Opinions on Consolidating Finances
 

I have some of our retirement 401k and 403b rollovers in Fidelity, Vanguard and Oppenheimer. To make things easier, I would like to consolidate and put all of our funds into one company.

We were told that even in the unlikely event that one of these firms went belly up we would not be hurt since we are not invested in these companies but in the underlying stocks, bonds and funds.

But I’d like other opinions, from a risk point of view, is there any reason why I should not do this?

Signed:

Gun Shy ever since “Bernie Madoff with the money”

I have accounts with Fidelity, T. Rowe and Vanguard...and prefer Vanguard overall.

While some people don't believe anything Consumer Reports reviews/publishes, I have personally found them to be very beneficial.

For those who are interested, here is a recent (Oct 2018) survey by CR...of various Investment Companies.


Consumer Reports Investment Company Buying Guide

It surely will makes things much easier for your heirs, beneficiaries, trustees, proxies, etc. and the executer of your estate. I can not think of any reason not to do this and six more as to why it seems like a good idea. It makes a lot of sense to remain diversified from the standpoint of financial investments, but not necessarily the organization you direct to administer them, particularly the firms you named which are about as rock solid as they come.

You may have to be a member of CR to see the entire list, so for those who aren't members...here's a pic of their top ratings.

SIPC (if the broker is a member), protects up to $500k per customer......all customer accounts per broker.

I split mine among three. I just sleep better at night if all my eggs are not in one basket. Having seen some major financial institutions fold over the years I do not believe that any account is 100% secure.

From the stand point of being properly diversified it would be difficult using 3 independent brokers unless they were talking to each other (highly unlikely), so I would vote for a single common broker. Also, pay attention if you decide to go with a single broker, as there may be opportunities to limit taxes or change investments to save future taxes.
Hope this helps, good luck with your project.

I have mutual funds with both Vanguard and Fidelity. I prefer Vanguard, but my Fidelity funds would create a huge tax liability if were to sell them and move the funds to Vanguard. So, I just keep them there. But, I would have no problem having all of my investments with Vanguard, and would prefer it that way, if I could avoid the taxes.

We're also split among three. Wife's retirement at one. My retirement at another then our personal portfolio at a third. Wasn't really by design just happened that way.

We just got finished with the process. We put everything into Vanguard because it seems they have the lowest fees of any of the big players. I think we moved from like 6 companies to just Vanguard. Patience is important, because none of it moves fast. The nice thing is you can always get someone on the phone, and they stay open after 5 pm. I still have some in the wind that hasn't completely cleared through all the regs. Hopefully we can get through this tax season, and things will simplify. If you want any contact information for VG. let me know.

Thank you for your response but I'm a little confused. Say I have positions in several individual stocks and a couple of mutual funds, that are in my Fidelity or Vanguard accounts, where/when does insurance become an issue?

Thanks.

Thank you for your response. Can you tell me why you prefer Vanguard over Fidelity and T. Rowe Price? Just wondering what your tipping point was.

Hi, thanks for your response as well. You are another who prefers Vanguard over Fidelity. Can you tell me what your reason is for that preference?

Typically, Vanguard has the lowest expense ratio in the industry for almost all of their mutual funds. Fidelity is a good company, but they have never been able to compete with Vanguard on the cost of their mutual funds, and other services.

Lower fees/loads.

Vanguard