Moved to Fidelity & away from financial Advisor

[ER Samuel Axe]

1st post on site, but I have been reading the forums for a couple of years.

I finally fired my financial advisor this past week and moved to Fidelity. I have a taxable account for about 1M and another IRA account around 1M. I lost around 500K YTD.

About me and my wife. Mid 50's and we max out our 401K out each year. I have about 300K in 401k outside of the money now moved to Fidelity. I have over 300K equity in my home and will use the equity in my retirement home. Also have 150K in cash or short term investments where I don'to lose money.

With the money in Fidelity, would VTI be possible to invest in? Wondering if a Fidelity option would be better. I am looking at holding around 200K in individual stocks that I want to keep and very low cost basis. The rest in a total market index or a S&P index with maybe 300K in a CD ladder since the rates look good and not sure of the 2023 stock market outlook.

Thoughts on other suggestions? Would you dollar cost average vs a lump sum back into the market?

Thanks for reading.

 

[tulak]

I own VTI at Fidelity with no issues. I also own their equivalent mutual fund, FSKAX.

Personally, I prefer Vanguard funds/ETFs, and funds over ETFs, but that’s just a personal preference.

I’d also DCA over a period of time, but that’s also a personal preference. When I had that choice to make in 2008, I invested all at once. I would have been better DCA’ing.

 

[RetiredAt49]

I have over $1.5 M in VTI and VOO (using them as a tax loss partners) in a taxable brokerage at Fidelity - no issues…

Both funds are great low cost ETF’s. I’d lump sum it ASAP if it were me.

 

[DrRoy]

I own VTI at Fidelity with no issues.

+1. Been with them for over 40 years.

 

[mrfeh]

Thoughts on other suggestions?

https://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Bogleheads®_investing_start-up_kit

 

[EastWest Gal]

Bad link.

 

[VanWinkle]

I would likely invest it in the allocation I prefer versus the allocation your FI had you invested. I would very likely just put it all to work other than a cash cushion for the next 3 years of expenses. That is me, you may feel differently.

VW

 

[RetMD21]

1st post on site, but I have been reading the forums for a couple of years.

I finally fired my financial advisor this past week and moved to Fidelity. I have a taxable account for about 1M and another IRA account around 1M. I lost around 500K YTD.

About me and my wife. Mid 50's and we max out our 401K out each year. I have about 300K in 401k outside of the money now moved to Fidelity. I have over 300K equity in my home and will use the equity in my retirement home. Also have 150K in cash or short term investments where I don'to lose money.

With the money in Fidelity, would VTI be possible to invest in? Wondering if a Fidelity option would be better. I am looking at holding around 200K in individual stocks that I want to keep and very low cost basis. The rest in a total market index or a S&P index with maybe 300K in a CD ladder since the rates look good and not sure of the 2023 stock market outlook.

Thoughts on other suggestions? Would you dollar cost average vs a lump sum back into the market?

Thanks for reading.

I think you can't beat VTI for cost and market tracking if you are looking for a broad based fund. Fido should be no problem with that. I have individual stocks too. Due to embedded gains it would be painful to change but I might just do funds if I was starting over. IDK about future interest rates and inflation so it's hard to know what's best there. The link to the Bogleheads start up kit might be helpful.

 

[Done]

In a taxable account, you might prefer an ETF to a Fidelity mutual fund for better portability. If you decide to change brokerages again some day, a Fidelity mutual fund would first need to be liquidated if it can’t be held elsewhere, and this would be a taxable event. An ETF can be transferred in kind.

 

[Qs Laptop]

1st post on site, but I have been reading the forums for a couple of years.

I finally fired my financial advisor this past week and moved to Fidelity.

Hallelujah!

 

[matjung]

What took you so long to say good bye to your financial Advisor?
Did she not recommend any ETF?
2023 might become a difficult year, too.
I would start with a money market fond and decide month by month to shift into equity or not.

 

[Exchme]

Yes, Vanguard ETFs can be bought, held and sold at Fidelity without fees or problems.

If you started the year at $1.5M and are down to $1M, then your advisor had you in concentrated bets. Sometimes those work, but often they don't. VTI is nice in that by holding stocks at the market weight, that is the sum of all investor knowledge about the ever uncertain future. I also hold some international in Vanguard Total International, mostly as insurance against US politicians.

I would get this done quickly as successful investing is more about being consistently in the market than in trying to outguess everyone else in timing the market.

You should also think about your risk tolerance and stage of life and decide if/how much to hold in fixed income.

 

[Rocky mtn high]

I am getting ready to fire investment person who manages my fidelity accounts. I would rather keep the same accounts and just manage myself. Fidelity wants me to close accounts and open new ones. Any thoughts??

 

[braumeister]

I am getting ready to fire investment person who manages my fidelity accounts. I would rather keep the same accounts and just manage myself. Fidelity wants me to close accounts and open new ones. Any thoughts??

Seems like you would just be moving the securities from one account to a new one, and the only difference from your perspective would be that the accounts have new account numbers. Or is there more to it?

 

[jazz4cash]

I am getting ready to fire investment person who manages my fidelity accounts. I would rather keep the same accounts and just manage myself. Fidelity wants me to close accounts and open new ones. Any thoughts??

I presume the FA has some access to those accounts. Better to make a clean break to accounts that were never associated with FA. That also guides you through a process to confirm beneficiaries, notifications, etc. Same assets, just new account #s

 

[ER Samuel Axe]

Yes, Vanguard ETFs can be bought, held and sold at Fidelity without fees or problems.

If you started the year at $1.5M and are down to $1M, then your advisor had you in concentrated bets. Sometimes those work, but often they don't. VTI is nice in that by holding stocks at the market weight, that is the sum of all investor knowledge about the ever uncertain future. I also hold some international in Vanguard Total International, mostly as insurance against US politicians.

I would get this done quickly as successful investing is more about being consistently in the market than in trying to outguess everyone else in timing the market.

You should also think about your risk tolerance and stage of life and decide if/how much to hold in fixed income.

No. Started at 2.55M and now down 20% this year. I moved last week to Fidelity and will manage it myself with most in total market funds.

 

[ER Samuel Axe]

I am getting ready to fire investment person who manages my fidelity accounts. I would rather keep the same accounts and just manage myself. Fidelity wants me to close accounts and open new ones. Any thoughts??

I was able to transfer about 39 different investments my FA had me in and only 1 fund could not be transferred based on what Fidelity told me. I had a transfer rep help me over an hour one day last week to get everything done and he followed up with me on the status.

Hope that helps.

 

[ER Samuel Axe]

What took you so long to say good bye to your financial Advisor?
Did she not recommend any ETF?
2023 might become a difficult year, too.
I would start with a money market fond and decide month by month to shift into equity or not.

The 2 IRA account was right under the S&P over the last few years. The taxable account is the one that under performed and I should have moved much sooner. I guess stupidity on my part.

 

[Dash man]

Moved to Fidelity & away from financial Advisor

The 2 IRA account was right under the S&P over the last few years. The taxable account is the one that under performed and I should have moved much sooner. I guess stupidity on my part.

Take a look at SCHD, a Schwab ETF that has outperformed the S&P500 over the past five years. It focuses on stocks with growing dividends, primarily value type stocks. It’s performed better than most funds this past year, so it lessens the pain in a down market and performs well in an up market.
Expense ratio: 0.06%