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Financial reform has been discussed for years.
But now, it's finally here.
Money reporter Stacy Johnson has been studying the new law.
In his last report, he looked at the basics.
Today he finds ways this new law could be putting more money in your pocket and keeping it there.
Our nation is still struggling to recover from one of the worst recessions since the great depression.
Many place the blame for a large part of it on Wall Street.
And here's what Congress did to prevent a repeat: The most sweeping package of financial regulatory reforms in decades.
Within this 2,000 page bill, is money.
It's money that came out of the pockets of Wall Street banks and it's ready to go into yours.
Here are four examples.
Number one, the fees that merchants pay to process your credit and debit card transactions may be going down: those savings could be passed along to you.
Number two, the bill creates an independent regulator.
Think of them as a consumer cop whose job it is to protect and serve consumers in ways that could help them financially.
This agency will certainly ban some mortgage prepayment penalties.
They'll probably not force you to use arbitration; you'll have the ability to sue your bank if you want to.
They might even have an office of financial literacy, so it's going to help more and more Americans to learn more about their money so they can keep it in their pockets.
For years now, we've gotten one free look at our credit reports annually.
Now under certain circumstance you'll be able to get a free look at your score.
And finally, stock brokers and other investment advisers might have to become fiduciaries... in other words, act in your best interests instead of theirs.
And that's just the tip of this huge iceberg.
It's possible that financial reform from this bill could even keep gas prices from going up.
Can you believe that?
I'll show you how.
Just come check me out online at moneytalksnews.com.
