How much investing terminology do you need to master while saving for your retirement? For example, do you know what the word fiduciary means? A Financial Engines survey found that only $18$ percent of Americans are sure what the word means. U$.$S$.$ financial advisers are divided between fiduciaries, who are required to put your interests first $($like a doctor or lawyer$),$ and nonfiduciaries, similar to salespeople, who push $$suitable$$ products that may profit them more than you.

Nonfiduciary advisers, typically called brokers, are free to recommend only the products that earn them the highest commissions, which can come from both load fees and annual fees. These advisers typically get paid in a variety of complicated ways, so it can be hard to tell how much they$$re making off a client and what their incentives are. Fiduciary advisers tend to get paid in more transparent ways, often by charging an annual fee based on the assets they manage.

Despite years of resistance from Wall Street, the U$.$S$.$ Department of Labor announced in $2016$ the final version of a rule that may force financial advisers to abandon the way they$$ve done business for decades. For the first time, all advisers may need to act as fiduciaries, putting their clients$$ interests first when handling retirement accounts.

Many on Wall Street counter that a strong fiduciary rule will make it less profitable to offer advice to lower$-$ and middle$-$income Americans. They argue that the proposal will limit the ability of consumers to continue to receive personalized investment guidance for retirement plan accounts, which would result in a less secure retirement for many Americans.

Advocates of the new rule say it may generate new insurance and investment business models that cost less and aren$$t as likely to exploit the unsophisticated. It is not clear how the final rule would be enforced, though it might leave noncomplying firms open to penalties or lawsuits.

Please use the ethical decision$-$making framework to answer the following questions:

$1.$ Do you think that all financial advisors should act as fiduciaries? $($Answer: Open ended as students$$ responses will vary; acting in the clients$$ best interest, while it may detract from profits, may prove to be more equitable in the long run.$)$