President Barack Obama released his 2017 proposed budget on February 9. Among the $4.1 trillion dollar initiatives were two pieces of funding that could impact the retirement community.
- The budget proposes to double the SEC's funding for regulation of investment advisors as the SEC considers shifting resources from broker examinations to investment advisor examinations. The proposed budget increase would allow the SEC to hire more examiners who would conduct advisor exams. Today, the SEC examines about 10% of RIAs. The increase would bring that percentage up to 12%. By comparison, FINRA and the SEC are able to examine more than 50% of all brokerages registered with FINRA at roughly once every two years, compared with one every 10 years for advisors.
- The budget proposes to limit the amount of money that can build up in a tax-favored retirement account to $3.4 million. This is not a new addition to the budget as it has been proposed in the past, but industry experts worry that this type of thinking could lead to changes in retirement accounting at a time when American retirees are underfunded to begin with.
The 2017 budget is in for a tumultuous journey in this election year. Considering that the 2016 budget did not get passed until close to the end of 2015, it is likely that this budget will not be taken seriously until after the elections in November, 2016. More updates on this budget will be posted as they surface.
