Rollover to new retirement plan

[Wish-I-Were-Fishn]

My wife needs to rollover money from a retirement plan into something else because the plan she is in is closing. Not interested in dealing with somebody that is more interested in commissions then her savings. Any recommendations?

[thatoneguy]

If you want the DIY route, online brokerages like td ameritrade can help you roll over you retirement funds. It's pretty simple, doesn't take a ton of time, and gives you control. If you want someone else to handle it, pretty much any investment advisor will be able to do the same thing for you.

[delcecchi]

vanguard. very low cost mutual funds.

Fidelity, some human advice, many funds to choose from, low online comissions. Office in Minneapolis.

TDameritrade some actual offices. I don't know about Minnesota. Lots of online info. I don't know about their advice.

Those are three I am aware of personally.

[Powerstroke]

I took mine to vanguard. Very low fees and super easy to deal with. I filled out the paperwork and they did the hard part. I spent maybe 10 minutes on the phone getting everything squared away. Super easy and you don't pay anyone.

[delcecchi]

Vanguard is very good. I like them a lot.

I am a big fan of the "couch potato" school of investing that puts the money in a few index funds and then you just rebalance every so often. Vanguard is a perfect fit for that.

Later, she can consider a Roth conversion if that fits your needs.

[Wish-I-Were-Fishn]

I know a Roth is great for a younger person, but what about for a 56 year old?

[delcecchi]

I know a Roth is great for a younger person, but what about for a 56 year old?

That depends on your personal situation.

Do you have the money to pay the tax on the conversion without using the money in the account?

Do you expect to pass a significant amount of money to your heirs or will you be spending most of it in retirement?

Do you expect your income tax rates to be significantly higher 10 years from now when retired? Remember that Social Security might or might not be taxable, depending on your income. If IRA withdrawals cause you to go over the threshold your marginal tax rate goes way up.

Roths are not subject to mandatory minimum withdrawals and the rules for beneficiaries are more favorable.

If you are dealing with significant money it is worth sitting down with a financial planner(fee only) or at least a tax guy or cpa to figure it out.

It is certainly worth considering. But if you have to use the account to pay the taxes, probably not.

[buddha]

There are lots of options that will allow market growth and guarentees of income and the companies mentioned above really don't offer those options. The whole goal of retirement is a paycheck and not having to worry at night about your paycheck is a great feeling.

Be very wary of "not paying" anyone, believe it or not service can be well worth it, especially in the financial markets that we have now and in the future.

[h8go4s]

Yikes! Rule #1: Don't take financial advice from strangers on a fishing/hunting forum.

That being said, I'd advise you to do some quick research on Morningstar, Fortune, Forbes, Money magazine, WSJ, Motley Fool, etc. focused on no-load index mutual funds. Then check the Vanguard, Fidelity and T. Rowe Price websites. All are solid, low-cost fund groups and they will help you through the rollover process. Stick with one fund company and spread the rollover into 3-5 different stock and bond mutual funds, depending on the amount you have to invest. Another option is a "target retirement date" fund. Most advisers recommend around a 65%/35% stock to bond mix, adjusting to a higher bond mix as you age. Do what makes you able to sleep at night. If you need more help, find a fee-only Certified Financial Planner. Most bank, insurance and brokerage planners or advisers are not CFP's and will charge commissions, thus tilting their bias toward selling you what profits them most. Good luck.

Ron.

[delcecchi]

There are lots of options that will allow market growth and guarentees of income and the companies mentioned above really don't offer those options. The whole goal of retirement is a paycheck and not having to worry at night about your paycheck is a great feeling.

Be very wary of "not paying" anyone, believe it or not service can be well worth it, especially in the financial markets that we have now and in the future.

Let me guess. You are in the financial products industry.

[eglleftcoast]

Handling your personal 401K account is like someone hanlding their own taxes, not very smart. Hire a professional to manage your money, it will pay off over the long haul especially in the market we are seeing today....

[delcecchi]

Handling your personal 401K account is like someone hanlding their own taxes, not very smart. Hire a professional to manage your money, it will pay off over the long haul especially in the market we are seeing today....

I tried that. He took 2 percent and didn't do as well as my personal vanguard account. Index Funds Rule, advisors drool.

See the couch potato portfolio. Invest money according to your asset allocation in low cost index funds (or ETFs). Rebalance periodically.

Beat most of the experts.

If you need help or advice, hire a fee only financial planner for a few hours.

[Wish-I-Were-Fishn]

She ended up putting it in a targeted retirement fund at Vangard. It made sense to us. We shall see.

I agree with Ron & Del: don't hire a commissioned based planner. They are often more interested in making commissions.

[delcecchi]

She ended up putting it in a targeted retirement fund at Vangard. It made sense to us. We shall see.

I agree with Ron & Del: don't hire a commissioned based planner. They are often more interested in making commissions.

Seems like a good choice. Now you don't even need to rebalance, they do it for you.

[thatoneguy]

Handling your personal 401K account is like someone hanlding their own taxes, not very smart. Hire a professional to manage your money, it will pay off over the long haul especially in the market we are seeing today....

Couldn't disagree more. There is plenty of good information available today so anyone can manage their own retirement fund. It's certainly not a bad idea to pay a professional for advice, but it's also certainly not mandatory. Picking out a few good mutual funds, which is what most 401k/403b/Ira accounts consist of, is really pretty simple and will provide the ROI most people need.

[h8go4s]

Quoting buddah: "especially in the financial markets that we have now and in the future"

Quoting eglleftcoast: "especially in the market we are seeing today"

Enlighten me, please. What is so different in today's market from yesterday's, last year's, last century's? It goes up and down, good investments prosper and bad investments fail. Make good, solid quality investments and stick with them. Don't speculate, invest. The quotes above are buzzwords used to scare people.

Ron.