Switch to Vanguard from Edward Jones

[LitGal]

Congratulations, tarmstrong!

I doubt you'll regret the change, as you step into the world of self-directed investing.

As a neophyte myself, lessons began when I had to finish off a seven-year wait in order to get out of two 403B variable annuities without paying surrender charges. (That's another story.) While waiting those few years, I started reading about index funds.......which, of course, led to Vanguard and all the reasons the company is so popular. (Especially with schoolteacher friends who had also been waiting out their annuities.)

Luckily, when I got a new job in a private school, 403B's were not available there, only a Vanguard 401K. So, during my last 12 years of teaching, I took more "baby steps" researching those funds, saving as aggressively as possible (in hopes of escaping my heavy work load ASAP). It worked!

After rolling over the 401K to a Vanguard IRA, the past 18 mo. of ER have provided time to learn and research more. The folks on this forum are extremely helpful and knowledgeable. Plus, I subscribe to Dan Wiener's newsletters and the Kiplinger Retirement Report (both helpful, too).

The confidence you gain by "doing it yourself" keeps you out of reach of various vultures* circling by, looking for an easy kill (or the carrion from someone else's kill). They won't get fees from you. You won't let them waste your time talking you into an investment that only benefits them. (As they did with my SIL...yet another story....) Instead, it will be you and your computer and your research........charting your own financial future.

Hey, if I can do it, anybody can. Most of my life was spent on Shakespeare, poetry, and composition theory.

Researching investments is just a different kind of reading (and effort to eradicate my own ignorance)!

Best Wishes, as Captain of Your Own Ship!





*Vultures-- those who send me invitations to free dinners and lunches; whoever keeps mailing me letters about the "truth about SS and Medicare"; FA's who cold call, wanting to "help me."

I'd rather watch a movie. (And read about investments on MY schedule; isn't that the purpose of ER?)

 

[ducky911]

An EJ adviser will send you a birthday card every single year.

No birthday cards from Vanguard.

You could send yourself a birthday card with a check in it for 1% of you asset total.

 

[travelover]

You could send yourself a birthday card with a check in it for 1% of your asset total.

Yea, but somehow it is just not the same.

 

[ERD50]

My EJ adviser is wonderful

We are still waiting to hear what it is that makes your EJ advisor so wonderful. Please share! We all want more 'wonderful' in our lives.

-ERD50

 

[cdarbonne1]

leaving EJ for Vanguard

Ok guys everyone here has convinced me, Im going to leave EJ for Vanguard. I still don't know what all im going to invest in but I will continue to research and learn all i can. can someone suggest something for me to invest in at first. at least just to get all my money over to vanguard and i can move it around as i see fit and as my research leads me to pick different indexes and Mutual Funds.
also, suggestions on how phone call to EJ should start... may sound like a strange request, but i do like the guy( as a person) good guy, but im determined to do this for myself and im going to.. I guess i could go around him and contact EJ Headquarters but id rather not do that, plus i see him around town in the store and what not. Thanks. everyone here is a huge help. also i have about $70,000 i will be moving.

 

[cdarbonne1]

also im 34yrs old married, 4 kids 12yrs and younger, earn 165,000 per year... wanting to retire early, I would like to pay for some of my kids college also. don't really know how much yet but some.. also would i max out a roth ira, then go traditional ira? thoughts are very appreciated.

 

[rprun54]

He's my brother

 

[powerplay]

Ok guys everyone here has convinced me, Im going to leave EJ for Vanguard. I still don't know what all im going to invest in but I will continue to research and learn all i can. can someone suggest something for me to invest in at first. at least just to get all my money over to vanguard and i can move it around as i see fit and as my research leads me to pick different indexes and Mutual Funds.
also, suggestions on how phone call to EJ should start... may sound like a strange request, but i do like the guy( as a person) good guy, but im determined to do this for myself and im going to.. I guess i could go around him and contact EJ Headquarters but id rather not do that, plus i see him around town in the store and what not. Thanks. everyone here is a huge help. also i have about $70,000 i will be moving.

Several years ago I rolled all my IRA's over to Vanguard. To start with I had all the money moved into Vanguard's money market fund. I decided what funds I wanted and made my transactions online buying into several Vanguard mutual funds over a period of time.

I recently moved an inherited IRA from EJ to V. I told the EJ guy I was moving it and was not even asked why. It went well and he did call me to double check that I wanted everything liquidated before the transfer to V. I did choose to have it put into Wellesley so I don't plan to invest this particular IRA in any additional funds. It is a relatively small amount and I will likely take the RMD from it for a number of years.

Good luck with your transition to V.

 

[MRG]

Ok guys everyone here has convinced me, Im going to leave EJ for Vanguard. I still don't know what all im going to invest in but I will continue to research and learn all i can. can someone suggest something for me to invest in at first. at least just to get all my money over to vanguard and i can move it around as i see fit and as my research leads me to pick different indexes and Mutual Funds.
also, suggestions on how phone call to EJ should start... may sound like a strange request, but i do like the guy( as a person) good guy, but im determined to do this for myself and im going to.. I guess i could go around him and contact EJ Headquarters but id rather not do that, plus i see him around town in the store and what not. Thanks. everyone here is a huge help. also i have about $70,000 i will be moving.

Just call Vanguard they should do everything for you. Don't worry about the call with E.D., it happens every day. Yes you'll probably get a call, be pleasant, tell him you'd like to thank him for all his help, but your ready to DIY. After all it is your money. As far as liking the guy, he's rewarded for getting people to like him. Who knows he may be a real nice guy or a phony.
Best wishes,
MRG

 

[2B]

He's my brother

He may be a nice guy but he's still selling you high fee investments in addition to taking a management fee. Has he sold you a deferred annuity yet? He can make a fortune selling one of those.

 

[ERD50]

He's my brother

That hardly makes him qualified to give 'wonderful' financial advice. And he's not my brother (I assume), and probably not a brother to anyone else on this forum. So how does that help us?

I've got several brothers, some are wonderful in some ways, one is.... well, let's not go there, but he can't balance a checkbook. Seems like a shaky plan to me!

But I guess I am still curious - what has he done for you that is so 'wonderful'? Have his investments steadily outperformed alternatives on a risk-adjusted basis (after fees)? That's pretty wonderful, but I doubt you could substantiate that.


-ERD50

 

[dontworry]

Ok guys everyone here has convinced me, Im going to leave EJ for Vanguard. I still don't know what all im going to invest in but I will continue to research and learn all i can. can someone suggest something for me to invest in at first. at least just to get all my money over to vanguard and i can move it around as i see fit and as my research leads me to pick different indexes and Mutual Funds.
also, suggestions on how phone call to EJ should start... may sound like a strange request, but i do like the guy( as a person) good guy, but im determined to do this for myself and im going to.. I guess i could go around him and contact EJ Headquarters but id rather not do that, plus i see him around town in the store and what not. Thanks. everyone here is a huge help. also i have about $70,000 i will be moving.

Hi! I just moved our IRA from Primerica (yikes!) to Vanguard. I called Vanguard and they assisted me with the move. I have everything invested in target date retirement funds for now. I wanted to make it simple. I may change that up eventually or I may not, time will tell. I have been very happy with the move so far. Surprisingly, I had no calls from our PA advisor (who was also a really nice guy btw) trying to talk us into staying. Good luck!

 

[Bestwifeever]

He's my brother

This made me smile

I wish someone in my family knew how to cut hair.

 

[travelover]

.......... I still don't know what all I'm going to invest in but I will continue to research and learn all I can. Can someone suggest something for me to invest in at first. .........

Putting your money initially into the money market fund is a good suggestion. Also, you could do a lot worse than simply picking a Target Retirement fund that has an asset allocation (ratio of stocks to bonds) that you are comfortable with. After that it is on autopilot until you retire.

 

[cdarbonne1]

good info guys thank you.

 

[F4mandolin]

I wish someone in my family knew how to cut hair.

I have a wife....and she is deadly with electric clippers. Put the #2 attachment on for all the hair and then just take the attachment off to clean it up. But....you are likely to have higher standards than me with a guys short hair. And....heeheehee.....I don't have to a pay her....although I do have to be nice to her.

 

[427Vette]

I too am in the process of moving from EJ to vanguard. Despite the ridicule I will get for even saying it I have to admit my EJ advisor has done incredibly well for me in the past. I never would have been where I am at without him. I realize that they get a percentage for what they do but I certainly didn't have the time to manage things as well as he was doing. We talk several times a month, usually he is calling to inform me of a certain municipal bond or some other investment that would fit my portfolio and tax situation. Again, I wouldn't have time to watch all of this stuff on my own, I am trying to run my own business and be profitable.

With that being said, I am moving some funds over to Vanguard to see how things go.

 

[ERD50]

I too am in the process of moving from EJ to vanguard. Despite the ridicule I will get for even saying it I have to admit my EJ advisor has done incredibly well for me in the past. I never would have been where I am at without him. I realize that they get a percentage for what they do but I certainly didn't have the time to manage things as well as he was doing. We talk several times a month, usually he is calling to inform me of a certain municipal bond or some other investment that would fit my portfolio and tax situation. Again, I wouldn't have time to watch all of this stuff on my own, I am trying to run my own business and be profitable.

With that being said, I am moving some funds over to Vanguard to see how things go.

I'm certainly not going to ridicule you for that statement.

But I will question it. I am skeptical that he did 'incredibly well for' for you. To determine that, you'd need to check that performance versus a "Couch Potato" type portfolio, which takes almost zero time to implement and maintain.

I've known people who were very glad to pay less tax with their muni bonds, but that doesn't mean the munis were a good investment over-all for them. Anyhow, there are muni-funds, so that is EZ to do.

There have been many posts here from people who claim their EJ (or other) advisor is doing a great job, but when questioned, they either drop out of sight or cannot offer any solid info to back up the claim.

Heck, I'd gladly pay 1% to the advisor and another 1% in fund costs to do 'incredibly well' (assuming that means far above 'the market' including fees/costs). Why the heck are you leaving?

-ERD50

 

[easysurfer]

I too am in the process of moving from EJ to vanguard. Despite the ridicule I will get for even saying it I have to admit my EJ advisor has done incredibly well for me in the past. I never would have been where I am at without him. I realize that they get a percentage for what they do but I certainly didn't have the time to manage things as well as he was doing. We talk several times a month, usually he is calling to inform me of a certain municipal bond or some other investment that would fit my portfolio and tax situation. Again, I wouldn't have time to watch all of this stuff on my own, I am trying to run my own business and be profitable.

With that being said, I am moving some funds over to Vanguard to see how things go.

I think the question to ask yourself is if the guidance is worth the fee.

Much like tax time. Some prefer to just bring in a shoe box of records and hand that over to an accountant (Of course, a 1% fee of assets under management is a lot more than having an accountant do your taxes) vs a more DIY approach like using tax software.

That is, as long as the accountant does a good job. I used to hire someone to have my taxes done as I felt that as easier and more accurate. But found myself having to proof read the work anyhow and catching some mistakes. So, I figured to just do my taxes on my own

 

[LitGal]

Pay for Your Retirement First

also im 34yrs old married, 4 kids 12yrs and younger, earn 165,000 per year... wanting to retire early, I would like to pay for some of my kids college also. don't really know how much yet but some.. also would i max out a roth ira, then go traditional ira? thoughts are very appreciated.

Max out your 401K, if one is available to you. If spouse works, have him/her do the same. If you still have $ left, each of you can fund a Roth IRA for the year (and every year until your kids start college). This last piece of advice came from our CPA when I asked him about 529 plans.

He said the benefit of Roths is that, after 5 years, you can take the $ out for educational expenses. We took his advice, because we did not know if DS would be able to "do college." It turned that college was not for him, so we have the benefits of those Roths for ourselves. (And/or we can still use them in the future, if he decides he wants to go to college and really try to apply himself).

Also, back in '07, when we were filling out the FAFSA for him, we had no 529's to report. Our friends with 529's (who were also filing out FAFSA's that year) said that, when they reported the 529 savings for their kids' financial aid purposes, the 529 savings jacked up their net worth so the colleges had less motivation to provide scholarships and grants.

Others on the forum may have had a different experience, and/or the rules may have changed.

(Also, we did not have the money to fully fund 2 401K's, 2 Roths, PLUS a 529 plan each year. So we stopped saving when the Roths and 401K's were fully funded.)

FWIW....

Best of Luck!

 

[firsttimer]

Trarm,

Like yourself I started with the commission based brokerage firm and made the switch to Vanguard. As your assets grow or if you are just looking for direction you may want to consider paying for a one time consultation with a fee based financial planner. Also depending upon your invested assets with Vanguard you may have access to a complementary yearly consultation with a CFP.



Cheers!

 

[gozer]

This made me smile

I wish someone in my family knew how to cut hair.

My cousin cuts my hair. I used to feel funny going to a beautician for a guy haircut. But I grew up, got over it and get to see my cousin on a regular basis. Waiting my turn I also learned more about the chemistry behind hair coloring than I ever really needed to know.

 

[gozer]

I'm certainly not going to ridicule you for that statement.

But I will question it. I am skeptical that he did 'incredibly well for' for you. To determine that, you'd need to check that performance versus a "Couch Potato" type portfolio, which takes almost zero time to implement and maintain.

I've known people who were very glad to pay less tax with their muni bonds, but that doesn't mean the munis were a good investment over-all for them. Anyhow, there are muni-funds, so that is EZ to do.

There have been many posts here from people who claim their EJ (or other) advisor is doing a great job, but when questioned, they either drop out of sight or cannot offer any solid info to back up the claim.

Heck, I'd gladly pay 1% to the advisor and another 1% in fund costs to do 'incredibly well' (assuming that means far above 'the market' including fees/costs). Why the heck are you leaving?

-ERD50

I suspect for most people, "did well", means the adviser got them to invest when they would have been too afraid or maybe too lazy to do so on their own. In that regard, an adviser is better than doing nothing.

I'm ashamed to admit that my education in the evils of a financial adviser cost me at least 50K more than the other people in this thread. I guess I went to an ivy league sucker school.

 

[fourinone]

Interesting thread, EJ much more helpful than Vanguard, and no phone trees. Always seem willing to talk to you, and friendly. I wouldn't want an 800 number for my medicine, nor my finances.

 

[target2019]

Interesting thread, EJ much more helpful than Vanguard, and no phone trees. Always seem willing to talk to you, and friendly. I wouldn't want an 800 number for my medicine, nor my finances.

You may not have noticed, but this thread is more than two years old.
I've noticed you're active on other EJ thread.
Maybe you can tell us more about yourself, what line of business?