Sure wish I knew what to do.....

[ljhilljr]

Hi folks,
I retired on April Fools day this year (age 60) and elected to leave my retirement funds within my ex-company's savings plan which is with Vanguard. I've got a little over 1M in a fund that has a stable $1 price that has paid me around 2500 every month so far......but, I'm thinking maybe I should open an IRA with Vanguard and go the 30/70 route with VG stocks and bonds.....or not.....I'm driving myself crazy with my indecision and fear of taking a bath if the economy really isn't on the upswing.
What, in your opinion, do you think would be the best course, given the current state of the economy and all the great taxes coming down the pike? Thanks in advance....

[Bestwifeever]

I don't have any advice for you about what to do, but--

You can call Vanguard directly and have your retirement funds rolled over to a personal IRA at Vanguard. That would help in two ways: you probably are having to pay a small additional administrative fee from your funds while they are in your former employers plan. You won't have to pay this additional fee once the funds are rolled over.

More importantly, once you roll this amount (more than $1 million) over to Vanguard, you'll be a Flagship member. You'll get access for free to financial planning, including some help determining what level of risk you are comfortable with and some suggestions for how to invest your money. You could decide to keep your money in the same fund that it's in now, but at least you'll have some help making the decision.

But call Vanguard and discuss with them what you have and what you want to do. They were very helpful to us.

PS You could also call Fidelity or other places--they can all help you roll your funds over, regardless of them being with Vanguard now.

[mn54]

There are others a lot smarter than I am on this forum but I think you need to give us some more info before you can get a proper answer. Is the 1M all that you have to live on? What are your other assets and expenses? How much risk are you willing to take and still sleep at night?

[ljhilljr]

Thanks,
Yeah, the 1M is about it....house is paid off and there should be some SS next year when I get to 62.....I do have a conversation with a VG planner scheduled for later this week, would just like some outside opinions beforehand because the VG associate probably won't have anything negative to say about any of their funds. I am extremely conservative with any investments....