Wealth Management Fee/Negotiation

[vm26]

I'm with ML. Overall happy with their services however never considered their fees or negotiating a better fee rate. Curious as to what others do (Honestly investing etc is not something I know much about)...I've gotten the sense from other physicians that financial advisors are a bit of scam.

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[Groove]

Financial Advisors are 100% not necessary. With a modicum of financial investing knowledge/learning you could do it very safely yourself. The easiest and most brainless way for non investing types is to simply open up an account with any of the major brokerages and virtually all of them now have AI roboinvesting services which will give you a brief survey to identify your goals, investing style, risk tolerance, etc.. and create/auto-invest a fairly well diversified portfolio. For a small fee, you can upgrade to human CFPs that you can meet or talk with on an annual or semi annual basis.

But honestly...if you just want to do it yourself and not feel as if you are making a catastrophic mistake with your money, just google "boglehead 3 fund portfolio" and follow the instructions. Presto...your money is well managed with zero management fees.

PS: Although we do discuss a lot of finance in here, you might want to post this in the dedicated Finance and Investing forum.

 

[cyanide12345678]

I'm with ML. Overall happy with their services however never considered their fees or negotiating a better fee rate. Curious as to what others do (Honestly investing etc is not something I know much about)...I've gotten the sense from other physicians that financial advisors are a bit of scam.

What’s the fee?

I pay $8/month for Mark zorill.

Do i need a financial advisor? No. But i do like having access to emoney for excellent wealth tracking features. And maybe once a year i have a meeting with my guy and go through assumptions for the future to have the software reflect our current financial situation.

Financial advisors aren’t all scams. Some people need them. The ones that recognize that it is very difficult to beat passive index investing are the good ones.

The ones that sell you high commision products with high load fees - essentially a terrible portfolio are really bad for your long term wealth building.

I would never ever have a AUM financial advisor. So a fee only hourly guy/gal is usually the way to go, especially once you have a net worth.

But quite honestly, if you read 1 book (3 fund portfolio or bogleheads guide to investing) - literally spent 2-3 days reading a couple hundred pages, you would have the basic understanding of what a long term portfolio should look like and could do it all yourself

 

[bky3c]

I used to think investing was a complicated thing that I could never do myself. Then I stumbled upon White Coat Investor and learned that sure, maybe finance overall can be complicated, but you don't need a whole separate degree just to manage your own specific situation. I think the industry wants people to think it's much more difficult than it is, and not all, but a not-insignificant number of financial advisors prey on physicians, who have the income to just throw money at the problem to make it go away, with the excuse that we're too busy to do it ourselves. We also value education, given what we've all gone through, so we assume that someone with a bunch of letters after their name will do a better job with our money than we will. But they don't have a fiduciary duty to us (usually) like we do to our patients, even though it's easy to make that assumption since that's how we all function in our own careers. Unless you have exceptionally complicated circumstances, it's easy to do it yourself. I just threw everything into index funds at Vanguard. Seems to be working out fine so far.

 

[cyanide12345678]

I used to think investing was a complicated thing that I could never do myself. Then I stumbled upon White Coat Investor and learned that sure, maybe finance overall can be complicated, but you don't need a whole separate degree just to manage your own specific situation. I think the industry wants people to think it's much more difficult than it is, and not all, but a not-insignificant number of financial advisors prey on physicians, who have the income to just throw money at the problem to make it go away, with the excuse that we're too busy to do it ourselves. We also value education, given what we've all gone through, so we assume that someone with a bunch of letters after their name will do a better job with our money than we will. But they don't have a fiduciary duty to us (usually) like we do to our patients, even though it's easy to make that assumption since that's how we all function in our own careers. Unless you have exceptionally complicated circumstances, it's easy to do it yourself. I just threw everything into index funds at Vanguard. Seems to be working out fine so far.

maybe 2 boglehead books. 20-30 minutes setting up an automated pie on m1finance, and thats it - its free, automated, reinvests and rebalances automatically - 1 click changes in asset allocation if you choose to do so.

Finance is very very easy.

To be perfectly honest - people read my posts on options and think im doing something insanely difficult - the reality is i watched youtube for 2 days and made my first trade and then read one website page - literally one page.

Personal finance is surprisingly easy. In fact, once you read 3-4 books, you realize they all state exactly the same thing.

 

[WhatJobDoIPick]

Give me your money. I'll do it for you.

 

[dchristismi]

Index funds, baby. Index funds all the way.

I grew up with a father who was very into investing and the power of dividends and compounding interest, so was exposed to it early. My sister has a MBA. We joke about our favorite index funds. It may be WhiteCoat who said it first (or best?)... if you can learn renal physiology, you can learn this. You just have to make yourself do it.

I do our own taxes every year because (gasp) I learned how, and like to know the nuts and bolts of the tax code. And we still itemize deductions because it's worth it to do so for us. The 1099-Bs are slightly annoying, but husband generally is the only one who ever sells. (He does his own thing with his money - we both got burned in first marriages, so it works for us.) I put my money in and unless something catastrophic happens, it stays there and just grows. The emergency fund is in a high-yield savings account at Discover bank.

Bogleheads is a great resource if you don't have my Dad, who essentially is just Bogleheads with Dad jokes. But I think you can probably get Dad jokes there if you look hard enough.

FWIW, my sister's favorite fund is VTSAX, but I use the VBIAX as a core fund as it's a 60/40 total stock/total bond, and both have very low fees.

 

[dozitgetchahi]

Financial Advisors are 100% not necessary. With a modicum of financial investing knowledge/learning you could do it very safely yourself. The easiest and most brainless way for non investing types is to simply open up an account with any of the major brokerages and virtually all of them now have AI roboinvesting services which will give you a brief survey to identify your goals, investing style, risk tolerance, etc.. and create/auto-invest a fairly well diversified portfolio. For a small fee, you can upgrade to human CFPs that you can meet or talk with on an annual or semi annual basis.

But honestly...if you just want to do it yourself and not feel as if you are making a catastrophic mistake with your money, just google "boglehead 3 fund portfolio" and follow the instructions. Presto...your money is well managed with zero management fees.

PS: Although we do discuss a lot of finance in here, you might want to post this in the dedicated Finance and Investing forum.

Completely agree.

 

[JacobMcCandles]

You could put all your money in an S&P 500 fund or US Total Stock Market fund and just keep contributing to those and have better returns than about anyone else with minimal effort. That will buy you some time to do some cursory learning and then you'll see that your current plan is the best plan.

 

[3rdJob]

Index funds, baby. Index funds all the way.

I grew up with a father who was very into investing and the power of dividends and compounding interest, so was exposed to it early. My sister has a MBA. We joke about our favorite index funds. It may be WhiteCoat who said it first (or best?)... if you can learn renal physiology, you can learn this. You just have to make yourself do it.

I do our own taxes every year because (gasp) I learned how, and like to know the nuts and bolts of the tax code. And we still itemize deductions because it's worth it to do so for us. The 1099-Bs are slightly annoying, but husband generally is the only one who ever sells. (He does his own thing with his money - we both got burned in first marriages, so it works for us.) I put my money in and unless something catastrophic happens, it stays there and just grows. The emergency fund is in a high-yield savings account at Discover bank.

Bogleheads is a great resource if you don't have my Dad, who essentially is just Bogleheads with Dad jokes. But I think you can probably get Dad jokes there if you look hard enough.

FWIW, my sister's favorite fund is VTSAX, but I use the VBIAX as a core fund as it's a 60/40 total stock/total bond, and both have very low fees.

'Bogleheads with Dad jokes" I love it.....

 

[cyanide12345678]

Index funds, baby. Index funds all the way.

I grew up with a father who was very into investing and the power of dividends and compounding interest, so was exposed to it early. My sister has a MBA. We joke about our favorite index funds. It may be WhiteCoat who said it first (or best?)... if you can learn renal physiology, you can learn this. You just have to make yourself do it.

I do our own taxes every year because (gasp) I learned how, and like to know the nuts and bolts of the tax code. And we still itemize deductions because it's worth it to do so for us. The 1099-Bs are slightly annoying, but husband generally is the only one who ever sells. (He does his own thing with his money - we both got burned in first marriages, so it works for us.) I put my money in and unless something catastrophic happens, it stays there and just grows. The emergency fund is in a high-yield savings account at Discover bank.

Bogleheads is a great resource if you don't have my Dad, who essentially is just Bogleheads with Dad jokes. But I think you can probably get Dad jokes there if you look hard enough.

FWIW, my sister's favorite fund is VTSAX, but I use the VBIAX as a core fund as it's a 60/40 total stock/total bond, and both have very low fees.

I don’t see a point to bonds unless someone is 50+ in age.

in my opinion, bonds are higher risk from losing value from inflation.

 

[cyanide12345678]

Index funds, baby. Index funds all the way.

I grew up with a father who was very into investing and the power of dividends and compounding interest, so was exposed to it early. My sister has a MBA. We joke about our favorite index funds. It may be WhiteCoat who said it first (or best?)... if you can learn renal physiology, you can learn this. You just have to make yourself do it.

I do our own taxes every year because (gasp) I learned how, and like to know the nuts and bolts of the tax code. And we still itemize deductions because it's worth it to do so for us. The 1099-Bs are slightly annoying, but husband generally is the only one who ever sells. (He does his own thing with his money - we both got burned in first marriages, so it works for us.) I put my money in and unless something catastrophic happens, it stays there and just grows. The emergency fund is in a high-yield savings account at Discover bank.

Bogleheads is a great resource if you don't have my Dad, who essentially is just Bogleheads with Dad jokes. But I think you can probably get Dad jokes there if you look hard enough.

FWIW, my sister's favorite fund is VTSAX, but I use the VBIAX as a core fund as it's a 60/40 total stock/total bond, and both have very low fees.

Also i think things like jepi should make bonds obsolete.

In retirement i see myself having a very large sum in jepi or jepq.

Jepi does what bonds are supposed to do, except in a better way - they provide a higher income, have upside equity to decrease inflation risk, and have lower volatility like bonds.

 

[WhatJobDoIPick]

I don’t see a point to bonds unless someone is 50+ in age.

in my opinion, bonds are higher risk from losing value from inflation.

I honestly don't see why bonds are recommended to any young person.

I used to be like 10% bonds and decreased this over time.

I think 2% of my NW is US total bond index, but tbh I just want to sell it and put into FSKAX.

I can't see many reasons to not be 100% stock when you're young.

 

[cyanide12345678]

I honestly don't see why bonds are recommended to any young person.

I used to be like 10% bonds and decreased this over time.

I think 2% of my NW is US total bond index, but tbh I just want to sell it and put into FSKAX.

I can't see many reasons to not be 100% stock when you're young.

There really isn’t a point.

Unfortunately vanguard target date funds all start at 10 percent bonds. So my retirement accounts are in 10 percent bonds.

When vanguard was asked why in this world they have bonds in a portfolio for very young people (target funds 2055 and beyond), they basically said it was only to get people used to holding bonds but otherwise there’s no real point…

 

[WhatJobDoIPick]

There really isn’t a point.

Unfortunately vanguard target date funds all start at 10 percent bonds. So my retirement accounts are in 10 percent bonds.

When vanguard was asked why in this world they have bonds in a portfolio for very young people (target funds 2055 and beyond), they basically said it was only to get people used to holding bonds but otherwise there’s no real point…

Why you using target date?

Isn't the ER pretty high?

Why not sell it and buy VTSAX or equivalent ETF?

 

[cyanide12345678]

Why you using target date?

Isn't the ER pretty high?

Why not sell it and buy VTSAX or equivalent ETF?

Im not a vtsax and chill fanatic. I don’t like concentrating in overvalued markets - aka US.

There should be a good 30-40 percent exposure to international markets based on modern portfolio theory - it actually minimize volatility and improved RISK ADJUSTED returns. International stock valuation multiples are undervalued compared to US stocks. Also with international diversification you’re protected against a Japan like event if you are 100 percent vtsax.

then unfortunately I’ll have to do rebalances since all retirement accounts are in traditional clunky brokerages like vanguard and fidelity where automatic rebalancing doesnt exist in mutual funds.

The difference between 0.14 and 0.05 fee is unimportant and completely insignificant in the grand scheme. It’s not worth my time especially since my retirement accounts are only 30 percent of my actual wealth.

Plus, as someone who paid 10k in commissions on trading last year, the difference between 0.14 vs 0.05 is peanuts. Completely inconsequential.

 

[cyanide12345678]

I would do vtwax if my retirement accounts offered it

 

[comp1]

Don't you all just put your money in a lifecycle/target date fund that tracks the overall market and forget it? I mean I guess you put as much as you can into retirement accounts based on your employment situation, but I've never understood what else "financial managers" do that justifies fees.

 

[WhatJobDoIPick]

Don't you all just put your money in a lifecycle/target date fund that tracks the overall market and forget it? I mean I guess you put as much as you can into retirement accounts based on your employment situation, but I've never understood what else "financial managers" do that justifies fees.

For those using a target date fund, you should probably play around with this:

Expense Ratio Impact Calculator | StableBread

Annual Periodic Investment

stablebread.com

 

[cyanide12345678]

For those using a target date fund, you should probably play around with this:

Expense Ratio Impact Calculator | StableBread

Annual Periodic Investment

stablebread.com

So….10k investment, 10k annual contribution. 8% annualized return. 0.05 ER vs 0.14 ER. 30 years of compounding - the difference is 12k in fees vs 32k.

The difference is this:

360k of principle becomes 1.22m vs 1.2m

So 338% total lifetime return vs 333% total lifetime return.

inconsequential difference over a 30 year time span.

 

[WhatJobDoIPick]

So….10k investment, 10k annual contribution. 8% annualized return. 0.05 ER vs 0.14 ER. 30 years of compounding - the difference is 12k in fees vs 32k.

The difference is this:

360k of principle becomes 1.22m vs 1.2m

So 338% total lifetime return vs 333% total lifetime return.

inconsequential difference over a 30 year time span.

Was more referring to the 0.75 ERs of Fidelity target date funds.

 

[cyanide12345678]

For those using a target date fund, you should probably play around with this:

Expense Ratio Impact Calculator | StableBread

Annual Periodic Investment

stablebread.com

And this difference of 20k is assuming you rebalance the portfolio, direct new money goes into whatever US or international stocks is down, dont react by panic selling during a recession when rebalancing. Sure if you can vtwax, then do that. But the reality is, a target fund is one of the most hands off investment vehicle within an asset allocation that is based precisely on modern portfolio theory with market weighted investments in the entire world.

I mean you can argue 100% vtsax all you want. But the reality then you are performance chasing. A historic 20 yr Bull run doesn’t mean that will continue. Out of the last 100 years there have been 3 or 4 entire decades where sp500 had negative returns. Currently the Schiller PE ratio at historically high levels, future returns may not be the same. If you actually read enough books, you’ll see investments are cyclic, the US markets have had a great 20 year run - making it less likely that they will be the front runners of the next 10 years.

Shiller PE Ratio - Multpl

Shiller PE Ratio chart, historic, and current data. Current Shiller PE Ratio is 35.18, a change of +0.40 from previous market close.

www.multpl.com

 

[cyanide12345678]

Was more referring to the 0.75 ERs of Fidelity target date funds.

Then don’t do that. Pick the vanguard target fund 😂 you can do that with a fidelity account lol.

Vanguard Mutual Fund Profile | Vanguard

investor.vanguard.com

That’s the one i have in every retirement account. 0.08 ER.

 

[emergentmd]

If you are investing in the broad market, then you do not need a wealth manager. Put it in the S&P, broad low fee funds like vanguard, its all cookbook.

If you are high wealth, you may need a fund manager who can help you with estate planning. If you have no interest or trigger happy to sell, they may be worth it. If the wealth manager has access to vehicles the public does not, then they may be worth it.

 

[vm26]

If you are investing in the broad market, then you do not need a wealth manager. Put it in the S&P, broad low fee funds like vanguard, its all cookbook.

If you are high wealth, you may need a fund manager who can help you with estate planning. If you have no interest or trigger happy to sell, they may be worth it. If the wealth manager has access to vehicles the public does not, then they may be worth it.

Thanks for all the great info/feedback...Certainly a lot to think about. Based on these comments (and comments I received on other physician forums), it seems like no one uses a Merrill Lynch (or equivalent). I wonder how these firms stay in business...Personally I will likely shop around to see what a reasonable fee is, and if ML cannot match that probably move on. It's a bit complicated though as my elderly mother, sibling and I are all with BOA/ML, and most accounts are in a trust where I am a co-trustee. I'm certainly not going to take over my mother's account or tell her where to go...I suppose at the end of the day, it comes down to whether or not one has the interest/bandwidth/time (most precious resource) to really do this themselves. I have a personal interest in working out/healthy diet/mindfulness etc so would never pay a professional for advice on these topics whereas many physicians could def benefit from getting a professional to help them get in shape, regain their health etc...Thanks again for all the great advice

 

[emergentmd]

Most physicians are financially lazy. They can spend hours studying medicine. They can work extra hours to increase their income. But they are too lazy to read up on how to make their money work for them.

Docs will go through brick walls to get the extra RVUs but won't open up a finances book. The finance book will make them more money in the long run than those extra RVUs.

Talk about not taking the lowest hanging fruit.

 

[dchristismi]

I have some bonds because I have one foot in retirement... and I'm not young anymore. A lady never shares her age, but its close enough to actual retirement that I'm not going to have as aggressive a portfolio as I used to. I've retired once already and my husband is partially retiring next year.
You all forget that there are docs here who might already be at CoastFire.

And FWIW, regarding ML/BOA, there's no reason you can't have multiple accounts. We're spread across Vanguard, Lincoln, TIAA, Voya, Fidelity, Discover and Chase. I bank with BOA because of their international partners and I don't like paying to use ATMs in Europe. (Which is silly, but fees are annoying.)

 

[WhatJobDoIPick]

Most physicians are financially lazy. They can spend hours studying medicine. They can work extra hours to increase their income. But they are too lazy to read up on how to make their money work for them.

Docs will go through brick walls to get the extra RVUs but won't open up a finances book. The finance book will make them more money in the long run than those extra RVUs.

Talk about not taking the lowest hanging fruit.

It's literally the easiest thing. You don't even have to read a book.

Take around 20% of your income and put 70% into some broad US total stock or S and P index and 30% into some broad international stock index. You can debate the percentages, I don't even care about that.

Get life, disability and umbrella insurance.

Done.

Obviously can get into deep weeds and do all sorts of other creative stuff, but for the vast majority (yes, you are not special despite being a doctor), this works remarkably well.

 

[cyanide12345678]

It's literally the easiest thing. You don't even have to read a book.

Take around 20% of your income and put 70% into some broad US total stock or S and P index and 30% into some broad international stock index. You can debate the percentages, I don't even care about that.

Get life, disability and umbrella insurance.

Done.

Obviously can get into deep weeds and do all sorts of other creative stuff, but for the vast majority (yes, you are not special despite being a doctor), this works remarkably well.

Maybe a will as well if you have kids.

But yes, that’s about it.

 

[ScepticSkeksis]

Anyone who pays a financial advisor is a fool. They usually take ~1% of the total value annually. They have no metrics to meet (like beating the market) and you pay that 1% whether the market is up or down. That 1% compounded over 30-40 years is a big hit to the portfolio, and is literally hundreds of thousands of dollars wasted for nothing. All the data shows that wealth managers in general don't outperform the S&P 500 over time. This whole scam industry is still propped up by clueless boomers, but needs to be abolished just like real estate agents.

 

[vm26]

What’s the fee?

I pay $8/month for Mark zorill.

Do i need a financial advisor? No. But i do like having access to emoney for excellent wealth tracking features. And maybe once a year i have a meeting with my guy and go through assumptions for the future to have the software reflect our current financial situation.

Financial advisors aren’t all scams. Some people need them. The ones that recognize that it is very difficult to beat passive index investing are the good ones.

The ones that sell you high commision products with high load fees - essentially a terrible portfolio are really bad for your long term wealth building.

I would never ever have a AUM financial advisor. So a fee only hourly guy/gal is usually the way to go, especially once you have a net worth.

But quite honestly, if you read 1 book (3 fund portfolio or bogleheads guide to investing) - literally spent 2-3 days reading a couple hundred pages, you would have the basic understanding of what a long term portfolio should look like and could do it all yourself

AUM charges about 0.85. My total investments seem complex to me (Active CMA, CMA growth, CMA treasury cash, 529's, IRA's, HSA). Total value is around 1.3M. My impression is that I would be better off with a DIY account like a Fidelity 500 Index fund? How would I even go about doing this myself?

 

[JacobMcCandles]

AUM charges about 0.85. My total investments seem complex to me (Active CMA, CMA growth, CMA treasury cash, 529's, IRA's, HSA). Total value is around 1.3M. My impression is that I would be better off with a DIY account like a Fidelity 500 Index fund? How would I even go about doing this myself?

If they're in tax-advantaged accounts (401k, 403b, Roth Ira, HSAs, etc.) you can just move them out of whatever funds they're in and into an S&P 500 fund (or other comparable fund available to you) without any tax consequences. If they're in a taxable account then you'll have either short term or long term capital gains based on how long you've had them. Those can be offset by losses but with where the market has gone over the last 4 months, you likely won't have any losses.

Given your question, you probably need to educate yourself a bit first. You can read a book or two (i.e. Bogleheads Guide to Investing) and be in a position to manage basically all of your own stuff. Financial advisors like to put people in a bunch of different funds to make things seem incredibly complicated and that you need a professional to help you out when that couldn't be further from the truth.

 

[vm26]

If they're in tax-advantaged accounts (401k, 403b, Roth Ira, HSAs, etc.) you can just move them out of whatever funds they're in and into an S&P 500 fund (or other comparable fund available to you) without any tax consequences. If they're in a taxable account then you'll have either short term or long term capital gains based on how long you've had them. Those can be offset by losses but with where the market has gone over the last 4 months, you likely won't have any losses.

Given your question, you probably need to educate yourself a bit first. You can read a book or two (i.e. Bogleheads Guide to Investing) and be in a position to manage basically all of your own stuff. Financial advisors like to put people in a bunch of different funds to make things seem incredibly complicated and that you need a professional to help you out when that couldn't be further from the truth.

Thanks for the response...if I was moving these into a fidelity/Vanguard, would they have an advisor that I could pay to make this happen smoothly?

 

[Splenda88]

Thanks for the response...if I was moving these into a fidelity/Vanguard, would they have an advisor that I could pay to make this happen smoothly?

I would use Fidelity if I were you. Their website is more user friendly than Vanguard in my opinion.

I don't think you will need to pay. Just give them a call on Monday.

 

[WhatJobDoIPick]

AUM charges about 0.85. My total investments seem complex to me (Active CMA, CMA growth, CMA treasury cash, 529's, IRA's, HSA). Total value is around 1.3M. My impression is that I would be better off with a DIY account like a Fidelity 500 Index fund? How would I even go about doing this myself?

11k in fees a year? You like burning money huh?

 

[Splenda88]

11k in fees a year? You like burning money huh?

Yeah.

The expense ratio of a S&P500 index is usually 0.03-0.05% and that's like $390-650/yr on 1.3 mil portfolio.

 

[vm26]

11k in fees a year? You like burning money huh?

No, guess its time for a change

 

[cyanide12345678]

the big question is whether these are accounts in a taxable account or a retirement account.

If a retirement account, get rid of everything. Sell everything and start over with either a vanguard target retirement fund or a combination of vtsax and the total international market fund.

If a taxable account, you’re kinda stuck thinking whether or not to take a tax hit. A million dollar account with large gains can result in a very very sizable tax hit that a lot of people might not be willing to take.

I personally am of the belief to not let the tax tail wag the dog, so i personally would sell everything and then move on to index funds to simplify things so you understand what’s going on. But be aware you could be in for a very large tax hit if you have a taxable account with a lot of capital gains.

 

[JacobMcCandles]

Thanks for the response...if I was moving these into a fidelity/Vanguard, would they have an advisor that I could pay to make this happen smoothly?

If you're comfortable, post what accounts you have, who they're with, what they're currently invested in, etc. You may not have to (or be able to) move whatever company that particular account is with. For example, 529s are going to be through either your state or another state. Fidelity does HSAs but probably have a decent option or two at your current provider. Your 401k is likely through a particular company with a set menu of options unless you have a self-directed brokerage option.

 

[TooMuchResearch]

I don’t see a point to bonds unless someone is 50+ in age.

in my opinion, bonds are higher risk from losing value from inflation.

We have zero bonds, aside from small allocations still hiding out that I haven't offloaded yet, and likely never will. Used to have 10-20% and realized I don't need that security of a losing investment.

 

[Groove]

Thanks for the response...if I was moving these into a fidelity/Vanguard, would they have an advisor that I could pay to make this happen smoothly?

As others have said, you should be fine with any of the big brokerage firms. I've used Schwab, Fidelity, Vanguard, TDA and was most recently with TDA until they merged with Schwab. I've been super happy with Schwab. Great products and customer service and I'm a big fan of their trading platform "thinkorswim" which came over with the TDA merger. Schwab will now be the largest brokerage house with over 8.5 trillion in assets. Fidelity would be next with 4.something trillion in assets I believe. I was very happy with Fidelity as well. My parents actually use them. Nice products, had great support. I just wasn't that big a fan of their trading platform.

Vanguard is nice if you are interested In their mutual fund products but unless something has changed they have the most archaic website and platform. It's like something out of the dark ages, or at least it used to be.

But yes, you just phone up one of the financial advisors for the brokerage and tell them what you are trying to do and they will walk you through rolling over your accounts. It's pretty painless. Most of it can be done online as well.

 

[finalpsychyear]

the big question is whether these are accounts in a taxable account or a retirement account.

If a retirement account, get rid of everything. Sell everything and start over with either a vanguard target retirement fund or a combination of vtsax and the total international market fund.

If a taxable account, you’re kinda stuck thinking whether or not to take a tax hit. A million dollar account with large gains can result in a very very sizable tax hit that a lot of people might not be willing to take.

I personally am of the belief to not let the tax tail wag the dog, so i personally would sell everything and then move on to index funds to simplify things so you understand what’s going on. But be aware you could be in for a very large tax hit if you have a taxable account with a lot of capital gains.

Im pretty sure you can do what's called an in kind transfer from for example schwaub to vanguard, fidelity etc and not sell any shares even in a post tax account for almost all your shares besides maybe some annoying things that can't transfer over.

https://moneywise.com/investing/how-to-transfer-accounts

 

[cyanide12345678]

Im pretty sure you can do what's called an in kind transfer from for example schwaub to vanguard, fidelity etc and not sell any shares even in a post tax account for almost all your shares besides maybe some annoying things that can't transfer over.

https://moneywise.com/investing/how-to-transfer-accounts

Yes, that can take place. But then you can be stuck in mutual funds with high expense ratio and moving forward that will diminish your returns for decades to come.

So…. It’s usually better to just take the tax hit and reset the cost basis and put in better funds so it’s not a lifelong diminished return from high expense ratios, unless ofcourse the original funds are decent to begin with.

 

[finalpsychyear]

Yes, that can take place. But then you can be stuck in mutual funds with high expense ratio and moving forward that will diminish your returns for decades to come.

So…. It’s usually better to just take the tax hit and reset the cost basis and put in better funds so it’s not a lifelong diminished return from high expense ratios, unless ofcourse the original funds are decent to begin with.

Yes or some older folks were stuck with 1 percent aum fees via financial advisors so just having that gone by self directed approach can be big