@colorado_mom
Thank you for the link to the frontline video about retirement savings. I just watched the video. Now to get going on putting what we have into companies and investments that are understandable and transparent. I wonder how much $$$ we have spent in hidden fees over the years in the 401k. I probably don’t want to know . . .
Schwab charges $25 for partial closing and $50 for full closing of each account. Fidelity refunded me the fees, since they were incurred in moving funds to them. Fidelity also gave us a cash bonus, which they put in a Roth IRA that we transferred to them.
@HImom, I like the sound of cash bonus. I might have to look into that! 
@mstee, some people want to know, in order to energize them to change. Others feel that what’s done is done, but never again. I worked in financial services for years, so I’ve seen how the sausage is made, and some people apparently have no conscience. I say that as a capitalist.
I got Schwab to match the cash bonus as well by showing them a Merrill Edge account. They agreed to put $600 in my account, as long as I keep $400K with them for another year.
The discount broker companies like Vanguard, Fidelity and Schwab (and even E-Trade) were mentioned a lot in this thread.
How come nobody here mentioned the investment side of banks or investment bankers?
We parked some retirement money as CD at one of the major banks temporaily after I had changed my company. We did so before we could decide how/where to invest it. My gut feeling is to move the money back to one of the discount brokers like Fidelity mentioned here. (The money was originally managed by Hewitt, I think, when it was in my 401K account at another company I worked for.) It seems many companies (even Morgan Stanley which has my 401K now, or JP Morgan Chase) try to sell us some of their services.
What is the pros and cons of using companies like JP Morgan or Banc of America (BOA’s investment side seems to be called “banc of…” instead of “bank of …” ), as compared to Fidelity, Schwab or Vangard? And what is Hewitt which used to manage my old company’s 401k account? Is it like Fidelity?
I always think that Morgan Stanley or JP Morgan is for the relatively wealthy clients, and I am definitely not one of them. Am I mistakenly?
Many brokerages have charges that the other brokerages that we mention (SVF) don’t have, which is why many of us prefer those firms. They also have low-expense ratio passive index funds, which work well for long term investments.
My in-laws have a trust fund that has been administered at a number of places, most recently Wells Fargo. Shockingly high fees and they are not acting as fiduciaries. I shake my head at how much money MIL left on the table.
Wells Fargo badly bungled my mother’s RMD a few years ago and refused to correct the 1099-Rs until I threatened them with a lawsuit. She pulled her IRA out of there and we refuse to deal with them again, even for regular banking. Their brokerage customer service was really inept at that branch. And yes, their fees are ridiculous.
What they do provide (if you have enough money at a high-end brokerage firm) is convenience and superb customer service. They take care of everything for you. But, you are paying for it in another way.
I don’t think you are going to get great investment advice from a broker or even most financial advisors. Good financial advisors will make sure your insurance is appropriate, that you are thinking about your estate well, that you are thinking about your digital estate, etc. If you are an entrepreneur and have company and personal accounts, they will handle lots of stuff for you. But, from my perspective, if they steer you away from big problems, they may be worth the money. If not, I doubt it.
Wells Fargo was the one place our Executor had ALOT of trouble with. They were the last to disburse funds and several times threatened to turn funds over to the state for inactivity, even tho executor had been in regular communication trying to get funds since date of death!
Big banks provide more investment oppotunities. They have their own financial research team for investment. They have an access to investments that are not available to ordinary retail investers. They can invest your money in hedge funds or they can buy shares into institutioanal class mutual funds for you. Did someone say they had trouble buying admiral shares? Expenses in institutional class is even lower. They also have an excellent service. All “free” included in the fees they charge. It comes down to if it’s what you need/desire and can afford.
I have a cousin who has been in Private Wealth with Goldman for years. She admits that her managed portfolio hasn’t kept pace with the main indexes. However, during the bear markets,she was satisfied with them.
I am happy with my low cost options.
Just a comment on leaving accounts open to avoid closing fees: your executor may well stick pins in a voodoo doll that looks remarkably like you. Many banks and brokerages are a royal pain to work with anyway, and leaving accounts open with small amounts of assets in them will probably cause your executor way more grief than the money you save. And, while you might think that very small accounts will just get ignored, unless your executor knows to ignore them (and is willing to do so), once they’re listed on the estate inventory filed with the probate court, you’ve got to clean them up to close the estate. Each wants their own form completed and notarized – maybe with a signature guarantee – and of course a certified copy of the letters testamentary. But oh – “Our firm’s policy is only to accept Letters Testamentary issued within the past 90 days.” So back (by mail) to a distant probate court to get new copies ($2 each) of Letters Testamentary. Then a requirement that a certified death certificate be provided (I think that was $6 or $8). Oh, and one for the original (since deceased) beneficiary.
We are working very hard to minimize the number of financial institutions our D will need to deal with upon our demise. The experiences of dealing with our own parents’ estates was eye-opening.
A timely article, discussing in particular the “fiduciary standard” that helps separates true financial advisors from salesmen and that the industry has successfully fought to keep at bay:
A 2012 article discussing the same issue:
thanks @AttorneyMother , I saw that in the paper and forgot to link to it here.
IMO, you would refuse to see a doctor who would not take the Hippocratic Oath. Why should a money guy be held to a lesser standard?
I need to retract my claim that ETrade charges $60 to close an account, the fee is actually for transferring the account to another brokerage. If the assets had been liquidated and sent as a check or wire transfer it would have been free to close the account.
Thank you for the links @AttorneyMother. I really appreciate when people post pending legislation or tax rules as I don’t read financial news as broadly as I should. I have mixed feelings about brokers. It’s one thing if they are plugging costly mutual funds, but a sharp broker who has researched investments and calls attention to good opportunities is worth their commission. My mom had an amazing broker who helped her build a laddered bond fund with individual high yield muni bonds and alerted her to some very good investments. He never pressured her into anything and she didn’t always heed his advice, but she ended up better off than simply putting everything into index funds. Unfortunately once he retired he was replaced with a syrupy voiced salesman who tried to sell her an annuity when she was 85. Bring on the legislation.
What % of your (and your spouse’s, if applicable) IRA/401K balance is Roth money?
Anyone care to chime in?
0%.
Roths didn’t exist when we started saving for retirement, we never income-qualified to contribute, and conversions would be too expensive tax-wise, since we can’t reasonably do a back-door Roth.
H has a much bigger Roth than I do. The Roths are in accounts separate from the 401K and tIRA. H also has an inherited tIRA. Sorry, don’t understand your question.