Rollover 401K to IRA: advice, pls (pension, financial advisor, move, respects)

[brokensky]

I need to do a rollover on a 401K, to a (non-Roth) IRA.

I want your advice on what company:


1. has a quick, online process for setting up and transferring the $$$
2. has low fees

Thank you for your assistance!

[harpoonalt]

I like Fidelity.

[brokensky]

Originally Posted by harpoonalt

I like Fidelity.

I have heard good things, as well.

Thank you, Harpoonalt!

[jrkliny]

I am not sure about a totally online process. The world keeps changing but for my last rollover I had to submitted signed paperwork. That was no big deal but not an online process. The possibility of a complete online transaction may depend on the 401k end as well as on the IRA institution. Can you rollover with the same financial institution that provides the 401?

[brokensky]

Originally Posted by jrkliny

I am not sure about a totally online process. The world keeps changing but for my last rollover I had to submitted signed paperwork. That was no big deal but not an online process. The possibility of a complete online transaction may depend on the 401k end as well as on the IRA institution. Can you rollover with the same financial institution that provides the 401?

I could, but don't like the fees associated with that company, so want to roll over to a new institution.

That would definitely be the easiest thing to do.

[HappyTexan]

I have my pension (managed by Fidelity), 401K, Roth and brokerage account with Fidelity.
Never had any problems with them and customer support is superb.

[jlawrence01]

I had nothing but problems with my 401(k) with Fidelity. The transition from Vanguard 401(k) to Fidelity in my company resulted in much higher fees on their mutual funds and higher fees for the plan as a whole.

When I left my employer last year, the Fidelity folks kept me on the phone for nearly an hour trying to keep me from transferring my money out. It reminded me of a timeshare presentation ... the guy even had the Russian accent.

I have had great experiences with Vanguard as they are the premier low-cost investment company.

However, I rolled over my 401(k) to E*Trade as I get excellent service from my account representative plus they gave me a substantial financial incentive to move my funds. Also, they have a lot of great investor education seminars.

[mathjak107]

I use both vanguard and fidelity. I find fidelity has more to offer and far better customer service then my experiences with vanguard.

I have done better with my fidelity funds then had i indexed at vanguard so i will speak about them from other respects then performance.

Fidelity rode herd on my bank when they wired in a maturing cd before they were supposed to and were penalizing me.

Our fidelity rep said don't worry ,we will keep after them until we get the interest penalty back and they did.

Fidelity has way more optionsfor investments and research avail on stocks is very good.

Local offices make it easy to do business.

We went for an excellent retirement work up and had no sales pitches.

We were invited to a customer appreciation dinner a few months ago that was top drawer and a wonderful even with no seminars or product talk.

I could go on and on about my experiences with fidelity over the last 25 years.

They even did a feature story on us one year when they had fidelity investment magazine.

About the only thing i can say about vanguard is someone answers the phone when i call,

I really have nothing i can say about them.

[Southern man]

I have had Fidelity for 21 years and have never had a problem. The only fees I know of are the $7.95 commission to buy stocks and a fee when purchasing bonds. I transferred my 401k to a conventional IRA and it was painless.

[Aggiebuttercup]

I'll second eTrade. I rolled over a 401k to an IRA there many years ago. Their interface is very easy to use, and they do have people in some locations if you want to speak to a financial advisor - for free - in person.