<story><title>Brokers Fight Rule to Favor Best Interests of Customers</title><url>https://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/13/your-money/rule-to-make-brokers-act-in-clients-interest-still-pending-after-4-years.html?_r=0</url><text></text></story><parent_chain><item><author>slg</author><text>Devil&amp;#x27;s advocate, why should the financial service industry be different than any other sales industry?  Remember most financial service people are simply salespeople pushing a product.&lt;p&gt;No one would bat an eye if a used car salesman put his own personal interest above the interest of his customer?   Why should we then be outraged when someone sells you an annuity that isn&amp;#x27;t the ideal product for you?  If it is my responsibility to educate myself enough that I don&amp;#x27;t spend an extra grand when the dealer recommends they undercoat my new car, why shouldn&amp;#x27;t I have to educate myself on why I shoudn&amp;#x27;t purchase an annuity in my new IRA?</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>zdw</author><text>&amp;gt; why shouldn&amp;#x27;t I have to educate myself&lt;p&gt;The problem with this argument is that it devolves into:&lt;p&gt;1. Requring that everyone knows everything about everything (total knowledge)&lt;p&gt;2. It being acceptable to take advantage of anyone who doesn&amp;#x27;t do #1&lt;p&gt;I see this argument as a trust issue.  I&amp;#x27;d prefer to live in a society free from kickbacks and money passed under the table, and arguing for it is the first step to even worse corruption.&lt;p&gt;Personally, I&amp;#x27;d love for it to be self regulating - for example, the &amp;quot;You break the candy bar in half, I get to pick which piece I get, and you get the other&amp;quot; model, where the best action for the breaker is to make a perfect 50&amp;#x2F;50 cut.  I&amp;#x27;d love for honesty to be the best policy for all involved parties.</text></comment>
<story><title>Brokers Fight Rule to Favor Best Interests of Customers</title><url>https://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/13/your-money/rule-to-make-brokers-act-in-clients-interest-still-pending-after-4-years.html?_r=0</url><text></text></story><parent_chain><item><author>slg</author><text>Devil&amp;#x27;s advocate, why should the financial service industry be different than any other sales industry?  Remember most financial service people are simply salespeople pushing a product.&lt;p&gt;No one would bat an eye if a used car salesman put his own personal interest above the interest of his customer?   Why should we then be outraged when someone sells you an annuity that isn&amp;#x27;t the ideal product for you?  If it is my responsibility to educate myself enough that I don&amp;#x27;t spend an extra grand when the dealer recommends they undercoat my new car, why shouldn&amp;#x27;t I have to educate myself on why I shoudn&amp;#x27;t purchase an annuity in my new IRA?</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>zachlipton</author><text>Two reasons. The first is that these people often don&amp;#x27;t look like salesmen. They come in appearing to be providing impartial advice, and all the incentives, commissions, etc... that bias their advice are kept secret. The other problem is that these guys are often pushing complex products to an uneducated public where small details can make a big difference. A small change in an annual fee for an investment can, thanks to the magic of compound interest, easily add up to huge differences in investment returns.</text></comment>