Proposed fiduciary rule won’t limit access to advice, says DOL

But that other third of small-IRA owners, those who are low- and middle-income workers, is particularly vulnerable to conflicts of interest in the advice they receive on what to do with those small IRAs.

Particularly because they find it so hard to save, and because they get advice on what to do with IRAs when they're rolling over funds from job-based plans, they're "most at risk from conflicts of interest due to their reduced ability to absorb financial losses."

In fact, the report said that "low- and middle-income small savers generally do not receive the types of detailed personalized advice that many envision when they think of financial advice."

Even the higher-net-worth owners of small IRAs don't generally seek out financial advice from brokers, with the total percentage of all small-IRA owners who do so only totaling 15 percent.

That means, the report said, that "the limited number of small savers that do participate in the IRA marketplace are generally turning to other lower-cost options for guidance on what to do with their investments."

As a result, the DOL said that the proposed fiduciary rule "clearly allows for all savers to still be provided retirement and investment education and will not limit the amount of education available. The additional clarity the rule brings to the distinctions between education and advice will help improve the quality of the advice that savers receive."