Your retirement savings are supposed to be the safest money you’ll ever have — not a roll of the dice. The whole point of a 401(k) and other retirement plans is to let you gradually build wealth that brings economic security in your golden years.
The Dangers of Private Equity Entering 401(k)s By Andrew Cullen For a long time, retirement accounts like 401(k)s have served as a way for workers to invest and grow wealth for the future. However, Trump recently issued an executive order that will allow risky private equity investments, like private equity and cryptocurrency, into these plans.
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is expected to let hundreds of corporations and financial institutions off the hook for violations it was investigating. That means the millions of people who were counting on the agency for protection will be left without help, especially as it braces for layoffs of 90% of CFPB staff.
The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act marks its 15th anniversary this week. This milestone is an opportunity to reflect on the critical role of effective financial regulation in creating a fairer economy that allows people and communities to flourish. We need it to protect people from day to day abuses that make it harder for families to make ends meet, live in affordable housing, or save for retirement. And we need it to prevent systemic misalignments that give Wall Street free rein to increase profits by extracting wealth at our expense—while increasing the likelihood of devastating financial crises.
The tools for monitoring systemic risk are only effective if regulators are willing to use them. Right now, it looks like they’re putting them back on the shelf. On June 11, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) quietly postponed a long-delayed and critical deadline to monitor shadow banking. The agency delayed—for the second time—the compliance date for its updated Form PF rule, giving large private fund advisers a few more months to begin reporting the kind of basic data regulators need to monitor systemic risk. This isn’t a mere scheduling hiccup; it’s a strong signal that the rule—and the transparency it aims to deliver—is under real threat.
Wall Street Wants Your Retirement SavingsPrivate equity does badly for investors. Now it wants to do the same for retirement savers. By Oscar Valdés Viera “If you’re looking to leave a worthless corporate carcass, your easier marks are retail day traders and index funds [in retirement plans] holding public shares,” said Gary Sernovitz, a 20-veteran