Immediate Goal: Roll my 401k into an IRA, and contribute more with every paycheck.

2nd use: To invest extra money after maxing out my contributions to that IRA

Future use maybe: speculate, penny stock maybe? Just for fun with play money.

I had figured TD Ameritrade was what I wanted, since my friend uses them and they get really good reviews as the best site for novices. But folks here who seem to know a lot said good things about Vanguard and Fidelity.

Now I'm burdened by too many choices. Information overload has me being indecisive and feeling overwhelmed. Help me Arfy-wan, you're my only hope.


ETA: This is the thread that prompted this one, ar-jedi, midcap and others were really helpful: http://www.ar15.com/forums/t_1_5/1669572_.html

Another useful thread: http://www.ar15.com/forums/t_1_5/1628800__ARCHIVED_THREAD____I_need_to_start_saving_for_retirement___Where_do_I_start_.html&page=1#i47482651

Tag. Interested in Fidelity vs. Vanguard.

I've had good luck with fidelity.

Look into a Roth. Tax free growth.

My company uses a Fidelity platform and we like it.

tag as well, I have those same goals!



I opened an ameritrade roth account with the intention of purchasing index funds. I'm having trouble finding the extra cash to fund it right now. I already sack quite a bit away in my 403b.



The TD ameritrade site has lots of informational videos but it's still a lot to learn. It's confusing to someone that's not financial savvy. I'm trying to change though.

How much are you going to roll over?  I went with Vanguard when I left my last job.  A wide variety of investments to choose from, no account service fees for balances over $10k, very low expense ratios and good customer service.

A roth is the plan.

I use TD Ameritrade for my retail brokerage account and like their ThinkOrSwim platform.  I like their no load ETF choices too.  My savings go into the VYM dividend ETF that has about a 3.3% return.



 

I also purchased a few books on the topic of investing. This isn't something you learn overnight apparently.



Hopefully when I retire I will be able to continue to invest, I should know more by then I hope.

Vanguard has some of the lowest expense ratios

Another vote for Fidelity, been using them for over a decade.

About 4k.

I chose other...

I'd go with OptionsHouse or Interactive Brokers depending on what you understand by speculating besides penny stocks.They all do IRAs, Roth IRAs, etc.

If you stay pretty much with financial vehicles that are listed in the US and are interested in eventually doing some options trading for extra income (condors, butterflies, credit spreads, etc) then I'd go with OptionsHouse as their commissions are very low and they're awesome for options trading.

If you'd like to get into foreign traded stocks (like Toronto or DAX listed companies for example) then I'd go with Interactive Brokers as they have better access to those markets but still charge less than Fidelity, Schwab, Vanguard, etc.

Also I had some issues with Fidelity when I used them as my broker.

Good luck!

I was thinking it was best to do it all in one place, but this sounds like maybe having different accounts for different things would be better?

My main goal right now is to just do something with my 401k, everything else is going to wait, and speculation may even wait indefinitely....

pick one of Vanguard, Fidelity, or T.RowePrice.

everyone in the industry, even the boglehead crowd, will tell you that Fidelity's web site, customer service, and fund supermarket breadth eclipses that of Vanguard.  Vanguard certainly has the "keep costs low" mantra down pat, but that means that customer service and web presence are a bit less featured.

for me, the tools (including FullView and BillPay) on Fidelity's website make just as much difference.  i really like FullView, as it provides a one page summary of my financial life -- taxable and non-taxable accounts, banking, mortgage, credit cards, etc -- and keeps it all nice and tidy.  instead of hunting across websites to see "where you are at", it's all in one place on one page.

i don't do a lot of trades, probably around 12 per year, and mostly ETF's, so the difference between $7.95 trades and $5.95 trades (or whatever) is not a big deal to me.

my wife has her 403b with T.RowePrice and the one thing i really like about her TRP account is that it has one click access to Morningstar's outstanding fund and portfolio tool "InstantXray".  from your T.Rowe Price account you can do an InstantXray on your portfolio just by clicking a button; with Vanguard and Fidelity, you need to export your portfolio (by hand) and pull it into InstantXray.  of course both of these firms have "internal" portfolio analysis tools but none of them come close to the utility offered by InstantXray.

see examples, here
http://www.ar15.com/forums/t_1_133/1665650_Whats_the_deal_with_the_Fidelity_Contrafund_Fund_.html&page=1#i49341910

and here
http://www.ar15.com/forums/t_1_133/583439__ARCHIVED_THREAD____401k_advice___Updated_to_include_ticker_symobols.html&page=1#i9869677

and here
http://www.ar15.com/forums/t_1_133/1122005__ARCHIVED_THREAD____IRA_not_making_dukey__AR_Jedi_help___Update__last_post.html&page=1#i26309009
especially read this post in that thread:
http://www.ar15.com/forums/t_1_133/1122005__ARCHIVED_THREAD____IRA_not_making_dukey__AR_Jedi_help___Update__last_post.html&page=1#i26423836

ar-jedi

NO.

ar-jedi

Been with fidelity for about 10 years now

I use Fidelity.

Posted Via AR15.Com Mobile

So should I go with Fidelity or T Row Price?

PFG Best & MF Global.  Be sure "your" ducats can't be rehypothecated.

Fidelity or Vanguard. Purchase commission free ETFs.

MF Global?  Didn't they fold after the ex-governor of New Jersey/their CEO stole money from their clients to cover the firm's losses?

 








 

I'm in the process of opening a ScotTrade rollover for that small 401k that got auto-rolled into a lame Prudential "stable" fund. I say process because I'm busy and stuff. Looked at their website and talked to their local office, sounds like it will do everything I want it to. Cheap stock trades, access to 87 billion managed funds. Looking forward to getting around to playing around with it.

Posted Via AR15.Com Mobile

Everything I've read about Vanguard is that they are financially rock solid and run by very financially conservative people.  Dunno anything about Fidelity so can't compare.

If you're gonna focus on mutual funds, go with vanguard or fidelity. Even though scottrade allows you access to most funds, you still have to pay a $17 fee for every 'trade'. At fidelity or vanguard you won't pay that fee.

Caution....Regardless

of those two, Fidelity.

ar-jedi

Vanguard, low expenses

Vanguard, because they didn't allow after hours trading for institutional investors, unlike some of the other mutual fund companies out there.

Roth and Traditional with Sharebuilder, SEP and 401k with Fidelity. I like ShareBuilder, I can make monthly contributions and I don't have to buy whole shares. 12 trades for $12 monthly.

Vanguard pissed me off opening an account with them, eventually said fuck it and went with fidelity for my SEP as I already had an account there.

http://www.ar15.com/forums/t_1_133/1655383_Online_brokerage_accounts___how_secure_are_your_investments_in_the_event_of_a_failure_.html&page=1#i49344370

ar-jedi

Thanks for your help and handholding. Trying to figure out which to click right now. I guess it'll get even more complicated from here on out.

• FDIC Insured Deposit Sweep Program An interest bearing position that is eligible for FDIC insurance.

• Fidelity Government Money Market Fund (SPAXX) A money market mutual fund (not FDIC-insured).

I have fidelity for my 401k and like it. I use Charles Schwab for my play around penny stock money. You can open a non retirement speculation account for one thousand dollars . Trades are pretty cheap and very fast, fast is important with penny stocks.  Penny stocks are addictive, its gambling so be careful and good luck.

in this context you really don't care which of the above is used as the "sweep position".

INSIDE your IRA, after you open the account, you can either send them a check, roll over an existing 401k, transfer-in-kind an existing IRA, or electronic transfer the funds in.

when "cash" of any sort arrives in your IRA, it is initially placed in a "sweep" position: this is a cash-equivalent security of one of the two types you list above.  i would not get too hung up on the FDIC insured nature of the first, or the non FDIC insured nature of the second.  i tell you this because for the most part the sweep position is a temporary holding place, and not where you are going to let money sit for the long term.  the non-FDIC insured position will have a *slightly* higher interest rate because it is made up from bonds, not just short term T-bills.  

once your contributions are inside the IRA in the sweep position, you are ready to purchase your long term vehicles -- such as a mutual fund or an ETF, or both.  using a shopping cart like application, you select a trading symbol and then declare how much to purchase.  the amount you can purchase is, of course, limited by the size of your current sweep position.  it is net-sum-zero accounting here, your goal is to (perhaps over time) end up with a zero balance sweep position.  think of the sweep position as your "checkbook" inside the IRA.  

here is a sample timeline.

day 0: 10K contribution sent to IRA via check.
day 1: 10K in sweep position
day 2: you purchase 5K in broad market index fund like FFNOX.
day 3: 5K in sweep position, 5K in FFNOX.
day 4: you purchase 5K in managed mutual fund like FCNTX.
day 5: 0K in sweep position, 5K in FFNOX.  5K in FCNTX.
day 6: you learn that the manager of FCNTX has quit, and thereafter the fund changes it's charter to be run by howler monkeys on meth throwing darts at a wall full of stock symbols.  
day 7: you sell your FCNTX, which has grown to 6K.
day 8: 6K in sweep position, 5K in FFNOX.
day 9: ARFCOM user "midcap" recommends that you purchase a midcap ETF, such as IJJ.  you are unsure so you decide to go half in.
day 10: you purchase 3K of IJJ.
day 11: 3K in sweep position, 5K in FFNOX, 3K in IJJ.
day 12: you read in ARFCOM GD that gold is going to go to 10 million dollars per ounce.
day 13: you purchase 3K of GLD, the ETF indexed against the price of gold.
day 14: 0K in sweep position, 5K in FFNOX, 3K in IJJ, 3K in GLD.
day 15: gold value drops to zero as method for converting seawater into gold is developed by Google scientist; ARFCOM GD implodes.
day 16: 0K in sweep position, 5K in FFNOX, 3K in IJJ, 0K in GLD.

etc

note that above i left out a couple of details -- for example, there is a 3 day settling period when accounting for trades, etc.  

ar-jedi

Another for Fidelity.

You seriously need to write books. You take all the scary and intimidating out of this stuff, and add howler monkeys.

I opened a fidelity account. The nice operator who held my hand says that the 3k I have in my trad 401k has to first go into my rollover account but the $500 in my Roth 401k  can go into my Roth IRA account directly.

Tomorrow, I call the company that has my 401k and have them send the checks to fidelity.

When the money is gets into the two accounts, I can move the money in the rollover account into the Roth. As soon as that's done, I start contributing from my paychecks.

this is correct.

recall that traditional 401k and IRA's use the approach of pay no tax now on contributions, pay tax later on gains (after retirement, when your tax bracket is lower).

recall also that Roth 401k and IRA's use the approach of pay tax now on contributions, and pay no tax later on gains.  

there is almost no way to be 100% sure which of these approaches will be more beneficial in the long term FOR YOU.  so, the ARFCOM motto applies: get both.

the reason you can't intermingle contributions between non-Roth and Roth accounts is straightforward: the handling of the tax differs.  in one case you already paid tax on contributions (Roth) and in the other case you didn't (Traditional, non-deductible).  




this is the right approach.  note that in some cases your ex-401k provider may directly send you a "live check".  treat that like plutonium.  if you hang onto that check for more than 30 days (check that, going on memory here) the IRS will declare it a distribution.  so, instead of a simple rollover you will be in a world of IRS hurt -- early withdrawal penalties, income tax at your marginal rate, etc. -- so don't EVER sit on a retirement account distribution unless you want The Man in your life.  roll that thing over into a qualified plan ASAP.


if you are planning on moving money between a non-Roth and a Roth account, you need to be familiar with the terms "IRA conversion" and "IRA recharacterization".  there *may* be tax implications, meaning you may owe money on contributions.  

there is no reason that you can't have both a Traditional IRA account and a Roth IRA account at the same time.  this is my situation as well.  i have not been able to contribute to a Roth for some time, but i leave the money there without going through a conversion.  many folks use conversion to convert from a traditional to a Roth, on the basis that future taxes are likely to be more than present taxes.  this is cleverly known as a "back door Roth", since it sidesteps the adjusted gross income limits on Roth contributions.

moar bedtime reading for you:
http://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Roth_IRA_conversion
http://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/IRA_recharacterization
http://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Backdoor_Roth_IRA

just a note: if it is not clear (100% clear) what benefit you gain by converting from a non-Roth to a Roth, or vice versa, don't do it.  IRA conversions and IRA recharacterizations can be accounting and IRS headaches, so proceed with caution.

ar-jedi

BigeasySnow,
how are you doing?

ar-jedi

I'd answer for her, but she's asleep and I don't remember the details. I'll tell her to check in.

I'm great! Thanks for all the advice. The company that has my old 401ks wrote me back and they're sending the money to Fidelity. I just have to wait until Fidelity lets me know they have it and then I allocate it and start contributions again as soon as I have any spare money.

Everything's coming up roses for me, actually. School is on track, I'm renovating my house and work is fun!

I use Ameritrade. No minimum balance and relatively cheap trades.

+1 for Vanguard.



 

everything work out?

ar-jedi

I think so, I have to check with fidelity and see if the checks came. I was expecting an email when they got them. Hmmm