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Consumer information you need to know

Posted at 10:46 PM, Jun 06, 2017
and last updated 2017-06-07 09:38:18-04

New Retirement Rules

Investment advisors that sell retirement products will soon be required to recommend investments that are in the best interest of their clients rather than what give them the higher commission.

The policy, called the fiduciary rule, was first proposed by the Obama Administration. It was supposed to have been implemented in April of 2017, but was put on hold by the Trump Administration for review. 

The rule partially goes into effect on June 9 and will be completely implemented in January of 2018.

It’s important to find out how your investment advisor gets paid and whether or not the amount is fair to you. So do your research and shop around and let me know how it goes.

Debt Collection Tops Military Complaints to CFPB

A new report from the Arizona Public Interest Research Group (PIRG) Education Fund and Frontier Group analyzes more than 44,000 complaints made to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau by members of the military.

It shows that the top three complaints are debt collection, mortgages, and credit reporting. One big take away is that young active service members are at big risk of getting caught in a financial trap.

The report attributes that to the mobile nature of their jobs, their young age, and having a small but guaranteed paycheck. The report says bad financial reporting hits service members particularly hard by lowering credit scores and preventing promotions and much-needed security clearances.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau enforces protections but there is a concern that they would be reduced or go away since Congress is considering taking away the agency’s power.

Scam Call Blockers

The Arizona Attorney General asked for volunteers to test a call blocker on land lines. The deadline was June 10 but so many of people responded they had to cut it off earlier.

It is always a good idea to let calls you don’t know go to voicemail. We tested call blockers for land lines and cell phone to see if they really work. In our unscientific experiment, most did a decent job of reducing the number of unwanted calls.

Take a look at reviews for cell phone call blocking apps and landline call blocking programs.