Transferred IRA with Regrets

[Investornew]

Hi there, I am new here. Not retirement age yet. I have an IRA and I transferred it recently to a company but have regrets. I believe they are fleecing me for all kinds of fees and I need to move my entire portfolio over, one piece at a time, to Vanguard. I don't know if my IRA has been churned or not, but wonder if that would affect a transfer going smoothly.

If anyone else here has transferred your IRA, how did the transfer process go?

 

[Walt34]

If anyone else here has transferred your IRA, how did the transfer process go?

I moved a 457 account to an IRA at Vanguard. The process was smooth & easy, and Vanguard handled it. I think it was two phone calls to Vanguard, one to initiate the transfer in which they set up a conference call with Fidelity, and the other call to Vanguard to set up how I wanted it invested.

But it was a while back so it may have been only one phone call, I don't really remember. But it couldn't have been made any easier.

 

[Fedup]

For Vanguard, it's pure awful. But once it's transferred, it's ok.

 

[REWahoo]

For Vanguard, it's pure awful. But once it's transferred, it's ok.

My experience transferring my 401k to Vanguard was flawless.

 

[Fedup]

For Vanguard, it's pure awful. But once it's transferred, it's ok.

My experience transferring my 401k to Vanguard was flawless.

I'm not alone, I read complaints from Bogglehead forum too. That's what happens when everybody moves to Vanguard.

 

[Bestwifeever]

My experience transferring my 401k to Vanguard was flawless.

+1. The whole thing rolled right over. OP can call them (or Fidelity, or Schwab, etc.) and discuss how to do it.

 

[SevenUp]

See Transferring a Thrivent Roth IRA to Vanguard - Bogleheads.org for some traps to avoid.

Our transfers to Vanguard and Fidelity (different times; different reasons) were both of the "very smooth" variety - YMMV.

 

[Another Reader]

Vanguard "lost" my rollover for a month. Don't get me started on their outdated systems and unknowledgeable staff... If it were not for Wellington, I would move that money elsewhere.

 

[tulak]

My experience transferring my 401k to Vanguard was flawless.

+1

Guess I've been lucky, but I haven't had any major issues with Vanguard.

 

[GrayHare]

In my experience Fidelity is better at tasks such as transfers than is Vanguard.

 

[redduck]

Hi there, I am new here. Not retirement age yet. I have an IRA and I transferred it recently to a company but have regrets. I believe they are fleecing me for all kinds of fees and I need to move my entire portfolio over, one piece at a time, to Vanguard. I don't know if my IRA has been churned or not, but wonder if that would affect a transfer going smoothly.

If anyone else here has transferred your IRA, how did the transfer process go?

Why do you need to move your portfolio over one piece at a time?

 

[MissMolly]

I transferred 2 IRAs, 2 or 3 taxable accounts, an SEP, and Inherited IRA all at the same time. Flawless.

 

[OldShooter]

Hi there, I am new here. Not retirement age yet. I have an IRA and I transferred it recently to a company but have regrets. I believe they are fleecing me for all kinds of fees and I need to move my entire portfolio over, one piece at a time, to Vanguard. I don't know if my IRA has been churned or not, but wonder if that would affect a transfer going smoothly.

If anyone else here has transferred your IRA, how did the transfer process go?

If you have specific concerns, send them in writing to the firm's compliance department or if you have a broker ask for the name and address of his compliance officer. Guaranteed this will get their full attention.

Re "churned" the question is whether the broker had discretionary authority in the account. If not, this is illegal and they will have to make you whole. If he did have discretionary authority (why?) then the matter becomes very subjective, but state your grievances very specifically and in detail. You won't get what you don't ask for.

You can also contact your state regulators and ask for help.

It really does not matter whether they still have the account or not, "compliance" is a word that can bring the big bad wolf down on them and they will react with concern.

 

[Fedup]

It's supposed to be flawless, that's why when it's not flawless that's a problem. Just google it and you'll find plenty of problem out there for Vanguard.

 

[RE2Boys]

Last year I moved my SEP IRA from TRowePrice to Vanguard. Did completely on-line one evening, took just a few minutes to initiate, no gotcha's, done in-kind brokerage, completed promptly. As did not have any mutual funds, went very smoothly.

Earlier this year moved my taxable brokerage account from TRowePrice to Fidelity. Again totally done online. Again no mutual funds involved. Transfer of securities was accomplished promptly, but the transfer of the cash dragged. Fidelity kept reporting the transfer was complete.......no way in hell! Finally, after several weeks, the cash was transferred. Do not know who dragged their feet, suspect TRowePrice, but the Fidelity progress reports were bogus.

 

[Koolau]

RE: Vanguard, I think that once you get there, it's all good (S'allgood). You do have to keep on top of everything and maybe make phone calls to be certain your desires are being met. Trust but verify. I have nothing against the other biggies that others around her really like (e.g., Schwab and Fido, etc.) Good luck and always remember that YMMV.

 

[ocean view]

We moved 2 iras and 1 taxable account 2 months ago to vanguard. They initiated the transfers for the iras to make sure the transfers qualified as a tax-free rollover distributions. For the taxable account we were told it could take 10 business days to credit our account. It took 1 calendar day. Credited to our account on a Saturday!

Perhaps they are improving. How long ago were the bad experiences?

 

[youbet]

If anyone else here has transferred your IRA, how did the transfer process go?

All the major investment houses want your money and will do their best to make the process of transferring accounts to them as smooth and easy as possible. If you're a bit of the nervous Nelly type and you live in a metropolitan area, you could go with one of the firms that has a brick and mortar presence such as Fido or Schwab. They'd be glad to have you come in and will help you with every detail even to the point of filling out forms for you. If followup is needed, you'll be able to see or call the same person, a small advantage of having a local office to deal with. If you'd prefer to be at Vanguard, AFAIK their phone reps will also bend over backwards to make the experience as smooth and stress free as possible for you.

Don't leave your money someplace where you're not happy over worry about the transfer process. There's really nothing to worry about.

 

[Onward]

 

[donheff]

I moved a set of active mutual funds to Vanguard about 12 years ago. I didn't want to liquidate everything but rather move it intact and liquidate carefully over time. It wasn't bad but would have been simpler if I was willing to liquidate everything and go directly into index funds. If your current firm has you in back loaded mutual funds (I was in a couple) you may want to consider transferring in kind and exiting as the loads tail off. Also, make sure you stop having distributions reinvested.

 

[athena53]

All the major investment houses want your money and will do their best to make the process of transferring accounts to them as smooth and easy as possible.

This has been my experience and I've rolled over IRAs/401(k)s every time I changed jobs and a few times I changed brokerages. No experience with Vanguard, but Schwab and Fidelity were fine.

 

[pb4uski]

I have moved a number of accounts to Vanguard with no issues. I always initiate the transfer with Vanguard and have them pull the funds from the old provider.

 

[target2019]

I transferred USAA IRA to Vanguard, but it was many moons ago.

I know from personal experience that having someone on the receiving end take charge of the process will expedite the process.

From what I've read here and elsewhere, Vanguard may or may not be the best choice. It is your money, and you'll need to stay on top of the progress of your transfer.

 

[bingybear]

I have moved accounts from/to a broker a number of times. I only had issues transferring once. That was transferring an account out of Vanguard. That one experience was bad. But I have had other moves in and out of Vanguard that were smooth.
I have our assets at Schwab and Fidelity. Both have low cost index funds if that is what you want. In my case I have an individual at both brokers who know my situation that can help me out. YMMV

OP, you say you think your account got churned. How did you set the account up so that it could be churned? Usually I think of being churned by a broker buying and selling securities to rack up transaction charges.

 

[Carol1862]

Moved to Fidelity and it was a smooth transaction