How to move from Merrill Lynch to Fidelity

[digger1959]

Good day,
Some background...My husband & I retired early in 2012 at 54 and 52 respectively and we have been clients of Merrill Lynch for over 25 years. I have been wanting to ditch ML for quite some time and my husband has finally agreed. Neither one of us are particularly skilled or interested in investing which is probably why we have stayed with ML so long. I keep track of all of the finances, still work a bit 1/2 to 1/4 part time and am a volunteer certified tax preparer.
We currently have a couple of 401Ks managed by Fidelity and although, it seems that I would probably have to open a new account, I thought going with Fidelity might simplify matters. I use the ML bill pay and it looks like the Fidelity bill pay is very similar.
With ML we have two IRAs (one for him and one for me), a taxable investment account and a checking account. So for the IRAs, I just roll them over and then I am thinking about using the Fidelity Go robo-advisor service for them. For the taxable investment account, it looks like all of the holdings are common ones that I can transfer directly to Fidelity so I can keep those in what they are in for now.
Questions:
1) Can anyone comment on experience with making this kind of move? Are you happy that you did? Do you feel like you are making as much (or more) money without the advisor fees (we don't pay for trades)?
2)Does anyone have Fidelity Go and can comment on it?
3) Do anyone use the Fidelity bill pay? Can you have bills sent directly to them and receive alerts/notifications?
4) Am I correct about transferring my holdings over from ML to Fidelity? I am thinking of doing that so I won't have to pay capital gains tax this year. Do you think that is the right move or should I just go ahead and sell all this and let Fidelity Go manage it as well? I see that they want to start with cash and not holdings.
Sorry this is so long but I would appreciate any insight/advice that you can provide.

 

[njhowie]

About 2 years ago I moved an account from Merrill Edge to Fidelity. Very easy and straightforward - Fidelity was able to do everything, you don't have to contact or deal with Merrill whatsoever.

Go to the Fidelity page to transfer an account. Merrill Lynch will be one of the brokerages in the drop down. You set up the transfer online, and then upload a copy of your most recent statement. The transfer generally takes about a week, probably two weeks at the most.

One thing - be sure that the registration (account type and name(s) on the account(s)) for the account(s) it is going in to at Fidelity is identical as at Merrill. If it differs, then there will be issues and delays.

 

[Dtail]

One thing to note.
If you have IIRC one million or more in your accounts at Fidelity, you can qualify for their Private Client services, in which an advisor is assigned to you and you can effectively receive advice on fairly detailed investment questions and advice without paying any fees to Fidelity.

 

[OldShooter]

... I see that they want to start with cash and not holdings. ...

Funny. I have a little ditty that I use when I run into something like this. (sentences said slowly and deliberately)

"I am getting a little confused here."
"One of us is the customer."
"One of us is not the customer."
"Which one do you think you are?"

It's usually pretty effective at resetting the conversation.

Transfer "in kind." No decisions, no tax consequences.

 

[Bamaman]

About 2 years ago I moved an account from Merrill Edge to Fidelity. Very easy and straightforward - Fidelity was able to do everything, you don't have to contact or deal with Merrill whatsoever.

Go to the Fidelity page to transfer an account. Merrill Lynch will be one of the brokerages in the drop down. You set up the transfer online, and then upload a copy of your most recent statement. The transfer generally takes about a week, probably two weeks at the most.

One thing - be sure that the registration (account type and name(s) on the account(s)) for the account(s) it is going in to at Fidelity is identical as at Merrill. If it differs, then there will be issues and delays.

I agree completely with the above. I've used Fidelity for 40 years + and have always been pleased with their computer systems and ease of moving money around.

I was in a $1 million+ real estate partnership that liquidated and the funds placed into Merrill Lynch. When M/L charged me $25 each to process a couple of wire transfers, that did it for me. I never needed their financial "advice' that came with a high price.

 

[Freedom56]

I just moved accounts from Schwab and ML last week to Fidelity. We have far too many accounts to manage and wanted to consolidate. The ML account was a legacy account set up by my employer to receive vested stock grants and options. In both cases I filled out the transfer forms online on the Fidelity website last Monday morning. On Tuesday I received phone calls from ML and Schwab asking why I'm transferring and what can they do to change my mind. On Friday the assets were in my Fidelity account but missing the cost basis information. Over the weekend, the cost basis information was updated and all assets were transferred. I then logged into my Schwab and ML accounts and removed all external liked account information and other sensitive information. I assume that Schwab and ML will delete these accounts eventually. The process was smooth for taxable accounts.

 

[Souschef]

It was painless for me to move DW's holdings from UBS to Fido. I was sick of getting jerked around by UBS every time I had a transaction.

 

[brett]

When we moved from one brokerage to another is was very simple.

Not only that, our previous brokerage charged us fees for the move. Not certain why. In any event, our target brokerage refunded us for those fees. As I recall it was about $200.

 

[jazz4cash]

I moved funds from a regional brokerage to Fido awhile ago. Easy peezy. In kind xfer
as suggested. When the securities got
to Fido there was a fee charged by the broker. I called Fido and they reimbursed
the fee. I’d say concentrate on getting the transfer done, use as much customer service as you need. You can activate Fidelity Go, Billpay, etc anytime once the new accounts are established.

 

[Texas Proud]

I just moved accounts from Schwab and ML last week to Fidelity. We have far too many accounts to manage and wanted to consolidate. The ML account was a legacy account set up by my employer to receive vested stock grants and options. In both cases I filled out the transfer forms online on the Fidelity website last Monday morning. On Tuesday I received phone calls from ML and Schwab asking why I'm transferring and what can they do to change my mind. On Friday the assets were in my Fidelity account but missing the cost basis information. Over the weekend, the cost basis information was updated and all assets were transferred. I then logged into my Schwab and ML accounts and removed all external liked account information and other sensitive information. I assume that Schwab and ML will delete these accounts eventually. The process was smooth for taxable accounts.

They will not delete the accounts


Maybe in a number of years but not soon... I have not been with Etrade for many years but my account is still there...

 

[Texas Proud]

I moved from Comptershares to Fidelity and it was SOOOO easy...


As someone mentioned, fill out the form online, send them a copy of your stmt and then wait...

 

[DrRoy]

About 2 years ago I moved an account from Merrill Edge to Fidelity. Very easy and straightforward - Fidelity was able to do everything, you don't have to contact or deal with Merrill whatsoever.

Go to the Fidelity page to transfer an account. Merrill Lynch will be one of the brokerages in the drop down. You set up the transfer online, and then upload a copy of your most recent statement. The transfer generally takes about a week, probably two weeks at the most.

One thing - be sure that the registration (account type and name(s) on the account(s)) for the account(s) it is going in to at Fidelity is identical as at Merrill. If it differs, then there will be issues and delays.

+1 about 5 years ago.

 

[Third Son]

Straightforward....

I did the same for a brokerage account from Ameriprise to Fidelity. I called Fidelity and the person I spoke to did all the work. Very painless

 

[mrfeh]

About 2 years ago I moved an account from Merrill Edge to Fidelity. Very easy and straightforward - Fidelity was able to do everything, you don't have to contact or deal with Merrill whatsoever.

Go to the Fidelity page to transfer an account. Merrill Lynch will be one of the brokerages in the drop down. You set up the transfer online, and then upload a copy of your most recent statement. The transfer generally takes about a week, probably two weeks at the most.

One thing - be sure that the registration (account type and name(s) on the account(s)) for the account(s) it is going in to at Fidelity is identical as at Merrill. If it differs, then there will be issues and delays.

This echos what I was going to say - let Fido take care of this for you. They'll be happy to.

Regarding management of your portfolio, I suggest you do it yourself. It does not require much of your time: https://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Bogleheads®_investing_start-up_kit

 

[The Cosmic Avenger]

One thing to note.
If you have IIRC one million or more in your accounts at Fidelity, you can qualify for their Private Client services, in which an advisor is assigned to you and you can effectively receive advice on fairly detailed investment questions and advice without paying any fees to Fidelity.

Fidelity has definitely made things easier for us. We've moved a few accounts from USAA to Fidelity because it was easier to do everything I wanted to online (like backdoor Roth contributions) online with Fidelity, rather than having to call. And of all the inherited accounts, Fidelity really made it the easiest, from sending me a packet with a nice condolence letter and some literature, to meeting with me to go over my options.

My only hesitation is that the Premium Services advisors that I have had have not been like fee-based advisors, in that they don't seem to give much specific advice. The one that did tried to sell me on specific funds that (of course) had high expense ratios and mediocre performance. But maybe I just am expecting more of a concierge, or someone who will give me a detailed plan that would cost in the thousands from a fee-based fiduciary planner. I think I would need to add another zero to get that.

 

[digger1959]

Thanks to all who provided personal experience and insight. I appreciate it.

 

[Dtail]

Fidelity has definitely made things easier for us. We've moved a few accounts from USAA to Fidelity because it was easier to do everything I wanted to online (like backdoor Roth contributions) online with Fidelity, rather than having to call. And of all the inherited accounts, Fidelity really made it the easiest, from sending me a packet with a nice condolence letter and some literature, to meeting with me to go over my options.

My only hesitation is that the Premium Services advisors that I have had have not been like fee-based advisors, in that they don't seem to give much specific advice. The one that did tried to sell me on specific funds that (of course) had high expense ratios and mediocre performance. But maybe I just am expecting more of a concierge, or someone who will give me a detailed plan that would cost in the thousands from a fee-based fiduciary planner. I think I would need to add another zero to get that.

Sometimes it depends who is assigned to you.
For example, they might not suggest a true financial plan, but would answer the below questions as an example.
1) I was thinking of fund X vs. fund Y in order to achieve the following Z results - what do you recommend?
2) What do you think of small caps/% of international stocks to own?
3) Roth conversions vs. capital gains - discuss through the tax aspects together. This one can be tricky, but can be achieved.

 

[OldShooter]

Sometimes it depends who is assigned to you. ...

This. @digger1959, when you initiate a relationship with Fido or anyone else, remember who is the customer. If you are not ecstatic about the rep assigned to you, contact his/her manager and request a change. Give the manager some idea of what kind of rep you prefer, like age, sex, experience level, investing interests, etc. Interview at least two of the manager's suggestions and then decide. (or ask to talk to some more candidates) There are a lot of good people you just won't "click" with, and that click is very important.