Using Merrill Edge and Allocating Assets

[littlefuse]

I use Merrill Edge. I also have Bank of America accounts with Preferred Platinum Rewards Honors. I just turned 67. I'm not doing any allocating of assets, but I'd like to. What I have in ME is in the low six-figures. It's split evenly between a CMA, traditional IRA and Roth IRA.

I have low five-figures in Bank of America accounts and low five-figures in an employer 401(k) invested in a Vanguard fund. The match is 5%, but I'm upping my contribution to 10% or even a lot more. I'm thinking of liquidating a variable IRA annuity and transferring it into my existing traditional IRA account.

The variable annuity is the Accumulator 9.0 Core (Trad IRA), original contribution of $ 109K. It says online "GMDB Election: Standard Death Benefit". It is in EQ/Growth Strategy 100.00% with a GMIB. it has a Benefit Base Roll-up rate for the GMIB of 5.00%. It's current value is $ 242K. It's years past its surrender date with no "surrender charge", but if I liquidate I'll still need to pay around $ 1K because when I signed onto it I agreed to hold onto it until I'm 80. I own a condo worth mid six-figures. It has a high five-figures 15-year mortgage.

I've never invested in ETFs at ME. I've been buying brokered CDs - with the exception that in one of the accounts has very low five-figures in TTTXX BLF TREASURY TRUST. I could get cash that out. My brokered CDs are almost all matured.

Instead of liquidating that annuity, do you recommend that I keep it where it is (I'd rather not) at Equitable - or maybe purchase a new SPIA annuity there or elsewhere? I think people can convert existing annuities into a different style of annuity. If I am to liquidate the annuity and transfer it over to Merrill Edge and give Vanguard ETFs a try, which ETFs do you recommend? Or should I just do a CD ladder? I'm on Medicare and I haven't starting drawing from SS yet - but I feel certain I will soon.

[Hyperchicken]

Are you asking what your asset allocation should be, or how to by ETFs at Merrill Edge?

[retired@50]

Thank you.

Welcome to the forum.

Lots of info in your post, but it's not in the format we typically expect. Consider editing your post to conform to the Asking Portfolio Questions format.

See link: viewtopic.php?t=6212

Regards,

[bonesly]

On as for my Merrill Edge accounts, I've never invested in ETFs in my life, and I know that Merrill Edge is at least good for ETFs. All I've been doing lately with these three accounts - for the most part - is buying some brokered CDs. ... I need to do something.

Instead of liquidating, do you recommend that I just keep this annuity where it is at Equitable - or maybe purchasing a new SPIA annuity makes sense? I think people can convert existing annuities into a different style of annuity. I believe I read that.

If I am to liquidate the annuity and transfer it over to Merrill Edge and give Vanguard ETFs a try, which ETFs do you recommend? Or should I play it safe do a CD ladder - but do it in a more structured way? I'm on Medicare and I haven't starting drawing from SS yet.

This is what I think you have, but there's a lot of incomplete information highlighted in yellow.


The problem, as Retired@50 said, is that you gave lots of information, but it's so incomplete that we can't make useful & relevant recommendations. I'll reiterate that you should edit your first post to include everything you can that's included in the template for Asking Portfolio Questions. That would give us insights about: your emergency fund status, the interest rate on your mortgage (and any other debt), your Fed & State tax brackets (for suggestions on Taxable account investing), your desired Asset Allocation (including % for int'l stock), your actual holdings (not just the dollar value of the account types), and the fund choices in your 401k. If you want more holistic feedback on your future retirement, be sure to include any estimates for pension and/or SocSec benefits and what age you'd be retiring and what age you'd be getting those benefits (i.e., the portfolio is not your sole source of retirement income).

With that information we can suggest a way to invest that is tax-efficient, avoids wash sales, and meets your desired Asset Allocation together with your existing holding.

As a starting point, I'll suggest that you determine an Asset Allocation that is appropriate for your time-frame (expected lifespan) and your risk-tolerance. Either or both of the exercises below can help with that.

Control Your Risk
1) Read the Wiki article for Assessing Risk Tolerance, take the Vanguard Investor Questionnaire, then tailor the asset allocation (AA) that was recommended by the quiz based on your knowledge of your personal risk tolerance having read the Wiki article.

2) Alternatively (or in addition to), ask "How much of a drop in portfolio value as a % of total value can I handle?" cut that % in half to get standard deviation, then lookup that std. dev. on the X-Axis of the chart below, and finally scan up to see what AA that corresponds to. As an example, if you can only stomach a -24% drop in portfolio value, that's a ±12% std. dev, which corresponds to an AA of 60/40. The return you get is an average and you'll get what you get with your unique sequence of returns (there's a lot of variance in outcomes due to the associated volatility of stocks so it probably will NOT be the average, but something more or less).


Next, I'd probably try to gain some basic understanding of investing by reading the five introductory topics in Wiki Main Page (left side) under "Getting Started for US Investors":
1) Getting started - Start here.
2) Investment philosophy - Our investment principles.
3) Investing start-up kit - A top-down approach to start investing.
4) Investment policy statement - Identify your investment objectives and how you plan to meet them.
5) Prioritizing investments - Choosing where to save your investing money, such as an employer's retirement plan or a savings account.

----------
The annuity is likely a separate issue that doesn't need all that info... it's either an efficient & useful future income stream to you (like a bond holding) or it's not that great in comparison to a Treasury bond fund or a Total Bond fund (gov't & corp. debt) or a 60/40 mix of stock & bond index ETFs. All I can tell is that you paid $109.3K and it's currently valued at $241.3K. How long ago did you buy it? Did you make any contributions after the initial purchase or just the $109.3K buy-in? What are the contract terms for pay-out? You can cash out current(?) value for $1K charge, but can you take it in equal payments over some period you specify at no charge? Are the withdrawal periods set by the contract (e.g., 5, 10, or 15 year period or some RMD life-time table)? What's the earliest you could take payments (not a cash out) with no charge... 80?

I generally think annuities are a bad deal for the consumer with the exception of Single Premium Immediate Annuities (SPIA) and Multi-Year Guaranteed Annuities (MYGAs). So my tendency is to pay the the $1K surrender fee, get the $241K out and invest it per your desired AA (once you determine what that is). If the surrender terms also means you're only getting your $109K original purchase back, then you're stuck with this sub-par insurance product (don't cash out), but that all really depends on your contract terms and what the earnings rate has been since your initial purchase to now.

[littlefuse]

Thank you.

Welcome to the forum.

Lots of info in your post, but it's not in the format we typically expect. Consider editing your post to conform to the Asking Portfolio Questions format.

See link: viewtopic.php?t=6212

Regards,

Thank you for this reminder and link. I am new here - no excuse. I am now reading the Asking Portfolio Questions format page. I apologize to everyone for that long-winded, tedious post I wrote.

[littlefuse]

On as for my Merrill Edge accounts, I've never invested in ETFs in my life, and I know that Merrill Edge is at least good for ETFs. All I've been doing lately with these three accounts - for the most part - is buying some brokered CDs. ... I need to do something.

Instead of liquidating, do you recommend that I just keep this annuity where it is at Equitable - or maybe purchasing a new SPIA annuity makes sense? I think people can convert existing annuities into a different style of annuity. I believe I read that.

If I am to liquidate the annuity and transfer it over to Merrill Edge and give Vanguard ETFs a try, which ETFs do you recommend? Or should I play it safe do a CD ladder - but do it in a more structured way? I'm on Medicare and I haven't starting drawing from SS yet.

This is what I think you have, but there's a lot of incomplete information highlighted in yellow.


The problem, as Retired@50 said, is that you gave lots of information, but it's so incomplete that we can't make useful & relevant recommendations. I'll reiterate that you should edit your first post to include everything you can that's included in the template for Asking Portfolio Questions. That would give us insights about: your emergency fund status, the interest rate on your mortgage (and any other debt), your Fed & State tax brackets (for suggestions on Taxable account investing), your desired Asset Allocation (including % for int'l stock), your actual holdings (not just the dollar value of the account types), and the fund choices in your 401k. If you want more holistic feedback on your future retirement, be sure to include any estimates for pension and/or SocSec benefits and what age you'd be retiring and what age you'd be getting those benefits (i.e., the portfolio is not your sole source of retirement income).

With that information we can suggest a way to invest that is tax-efficient, avoids wash sales, and meets your desired Asset Allocation together with your existing holding.

As a starting point, I'll suggest that you determine an Asset Allocation that is appropriate for your time-frame (expected lifespan) and your risk-tolerance. Either or both of the exercises below can help with that.

Control Your Risk
1) Read the Wiki article for Assessing Risk Tolerance, take the Vanguard Investor Questionnaire, then tailor the asset allocation (AA) that was recommended by the quiz based on your knowledge of your personal risk tolerance having read the Wiki article.

2) Alternatively (or in addition to), ask "How much of a drop in portfolio value as a % of total value can I handle?" cut that % in half to get standard deviation, then lookup that std. dev. on the X-Axis of the chart below, and finally scan up to see what AA that corresponds to. As an example, if you can only stomach a -24% drop in portfolio value, that's a ±12% std. dev, which corresponds to an AA of 60/40. The return you get is an average and you'll get what you get with your unique sequence of returns (there's a lot of variance in outcomes due to the associated volatility of stocks so it probably will NOT be the average, but something more or less).


Next, I'd probably try to gain some basic understanding of investing by reading the five introductory topics in Wiki Main Page (left side) under "Getting Started for US Investors":
1) Getting started - Start here.
2) Investment philosophy - Our investment principles.
3) Investing start-up kit - A top-down approach to start investing.
4) Investment policy statement - Identify your investment objectives and how you plan to meet them.
5) Prioritizing investments - Choosing where to save your investing money, such as an employer's retirement plan or a savings account.

----------
The annuity is likely a separate issue that doesn't need all that info... it's either an efficient & useful future income stream to you (like a bond holding) or it's not that great in comparison to a Treasury bond fund or a Total Bond fund (gov't & corp. debt) or a 60/40 mix of stock & bond index ETFs. All I can tell is that you paid $109.3K and it's currently valued at $241.3K. How long ago did you buy it? Did you make any contributions after the initial purchase or just the $109.3K buy-in? What are the contract terms for pay-out? You can cash out current(?) value for $1K charge, but can you take it in equal payments over some period you specify at no charge? Are the withdrawal periods set by the contract (e.g., 5, 10, or 15 year period or some RMD life-time table)? What's the earliest you could take payments (not a cash out) with no charge... 80?

I generally think annuities are a bad deal for the consumer with the exception of Single Premium Immediate Annuities (SPIA) and Multi-Year Guaranteed Annuities (MYGAs). So my tendency is to pay the the $1K surrender fee, get the $241K out and invest it per your desired AA (once you determine what that is). If the surrender terms also means you're only getting your $109K original purchase back, then you're stuck with this sub-par insurance product (don't cash out), but that all really depends on your contract terms and what the earnings rate has been since your initial purchase to now.

Thank you for taking the time to write all of this. It's really appreciated. I will work on your recommendations and I'll get you the answers to your questions shortly.

For now and on the matter of possibly just liquidating the annuity and getting the money out (transferred out), I can say this with some certainty:
The total contribution(s) made was $109,322. It was made on the Contract (start) date of 02/08/2010. So I bought it 14.5 years ago. I did not make any contributions to it after that initial/opening $109.3K. The value is $ 242,056 today. I believe I would receive that amount - less the $1K charge - which makes it $241K or so.

[bonesly]

For now and on the matter of possibly just liquidating the annuity and getting the money out (transferred out), I can say this with some certainty:
The total contribution(s) made was $109,322. It was made on the Contract (start) date of 02/08/2010. So I bought it 14.5 years ago. I did not make any contributions to it after that initial/opening $109.3K. The value is $ 242,056 today. I believe I would receive that amount - less the $1K charge - which makes it $241K or so.

Using Excel's Future Value function and the What If / Goal Seek function we see that the Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) was 5.635%.

$242,056 = FV(Rate = 5.635%, Period = 14.5 yr, Contribution = $0/yr, Principal Value = -$109,322)

In the Risk/Reward chart I showed above, an average return near 5.6% is around an AA of 7% stocks / 93% bonds and is a dominated AA (red dot); there is a corresponding efficient frontier AA at about 21/79 (blue dot) that is similar risk (±7.2% σ), but higher reward (6.5% avg return). Subsequently, if you can actually cash out for a $1K surrender charge and have $241K to invest in stock & bond ETFs, then that's probably a a good decision. You do need to verify that there's no other fees hidden in the fine print of your contract and that you'll actually get $241,056 (just ask your rep and then read it yourself).

[littlefuse]

Are you asking what your asset allocation should be, or how to by ETFs at Merrill Edge?

I guess my answer to that question is that I'm asking: 'How to buy ETFs at Merrill Edge' - but also what to buy there. Again, I'm 67 years old. And so I'm wondering which ETFs would be smart for me to buy there. I feel that I need to stop buying brokered CDs - and go the ETF route instead. Thank you.

[LotsaGray]

Are you asking what your asset allocation should be, or how to by ETFs at Merrill Edge?

I guess my answer to that question is that I'm asking: 'How to buy ETFs at Merrill Edge' - but also what to buy there. Again, I'm 67 years old. And so I'm wondering which ETFs would be smart for me to buy there. I feel that I need to stop buying brokered CDs - and go the ETF route instead. Thank you.

This question is basically independent from ME. Since they are exchange traded, you can by all ETFs at all brokerages. Same thing about buying CDs or ETFs. Your brokerage really doesn't matter for that question either. What you are asking is about Asset Allocation. This is a personal decision where there is not single write answer. But there are plenty here who can help you work on deciding your preferred AA.

[sycamore]

Are you asking what your asset allocation should be, or how to by ETFs at Merrill Edge?

I guess my answer to that question is that I'm asking: 'How to buy ETFs at Merrill Edge' - but also what to buy there. Again, I'm 67 years old. And so I'm wondering which ETFs would be smart for me to buy there. I feel that I need to stop buying brokered CDs - and go the ETF route instead. Thank you.

Definitely figure out what ETFs to buy. Generally you should buy an ETF that fills your asset allocation. For a typical Boglehead stock allocation, there are many good broad/total market ETFs: VTI (Vanguard), ITOT (iShares), SCHB (SCHB). They're all very low-cost, and well-run. They're interchangeable in my opinion.

Once you figure out what to buy, here are some tips on how to buy ETFs at Merrill Edge.

Step 1: logon to your Merrill Edge account.
Step 2: Click Trade and then click "Stock & ETFs"


Step 3: Select the Account (in case you have more than one, like an IRA and a taxable account).
Step 4: Set the Action to "Buy"
Step 5: Enter the ETF symbol, for example VTI for Vanguard Total Stock Market Index fund. You can click on the "Symbol lookup" if you know the name (or want to search for it) and need to find the symbol.
Step 6: Enter the quantity. This depends on how much you want to buy and how much money you have available to buy with.

Step 7: Enter the order type. For ETFs like Vanguard's "total" ETFs I think a "Market" order is fine. But many people say always use a "Limit" order. That's fine too. This can prevent you from buying when the price goes crazy high temporarily (very very very unlikely but if you're worried about that sort of thing, then use a Limit order."). You should see what the current price is and set your limit very close to it (like a few pennies above it).



Then preview the order VERY CLOSELY. Look at the account. Look at the quantity. Look at the Est. order total dollar amount.
This is your chance to confirm you didn't fat-finger any of the inputs. You sure wouldn't want to order 1000 shares when you mean to buy only 100, and only have enough cash for 100.

Once you're satisfied it's correct, press the Submit button.

Finally, sit back and reflect on the experience. What you did was merely execute some steps to follow your investing plan & asset allocation. Boring, as it should be. But many investors tend to focus on the "experience" of buying ETFs: you have to know the price and the quantity (with mutual funds you just need to know the dollar amount), and the current price keeps changing every second, and something could go wrong like there could be flash crash and this and that and so on and so on.

Perhaps you too get worried about such things? Nothing wrong about that, but if you do I suggest buying ONE SHARE to get some experience. Let us know how it goes.

[littlefuse]

Are you asking what your asset allocation should be, or how to by ETFs at Merrill Edge?

I guess my answer to that question is that I'm asking: 'How to buy ETFs at Merrill Edge' - but also what to buy there. Again, I'm 67 years old. And so I'm wondering which ETFs would be smart for me to buy there. I feel that I need to stop buying brokered CDs - and go the ETF route instead. Thank you.

Definitely figure out what ETFs to buy. Generally you should buy an ETF that fills your asset allocation. For a typical Boglehead stock allocation, there are many good broad/total market ETFs: VTI (Vanguard), ITOT (iShares), SCHB (SCHB). They're all very low-cost, and well-run. They're interchangeable in my opinion.

Once you figure out what to buy, here are some tips on how to buy ETFs at Merrill Edge.

Step 1: logon to your Merrill Edge account.
Step 2: Click Trade and then click "Stock & ETFs"


Step 3: Select the Account (in case you have more than one, like an IRA and a taxable account).
Step 4: Set the Action to "Buy"
Step 5: Enter the ETF symbol, for example VTI for Vanguard Total Stock Market Index fund. You can click on the "Symbol lookup" if you know the name (or want to search for it) and need to find the symbol.
Step 6: Enter the quantity. This depends on how much you want to buy and how much money you have available to buy with.

Step 7: Enter the order type. For ETFs like Vanguard's "total" ETFs I think a "Market" order is fine. But many people say always use a "Limit" order. That's fine too. This can prevent you from buying when the price goes crazy high temporarily (very very very unlikely but if you're worried about that sort of thing, then use a Limit order."). You should see what the current price is and set your limit very close to it (like a few pennies above it).



Then preview the order VERY CLOSELY. Look at the account. Look at the quantity. Look at the Est. order total dollar amount.
This is your chance to confirm you didn't fat-finger any of the inputs. You sure wouldn't want to order 1000 shares when you mean to buy only 100, and only have enough cash for 100.

Once you're satisfied it's correct, press the Submit button.

Finally, sit back and reflect on the experience. What you did was merely execute some steps to follow your investing plan & asset allocation. Boring, as it should be. But many investors tend to focus on the "experience" of buying ETFs: you have to know the price and the quantity (with mutual funds you just need to know the dollar amount), and the current price keeps changing every second, and something could go wrong like there could be flash crash and this and that and so on and so on.

Perhaps you too get worried about such things? Nothing wrong about that, but if you do I suggest buying ONE SHARE to get some experience. Let us know how it goes.

Thank you very much for the time you took to write this up. This is great. I think the thing that I've been hung up on is wondering if ETFs are the best move to make when you're 67 years old. And yet it seems to me that there's no perfect time and one's age is a bit irrelevant here. I'm going to follow your steps shortly. I feel sure of this.

[bonesly]

Are you asking what your asset allocation should be, or how to by ETFs at Merrill Edge?

I guess my answer to that question is that I'm asking: 'How to buy ETFs at Merrill Edge' - but also what to buy there. Again, I'm 67 years old.

I'll reiterate that you should determine a basic asset allocation among stocks and bonds (e.g., if stocks = 60%, then bonds = 40%) that is appropriate for your risk-tolerance. Look back at the two exercises I cited before under "Control Your Risk". At least take the Vanguard Quiz and see what it recommends (not perfect but it's a starting point). Once you have an AA ,then that tells you the proportions of three ETFs to buy.

70/30 Example
36% - Total US Stock (VTI or SCHB or ITOT)
24% - Total Int'l Stock (VXUS or SCHF or IXUS)
40% - Total US Bond (BND or SCHZ or AGG)

For the example above, the world-cap weighting among US & Int'l stocks of 40% towards Int'l (e.g., 60% x 40% = 24% Int'l Stock, with the remaining 36% is in US Stock). You might want 20% (home bias) or 0% (don't care about diversification away from US-only) rather than 40%; it's a personal choice.

If you have other "total index" holdings in a tax-advantaged account, do not duplicate the same holdings (any fund tracking the same index) in Taxable so you can avoid Wash Sales.

Be sure to place your order during market open (try to avoid the first and last hour of the market day when prices are likely to be more volatile). Don't place an order when the market's closed unless it's a limit order (which may not get executed the next day).

Then preview the order VERY CLOSELY. Look at the account. Look at the quantity. Look at the Est. order total dollar amount.
This is your chance to confirm you didn't fat-finger any of the inputs. You sure wouldn't want to order 1000 shares when you mean to buy only 100, and only have enough cash for 100.

For Step 6, if ME allows fractional shares of ETFs, then the "Calculate by $ Amount" option rather than "Quantity (shares)" is likely preferrable (less residual cash left over after a transaction compared to trading in whole shares).

[isira]

Thank you very much for the time you took to write this up. This is great. I think the thing that I've been hung up on is wondering if ETFs are the best move to make when you're 67 years old. And yet it seems to me that there's no perfect time and one's age is a bit irrelevant here. I'm going to follow your steps shortly. I feel sure of this.

It's really about how comfortable YOU are at making trades yourself and how well you will stick with your investment plan. If you find you are uncomfortable buying multiple ETFs to build a portfolio and rebalancing them every so often, then consider:
- One fund asset allocation ETFs: You can purchase AOA, AOR, AOM, and AOK at Merrill. Here is a thread on this topic.

- Merrill Guided Investing: This is a low-cost robo-advisor at Merrill (0.30% AUM at the Platinum Honors level) that will manage your portfolio in a diversified manner based on your answers to a risk assessment questionnaire. You only need to deposit/withdraw in dollar amounts and the system will buy/sell low-cost ETFs/mutual funds for you. You can play with the tool before signing up to get a feel for the product: https://www.merrill.com/guided-investing.html (Click on "Open an Account" -> Click on "Continue as a guest" -> Start the questionnaire process)

[isira]

For Step 6, if ME allows fractional shares of ETFs, then the "Calculate by $ Amount" option rather than "Quantity (shares)" is likely preferrable (less residual cash left over after a transaction compared to trading in whole shares).

ME does not allow purchase of fractional shares.

[littlefuse]

For Step 6, if ME allows fractional shares of ETFs, then the "Calculate by $ Amount" option rather than "Quantity (shares)" is likely preferrable (less residual cash left over after a transaction compared to trading in whole shares).

ME does not allow purchase of fractional shares.

This I did know. And so it would seem I'll need to factor that in when I make my ETF purchases.

[littlefuse]

I feel I will liquidate my variable annuity soon. It now is valued at almost $250km and I'd be paying only $1200 or so to liquidate. So the amount I'd be moving is around $248.7k. I'm also a BOA Platinum Honors tier customer, since I have over $100k in BOA and Merrill Edge combined.

With all the negative things I hear about Bank of America and Merrill Edge (not really on this site - but in general), I'm wondering if I should open up a second Traditional IRA at, say, Vanguard, Schwab, Fidelity or Wealthfront - and put the annuity money there. Vanguard Digital Advisory doesn't seem do bad, either. In a way I do feel like BOA with Merrill Edge is good for the Platinum Honors perks and specifically the credit card rewards - and maybe not much more. I have two BOA credit cards.

Isn't it a healthy thing to use two brokerages instead of just the one? On the other hand, I do like having everything all in one place. Any thoughts would be appreciated.

[dogagility]

I feel I will liquidate my variable annuity soon. It now is valued at almost $250km and I'd be paying only $1200 or so to liquidate. So the amount I'd be moving is around $248.7k. I'm also a BOA Platinum Honors tier customer, since I have over $100k in BOA and Merrill Edge combined.

With all the negative things I hear about Bank of America and Merrill Edge (not really on this site - but in general), I'm wondering if I should open up a second Traditional IRA at, say, Vanguard, Schwab, Fidelity or Wealthfront - and put the annuity money there. Vanguard Digital Advisory doesn't seem do bad, either. In a way I do feel like BOA with Merrill Edge is good for the Platinum Honors perks and specifically the credit card rewards - and maybe not much more. I have two BOA credit cards.

Isn't it a healthy thing to use two brokerages instead of just the one? On the other hand, I do like having everything all in one place. Any thoughts would be appreciated.

I'd transfer all of your money to Vanguard, Schwab, or Fidelity.

Personally, I really like Fidelity. Low cost index funds, Cash Management Account, and a 2% cash back credit card with no annual fee. It's a one stop shop. https://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Fidelity:_one_stop_shop

[littlefuse]

I feel I will liquidate my variable annuity soon. It now is valued at almost $250km and I'd be paying only $1200 or so to liquidate. So the amount I'd be moving is around $248.7k. I'm also a BOA Platinum Honors tier customer, since I have over $100k in BOA and Merrill Edge combined.

With all the negative things I hear about Bank of America and Merrill Edge (not really on this site - but in general), I'm wondering if I should open up a second Traditional IRA at, say, Vanguard, Schwab, Fidelity or Wealthfront - and put the annuity money there. Vanguard Digital Advisory doesn't seem do bad, either. In a way I do feel like BOA with Merrill Edge is good for the Platinum Honors perks and specifically the credit card rewards - and maybe not much more. I have two BOA credit cards.

Isn't it a healthy thing to use two brokerages instead of just the one? On the other hand, I do like having everything all in one place. Any thoughts would be appreciated.

I'd transfer all of your money to Vanguard, Schwab, or Fidelity.

Personally, I really like Fidelity. Low cost index funds, Cash Management Account, and a 2% cash back credit card with no annual fee. It's a one stop shop. https://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Fidelity:_one_stop_shop

Thanks for the reply. I hear so many good things about Fidelity. I'll consider this approach, even though I do like the BOA credit cards rewards benefits as part of Platinum Honors program. It will take a strong push for me to pull myself away from the BOA echo system, since I've been with them for so long - but it's possible.

So I'd say I've been thinking of keeping with the BOA / Merrill Edge combo, and just adding another brokerage. It would help me to learn, compare, and maybe reducing risk a bit.

[dogagility]

I'd transfer all of your money to Vanguard, Schwab, or Fidelity.

Personally, I really like Fidelity. Low cost index funds, Cash Management Account, and a 2% cash back credit card with no annual fee. It's a one stop shop. https://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Fidelity:_one_stop_shop

Thanks for the reply. I hear so many good things about Fidelity. I'll consider this approach, even though I do like the BOA credit cards rewards benefits as part of Platinum Honors program. It will take a strong push for me to pull myself away from the BOA echo system, since I've been with them for so long - but it's possible.

So I'd say I've been thinking of keeping with the BOA / Merrill Edge combo, and just adding another brokerage. It would help me to learn, compare, and maybe reducing risk a bit.

I'm a three decade BoA customer and been with ML for ten years. The only reasons I'm still using BoA/ML is because my employer's 401k is administered by ML and therefore I might as well be a preferred rewards member at BoA too.

When I retire in a couple of years, the plan is to move everything over to Fidelity. Most of our portfolio is at Fidelity and our two daughters use the Fidelity ecosystem. I find Fidelity easier to use than BoA/ML for our purposes. YMMV.

[littlefuse]

Thanks for the reply. I hear so many good things about Fidelity. I'll consider this approach, even though I do like the BOA credit cards rewards benefits as part of Platinum Honors program. It will take a strong push for me to pull myself away from the BOA echo system, since I've been with them for so long - but it's possible.

So I'd say I've been thinking of keeping with the BOA / Merrill Edge combo, and just adding another brokerage. It would help me to learn, compare, and maybe reducing risk a bit.

I'm a three decade BoA customer and been with ML for ten years. The only reasons I'm still using BoA/ML is because my employer's 401k is administered by ML and therefore I might as well be a preferred rewards member at BoA too.

When I retire in a couple of years, the plan is to move everything over to Fidelity. Most of our portfolio is at Fidelity and our two daughters use the Fidelity ecosystem. I find Fidelity easier to use than BoA/ML for our purposes. YMMV.

Very interesting. BOA tells me that I've been with them for 34 years whenever I call either them or Merrill Edge. I think I've been with ME for around 10 years. My employers 401(k) is managed by a small CFP firm and is available to modify, etc., on the Empower Retirement site. It's just me, and I also don't have kids, and so that's different from you. I'll be sure to keep Fidelity in mind. Thank you.