Amerprise? Try Frankenprise!

[giza]

Between service that has gone downhill from my financial adviser[1], and a web-site that is slow and sub-par, I think it's time I parted ways with Ameriprise. They were good to me in terms of getting me set up with my Roth and Traditional IRAs, but I want to take a more active role in managing my assets, and I do not think they are the right choice for me anymore.

So, I'm looking to take my retirement funds elsewhere, and am open to suggestions. Here's what I am looking for:

1) Roth IRAs and Traditional IRAs

2) Disability Insurance

3) Brokerage accounts. There are one or two stocks I'd like to invest in, as well as The Vice Fund

4) A "self-service" mentality. I hate depending on others, and I like to have control over my funds instead of having to ask someone to change things for me.

5) Financial planning advice. I like to learn things, but I know when I'm in over my head and need to consult an expert, and I am willing to pay for this. Currently, Ameriprise is charging me a flat fee for "comprehensive financial planning", whatever that means. In combination with #4, I'm fine with "no-frills" outfits, as well as paying by the hour for advise on an "ala carte" basis.

At this point, I'm mostly interested in ideas and options. A single firm doesn't necessarily have to provide all of the above services. If anyone has experience with say, a company that offers good disability insurance at good rates, then I'd like to hear about it.

Thanks!

[1] It's a real shame, too. My first financial adviser, back when they were American Express Financial Advisers, was a fellow by the name of Dave Randall. He was very good about answering some of the silly questions I asked, prompt in his replies to my emails, and never made me feel rushed or ignored. But then he left American Express Financial Advisors for what I imagine was a better opportunity. After being cast aside for nearly a year, they finally put me in touch with my current adviser, who is... um... yeah...

Comments

[eddiddiums.livejournal.com]

Do you happen to know what other opportunity Dave left for? I know it is not a very uncommon name or anything but we have a manager for the mortgage division who goes by that name and you got me curious.

[giza.livejournal.com]

I know he left for some kind of management opprotunity, but that's it.

I believe he lives in either Eastern PA or Western NJ.

[greenreaper.livejournal.com]

I have not used any brokerages, as I do not trade individual stocks. I use Vanguard (http://www.vanguard.com/) for my IRAs, my non-retirement stock investments (all in Vanguard funds), and my money market account.

I'm not sure they're exactly what you're looking for, but they could provide part of it. At heart, they're very much a mutual funds provider rather than a full-blown financial services firm. They certainly are very self-service, tending towards "here's all the data, why not buy one of our (admittedly pretty darn good) mutual funds?"

Vanguard do have financial advice available for a price. It is more aimed at the people who have large estates (talking $500,000 in stocks and up, who may get it free) and who need help figuring out the correct mix of investments for their goals. They figure the people below that can do well enough just investing in one of their low-cost lifecycle retirement funds or a mix of indexes - and they're probably right.

Their prime money market fund is the best rate you'll find anywhere for quality money market funds. I use the prime money market as my main liquid, using the checkwriting feature for rent so I earn interest while the checks clear (any checks must be fore $250 or more).

Iheir index funds are some of the best out there as well - they're the people who started offering funds which tracked the indexes, starting with the S&P 500. They have significant economies of scale, matched only by people like CIAA-TREF.

When required, I found service to be professional, although it could take them a few days to respond to email (naturally they have phone support as well, which I'd rate about an 8).

Want a more coherent review? See these ones (http://www.epinions.com/webs-Web_Services-All-Merchants-Vanguard/display_~reviews). But for what it's worth, they are where I put the majority of my money outside of my 401k, and where I would put my 401k if I could. In the areas they're good at - and they're the areas I consider most important for long-term capital growth - they set the standard.

Other good names to consider in this area - T. Rowe Price, TIAA-CREF and Fidelity - the latter may be more towards what you want in terms of available services, but be aware that their advice can be of variable quality as well.

[greenreaper.livejournal.com]

Man, my spelling sucks when I've had four hours of sleep and twelve hours of work . . .

Oh, and one thing I forgot to mention - they're based in Valley Forge, PA, not New York or LA. Their funds actually own themselves, so they have self-interest in keeping their costs down. :-)

[thppbt.livejournal.com]

hehehe...you beat me to it. Good advice.

[giza.livejournal.com]

Awesome. Thanks for the info!

Valley Forge... that's within PhillyCarShare-and-a-baseball-bat distance if things would ever go south with them. :-)

[thppbt.livejournal.com]

Have you considered The Vanguard Group (http://www.vanguard.com)? They offer all but #2. Vanguard has always been a strong self-service financial company, with top-rated funds. If you are concerned with investment fees, which you should be, Vanguard's funds are very low cost.

Vanguard's brokerage service fees depend on how much you have invested at Vanguard. It's not the cheapest service, but if you are interested in more than brokerage, it's a good value added service.

Vanguard's goal is to educate you to be a more confident investor. But if you feel like you need a personalized financial plan, Vanguard can offer you that as well.

The best part about Vanguard is that they are client-owned. Vanguard's sole purpose is to make money for it's clients.

[greenreaper.livejournal.com]

Education is right. Now I think about it, they're really a lot like SYMS (http://www.syms.com/), which I buy clothes at now and then. They offer top-quality brands at cut prices, without advertising. They're for the educated consumer who knows what they want and isn't going to do anything stupid like trying on ten different suits one after the other.

[giza.livejournal.com]

I checked them out last night, and these guys ain't that bad! Thanks for the pointer.

[sirfox.livejournal.com]

if you haven't bought property yet... a Roth IRA (last i knew) could be withdrawn from without penalty to help pay for a first home.
*tosses in $0.02*

[greenreaper.livejournal.com]

Yeah . . . but unlike a 401k loan, you can't put the money back in, and so you lose the capital gains tax-sheltered status which is the best part of it. I feel it's better to get a real loan; at least you can deduct the interest (and on average the interest on that is likely to be lower than the return on investment on the money you'd otherwise have to spend).

Besides, it's good to save up for a house outside of your regular retirement savings. Shows you can afford it. You don't want to have to stop your retirement savings to pay for it, after all . . . suspect a lot of people have done that and regretted it recently when the market collapsed.

[giza.livejournal.com]

That would be robbing from Peter to pay Paul.

Whoever thought it would be a good idea to have that particular tax rule needs to be put to sleep.

[greenreaper.livejournal.com]

Well . . . I wouldn't go that far. Rules are rarely put in without a good reason. Perhaps what it is most useful for is encouraging investment for people who are concerned that they might want to make use of it in the future, even if they ultimately do not. The fear of tying your money up for 30 years or so is a big issue with investing in an IRA for some people.

In some cases, it may even make sense to use these features. For example, if you're 55 and have managed to build up a million dollars in savings, but no longer have a high-earning job, and want to withdraw $5,000 or so of your contributions to help your children buy a new house without incurring extra-high rates, that may not be a truly terrible idea. It's the same as the 401k loan - there are defined situations in which it makes sense. There are just rather rare. :-)

[giza.livejournal.com]

> Rules are rarely put in without a good reason.

The cynical side of me says that the reason could have been to benefit a specific individual or group of individuals.

I'm in a very bad mood today. More on that in my next LJ post.

[greenreaper.livejournal.com]

True, but that's still a good reason, for them. ;-p

(the trick is to arrange for it to be a good reason for you as well . . .)

[moonfires.livejournal.com]

Roth IRA's have the different ruleset because they have after-tax money in them.

[moonfires.livejournal.com]

I have Vanguard for my Vanguard-only funds, but my brokerage-based IRA is at Fidelity. They have significantly more No Transaction Fee funds available than Vanguard, and more importantly, don't require you to have $1 million in assets before they start waiving annual fees.

[taral.livejournal.com]

Randomly assigned advisors usually suck. Ameriprise has some good and some not so good advisors -- the not so good ones are usually less busy, surprise! :)

[bay-retriever.livejournal.com]

Give me a call ;)

[wildw0lf.livejournal.com]

Most of what I just wrote, didn't go through, so I have to retype, and this will be shorter.

1. Roth vs. Trad. IRA.

If you already have any non-Roth Trad IRA, you should consider rolling it into a Roth IRA. Roth IRA grows tax-free even when you take out the money out of your account 40+ years later.

2. Disability Insurance.

I don't have disability insurance myself, or know what my employer offers as far as that goes. I should probably look into this, as far as that goes. I might find out, for example, that it's a total waste of money, or that it's something I really should look into.

3. To be a bit safer stock wise, I'd go with a Mutual Fund of sorts, which covers multiple different stocks/sectors. I personally like Vanguard myself, as far as a company goes.

The Vice Fund does seem like an interesting concept though. Regardless of good times or bad, people are still going to fight, f***, drink, and smoke.

I can't really tell you where to go for financial planning advice. I honestly think your best bet is to find someone who is NOT affiliated with any one specific company, so you don't feel goaded or pressured into buying that one company's services.

Having just said the above, a friend of mine who recently got his business degree, is now working for a local financial services company, but may be better able to steer you in the right direction. Send me an IM sometime, if you want, and I'll drop you his name/number. I know you're not from this area, but he may be able to work something out with you during work, or after hours.