I am in the process of firing a family member's FA due to high fees and migrating her IRA, Roth IRA, and taxable/non-qualified holdings into Vanguard. I plan to run a three-fund portfolio for all three of them. I have a few questions about the process:
1) She holds about $40k in a non qualified brokerage through Ameriprise. Is it better to liquidate these assets by selling it all, then just buying vanguard index funds after the check clears? Or should this be done concurrently when transferring the IRA and Roth IRA? (it sounds to me like this option would make me subject to vanguard's brokerage service fees and commissions and it's not enough to qualify for Voyager status)
2) She holds about $40k in a roth and $140k in an IRA through Ameriprise, invested in a silly casserole of over 10 actively-managed funds each. When I initiate the transfer through Vanguard, is this an "account transfer"? I want to transfer all of these assets into a three-fund portfolio, so am I not doing an "in-kind transfer"?
I want to play my cards right to avoid too many penalties/fees, etc.
Thanks in advance.