Will 2014 finally bring regulatory closure to the issue of "fiduciary" or are we destined to wait for Godot yet again?

This was the tone I got when I spoke to various financial service providers and key members of major industry associations (see, "Compliance Headaches Coming for 401k Plan Sponsors Due to New Fiduciary Regs in 2014?" FiduciaryNews.com, January 7, 2014). One common thread, though, appeared in many of the responses. What's surprising about it is not what it reveals, but what it ignores.

There seems to be a developing consensus that the Department of Labor will take the lead on the fiduciary issue by proposing its updated Fiduciary Rule sometime in August. Not only is Phyllis Borzi famously promoting the new Rule, but now DOL Secretary Thomas Perez has even taken a more visible role in its campaign.

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Christopher Carosa

Chris Carosa has been writing a weekly article and monthly column for BenefitsPRO online and BenefitsPRO Magazine since 2011 and is a nationally recognized award-winning writer, researcher and speaker. He’s written seven books, including From Cradle to Retire: The Child IRA; Hey! What’s My Number? – How to Increase the Odds You Will Retire in Comfort; A Pizza The Action: Everything I Ever Learned About Business I Learned By Working in a Pizza Stand at the Erie County Fair; and the widely acclaimed 401(k) Fiduciary Solutions. Carosa is also Chief Contributing Editor of the authoritative trade journal FiduciaryNews.com and publisher of the Mendon-Honeoye Falls-Lima Sentinel, a weekly community newspaper he founded in 1989. Currently serving as President of the National Society of Newspaper Columnists and with more than 1,000 articles published in various publications, he appears regularly in the national media. A “parallel” entrepreneur, he actively runs a handful of businesses, including a small boutique investment adviser, providing hands-on experience for his writing. A trained astrophysicist, he also holds an MBA and has been designated a Certified Trust and Financial Advisor. Share your thoughts and story ideas with him through Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/christophercarosa/)and Twitter (https://twitter.com/ChrisCarosa).