Someone Calm me Down , Fidelity

[audreyh1]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Breedlove I am in some kind of 60/40 and I don’t want to see it churned down . When I asked him about the 4% withdrawal he totally confused me explaining that never was true.

4% withdrawal does not mean that your portfolio must average 4% gain every year. It means that historically you can withdraw 4% inflation adjusted every year and have a 95% chance of not running out of money (going to 0) over a 30 year period for portfolios with AA approx between 50/50 and 75/25.

If you want to understand this you really need to study what safe withdrawal rate means. https://firecalc.com/ is a good place to start, then there are numerous threads here discussing it.

[big-papa]

Quote:

Originally Posted by audreyh1 4% withdrawal does not mean that your portfolio must average 4% gain every year. It means that historically you can withdraw 4% inflation adjusted every year and have a 95% chance of not running out of money (going to 0) over a 30 year period for portfolios with AA approx between 50/50 and 75/25. If you want to understand this you really need to study what safe withdrawal rate means. https://firecalc.com/ is a good place to start, then there are numerous threads here discussing it.

Correct! This was based on PAST sequences of returns. This isn't some universal law of physics. There can always be a future sequence of returns that was worse than any past sequence. Someday there will be. But there is no sure way to know that you're entering such a sequence till it's over and you've already run out of money. Some sort of flexibility is always prudent.

[jazz4cash]

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Originally Posted by foxfirev5 Last week my local Fido salesperson called to check in with me. He mentioned the market turmoil … At this point I think he was worn out. He thanked me for my time and asked that I keep them in mind. Nice talk.

I can relate. I need to return a call to my advisor’s assistant and I expect the conversation will be similar to yours. I am curious to know if the call is prompted by recent market volatility. I have all my outside accounts listed on the portfolio tool so they can see everything. It’s funny sometimes they have more questions than I do. I used to think I could bounce ideas off them or they’d tell me if I was doing something really dumb. Now I realize folks like me that frequent forums like this are way ahead of the typical investor.

[Finance Dave]

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Originally Posted by Breedlove Is anyone else out there had it with Fidelity . I have had Fidelity for 30 years . I meet with my advisor twice a year and another guy calls me 4 times a year. The guy that calls me 4 times a year always asks . Do you have any plans to take money out of your managed account . ? The other guy just says well you look good everything is on track. I feel like they can do more as right now I am down a lot . What do y’all think .

You're down a lot, but were you up a lot when the market was going up? I think we have a tendency to not praise the good times, yet scorn the bad times. If you're down a lot, it's probably because you approved the portfolio and it's heavy on equities. You're going to have ups and downs. What do you think Fidelity has done that causes you to be down a lot? Are you expecting them to be able to time the market and tell you to pull everything out before the market drops? That's not going to happen.

As for the service level, it depends on whether you're paying for a managed portfolio. IMO managed portfolios don't do much better than the overall market indices.

What more do you think they can do? Why don't you tell your advisor what more you expect from them?

[jeffst]

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Originally Posted by Dtail My only contact with my Fidelity rep is when I initiate it and that is how I want it being a DIY investor. Being in their Private Client group, I get free advice from them whenever I wish. It works for me being with Fidelity.

Same with me.

Also have account with VG.
Fidelity has better customer service.

[youbet]

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Originally Posted by foxfirev5 Last week my local Fido salesperson called to check in with me. He mentioned the market turmoil which I assumed was a segue into a sales pitch. I mentioned I was unware of any turmoil. He evidently then looked at my account and stated that very conservative portfolio had it's own risks. All he could see was my IRA which is comprised of about 80 CD's / T Bills / STRIPS and TIPS with 5 Dividend ETF's. I then took about 5 minutes explaining my LMP plan for the next 20 years. I concluded by informing him that this was about half our holdings with the next biggest chunk in broad index equity funds at Vanguard. I did throw him a bone that I would be willing to rollover these accounts to Fido but there would have to be a substantial bonus. At this point I think he was worn out. He thanked me for my time and asked that I keep them in mind. Nice talk.

Could you be more specific as to your point? Is it that everyone should keep fixed investments at one broker and equity investments at another?

[Jeb-NY]

I have my 401k, ROTH and our joint brokerage with Vanguard and my wife 401k and ROTH with Fidelity. All are self managed accounts. I haven't heard from Fidelity since I opened the accounts 17 or so years ago. I haven't heard from Vanguard since they went from having an assigned advisor to a pool. Both answer questions when I contact them. That is the way I want it and am happy with it. Vanguard use to call about once a year when I had an assigned advisor and he would sometimes advise to do one thing or another but usually general things like buy more foreign bonds, funds and such to better diversify.

[Lstansbury]

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Originally Posted by Breedlove I am in some kind of 60/40 and I don’t want to see it churned down . When I asked him about the 4% withdrawal he totally confused me explaining that never was true.

Well, if you believe Wade Pfau and Bob French, it really never was true. They just did a podcast about it and how there are really only two or three true data points in the report, not 30 or 40. And how the guy who wrote it has even said, "this is what I really meant...." etc.

I have had good luck with my FIDO folks so far.

[maestro]

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Originally Posted by Freedom56 I told my Fidelity advisor not to bother me. So he stopped bothering me. Coincidentally we were on the same flight to Los Angeles this past Sunday. We met him at the gate before boarding. I sat in Air Canada's Signature Business/First Class in a nice lie-flat seat and he sat in coach. He commented that we were one of his few assigned clients that didn't want to throw him off the balcony. I told him that I want an extra large gift basket this Christmas. Fidelity advisors are sales people and by no means financial experts. It amazes me how little these advisors know about financial accounting and economics.

+1

So many on this forum have worked so hard all their lives, to achieve what they have. Why would anyone want to turn it over to a Finance or Sales degree'd college graduate to 'manage' it? No thanks. I'd rather die by my own sword.

[JBTX]

I never get calls from Fidelity and that’s the way I like it.

[daylatedollarshort]

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Originally Posted by maestro +1 So many on this forum have worked so hard all their lives, to achieve what they have. Why would anyone want to turn it over to a Finance or Sales degree'd college graduate to 'manage' it? No thanks. I'd rather die by my own sword.

The kid who used to house and dog sit for us during college called us right after he graduated and got a job at a brokerage. He wanted to manage our portfolio. Nice kid, but we had to tell him no thanks.

[FloridaJim57]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Breedlove Is anyone else out there had it with Fidelity . I have had Fidelity for 30 years . I meet with my advisor twice a year and another guy calls me 4 times a year. The guy that calls me 4 times a year always asks . Do you have any plans to take money out of your managed account . ? The other guy just says well you look good everything is on track. I feel like they can do more as right now I am down a lot . What do y’all think .

Ask them to put in writing a few proposals of what to do with your money. Ask them risk potential, history, etc.

[finnski1]

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Originally Posted by Car-Guy Been there, done that. That's exactingly what I tell them, and it works.... I think I have you by about 4 years. Been with them ~42 years now...

Only 32 years for me I self manage everything and have never had issues with them.

[scrabbler1]

I have been with Fido for 32 years but have had a personal (unpaid) Account Executive only since 2008. That was a big year for me because it is when my ER plans were taking shape early in the year, leading to an eventual ER at the end of October.

But Fido seemed to have trouble keeping their local AEs. The one I first had in early 2008 ran my numbers through Fido's RIP program and gave me a green light to move forward with my ER plans, something I welcomed because I had not heard of this forum or had used any of its resources.

The second AE was helpful in setting up my rollover IRA when I did ER and handling some large transactions. He also showed me how to use Fido's website, something I hadn't been doing very much up to that time.

But he left in late 2009 and after I got switched to another AE, I got poached by another man there. Mr. Pushy, as I have described him, wanted to take over managing my portfolio for a fee, something I was not interested in. After complaining to the office manager, I got switched back to the man I was supposed to be with.

That AE was very good, and I stayed with him from 2010 through 2021, when he offloaded many clients to another AE. But that new AE didn't last long. When I tried to email him a few months ago, it got returned to me addressee unknown. Same for the long-time one I had. They both left Fido in late 2021 or early 2022, and nobody told me that my current one had left.

So I got assigned to another AE and we met in early July. I don't seek to meet with my AEs often, maybe once every 12-18 months. I can navigate the website well and my portfolio is pretty much on autopilot except for occasional rebalancing. My AE knows this so he won't be calling me less than 12 months after our previous meeting.

[foxfirev5]

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Originally Posted by youbet Could you be more specific as to your point? Is it that everyone should keep fixed investments at one broker and equity investments at another?

The point is pretty simple. I let him know I have considerable assets elsewhere and would consider letting them buy my business if the reward were great enough. A side benefit is that unsolicited sales calls follow my agenda not the callers. Usually this results in fewer future calls.