account management costs

[gayl]

It's a complicated (I think) situation. I've got 5 sibs. I am POA; one brother is health proxy. Nursing home (and costs) a must due to nature of Dad's illness. Mom is adjusting emotionally.... She has multiple streams of income (her pension, his pension, SS). ...rental income....

This is delicate stuff. We always took care of our grandparents at home until death. My father's illness prevents home care. My only solace is that my father actually wants to be where he is and gets excellent care.

Take care and DON'T rush into anything. I went through a similiar situation last fall, and it left a lot of hurt feelings. I hope that your parents have an AB Trust so that if / when something happens to Dad that her lifestyle won't be interrupted. My brother asked about his inheritance at Dad's funeral... thank G-D that the trust was there! It was well worth the $500 they paid to have it set up even though Mom had to transfer everything in herself.

I am taking her to Charles Schwab now that the apartment house is sold so that she can ladder into individual tax-free munis. She doesn't need the money but I'm glad it is there in case she wants to spend it.

Bottom line: give her time. Vanguard is quite reasonable if you are interested in growth, Schwab runs free no-pressure hour long courses during a free lunch if you are interested in taking short courses.

 

[mickeyd]

Do I understand that you pay a 1% fee in addition to the ER for each fund?

If that is so, you are paying $8K plus maybe another $8k or so in (expense ratio) ER, if the ER is 1%.

If you were invested in Vanguard at say, .25% ER, you would have an annual expense of about $2000.

I suggest that you calculate the ER for each of your funds (expense ratio X current fund value).

Then add that # to the $8000 you are paying for the Mgt. fee.

If you have never done this before, you will be very surprised at the total your are paying each year.