regulators." Although critics of the study say "the standards applied were unduly tough," read the report summary on Smart Money website and decide for yourself. http://www.smartmoney.com/invest/stocks/an-ethics-test-your-adviser-might-not-pass-1346970102755/