But do the rules go far enough?
No, says Rep. George Miller (D-CA). You may know that Rep. Miller has been pushing legislation in Congress that would require greater disclosure of fees to 401(k) plan participants. Unfortunately, that bill was defeated just a few months ago (though it will likely be brought back again next year).
Rep. Miller says that although the DOL proposal is a step in the right direction, it doesn't go far enough. He believes that under the DOL proposal, financial firms would still be able to hide many of the fees that 401(k) plan participants pay.
According to an article in Pensions and Investments, Rep. Miller's spokesman elaborated by saying that invesment management charges and trading commission charges would not have to be disclosed "in the most important document that workers see — their quarterly benefit statement.”
The spokesman went on to say that ". . . fees that could actually be the largest charge against a participant's account could still be hidden. Administrative charges can also be hidden if they are bundled as part of the management fee.”
Given their history, we have no doubt that financial firms will go do everything in their power to keep their excessive, hidden fees excessive and hidden. We just hope that rules like the DOL proposed and legislation like Rep. Miller is working on get implemented so it's more difficult for financial firms to get away with fleecing the retirement savings of American workers.
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