Death of a Salesman- Except for 403(b) Plans

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Even the big insurers are realizing their products are inappropriate for the average investor’s retirement plans. It is astounding why we are not hearing a peep on why they are perfectly acceptable for public school teachers. I guess they are considered to be a “special” case.

The Wall Street Journal put out an article today dealing with MetLife selling its network of remaining salespeople to Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co.. Years ago, MetLife had over 14,000 agents. One of the reasons they gave for the divestiture was quite telling.

An additional driver away from big agent networks, analysts said, is a proposed Labor Department rule that would require advisers working with retirement accounts to act as fiduciaries, putting their clients’ interest first.

MetLife realizes these products do not belong in retirement accounts. They obviously feel they would be in conflict with the new rule and want to get out of Dodge.

Can someone please tell me why these products are still infecting 403(b) plans? Even the big insurers realize they are inappropriate and are taking appropriate action to protect their profits and revenue.

My fear is they will focus their resources on their last remaining retirement hunting ground, teacher’s 403(b) plans.

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