Recent content by yofi

That's a good idea, maybe they can help with RMDs and estimated tax payments. I'm not sure if the FA is doing the RMD withdrawals, that's what I thought. Because her pensions/ss covers her monthly expenses for the most part, she only uses a bit more for insurance etc. Her main worry now is...

That's a great idea and well put. One thing I'm concerned about is how to handle RMDs and estimated tax payments. I've never done that before so feel a bit out of depth and wouldn't want to screw anything up. Maybe an accountant can help on that end?

I wish when their original broker retired that that would have happened, but she followed the partner over unfortunately. One thing she pointed out why she did was that she was getting 8.5% in a guaranteed annuity or something, and he told her that he couldn't beat that so that's why she trusts him.

Right, exactly what I'm encountering! These guys are good at that!

I did ponder asking her to freeze the account, but I didn't want to be responsible had it actually been necessary making a change and getting caught flat-footed. I'm probably over thinking this. An independent review from a fee only FA is a great idea, thanks.

I'm amazed so many people have had similar experiences! I always knew in the back of my mind that something was off, but these stories reinforce the shenanigans going on. Thanks for sharing.

Great, the next time I visit, I'm going to go over to a Fidelity branch to get an account opened. Thanks!

I did more digging and saw plenty of 12-1 fees which is why the expense ratios were like .8%. Not to mentioned the front load fees of up to 4.25%, and a couple of ones that were deferred. I felt bad because she felt bad, and at this stage of her life it's essentially too late, but she did make...

That's exactly what I told her on the phone just now. How much overlap is there between funds and stocks. I felt bad for bringing this up because she insisted she, "made money", and I agreed that she did which was good. (But it would have been better had she just left it in their Vanguard...

It gets even crazier. I just got off the phone with my mom and she said back in the 80's they used to have a Vanguard account but transferred everything to their original broker at Lehman. I explained everything to her and she agreed that she'll open a Fidelity account (office is located near...

Absolutely, this is exactly it, thank you. They are currently at ~50% equities, the rest in fixed income. Considering their expenses are almost all covered by pensions and SS, I'm curious why they'd need a more conservative portfolio?

That's a great idea!

Ah, good point. I took a look at some high ones and saw front loaded fees up to 4.25%, deferred fees @ 1% for others, and probably close to .8% expense ratios. The more I look into this, the more disappointed I'm getting. I did a back of the envelope comparison of my Vanguard IRA accounts...

I'm afraid they would drop them if I started talking to them because I would verbally rip them to pieces. I've already had to deal with a junior associate who didn't process a 529 payment due to massive incompetence and I'm in the process of transferring the entire 529 to my own (fafsa not...

Ok, that makes sense, and that is most definitely what happened, but 85% of their holdings are in IRAs, wouldn't that mean that cap gains are irrelevant?