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This is Bob Saunders, vice president of sales for Wise.

Over the next weeks and months, you may be hearing about The Improving Disclosure for Investors Act of 2025. This legislation would change the rules for delivery of investor documents, undermining the print community by allowing investment firms to default investors into receiving electronic delivery rather than paper. This legislation has already passed the House of Representatives and is moving on to the Senate.

While the argument for the legislation is made that a significant majority of investors prefer electronic delivery, there are still millions of Americans who say they don’t go online or who are smartphone-dependent. This would make it difficult to access investor information electronically. This includes information regarding their retirement accounts.

According to Pew Research, there are a number of demographic groups that would be disproportionately impacted by the legislation. Let’s take a look.

First are older Americans.

Among those who are 65 or older,

10% say they do not go online.

30% do not even have broadband at home.

And 17% are totally smartphone-dependent.

For many older Americans, defaulting them into electronic delivery would significantly impair their ability to read and understand critical information.

Second, those with less education.

Pew Research found that, among those with a high school education or less:

7% say they do not go online,

34% do not have broadband at home.

And 24% are smartphone-dependent.

Like older Americans, those with less education would be significantly impacted if they were defaulted into electronic delivery.

Third, those with lower incomes.

Like the previous two groups, Americans with the lowest incomes  (in this case, defined as those making thirty thousand dollars per year or less) are also less likely to have the kind of Internet access that would allow them to easily understand and review their investor documents. For example . . .

14% say they don’t go online.

43% do not have broadband at home

31% are smartphone-dependent

This is also the case for those with slightly higher incomes—which Pew defines as $30,000 to $69,000 per year–but who are still considered low income. Of these,

9% say they do not go online.

22% do not have broadband at home.

And 17% are smartphone-dependent.

Finally, race and ethnicity impact investors’ ability to access these documents, as well. For example:

4% of Hispanic Americans and 6% of Black Americans say they don’t go online.

23% of Hispanic Americans and Black Americans do not have broadband at home.

And 22% of Hispanic Americans and 19% of Black Americans are smartphone-dependent.

This doesn’t sound like true investor choice, does it? Defaulting people into electronic delivery doesn’t make accessing these critical financial documents easier. It makes it harder. So why would Congress enact legislation that would undermine many Americans’ access to critical information?

Finally, it’s also important to note that millions of Americans have already indicated that they want their financial disclosures delivered using paper. If investors are defaulted into e-delivery, this puts the burden on them to change their preferences. Either this, or they remain with a communications delivery method that they did not choose and that puts them at a financial disadvantage.

According to a survey by Two Sides, 78% of U.S. consumers believe they should have the right to choose whether they receive important communications on paper or electronically. In addition, Consumer Action found that most people still prefer to receive bills and statements by mail, even if they pay them online.

Why do millions of Americans prefer paper delivery? Here are five reasons, but there are many more.

Paper leaves a paper trail for themselves and others.

It’s easier to monitor accounts.

Paper statements remind you to make payments.

Without paper statements, people are concerned they might miss important information.

And finally, they may feel less likely to be hacked.

For these reasons, among others, instead of improving disclosure, The Improving Disclosure for Investors Act of 2025 reduces, not improves, effective disclosure for millions of investors.

Please send a message to your Senators today asking them to vote “no” on this piece of legislation.  To do this easily, follow the link below this audio. Thank you for your advocacy on this important issue!