Poll: Where do folks keep their retirement Nest Egg's Investable cash assets?

[MarieIG]

This consolidation stuff takes time.

I have been working on getting some free floating stock and one remaining "free floating" mutual fund over to my brokerages.

I have two main brokerages, one credit union (some stock held with transfer agent) and four banks which OP would not count, and some bank accounts joint with DH.

 

[gauss]

I have assets at Vanguard , Fidelity, and both DW and my 401k plan providers.

I like the idea of having the money spread out in that if there was some type of failure at one of the financial institutions (ie they were hacked and your assets have "gone missing") then there would be other assets to carry us for a while until it is all sorted out.

In the worse case where the missing assets are never recovered, this strategy would limit the damage to the overall portfolio to something less than catastrophic.

-gauss

 

[Sunset]

Spread it around. Don't want it all in 1 place in case that 1 place becomes inaccessible.

Key is to keep a record of where it's located currently. Note which ones are closed when closing them.

 

[Badger]

Cash is in a few different places and if I decide to invest it in stock it is readily available. However, I don't see a need to continue buying more MFs or stock. Beneficiaries are identified for the cash so they will get it immediately and not held up for the trust/will to clear for distribution of other assets.

Cheers!

 

[Bamaman]

MegaCorp was always FIDO with the 401K's, and after retiring they required all funds be moved out--into a IRA Rollover. I just moved all funds and ETF's at the same place--Fidelity.

I keep a travel savings account at our local credit union, and use Ally Bank for high interest savings from time to time.

I think a better question might be How Many Accounts Do You Use for 401K's/IRA's?

I only keep my funds in about 5 accounts as it's hard to monitor many, many sources of investments.

 

[MarieIG]

MegaCorp was always FIDO with the 401K's, and after retiring they required all funds be moved out--into a IRA Rollover. I just moved all funds and ETF's at the same place--Fidelity.

I keep a travel savings account at our local credit union, and use Ally Bank for high interest savings from time to time.

I think a better question might be How Many Accounts Do You Use for 401K's/IRA's?

I only keep my funds in about 5 accounts as it's hard to monitor many, many sources of investments.

I just have two IRAs, a traditional and a Roth, both at Vanguard. The former employer's 401k was too expensive for me to keep - and they charged a $95 fee for each and every withdrawal, so that was a quick see ya' later gater.

 

[Graybeard]

2/3 of my assets are at Vanguard. My 401k was always with Fidelity so the other 1/3 is there. The Stable Value Fund has been a great fixed income choice over the years but with Treasuries so high the SVF is lagging. I keep about $4-6K at Ally.

 

[PointBreeze]

Fidelity and Vanguard

We have most of our fixed assets at Fidelity, and most of our equity investments at Vanguard. The reason is that we do all of our cash management and credit cards through Fidelity, and the fixed income portion of the portfolio is earmarked for the next 12-20 years' of spending, plus I like Fidelity's website more and have to interact with fixed income investments more often. The equity portion of the portfolio is for 20+ years from now and is mostly set-and-forget.

 

[calmloki]

Was going to say money is fungible, but "investable cash assets" seems like it would take CDs off the table by definition - stocks can be turned into investable cash quicker than trying to break a CD, but I don't think of those as cash either, nor yet T-bills or I-bonds. The rentals and property contracts generate cash and are worth a bunch, but aren't money.

So I'm left with savings and checking accounts and mattress money. Looks like we have cash in the house, cash in a small town local bank and several Chase accounts, then the online banks holding the majority - Marcus, Ally, Discover and a few others that have dribs and drabs residual amounts from whatever special I took advantage of, and finally VMFXX, which has a big chunk from breaking a GTE 3% bond.

 

[gamboolman]

Upon retirement, we consolidated everything to Fidelity.
So much simpler.

We have a Bank Account that we have a year or two worth of living expenses that we pay bills from.

 

[COcheesehead]

Consolidation is powerful if you use it right. You are more valuable to a single brokerage and they should reciprocate. Just the ease of planning and tax time are worth it alone, but if I can get extra incentives for account size, that’s a bonus.
We have everything at Fidelity.

 

[audreyh1]

Most of our investable assets are with/through one broker, but the cash portion is spread among multiple banks and credit unions in savings accounts and CDs, and some in IBonds as well as through one brokerage.

Yeah, the investable cash assets in the title confused me.

 

[gayl]

When I was a county employee I had it at 3 places (457 at Hartford, Roth & Brokerage at Schwab, loose cash at USAA). Now it's just Schwab & emergency fund / checking / savings at USAA

 

[scrabbler1]

I keep most of my investable assets at one brokerage. But I have a local bank account where I keep my fairly small amount of cash, the account serving mainly as a conduit for monthly dividends (cash) coming and and paying bills going out. Any excess money in there, beyond minimum balance requirements and a small buffer or cushion to meet smaller, unforeseen expenses, gets invested somewhere.

But I have another blob of money in one bond fund at another brokerage. This account, unlike the ones at my main brokerage, has checkwriting privileges, making the money more easily accessible (i.e. a second-tier emergency fund). I don't write checks on this fund often, on average once a year in the 30+ years I have been in this fund, but I am glad I have checkwriting on it.

 

[FLSUnFIRE]

TSP, Vanguard, CU (MMSA/CD's/Checking for current year expenses.



I like simple but not sure I want everything at one place. I have another bank account I use for "business" when paid for fun jobs but transfer it to my CU pretty quickly.



I'll considering opening a bank account every year or two for signing bonus and rotate them in the future -especially if I can figure out the direct deposit qualifications without paycheck/gov't benefits to maximize the bonus. That would help mitigate inflation beating up my cash.

 

[mickeyd]

TODAY 99% of my cash is in VG CRFMMF with a yield of around 2.8%. Beats Ally.

 

[Koolau]

TODAY 99% of my cash is in VG CRFMMF with a yield of around 2.8%. Beats Ally.

Sounds like a good play for cash. Already in several V MFs. Some cash in prime for liquidity but it pays very little. Thanks for the tip.

 

[NW-Bound]

* Merrill Edge 74%
* Schwab 10%
* 401k's 5%
* Treasury Direct 6%
* Vanguard 2%
* MF accounts 2%
* HSA, misc. 1%

I don't have much in Vanguard because after I moved a bit of money there as a test, did not like the service, so never transferred more.

Some of the other accounts were legacy from a long time ago, and I meant to withdraw to spend and deplete them. Never got around to do it.

 

[jkern]

Operating cash: CU/CapitalOne

IRA Cash/Saving Cash: Ally

IRA stocks/bonds: Vanguard

 

[FLJim]

I am curious whether retired folks here keep all their nest egg's investable assets (Cash, stocks, Bonds etc) under one main umbrella.

What I mean is; do folks put all their assets with one broker, i.e.; Schwab, Vanguard, Fidelity, Merrill etc., or do folks spread it around in different banks brokers and Credit unions.

I ask as I am currently consolidating all our nest egg's investable assets into Schwab, and buying investments from/under the Schwab umbrella.

So far I have moved some (unqualified finds) and will move the rest (Qualified IRAs) when the CDs mature in 2024. I am trying to decide if I should put those in another brokerage, say Fidelity.

I will then buy what I want through Schwab and/or Fidelity.

Have been with Schwab for 47 years and have 6 separate accounts there (mine and DW's) 401(k)'s at Fidelity and TRP, and checking accounts at 2 separate banks. I voted "spread around".

 

[523HRR]

Schwab, Fidelity, TD Ameritrade, Vanguard, Synchrony

 

[Out of Steam]

Primarily the Federal TSP G Fund, with a smaller TIAA IRA to provide financial flexibility the TSP doesn't offer, including Roth conversion.

My TIAA 403(b) has been turned into a five year payout to help finance delaying Social Security.

 

[2017ish]

Answered b: More than one brokerage.

Majority at Fidelity.
Good chunk at Schwab
Enough at MerrillEdge to keep platinum honors status at BoA for both of us.
Checking account at BoA as our spending account.

Recently have consolidated by moving monies from Vanguard and TDA. Probably going to stick with this. Gives us two separate international Debit cards for countries that don't like credit cards in their hinterlands, brick and mortar outlets if we (or our heirs) need assistance in future, some excellent credit card bonuses from BoA, and the inertia keeping our decades old checking account in place.

 

[Koolau]

Getting ready to dump my last remaining non-V mutual fund. It's not even one month's spending. I do keep a fair amount in my 401(k) which is not at V but that has some real advantages to me - like a good GIF. DW still has an American funds account (think it might be called Capital Group now?) She's even more inhibited by procrastination than I am. YMMV

 

[jollystomper]

We spread it around between Fidelity, Vanguard, and 2 online banks, based on both who is paying the best interest rate, not having all eggs in one basket, and inheritance purposes. We keep small amounts in a local bank for bill payments and a credit union for Paypal transactions.