How are my Rate of Return in my Roth IRA?

F.I.R.E User said:
My FA at EJ is going to pressure me to stay.
Click to expand...



When I dumped my regional broker I never even spoke to them. I called Fido and gave them the regional broker’s contact info and my account number. They filled out the forms which I signed and Fido took care of everything (transfer in kind in this case). When the regional outfit hit me with a transfer fee Fido reimbursed it.

Edit: I was actually a bit disappointed they didn’t even call me to fight for my business. Good riddance.
 
F.I.R.E User said:
Should I tell my FA about this group and what the users suggested?
Click to expand...

Coming in very late to this thread...but in answer to this question:

Only if you want to listen to someone demonstrate that they don't actually understand investing (at best) or show that they will straight up lie to bring home their pay check (at worst).

A personal perspective:
About 18 months ago I pried my Mom out of the clutches of a Morgan Stanley FA. What a crook.

He had her in 23 different managed funds. He fought providing me data at every step of the process, but from my research reading her annuity contract and investigating the funds inside the annuity/other funds, my Mom was eating $5000 in fees on a $160k portfolio...3% or so.

His last move was pressuring an 86 year older person to take on a new annuity with a 7 year surrender period. He was also trying to get her to buy into mutual fund that used hedging techniques. Seriously. Fortunately I was able to dive on those grenades before they went off.

When I told him to put her assets into a low cost, index funds, he attacked me in an email, copying my mom, and tried to roll out his "20 years of experience" (bilking un-informed investors). He finally sent me a CYA letter saying that his investment choices were "appropriate based on the client's expressed desires for the future uses of the funds." He then told me to f-off and take the money elsewhere.

Its sitting safely at Schwab now, conservatively deployed, and paying about 0.2% in fees. If Mom needs a nursing home, all I have to do is click "sell."

OP: As many others have said, you should read up and learn more about the basics of investing. If it were me, I would then move the funds from EJ to a Schwab/Fido/Vanguard, and probably pay them a one-time fee to build a simple financial plan. But if all you did was move it to a low cost brokerage and put the money into a target date or balanced fund, I suspect you would come out way ahead of where you are now. Good luck.
 
Last edited:
F.I.R.E User said:
My FA at EJ is going to pressure me to stay.
Click to expand...

Well yes, you and others that fell into his trap are his meal ticket. He will tell you a hundred different reasons you should stay, but he will be lying, he wants you to stay so he can suck your financial blood. Never engage these folks with reasons or explanations, they are professional manipulators and can make you doubt your own name. Just give them simple, written directions.

You generally should set up an account at the new firm first. When I transferred funds into Vanguard, I set up an account and filled out a form downloaded from Vanguard with the company and account numbers I was transferring from and the Vanguard account I was transferring to, signed and mailed it back. After several days to a week (some of this was time in the mail), Vanguard contacted the old company and moved the money. One transaction got messed up as the old firm was playing games to make it hard and I had to keep calling and e-mailing them to get it back on track (took a month!, which completely coincidentally took them to the end of a quarter so they did not feel the need to refund fees).

If you have several types of accounts (taxable, your Roth, your traditional IRA, spouse Roth, spouse IRA), you will have to repeat the above process for each. For your taxable account, you can just have them put the money in your bank account and you move it later to your new firm, but I recommend you do this all at once while you are focused on it, so that it gets all done quickly.

Once you have filled out the information with the new company and sent it back in, then let EJ know to expect it and send them the account numbers to put the money in. Keep everything in e-mail, don't take any phone calls from them, only give instructions, no complaints about the past, reasons for what you are doing or anything else. After the money has arrived at the new firm, then you can tell your former what you think of him, but not until the money has moved, they will use the argument as a way to delay and try to turn you around.

Just send an e-mail something like:

"Be advised I am using Vanguard going forward and have filled out papers with them requesting my funds be transferred from you to account XXXX. Please liquidate funds that cannot be transferred and work with them to ensure the transition goes smoothly"

Sincerely,
F.I.R.E User"
 
Exchme said:
... Just send an e-mail something like:

"Be advised I am using Vanguard going forward and have filled out papers with them requesting my funds be transferred from you to account XXXX. Please liquidate funds that cannot be transferred and work with them to ensure the transition goes smoothly"

Sincerely,
F.I.R.E User"
Click to expand...
No need for this and it's actually counterproductive. Vanguard will let them know. Sending an email just lengthens the time that Fast Eddie has to hassle the soon-to-be-ex-customer.

Incidentally, I don't think it has been mentioned but VG would probably be willing to reimburse all of Fast Eddy's fees.
 
I might add that Fidelity can likely do the job better, from my experience. Vanguard is good, but with no local offices all the paper work must be Medallion signature guarantied somewhere and snail mailed to them.

Fidelity is great for getting local support in office and they have much better on line tracing of the funds being moved. You can visit an office and they will fill out the forms and get it going for you simply and faster than even fast eddie can blink!

Also, I believe Fido can hold funds that VG may not so you may be able to transfer funds prior to liquidating. Something to ask FIDO.
 
pb4uski said:
I smell a troll.
Click to expand...

Let's hope not.

You certainly win the patience award in answering question after question after question, let's hope it's for someone's benefit and they are not just toying with board.

People come here to help each other and learn, it certainly wouldn't take many people wasting everyone's time to ruin it for all.
 
OldShooter said:
No need for this and it's actually counterproductive. Vanguard will let them know. Sending an email just lengthens the time that Fast Eddie has to hassle the soon-to-be-ex-customer.

Incidentally, I don't think it has been mentioned but VG would probably be willing to reimburse all of Fast Eddy's fees.
Click to expand...

I let my former FA know I was firing him like this after I had submitted the paperwork to VG. Since the papers were already in motion, thought it would help and figured it wouldn't hurt.

To brighten everyone's day, Advisor still managed to not liquidate anything and since the funds themselves couldn't be moved, all they sent to VG was a couple grand in cash. I had to squawk multiple times to get the process restarted. Each time, they would apologize and then do nothing. During those weeks that this game went on, the market went down some and their funds went down a lot more, meaning I lost tens of thousands in the whipsaw, while they got to finish the quarter holding my money without even a refund of fees.

So even though I'm doubting the intention of the OP to do anything, I hope he does move, to help strike a blow to put the leeches in the "advisor" industry out of business.
 
jazz4cash said:
When I dumped my regional broker I never even spoke to them. I called Fido and gave them the regional broker’s contact info and my account number. They filled out the forms which I signed and Fido took care of everything (transfer in kind in this case). When the regional outfit hit me with a transfer fee Fido reimbursed it.

Edit: I was actually a bit disappointed they didn’t even call me to fight for my business. Good riddance.
Click to expand...

Who was your regional broker? Did you have a specific FA? What was the transfer fee? How long were you with that regional broker?

I have been with EJ since 2007.
 
Closet_Gamer said:
Coming in very late to this thread...but in answer to this question:

Only if you want to listen to someone demonstrate that they don't actually understand investing (at best) or show that they will straight up lie to bring home their pay check (at worst).

A personal perspective:
About 18 months ago I pried my Mom out of the clutches of a Morgan Stanley FA. What a crook.

He had her in 23 different managed funds. He fought providing me data at every step of the process, but from my research reading her annuity contract and investigating the funds inside the annuity/other funds, my Mom was eating $5000 in fees on a $160k portfolio...3% or so.

His last move was pressuring an 86 year older person to take on a new annuity with a 7 year surrender period. He was also trying to get her to buy into mutual fund that used hedging techniques. Seriously. Fortunately I was able to dive on those grenades before they went off.

When I told him to put her assets into a low cost, index funds, he attacked me in an email, copying my mom, and tried to roll out his "20 years of experience" (bilking un-informed investors). He finally sent me a CYA letter saying that his investment choices were "appropriate based on the client's expressed desires for the future uses of the funds." He then told me to f-off and take the money elsewhere.

Its sitting safely at Schwab now, conservatively deployed, and paying about 0.2% in fees. If Mom needs a nursing home, all I have to do is click "sell."

OP: As many others have said, you should read up and learn more about the basics of investing. If it were me, I would then move the funds from EJ to a Schwab/Fido/Vanguard, and probably pay them a one-time fee to build a simple financial plan. But if all you did was move it to a low cost brokerage and put the money into a target date or balanced fund, I suspect you would come out way ahead of where you are now. Good luck.
Click to expand...

I think these FA want to put you in funds that will make them the most commission.

I don’t think Edward Jones can put me in low cost index funds? If he used profanity then he wasn’t professional.

.
 
Exchme said:
Well yes, you and others that fell into his trap are his meal ticket. He will tell you a hundred different reasons you should stay, but he will be lying, he wants you to stay so he can suck your financial blood. Never engage these folks with reasons or explanations, they are professional manipulators and can make you doubt your own name. Just give them simple, written directions.

You generally should set up an account at the new firm first. When I transferred funds into Vanguard, I set up an account and filled out a form downloaded from Vanguard with the company and account numbers I was transferring from and the Vanguard account I was transferring to, signed and mailed it back. After several days to a week (some of this was time in the mail), Vanguard contacted the old company and moved the money. One transaction got messed up as the old firm was playing games to make it hard and I had to keep calling and e-mailing them to get it back on track (took a month!, which completely coincidentally took them to the end of a quarter so they did not feel the need to refund fees).

If you have several types of accounts (taxable, your Roth, your traditional IRA, spouse Roth, spouse IRA), you will have to repeat the above process for each. For your taxable account, you can just have them put the money in your bank account and you move it later to your new firm, but I recommend you do this all at once while you are focused on it, so that it gets all done quickly.

Once you have filled out the information with the new company and sent it back in, then let EJ know to expect it and send them the account numbers to put the money in. Keep everything in e-mail, don't take any phone calls from them, only give instructions, no complaints about the past, reasons for what you are doing or anything else. After the money has arrived at the new firm, then you can tell your former what you think of him, but not until the money has moved, they will use the argument as a way to delay and try to turn you around.

Just send an e-mail something like:

"Be advised I am using Vanguard going forward and have filled out papers with them requesting my funds be transferred from you to account XXXX. Please liquidate funds that cannot be transferred and work with them to ensure the transition goes smoothly"

Sincerely,
F.I.R.E User"
Click to expand...

Appreciate your help. All I have is a taxable account and Roth IRA at EJ. Taxable is $0 there. I do have Vanguard taxable account with just VTSAX in it.
 
OldShooter said:
No need for this and it's actually counterproductive. Vanguard will let them know. Sending an email just lengthens the time that Fast Eddie has to hassle the soon-to-be-ex-customer.

Incidentally, I don't think it has been mentioned but VG would probably be willing to reimburse all of Fast Eddy's fees.
Click to expand...

Thanks.
 
Happyras said:
I might add that Fidelity can likely do the job better, from my experience. Vanguard is good, but with no local offices all the paper work must be Medallion signature guarantied somewhere and snail mailed to them.

Fidelity is great for getting local support in office and they have much better on line tracing of the funds being moved. You can visit an office and they will fill out the forms and get it going for you simply and faster than even fast eddie can blink!

Also, I believe Fido can hold funds that VG may not so you may be able to transfer funds prior to liquidating. Something to ask FIDO.
Click to expand...

I do have a Vanguard account and my 401k is with Fidelity.
 
Exchme said:
I let my former FA know I was firing him like this after I had submitted the paperwork to VG. Since the papers were already in motion, thought it would help and figured it wouldn't hurt.

To brighten everyone's day, Advisor still managed to not liquidate anything and since the funds themselves couldn't be moved, all they sent to VG was a couple grand in cash. I had to squawk multiple times to get the process restarted. Each time, they would apologize and then do nothing. During those weeks that this game went on, the market went down some and their funds went down a lot more, meaning I lost tens of thousands in the whipsaw, while they got to finish the quarter holding my money without even a refund of fees.

So even though I'm doubting the intention of the OP to do anything, I hope he does move, to help strike a blow to put the leeches in the "advisor" industry out of business.
Click to expand...

I have been with them since 2007. My brother even longer. I don’t think he will move as he really loves his FA. I will move to Vanguard.

Also, do you think the certifications they hold matter in being a reputable FA?
 
I want to thank everyone that has assisted me with my questions. I am sorry if I asked lot of questions and the thread went longer than it should have. Again, I apologize. Now, I know what to do and will begin the process to leave EJ for good.
 
F.I.R.E User said:
Who was your regional broker? Did you have a specific FA? What was the transfer fee? How long were you with that regional broker?



I have been with EJ since 2007.
Click to expand...



WADR, how does that make any difference? It was not EJ. It was a regional broker based in NJ that specialized in muni bonds. They cold called me with a pretty good new offering muni for my home state. At the time I was just starting to do research on munis so their timing was impeccable (aka lucky). I had probably given them my contact info at some point. I was assigned a specific rep but he just seemed like a junior trainee in a boiler room operation. When they had bonds to push they called me up but didn’t even bother to leave a message if I I didn’t pick up. The kid lacked basic sales training and they never had any bonds nearly as good as that first purchase. It was like a one trick pony (muni bonds) although they claimed to be going full service. Trying to get a beneficiary designated was like pulling teeth. I could sense his contempt for Fido over the phone. I left after two years. The xfer fee was $200 on a $25k account.

Do you really already have a Fido account? You should call them and get to know their website. Unless you are a troll.
 
F.I.R.E User said:
I have been with them since 2007. My brother even longer. I don’t think he will move as he really loves his FA. I will move to Vanguard.

Also, do you think the certifications they hold matter in being a reputable FA?
Click to expand...
Certifications are nice but mean little other than somebody passed a test. I've had CFPs try to annutize all my assets because "it would be good for me". No it would be good for them. Look around you'll see many people who aren't willing to do the right thing sell out their certification/license for money.

Little fact about Fast Eddie's organization, it's like a pyramid scheme; if you're not pushing enough $$ for your boss you are history. There's negative rewards for being honest and doing what is right for the investor.
 
F.I.R.E User said:
I have been with them since 2007. My brother even longer. I don’t think he will move as he really loves his FA. I will move to Vanguard.

Also, do you think the certifications they hold matter in being a reputable FA?
Click to expand...

They don't have to be disreputable to be a poor value. In general, by the time they lay on advisory fees, fund expenses, transaction fees, fees to to third party funds and whatever else they can dream up, the fees will add up to 2-3%/year. I think you said this was mid six figures, so around $10,000-$15,000 in fees every year whether they achieved their stated goals or not. That's enough to buy a new car every 2-3 years if you learn to do it yourself and if you read the thread you will see it's not hard to do.

On top of that, research has proven over and over that beating the market is just luck, the advisor doesn't add enough insight to pay for the fees. So the strong recommendation of everyone here is get rid of advisors and do it yourself.
 
F.I.R.E User said:
I have been with them since 2007. My brother even longer. I don’t think he will move as he really loves his FA. I will move to Vanguard.



Also, do you think the certifications they hold matter in being a reputable FA?
Click to expand...


Is there some reason why you can’t use your brothers FA, or at least speak with him about your concerns? Are your brother’s investments/performance similar to yours? This makes less and less sense the more I hear.
 
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