<p>Inspired by the Charles Schwab thread, but not wanting to hijack . . . H has five (yes, 5) old retirement accounts from various previous employers–old as in at least fifteen years old in one case more like twenty years. These were jobs he had for a short while (a few months to a few years) in between grad school/law school/other things so none of them has a great deal of money invested in them. he has been content to just leave them where they are but I see no need to keep getting these five statements every quarter. Plus I htink we need to start taking a more active role in planning for retirement–we both have 401(k) plans but that’s it. </p>
<p>My thought had always been that he should just consolidate the old accounts with his current account, but perhaps we need to open an independent account somewhere. I read something a few months ago about John Bogle (the founder of Vanguard) and his philosophy impressed me, so for that reason (but no other, really) I have been planning to talk to someone at Vanguard.</p>
<p>Personally, I like meeting face-to-face. This is one of the reasons I am STRONGLY leaning toward CS (they have a bricks & mortar office in Honolulu) over some of the other firms. I am especially nervous about moving IRA accounts without someone in person holding my hand through the process so it is NOT a taxable event–have heard of some folks who had to pay taxes because rollovers were NOT done properly.</p>
<p>I did have some negative experiences with a prior small firm where all their employees were just there to help process your paperwork and saw folks who could NOT get their funds out, despite appropriate legal paperwork.</p>
<p>I like the idea of having funds all at one place instead of having many small accounts all over the place. Have only heard good things about Vanguard and we opened some accounts there but they don’t have any brick & mortar location in Honolulu.</p>
<p>Consolidating is a good idea. I’d use Fidelity over Vanguard; I’ve found Fidelity’s website and their customer service staff to be much better and more efficient.</p>
<p>I just consolidated 5 funds into my present company’s 401k, but when we were recently purchased I moved it all to Vanguard. They are great! Love the website. I have had annoying experiences in the past with Fidelity (had to raise my voice to get my funds OUT) and didn’t consider them.</p>
<p>The only thing I didn’t like was that I was automatically assigned a rollover “concierge” = a human who called me on my cell to tell me the money had transferred. I explained that I gave them my cell # in case there is a PROBLEM and other than that I do NOT want to hear from them. He seemed ok with that and I haven’t been bothered since!</p>
<p>My husband and I moved all of our retirement accounts into Vanguard a few years ago. This included both of our IRAs and 401ks, both of our Roth IRAs, and my self-employment IRA, creating five different buckets. </p>
<p>The process was easy, and I’ve been happy with them. One thing that I liked is that they totaled all five accounts to put us at a level where we could buy some mutual funds at lower expense ratios and have an advisor assigned to us. I rarely used the advisor once the transfers were done, but when she left and the new one insisted on speaking to my husband instead of me, I requested a different advisor and was assigned a new one with no problems.</p>
<p>The following question is based purely on ignorance, not trying to be snarky…</p>
<p>Isn’t there a risk to putting all your eggs in one basket? With all the financial failures recently, why would one want to have everything at one firm? </p>
<p>I’ll be taking the same question to my advisor in a couple months since I just left a job where I had a huge (to me) 401k and lump sum pension. But, I ask it here because I’m curious now.</p>
<p>Yes, this is one issue that is giving us some pause. Am very interested in the responses. I do see benefit in not having things at TONS of different places but see danger in the event of a possible Goldman, etc. collapse.</p>
<p>I have put my rollover 401K money with Fidelity. As noted, they have a painless website, plus you can set it up as a brokerage account if you want to hold individual securities and not just Fidelity mutual funds. </p>
<p>That said, I also have an account at Vanguard and feel the Wellington Fund is one of the best balanced funds out there. </p>
<p>Neither would be a bad choice. Given fees can quietly eat away into the returns of long term money, it is smart to look at returns after all fees (& never buy a mutual fund with a load!).</p>
<p>Where to consolidate is more of a personal matter. Stay with one firm long enough and you’ll encounter a practice or two you don’t like. But you certainly ought to feel good going in.</p>
<p>My understanding is that you should still have your positions in the securities and products held in the accounts. They don’t have your cash sitting in a bank, they are tracking YOUR holdings of stocks and mutual funds that they purchased on your behalf.</p>
<p>My dad suggested recently that I combine as many accounts as possible. He said it is a hassle to keep track of whether you have taken required withdrawals, etc. with a lot of different accounts. I have some that can’t be consolidated – for example, one is a 403(B) from when I worked at a non-profit, and it can’t be rolled in with 401Ks.</p>
<p>I have had accounts at Fidelity and Schwab over the years, and never had a major problem with either (one small glitch with Fidelity once, but really minimal given the number of transactions I have done with them). I have some Etrade accounts, and do NOT recommend them.</p>
<p>I don’t think Vanguard has a fee to maintain a 401K account (Fidelity definitely does not). I am referring to the asset management fees that all managers charge their funds. In addition to above average returns, Vanguard charges some of the lowest fees in the business. You will not be able to find ANY index fund that does not change a management fee - this is how asset managers keep the lights on and pay their employees.</p>
<p>I now prefer bricks and mortar places because when one of you dies, it is much easier to deal with people in person than over the phone. It is very easy for a financial institution to lock down joint accounts when they talk to you on the phone. It is extremely hard for them to lock down a joint account when one of the people on the account is standing in front of them holding the other’s death certificate and saying loudly in front of other customers that it must be a mistake, I’m sure they can fix it.</p>
<p>And that is why I no longer have money at Vanguard.</p>
<p>I was there at TD Waterhouse when someone was loudly proclaiming that s/he needed the funds & had all the legal paperwork and why were they withholding it. It was shortly thereafter that I closed all our accounts there. ICK–don’t want that at all!</p>
<p>We picked Vanguard because we have been pleased with their financial planning model. They run the 1000 or 10000 simulations or whatever and I like to see those results. As a nice bonus, we got TurboTax for 10 bucks this year.</p>
<p>I’ve consolidated everything I have into both V and F. In last week, I’ve spoken to V rep and visited local F office 2x. Its different to have local agent, as with F, but have been quite pleased with v too. No one has ever asked to speak to mr. vs me. I never feel rushed when I speak to a V agent. Honestly, no preference.</p>