Merrill Lynch Personal Manager Service Or...

[401Killer]

I guess just a direct question of what do people think of the Personal Manager service that Merrill Lynch provides? Is it better than a target type of investment direction like a 2040? Have not been able to find any other info searching on MMM as of yet.

[forummm]

Don't waste your money! Just open your account at Vanguard and put your funds into the Target Retirement Fund with the year that corresponds to the year you turn 65. It's super cheap and Vanguard will automatically adjust your investments for you. You can literally save hundreds of thousands of dollars in the fees and lost earnings that you would be giving to Merrill Lynch instead.

[forummm]

https://investor.vanguard.com/mutual-funds/vanguard-mutual-funds-list

Check the "balanced" box in the asset class section on the left side.

[forummm]

https://investor.vanguard.com/mutual-funds/low-cost

Move the slider at the bottom to reflect how much you'd be investing. Keep in mind that the Merrill Lynch Personal Manager service is actually about twice as expensive as the comparison on this page. So you can double the amount to see how much it would cost you.

[401Killer]

I have recently opened my Vanguard account and started my Roth IRA with the 2040 target, but the Merrill Lynch account is for my company 401k. Its currently set to the Personal Manager and just wanted to know if its better to use a target date investment direction.

My 401K is set to max at the $18,000/yr already.

[forummm]

Anything you can do to lower the fees is a good direction. The lowest cost target date option available to you is a good start.

[Spork]

I have a family member that uses it.  I'm not impressed.  Don't get me wrong, they are probably the "most above board/least crooked investment advisor" he's ever used -- so in his case it is a good thing.   And I think there are lots of people that need hand holding and a sit down chat every 6 months or so to provide feedback/direction.

But, while he looks at what they do and sees some positive growth, I look at it and think "holy crap... with as much as you have invested and THAT is the return you get???"   He would have been much better off had he just bought a VG 500 index fund and stopped there.

[401Killer]

Anything you can do to lower the fees is a good direction. The lowest cost target date option available to you is a good start.

Been trying to find the cost difference between their Personal Manager Service and the 2040 fund but having no luck. Funny how they make that stuff hard to find/hide it. I'll move it all over to the 2040 and get out of their service.

Thanks for the help guys.