Where to roll over my 401(k)

[davidbeitz]

I am ready to roll my 401(k) out of my previous employers plan due to high fees and limited investments. I have about 50% of our investments already in Vanguard and wanted opinions on whether to put my 401(k) into Vanguard or another broker. Primarily concerned about whether I should put all my "eggs" in one basket or split them up.

Comments?

 

[pb4uski]

I have all my eggs at Vanguard... easier to watch them. YMMV.

 

[stephenson]

I’m split between Vanguard and Fidelity.

Frankly, I’m still with Vangaurd because of the great things they motivated other investment companies to do - they changed the behavior of many!

I find the interface, and the Fidelity online tools for planning to be very helpful ...and, their fund offerings are broader and many index funds now the same cost as Vanguard. They are also easier to deal with in almost every regard.

 

[Cobra9777]

I agree with pb4... easier to watch in one place. Risk is minimal.

I keep all the eggs at Fidelity. We own a mix of Vanguard and iShares ETFs. Best of both worlds, IMHO.

 

[MRG]

I'm split between Fidelity and Vanguard. A lot of my career was in IT in the financial services industry. I'll never trust just one provider. I don't think they'll lose your money but it might take a while to get to it.

 

[Midpack]

We’ve got everything at Vanguard and I’m fine with that. I’ve done business long term with Fidelity (our portfolio formerly when I traded individual stocks) and Schwab (my 401k formerly) and if I was splitting our portfolio, they would be the only others I’d be comfortable with.

 

[UnrealizedPotential]

No opinion on what to do with your 401k or where to move it. Regarding having investments in one place or several or more, I guess it is a matter of opinion and tastes. I have my investments in three different brokerages. Each offers something a little different and depending what I want determines where I have the money.

It is a little harder to keep track of three different places for your money than one of course. But to me it's worth it.

 

[HFWR]

I’m split between VG and Fido; my for employers were both with Fido, so stuck with them. Have had no issues/troubles with either. One thing to consider is if you’d reach a higher perk level by putting all eggs in one basket.

 

[mpeirce]

Personally we keep chunks of our assets in Vanguard, Fidelity, and Schwab. Part of this is (honestly) inertia - the Schwab IRA was previously a Schwab 401(k), likewise with the Fidelity IRA.

Still, it seems prudent to spread out a bit. Use different account names and passwords at each company. Eggs in baskets and all that.

I don't see much difference between the companies really. They all offer cheap index funds (yay competition!), and decent web interfaces. Maybe I've been lucky, but I've yet to encounter a problem with any of them.

 

[Red Badger]

I believe that John Bogle should be elevated to sainthood. While our modest stash is at FIDO (straight rollover from 401K), our low index fees were the result of Bogle. God bless him!

 

[Olbidness]

I am ready to roll my 401(k) out of my previous employers plan due to high fees and limited investments. I have about 50% of our investments already in Vanguard and wanted opinions on whether to put my 401(k) into Vanguard or another broker. Primarily concerned about whether I should put all my "eggs" in one basket or split them up.

Comments?

When I left a former employer I rolled my 401K to a Vanguard IRA but then realized I couldn't utilize it until 59.5 penalty free unlike 55 for 401K. I might consider a new employer 401K to roll into if available.

 

[travelover]

I'm split 50/50 between Vanguard and Fido. Fidelity was very helpful in holding my hand when I rolled over my 401(k) in separating out my after-tax portion and rolling it to a Roth.

 

[meierlde]

I'm split 50/50 between Vanguard and Fido. Fidelity was very helpful in holding my hand when I rolled over my 401(k) in separating out my after-tax portion and rolling it to a Roth.

As Vanguard did when I rolled a 401k at Vanguard to an IRA but since the amount was only about 1300, I just had them move it to the brokerage account. This did generate a second 1099R with 0 taxable income.

 

[Scuba]

I agree with pb4... easier to watch in one place. Risk is minimal.



I keep all the eggs at Fidelity. We own a mix of Vanguard and iShares ETFs. Best of both worlds, IMHO.

I agree! Fidelity has a better website and better customer service, and if you like you can hold 100% Vanguard funds or ETF’s in a Fidelity account.

 

[DrRoy]

I have about 3/4 at Fidelity. The rest is in my 401K still because I liked a couple options there.

 

[target2019]

I am ready to roll my 401(k) out of my previous employers plan due to high fees and limited investments. I have about 50% of our investments already in Vanguard and wanted opinions on whether to put my 401(k) into Vanguard or another broker. Primarily concerned about whether I should put all my "eggs" in one basket or split them up.

Comments?

My 401(k) accounts are 29% overall.

At Vanguard we currently have over 40% of all investments.
Schwab now holds less than 10%, and I expect to add the 401(k) accounts in the future. I have very good choices in 401(k), so am in no hurry.
My reasons for going with Schwab are customer service, and of course the "all eggs" thing. The number of free, low-cost ETFs is extensive enough for my needs.
https://www.schwab.com/public/schwa...pect/Research/etfs/overview/oneSourceETFs.asp


Schwab has a local office, too. Went their with one child to open up a brokerage, and the rep was very competent. I've called Schwab less than six times in past 5 years, and each time I got right through and had matter settled very quickly.

 

[Hawkeye]

I moved everything to Fidelity, banking included, and have been happy.

Easier to manage with everything in one spot. My wife is not very financially savvy, so, having everything in one spot will make it easer for her if something happens to me. I have left high level investment instructions for her. My daughter/son in law are financially savvy so they can help keep her on track.

 

[kgtest]

IRAs with Vanguard in an IRA Rollover brokerage acnt. 401k with employer sponsored companies.

Vanguard is fairly easy to use for a newbie IMO. And plenty of investment options for a newbie as well. ETFs Index, straight stocks.

I keep 10% of my portfolio in AAPL and without the rollover, I would be behind my peers, my index and my goals. I wouldn't have had access to that Equity which I've leveraged nicely on multiple occasions.