advisor or no advisor

[frank]

I opened an Ira for my dw in 1995 with franklin templeton income funds. it was just about 4500 dollars that I wanted to get tax deferred at the time. from 1995 to 01/2014 it has grown to 9500. I have never taken any withdrawals from this amount., I got quarterly statements from franklin templeton and it was not a problem. recently I needed to get rid of another 4 thousand to lower my tax obligations, so I looked at franklin templeton site and saw that my local rep was a local investment adviser. these are class c shares and I thought the load was 1 percent if taken out before a year otherwise no load. Now this financial adviser wants me to come into the office and sign a bunch of paperwork making her my representative. my question is why do I need her when she or anyone else hasn't done anything with this account for almost 20 years? Can I have an account with franklin templeton without an advisor or someone else taking a commission. of course I understand that there is an annual maintanence fee by franklin. thanks

frank

[LOL!]

Class C shares have a relative high annual expense ratio of over 1% each year, so I think your spouse will want to get rid of this poorly performing investment and also not waste time with an advisor.

You wrote that this is your spouse's IRA. That means your spouse and not you have to sign all the paperwork and do anything else that pertains to this account.

I would suggest selling the investment, keep it in the IRA, and move the IRA to a low-cost place such as Vanguard, Fidelity, Schwab, etc. These places will have no annual maintenance fee, too. Be careful with your money and do not trust any advisor or random person on the internet.

A $4500 investment in the Vanguard Total Bond Income fund about this time in 1995 would have grown to about $13150 or almost twice as much as your Franklin fund did. Basically, it appears that Franklin took half of your gains.

[growing_older]

Why should YOU be inconvenienced to travel to their office and sign anything, let alone sign something to get your "representative" a cut of your commissions. You do not benefit at all. You would do much better to transfer the account to a low cost provider.

[REWahoo]

I vote "no".

[pb4uski]

Quote:

Originally Posted by REWahoo I vote "no".

+1 Do it yourself. Move the whole thing to Vanguard or Fidelity.

[Walt34]

Quote:

Originally Posted by growing_older Why should YOU be inconvenienced to travel to their office and sign anything, let alone sign something to get your "representative" a cut of your commissions. You do not benefit at all. You would do much better to transfer the account to a low cost provider.

Exactly.

"Please, please, come in to our office and sign away all your rights and future gains so we, and not you, can retire rich."

[MRG]

Frank, class c shares typically have a reoccurring 12b1 fee, normally 1%, it's included in the funds E.R. The 1 year lock in(can be longer), is a deferred sales charge.

The SECs site gives a great overview of different loads, fees...
http://www.sec.gov/answers/mffees.htm

Don't go to F.T., talk with Vanguard, Fidelity, or Schwab. Depending on where you live the later two may have an office near you.

Run away from Franklin Templeton, or anyone with advisor fees, loads, etc. Tell them you have some nice road apples as gifts, if they want to see you in person.
Best wishes,
MRG

[Donzo]

In reality an adviser will get about 25% of your safe withdrawal $ each year (not counting hidden fees)....just think about that

You can purchased managed funds from VG that match your risk tolerance and come out way ahead

[nash031]

Quote:

Originally Posted by frank she or anyone else hasn't done anything with this account for almost 20 years? ... of course I understand that there is an annual maintanence fee by franklin.

To me, this answers your question for you. You've been paying them to do nothing for 20 years. Why pay them MORE?

[travelover]

Quote:

Originally Posted by LOL! ............I would suggest selling the investment, keep it in the IRA, and move the IRA to a low-cost place such as Vanguard, Fidelity, Schwab, etc. These places will have no annual maintenance fee, too. Be careful with your money and do not trust any advisor or random person on the internet...........

Excellent advice.

[frank]

I appreciate your advice and thanks for the info.

frank