loumar9168, welcome to the forum.
Nationwide suggested I leave funds where they are, T Rowe Price and Vanguard suggested I open an account with them.
Yes, and I assume you are unsurprised.
I have close to 192k with Nationwide under a program which guarantees a 3.5 return per year.
Really need more information about this program. You are old enough that this might have been established long ago enough for it to be "not too bad." But any investment offered by an insurance company (e.g., Nationwide) is immediately suspect, because too many of them are great for the insurance company but not for you the individual investor. E.g., see
Equity-indexed annuity - Bogleheads.
Some information that would help people assess your situation:
- Are you subject to any penalty from Nationwide if you take all $192K from them now?
- How much of the $192K would be subject to tax if you converted it all to a Roth account now? Note: you probably won't want to do this, but it's useful information.
- How does Nationwide decide how much interest you earn each year on the $192K?
- Approximately what Adjusted Gross Income (last line on page 1 of form 1040) do you expect for 2018 if you do nothing with the Nationwide account?
I’ve called Vanguard but of course they are not allowed to advise me which way to go.
They will if you sign up for their advisor service. Cost is 0.3%/yr on your investment with them, or $576/yr for a $192K investment.
I also receive around $4600 every month from military retirement, Florida pension, disability from the military and have about $10k in checking and savings with local credit union.
How much do you spend per month?