Should I transfer my brownco Roth to Vanguard?

[soupcxan]

Been thinking about transferring my Roth from Brownco to Vanguard. The only holdings in the account are two VG funds and Brownco wants $5 commission each for my annual contribution. But they'll hit me with a $50 fee to transfer out. I can buy these funds for free at VG, so it'll take 5 years to break even if I transfer. However, since Brownco was recently bought by eTrade, the commissions may go up in the future, or the transfer fee could rise. On the other hand, I have more freedom to purchase ETFs or other fund families if I stay at BC - buying any non-VG products in a VG account gets expensive very quickly. Right now I don't see any reason why I would buy a non-VG fund, but who knows what the future will bring. Maybe one day I wake up and decide that I absolutely have to have some PCRDX or GIM.

Another alternative is to start a new Roth at VG in 2006 and leave the BC account alone. This would avoid paying any more BC commissions as well as the transfer fee. And BC doesn't have any inactivity/maintenance fees. But I am an organized person and would prefer to have all my accounts together in the same place.

[LOL!]

My answer is definitely maybe.
Personally I see nothing wrong with having an account at Vanguard and accounts elsewhere ... especially if you are an organized person. If you were disorganized, then limiting the number of accounts to 3 might be worthwhile.

I really like having all my accounts in one place, but I'd say the option of leaving the BC account and starting a new VG account clearly makes the most financial sense.

[lazyday]

Originally Posted by soupcxan

Maybe one day I wake up and decide that I absolutely have to have some PCRDX or GIM.

Or even some VWO. Vanguard is pretty expensive for stock and non-NTF,non-Vgd mutual fund trades, unless you have a million with them.
It sounds sensible to me to have both accounts, especially if combining them wouldn't help you over a hurdle such as Voyager or Flagship, or avoiding some Vanguard $10 fees.

[BUM]

Happy New Year soup!

Just the fact that you started this thread suggests you have a problem with Brownco...anything else we should know about?

[soupcxan]

No problems with Brownco, I would still recommend them if you aren't going to buy mutual funds directly from the company. Their service has always been quite professional (hopefully that won't change with the merger). My only motivation to change is - if I'm only going to be buying Vanguard funds, why not get it straight from the horse's mouth and save the $5 commissino?

[cute fuzzy bunny]

I hate those nickel and dime charges. Makes me wonder whose brain the management was using when they decided that it was a good idea. I'm sure all those pennies add up at some point to the bottom line, but I also wonder how many soupcxan's there are that just get fed up at the death of a thousand small cuts and take their money elsewhere.

My last residence, I was considered to be in an "NRTC" television area, which is basically 'rural america'. So some companies could stake out a claim for satellite or cable and while the original company (in my case directv) still provided the product, they'd claim some value add and charge you extra. They hit me for five bucks a month for nothing. I finally called and told them I was going back to cable as it was ten bucks a month cheaper, including their five dollar profit fee. They offered to waive it. Too late...

I can see an outfit charging low balance or acct maintenance fees to offset the costs of handling very small accounts. But it makes me wonder if long term a customer wouldnt appreciate being treated like a "little guy" that warrants paying for the trouble of being a customer.

I'd hate the five buck fee, and the fifty dollar one, but i'd probably just bite the bullet and move it to vanguard. It'd be worth it to me to lose the frivolous fee and to have everything in one place.

As far as vanguard being expensive and more trouble to buy individual stocks or the oddball fund, I consider that a plus. It makes me think twice before venturing into stuff that'll probably make me lose money.