Ameriprise

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RetiringSomeday
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Ameriprise

Post by RetiringSomeday »

I will post my entire situation later but am trying to gather some basic information as a neophyte boglehead.

Currently my SimpleIRA through work is through Ameriprise. Now work is a business that I own with a partner and we have about 15 employees (about half of which take advantage of the IRA).

I am excited to switch to a different provider and maybe even to a 401k presuming my partner isn't totally against it.

I don't know where my employees have their money but I recently found out that him and I are in the same "fund" - but I can find very little information on it. It has no stock ticker as it is a variable annuity. Now I think it is an annuity I can get out from under with a $30 surrender fee unless there are some hidden problems I have yet to unearth.

In effect I am looking for justification that where we are at with the bulk of our retirement funds is not good.

The fund is listed as:

RVS RT ADV SEL PLS Q

on the website where I check my accounts.

I cannot find a prospectus but I do find an annual report under Columbia Management where I am in the Variable Portfolio - Aggressive Portfolio (Class 4).

About all I know about it is that it has a 1.1% ER as near as I can tell. Can't say much more but I am highly suspicious that there are bigger issues than just a high ER that will be pointed out to me.

Thanks in advance!
pkcrafter
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Post by pkcrafter »

Information on the annuity (I think this might be it).

https://financialprofessional.riversour ... states.pdf

The 1.1% fee is the expense ratio of the fund in the annuity. In addition, I suspect you may be in a separately managed account (wrap) with another 1% fee, plus there is going to be administrative fees on top of these. Total expenses are possibly 3.5-4%/year. This would not even count the commissions you paid on buying the annuity. Costs are the primary motivation to move out of a plan and you ought to get out of this one ASAP.
When times are good, investors tend to forget about risk and focus on opportunity. When times are bad, investors tend to forget about opportunity and focus on risk.
VGSailor
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Post by VGSailor »

This might be it.

http://quote.morningstar.com/fund/f.asp ... F00000DZWV

You can always call Ameriprise and ask.

Whatever you do, I'd try to get away from them as soon as possible
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RetiringSomeday
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Post by RetiringSomeday »

Hopefully this isn't a remedial question but here goes...

If I transfer all of this over to Vanguard now (just call Vanguard and ask them to get the ball rolling correct?) I am under the impression that the only surrender fee I would have is $30. I am unsure if this is because I have had it for a little while or that is just the way it is.

If I were to transfer what I have in there now (about $75k) would I be starting over from scratch i.e. would I have to hold any new moneys put there for awhile before avoiding big penalties?

............................ maybe I should just call but those goofballs and their automated phone systems drive me nuts.

as an additional concern our Ameriprise advisor is a client of our business which is in a relatively small town. It sure as heck isn't going to stop me from transferring but I do want to accomplish it in a tactful way if possible.
Oneanddone
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Post by Oneanddone »

Your total fees are probably in the range of 1.9%. You will have the ER which is about 1% and an M&E charge of .85-.95.

There is no reason why you shouldn't be able to move the money and do it tactfully and not hurt your relationship with the advisor. I'd say something along the lines of the following.

"John, I very much appreciate all of the help that you have given to me with our SIMPLE IRA. I don't know that I could have done it without you. However, now, I'm really itching to do this on my own. I'm going to move the money to Vanguard. If it turns out that I'm making a mistake, please don't make fun of me when I ask for your help again!"
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RetiringSomeday
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Follow up ?

Post by RetiringSomeday »

So I submitted paperwork to Vanguard and of course Ameriprise needs their form filled out prior to transferring over to Vanguard.

The gentleman I talked to at Ameriprise was actually quite nice but was of course trying to convince me not to move my $ out of Ameriprise. He did not say that the performance is better necessarily (he did say this annuity is a combination of all the "high performing" mutual funds) but he did say there was a lot more options through Ameriprise than through Vanguard.

Now that got me thinking (he specifically mentioned Fidelity and Oppenheimer funds) that maybe I would be best in the short term to just invest in Vanguard ETF's through my simple until I switch the entire plan, including new contributions, elsewhere starting on Jan 1 2012.

I was told there is no load on what moneys I am investing through Ameriprise.

Is this a good idea or even possible. Thanks for putting up with remedial questions from a newbie.
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Mel Lindauer
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Re: Follow up ?

Post by Mel Lindauer »

RetiringSomeday wrote:So I submitted paperwork to Vanguard and of course Ameriprise needs their form filled out prior to transferring over to Vanguard.

The gentleman I talked to at Ameriprise was actually quite nice but was of course trying to convince me not to move my $ out of Ameriprise. He did not say that the performance is better necessarily (he did say this annuity is a combination of all the "high performing" mutual funds) but he did say there was a lot more options through Ameriprise than through Vanguard.

Now that got me thinking (he specifically mentioned Fidelity and Oppenheimer funds) that maybe I would be best in the short term to just invest in Vanguard ETF's through my simple until I switch the entire plan, including new contributions, elsewhere starting on Jan 1 2012.

I was told there is no load on what moneys I am investing through Ameriprise.

Is this a good idea or even possible. Thanks for putting up with remedial questions from a newbie.
There are more than enough options available in the Vanguard VA to put together a fine portfolio. You don't need 1000 funds to do the job when just a few good ones will do, and they're available at Vanguard.

Don't stick with higher costs when you could keep more in your account by paying less for the high-cost annuity you're currently in. Just do the 1035 transfer and don't let them talk you out of it.
Best Regards - Mel | | Semper Fi
Johm221122
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Post by Johm221122 »

One of my first investment was with amerprise.The fund I was in closed so I asked my broker what new fund I should get into,he said pick any fund and get back to him(then he hung up).get out of amerprise!
Last edited by Johm221122 on Thu Jun 02, 2011 8:52 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Mel Lindauer
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Re: Follow up ?

Post by Mel Lindauer »

RetiringSomeday wrote:The gentleman I talked to at Ameriprise was actually quite nice but was of course trying to convince me not to move my $ out of Ameriprise. He did not say that the performance is better necessarily (he did say this annuity is a combination of all the "high performing" mutual funds) but he did say there was a lot more options through Ameriprise than through Vanguard.

I was told there is no load on what moneys I am investing through Ameriprise.
He's obviously trying to baffle you with bs. Don't fall for it and let him change your mind; go ahead and make the transfer to Vanguard as you originally intended.
Best Regards - Mel | | Semper Fi
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