Note to state legislators: Voters' retirement security is your responsibility, too

The overall cost of retirement can sometimes seem difficult to grasp, but Main Street investors are fully aware that a dignified post-working lifestyle doesn't come cheap. It takes years of careful planning and discipline to get there, and unnecessary barriers and expenses today can have a disproportional impact on an investor's life after he or she leaves the workforce.

So how would these same investors react if they knew their own state legislators might be working to drive up the cost of retirement even further?

Two recent bills in Minnesota and Ohio would have done exactly that. Early versions of SF 552 in Minnesota and HB 59 in Ohio would have broadened those states' sales tax bases to include all professional services, including financial advice. If these provisions had become law, clients in each of these states would have faced significant new costs — a 5.5% increase in Minnesota, 5% in Ohio — every time they received guidance from or placed a trade through an adviser.