FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 30, 2026
CONTACT: Jarice Thompson, jarice@ourfinancialsecurity.org
Statement of Oscar Valdés Viera, AFR Senior Policy Analyst, Private Equity & Capital Markets on DOL Rush to Let Private Equity and Crypto Erase Workers’s 401(k) Savings:
Today, the Department of Labor (DOL) proposed a dangerous rule that would steer workers’ retirement savings into risky, opaque, high-fee private equity and crypto investments that would undermine their retirement security. The private equity industry is eager to dump overvalued assets onto retirement savers as well-heeled investors snub these dubious assets and head for the exits. Opening 401(k)s to these products risks turning workers’ retirement savings into a Ponzi-like scheme that throws a lifeline to an industry scrambling for fresh cash.
When the soaring cost of living keeps rent and groceries out of reach for so many families, workers saving for retirement simply cannot afford to provide a bailout to the private equity or crypto industries. The DOL’s proposal snatches more from every worker’s paycheck through layers of fees, weak disclosure, sketchy valuations, and crypto’s signature mix of volatility and fraud. People aren’t clamoring for more risk and complexity in their retirement savings; they want straightforward, transparent, and affordable options they can trust to build a secure financial foundation to retire with dignity.
The Department of Labor didn’t have time to do the kind of serious study this proposal demands. Nor has it laid out any meaningful guardrails to prevent conflicts of interest, minimize fees, or offer necessary disclosures. Workers can easily get trapped with illiquid investments that they cannot access in case of a family emergency or to invest in their futures. This isn’t about advancing the interests of retirement savers, it is about opening a new profit center for crypto and Wall Street. Retirement savers should not be bailing out these high-risk industries and subsidizing the Wall Street and crypto billionaire class.
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