“The traditional way of giving retirement advice is getting retired.

“After a tug of war with the financial industry that has lasted more than five years, the U.S. Department of Labor is moving ahead on rules that will require anyone providing investment advice on your retirement plan or Individual Retirement Account to act in your best interest.

“For brokers and financial advisers — and their clients — the new rules could be the biggest change since stock-trading commissions were deregulated in 1975.

“Thousands of advisers will have to change how they do business — or go out of business. Millions of investors should end up better off. But it will be a bumpy ride along the way.

“At stake is one of the financial world’s biggest honey-pots: the more than $14 trillion in IRAs and 401(k)-type retirement plans.

“Under the Labor Department’s proposed rules, anyone providing investment advice on a retirement account would have to become a “fiduciary” for the client.”

***

Read the full Wall Street Journal article by Jason Zweig here.