Hi! Been reading a few bits here from Google results and seeking my first advice...
We have our investments in different accounts. My husband is military so we have TSP, a bit over 20k. He has ROTH via TSP too but just opened at $1000. We have a Franklin account at around 19/20k also - opened in '04 also I think. We're stationed overseas and before quitting my job, I rolled the 403B into a traditional IRA American Funds account, 26k. I was also contributing to an AF ROTH and had 8k in there. I have stocks, bought via USAA for no fee (first 10 purchases were free I think) when the market crash, 10k now. And had 55k cash for emergencies.
We're 35/39 yrs old.
Before April 1st, not knowing better, I contacted my (new) advisor (old one retired 1-2 years ago) and I told him we need to max out our ROTHs. He said fine and I sent him around 22k . So now we have 30k-ish in cash.
A week later my advisor gave me a proprosal. It's a portfolio basically. His example was 55k turned into 250k in 10yrs. He said it's better than what I have now, mostly Growth, Wasington Mutual, AMCAP, Balanced , Fundemental, Capital Income Builder, New Perspective and New World. Small bits of bonds too.
It was just last week that I learned about the fees involved. When I started investing in '04, I was just pumped to start investing, very little Internet or reading research and just lost - overwhelmed with all the info. But in the last 48hrs I've learned about Fidelity, Vanguard and T Rowe. I've also spent 5hrs straight matching comparable (and hopefully better) funds to what I have now.
Here's my dilemma. Except for the 22k I just sent, everything has been allocated from 2004-2010. I quit contributing after being transferred overseas and hubby just contributed to TSP and savings. So, I've paid the 5.75% and now just the 1 point something to point 8 fees, depending on the fund. Many of the funds have been doing well too I think. I compared them to similar funds (Vanguard has a nice tool for this) and the popular Equity Income and capital appreciation from T Rowe. They all have their ups and downs but all performing well.
By this time I was too tired to compare each to Fidelity but from a few I gathered, they're not bad.
So, I want to transfer the 22k we just mailed to Vanguard and start over. They're just in cash form still now because I told the advisor that I wasn't comfortable with the portfolio. I just can't see being charged another 2.5% on top of the 5.75% I paid already. Also every year there will be rebalancing fees.
I am not sure about the 40 some thousand in American Funds (oh, there is a 529 too). Stay or will it be beneficial in the long run to just have less fees? I do pay $10/year, or $30 total, to keep my accounts there. Also, there is a 1-2% to reinvest the devidend fee. I am not sure if that's included in the expense ratio or not. This is Edward Jones pricing.
Thank you!!