Did you notice how virtually everyone on Bay Street was up in arms when Bill Morneau announced recently that the federal deficit for the forthcoming fiscal year would be $18 billion? The outcry was predictable and enormous:

How is this fair to future generations?

When will we ever return to surplus?

Notwithstanding the answers to the above, how long will it take to eradicate the accumulated national debt?

Well, I noticed something else…rank silence on the matter of trailing commissions that are being paid by retail clients at discount brokerages. Specifically, the Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) now tell us there is about $25 billion in A series mutual funds paying trailer commissions (ostensibly for financial advice) to discount brokers – a group that goes out of its way to inform its clients that it will not, under any circumstances, offer financial advice.

Here’s a pop quiz: assuming an average weighted trailing commission of 0.78%, how much money is being squandered annually?

The Answer: about $195 million.

Meanwhile, the financial services industry says that our federal government “squanders” far too much in its “spendthrift” fiscal plan. To put this in perspective, let me ask: how much would regulators save ordinary investors per day, if it disallowed this usurious practice? The Answer: ($25,000,000,000 x .0078)/ 365… or $534,246 per day.