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Fidelity as a one stop shop

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Topic Author
BogleMelon
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Fidelity as a one stop shop

Post by BogleMelon »

I am thinking of moving my Roth (currently at Vanguard), Charles Schwab checking and Ally saving all to Fidelity to simplify my life.
My 3 questions are:
1- How to do such setup in Fido to maintain the same privileges as Charles and Ally? In other words how to have an alternative to checking with all the free ATM's, salary deposit..etc and earn interest in the same time with a simple setup?
2- What things I have to keep in mind to roll my Roth IRA's? (Am I limited to certain amount of rollovers per year for example?)
3- Is there any disadvantage to this setup vs my current one?

Thanks!
"One of the funny things about stock market, every time one is buying another is selling, and both think they are astute" - William Feather
MikeMak27
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Re: Fidelity as a one stop shop

Post by MikeMak27 »

BogleMelon wrote: Sat Dec 15, 2018 8:33 pm I am thinking of moving my Roth (currently at Vanguard), Charles Schwab checking and Ally saving all to Fidelity to simplify my life.
My 3 questions are:
1- How to do such setup in Fido to maintain the same privileges as Charles and Ally? In other words how to have an alternative to checking with all the free ATM's, salary deposit..etc and earn interest in the same time with a simple setup?
2- What things I have to keep in mind to roll my Roth IRA's? (Am I limited to certain amount of rollovers per year for example?)
3- Is there any disadvantage to this setup vs my current one?

Thanks!

1. When you setup your fidelity account, ask for your brokerage account to also be a cash management account. They’ll give you a debit card that refunds every ATM imaginable. 18$ ATM fee in Cancun, Mexico. They’ll reimburse you. A night out with the boys at the gentleman’s club, they’ll refund that $11 atm charge too. If you want, you can also get their Fidelity Visa credit card. 2% cash back on every purchase, plus a $100 bonus after you spend $500 in the first 3 months. The cash management account allows you to purchase their money market fund, SPRXX, yielding around 2.1%. It will automatically sell some to cover ATM withdrawals, any checks you write, or any bills you pay.

2. Just transfer in kind to Fidelity.

3. None that I can think of. Great customer service, great website and local Fidelity branches in major urban areas. Of the major 3 low cost brokerages, Fidelity has been a dream to work with.
Mak 3 fund portfolio: 50% US small cap value & US Small cap (IJS, IJR), 40% Emerging Markets (IEMG, VWO, FPADX), 10% US REIT (VNQ)
J295
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Re: Fidelity as a one stop shop

Post by J295 »

I will just respond to item number one. What you described is exactly what we have at Fidelity. A sweep money market account that right now I think it’s around 1.7% interest, checking comes out of that account, and we get free ATM. Actually, whenever use an ATM account gets charged, and then credited back for the same amount. So, it’s free.

I think it’s called a CMA account. I suspect you can find it online, or with a phone call to one of their reps. Their customer service is outstanding
anoop
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Re: Fidelity as a one stop shop

Post by anoop »

My only concern with using a brokerage for checking is there is no way to deposit cash or withdraw a lot of cash. I don't have a lot of need for that, but should the need arise (and it has in the past), I like to not have to think of alternative, like having to hold on to all the cash for several months till it's spent, or having to make several ATM withdrawals over days.

But it looks like the OP is already using a brokerage for checking, so this concern shouldn't apply.
Topic Author
BogleMelon
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Re: Fidelity as a one stop shop

Post by BogleMelon »

MikeMak27 wrote: Sat Dec 15, 2018 8:42 pm


The cash management account allows you to purchase their money market fund, SPRXX, yielding around 2.1%. It will automatically sell some to cover ATM withdrawals, any checks you write, or any bills you pay.
Thanks for your response.
About this, I was told by chat rep that I cant buy MMF or any funds inside the cash management account and that I need another separate account for that purpose! I was also told that they dont prefer to sell funds to cover expenses and I would have to sell them myself!! I believe he is wrong since I read it before here that others do the same thing you described
"One of the funny things about stock market, every time one is buying another is selling, and both think they are astute" - William Feather
lisaneedsbraces
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Re: Fidelity as a one stop shop

Post by lisaneedsbraces »

I like the regular brokerage account better than the cash management account. With a large enough balance the ATM fees are still rebated, or you could create a separate CMA as well and link it to the brokerage to overdraft from (or not, to create a barrier to your larger balance). The advantage, though, is the core or sweep fund is SPRXX and earns a reasonable amount of interest compared to the CMA’s FDIC core. Either way works, but I don’t want to have to log in and manually move deposits over to a money market fund as they come in.
hotpancakes
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Re: Fidelity as a one stop shop

Post by hotpancakes »

BogleMelon wrote: Sat Dec 15, 2018 8:55 pm
MikeMak27 wrote: Sat Dec 15, 2018 8:42 pm


The cash management account allows you to purchase their money market fund, SPRXX, yielding around 2.1%. It will automatically sell some to cover ATM withdrawals, any checks you write, or any bills you pay.
Thanks for your response.
About this, I was told by chat rep that I cant buy MMF or any funds inside the cash management account and that I need another separate account for that purpose! I was also told that they dont prefer to sell funds to cover expenses and I would have to sell them myself!! I believe he is wrong since I read it before here that others do the same thing you described
What the rep told you is incorrect. The CMA account is a brokerage account, and can thus hold MMFs as well as stocks (even though they don't advertise this). I use a CMA account as my primary "checking" account. I park all funds in SPRXX and Fidelity auto-liquidates any funds as needed to cover any debits. What this amounts to is a pseudo-checking account that currently pays 2.1%, has no fees, and rebates all ATM fees worldwide. It's fantastic.
Topic Author
BogleMelon
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Re: Fidelity as a one stop shop

Post by BogleMelon »

hotpancakes wrote: Sat Dec 15, 2018 9:03 pm
BogleMelon wrote: Sat Dec 15, 2018 8:55 pm
MikeMak27 wrote: Sat Dec 15, 2018 8:42 pm


The cash management account allows you to purchase their money market fund, SPRXX, yielding around 2.1%. It will automatically sell some to cover ATM withdrawals, any checks you write, or any bills you pay.
Thanks for your response.
About this, I was told by chat rep that I cant buy MMF or any funds inside the cash management account and that I need another separate account for that purpose! I was also told that they dont prefer to sell funds to cover expenses and I would have to sell them myself!! I believe he is wrong since I read it before here that others do the same thing you described
What the rep told you is incorrect. The CMA account is a brokerage account, and can thus hold MMFs as well as stocks (even though they don't advertise this). I use a CMA account as my primary "checking" account. I park all funds in SPRXX and Fidelity auto-liquidates any funds as needed to cover any debits. What this amounts to is a pseudo-checking account that currently pays 2.1%, has no fees, and rebates all ATM fees worldwide. It's fantastic.
Can I get my paycheck deposited there using a routing and account number as normal?
"One of the funny things about stock market, every time one is buying another is selling, and both think they are astute" - William Feather
hotpancakes
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Re: Fidelity as a one stop shop

Post by hotpancakes »

BogleMelon wrote: Sat Dec 15, 2018 9:07 pm
hotpancakes wrote: Sat Dec 15, 2018 9:03 pm
BogleMelon wrote: Sat Dec 15, 2018 8:55 pm
MikeMak27 wrote: Sat Dec 15, 2018 8:42 pm


The cash management account allows you to purchase their money market fund, SPRXX, yielding around 2.1%. It will automatically sell some to cover ATM withdrawals, any checks you write, or any bills you pay.
Thanks for your response.
About this, I was told by chat rep that I cant buy MMF or any funds inside the cash management account and that I need another separate account for that purpose! I was also told that they dont prefer to sell funds to cover expenses and I would have to sell them myself!! I believe he is wrong since I read it before here that others do the same thing you described
What the rep told you is incorrect. The CMA account is a brokerage account, and can thus hold MMFs as well as stocks (even though they don't advertise this). I use a CMA account as my primary "checking" account. I park all funds in SPRXX and Fidelity auto-liquidates any funds as needed to cover any debits. What this amounts to is a pseudo-checking account that currently pays 2.1%, has no fees, and rebates all ATM fees worldwide. It's fantastic.
Can I get my paycheck deposited there using a routing and account number as normal?
Yep.
jbranx
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Re: Fidelity as a one stop shop

Post by jbranx »

Agree with the other replies: Fidelity has everything you need. If you happen to qualify for high net worth designation, you're in gravy. If you live close to a Fido branch, drive there with all your account information and they will take care of the paperwork. Easy to do online as well.

Fidelity advantages:

index funds as cheap or cheaper than Vanguard for most asset classes; three "zero" cost index funds;

competitive money market accounts, though maybe not as high as Vanguard, depending on the amount you initially deposit in them;

absolutely superb customer service, great website, continuous improvement;

if you say you intend to self-manage your accounts, they will totally leave you alone;

excellent tracking of divs and cap gains, easy downloading at tax time into TurboTax etc.

great donor advised fund to handle all 501c eligible charities;

very good Visa card with US Bank that gives you 2% on all transactions that you can deposit back into your account; ATM reimbursement; collision damage waiver on rental cars;

designated contact/advisor if you want one; 24-hour phone service by well-trained agents;

very good trust services; excellent execution on trades; no commissions on bunch of Ishares ETFs;

direct deposit of SS and any other services; great phone app for electronic deposit of all checks; I use them as my sole bank; while not a bank, you won't be able to tell the difference given all the services they provide; good CD lists; ability to create CD and treasury ladders; free treasury purchases at auction;

I've been a customer since 1983. The only caution is that they do have lots of higher-cost funds and services that you can easily resist.
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Nate79
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Re: Fidelity as a one stop shop

Post by Nate79 »

Why don't you use Schwab for all your needs? That's what we do.
marcopolo
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Re: Fidelity as a one stop shop

Post by marcopolo »

BogleMelon wrote: Sat Dec 15, 2018 8:55 pm
MikeMak27 wrote: Sat Dec 15, 2018 8:42 pm


The cash management account allows you to purchase their money market fund, SPRXX, yielding around 2.1%. It will automatically sell some to cover ATM withdrawals, any checks you write, or any bills you pay.
Thanks for your response.
About this, I was told by chat rep that I cant buy MMF or any funds inside the cash management account and that I need another separate account for that purpose! I was also told that they dont prefer to sell funds to cover expenses and I would have to sell them myself!! I believe he is wrong since I read it before here that others do the same thing you described
Odd. That rep is definitely mistaken about this.
This is the set up I have. My cash balance is almost always around $0.0. My funds sit in money market fund (I use fzdxx). Whenever I have an expense, just the amount needed to cover it automatically sold.

The only hole I have seen is that there is no way to deposit cash into your account. I don't recall the last time I had a need to do that though.
Once in a while you get shown the light, in the strangest of places if you look at it right.
Topic Author
BogleMelon
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Re: Fidelity as a one stop shop

Post by BogleMelon »

Nate79 wrote: Sat Dec 15, 2018 9:22 pm Why don't you use Schwab for all your needs? That's what we do.
I thought about that, but Schwab lack one important fund to me: extended market index. I need this fund in my Roth because the only good index fund in my 401K is S&P 500 fund. I prefer to own the whole market not just the top 500 companies.
"One of the funny things about stock market, every time one is buying another is selling, and both think they are astute" - William Feather
xzhou
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Re: Fidelity as a one stop shop

Post by xzhou »

My experience with CMA is that the default sweep account is an FDIC-insured ultra-low-interest account, not SPRXX that hotpancakes uses or FCFXX that I use. The move from cash to higher interest MMF has to be manually initiated. Is there an automation mechanism that I missed?
zrail
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Re: Fidelity as a one stop shop

Post by zrail »

We use Fidelity for everything: taxable, cash management, IRAs, solo 401k, UTMAs and 529s. We use a normal brokerage account for taxable investing and day to day cash management and all of our "trusted" direct deposits and automatic withdrawals (credit card payments, insurance automatic payments, etc). We then have a "side car" CMA for debit card transactions. Our core position in the brokerage account is FZFXX (Treasury money market fund, no commercial paper like SPAXX).

I think if you have a PNC ATM nearby, you could use that to deposit cash because the CMA's debit card is issued by PNC. I haven't tried yet, but I might give it a shot soon. We have a PNC branch very close to us.
jbranx
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Re: Fidelity as a one stop shop

Post by jbranx »

I use my phone app to deposit all checks to Fidelity, simply take a photo of the check front and back, and presto, it shows up in your account. It's also easy to use their deposit slips in the checkbook to send them by mail. I can withdraw $1000 in cash at ATMs daily using the debit/cash card they provide.

Link that explains and allows you to download the phone check deposit app:

https://www.fidelity.com/mobile/mobile-check-deposit
arf30
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Re: Fidelity as a one stop shop

Post by arf30 »

xzhou wrote: Sat Dec 15, 2018 9:29 pm My experience with CMA is that the default sweep account is an FDIC-insured ultra-low-interest account, not SPRXX that hotpancakes uses or FCFXX that I use. The move from cash to higher interest MMF has to be manually initiated. Is there an automation mechanism that I missed?
You're right, but some people use the Fidelity brokerage which is basically the same as the CMA except it uses SPAXX as a sweep.
hotpancakes
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Re: Fidelity as a one stop shop

Post by hotpancakes »

xzhou wrote: Sat Dec 15, 2018 9:29 pm My experience with CMA is that the default sweep account is an FDIC-insured ultra-low-interest account, not SPRXX that hotpancakes uses or FCFXX that I use. The move from cash to higher interest MMF has to be manually initiated. Is there an automation mechanism that I missed?
Nope, that's how they make money on CMA accounts. I know you can use a regular Fidelity brokerage account in much the same way as a CMA account, but Fidelity requires that you have $250k+ in order to provide free ATM rebates, etc. In either case, you cannot use FCFXX as the standard settlement fund, although their brokerage account does use a Federal Money Market fund instead of the low-interest FDIC option on the CMA. I believe the inability to set FCFXX as the settlement fund on the regular brokerage account relates to regulatory concerns, namely that brokerages are prohibited from using a settlement fund that can break the buck. This wasn't necessarily true in the past. It's the same reason why Vanguard moved from their Prime Money Market to Federal Money Market settlement fund.
Topic Author
BogleMelon
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Re: Fidelity as a one stop shop

Post by BogleMelon »

OP here, on more question, does Vanguard charges any fees to rollover my Roth out to Fidelity?
"One of the funny things about stock market, every time one is buying another is selling, and both think they are astute" - William Feather
Arby
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Re: Fidelity as a one stop shop

Post by Arby »

xzhou wrote: Sat Dec 15, 2018 9:29 pm My experience with CMA is that the default sweep account is an FDIC-insured ultra-low-interest account, not SPRXX that hotpancakes uses or FCFXX that I use. The move from cash to higher interest MMF has to be manually initiated. Is there an automation mechanism that I missed?
The ultra low interest account is the default sweep in the CMA however you can keep all your cash in SPRXX in your CMA and have a zero balance in your official Core (sweep) account and SPRXX will be debited for withdrawals if there is no money in your official Core.

I have both a brokerage account and a CMA account. The ATM rebate only applies to a debit card associated with the CMA account, not a debit card associated with your brokerage account, at least for guys like me who don't have megabucks with Fido.

I like keeping a very low balance in my CMA and a bigger balance in my brokerage account as it gives me more protection against fraud. It is easy to transfer cash between the two accounts and the Fidelity rep says the transfered cash is available immediately even if not shown on my online balance until the next day. I live overseas and the debit card is a convenient way to get cash without paying ATM fees.
mptfan
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Re: Fidelity as a one stop shop

Post by mptfan »

anoop wrote: Sat Dec 15, 2018 8:53 pm But it looks like the OP is already using a brokerage for checking, so this concern shouldn't apply.
Schwab is a bank and a brokerage, and their checking account is a real checking account issued by Schwab Bank, not Schwab brokerage.
Cash
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Re: Fidelity as a one stop shop

Post by Cash »

b0B wrote: Sat Dec 15, 2018 10:41 pm
BogleMelon wrote: Sat Dec 15, 2018 8:33 pm I am thinking of moving my Roth (currently at Vanguard), Charles Schwab checking and Ally saving all to Fidelity to simplify my life.
My 3 questions are:
1- How to do such setup in Fido to maintain the same privileges as Charles and Ally? In other words how to have an alternative to checking with all the free ATM's, salary deposit..etc and earn interest in the same time with a simple setup?
2- What things I have to keep in mind to roll my Roth IRA's? (Am I limited to certain amount of rollovers per year for example?)
3- Is there any disadvantage to this setup vs my current one?

Thanks!
This makes no sense. There's no simplification. If you have internet access, you can access all these anyway. It's an illusion that all those things are really Fidelity, as their bank is really someone else, the credit card is someone else still, and many of their funds are really run by others, so there's no real unification or simplification.

What makes sense is to look for the best in all the financial things. Get the best credit cards from one or several banks, but actual bank accounts from others, investments elsewhere and so on. It is very suboptimal going with one place.
I disagree. I used to have dozens of different accounts at various financial institutions. Life is much easier now with one login that allows me to see and manage everything. And with the options discussed by others, the Fidelity setup is “good enough” for all of my banking and investment needs.

Yes, I might be able to earn half a percentage point more on savings elsewhere, but those banks inevitably fall behind and require me to move my money elsewhere. Plus, at Fidelity, I can invest in muni funds to avoid taxes. Yes, I might be able to get 3% cash back on certain categories with a BOA card or great travel benefits with another, but straight 2% cash back is simple and good enough. Sure, their free ETFs are managed by Blackrock...but in many cases they have lower expense ratios and are more tax efficient than their Vanguard counterparts. Not to mention the zero ER index funds.

So yeah, there is a benefit to consolidation, and Fidelity is a great place to do it.
criticalmass
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Re: Fidelity as a one stop shop

Post by criticalmass »

b0B wrote: Sat Dec 15, 2018 10:41 pm This makes no sense. There's no simplification. If you have internet access, you can access all these anyway. It's an illusion that all those things are really Fidelity, as their bank is really someone else, the credit card is someone else still, and many of their funds are really run by others, so there's no real unification or simplification.

What makes sense is to look for the best in all the financial things. Get the best credit cards from one or several banks, but actual bank accounts from others, investments elsewhere and so on. It is very suboptimal going with one place.
That's like saying buying a mutual fund is not simpler than buying hundreds of stocks because they are really being run by others. Even if the Fidelity banking money is being held elsewhere, you access it in one place. You can view the credit card transactions by logging on to Fidelity too, and if you have a problem with the credit card, I've had Fidelity support get it straightened out. I agree about getting the best credit cards etc. but if consolidation is a high priority, there are worse places to go than Fidelity.
stan1
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Re: Fidelity as a one stop shop

Post by stan1 »

BogleMelon wrote: Sat Dec 15, 2018 9:25 pm
Nate79 wrote: Sat Dec 15, 2018 9:22 pm Why don't you use Schwab for all your needs? That's what we do.
I thought about that, but Schwab lack one important fund to me: extended market index. I need this fund in my Roth because the only good index fund in my 401K is S&P 500 fund. I prefer to own the whole market not just the top 500 companies.
A couple easy choices:
1) Just use the S&P 500 Index and don't worry about it. Adding 20% small caps makes a negligible difference unless it is part of a bigger strategy to overweight small blend. If you prefer small value over small blend anyways just buy small value.
2) Use the Vanguard Extended Market S&P Completion ETF VXF. Do you get any free trades at Schwab?
Warning: I am about 80% satisficer (accepting of good enough) and 20% maximizer
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BogleMelon
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Re: Fidelity as a one stop shop

Post by BogleMelon »

stan1 wrote: Sun Dec 16, 2018 9:37 am
BogleMelon wrote: Sat Dec 15, 2018 9:25 pm
Nate79 wrote: Sat Dec 15, 2018 9:22 pm Why don't you use Schwab for all your needs? That's what we do.
I thought about that, but Schwab lack one important fund to me: extended market index. I need this fund in my Roth because the only good index fund in my 401K is S&P 500 fund. I prefer to own the whole market not just the top 500 companies.
A couple easy choices:
1) Just use the S&P 500 Index and don't worry about it. Adding 20% small caps makes a negligible difference unless it is part of a bigger strategy to overweight small blend. If you prefer small value over small blend anyways just buy small value.
2) Use the Vanguard Extended Market S&P Completion ETF VXF. Do you get any free trades at Schwab?
No I dont get any free trades at Schwab.
I may consider #1. Now if I rolled over my Roth from Vanguard to Schwab, would Vanguard charge me any fees? Also do I have to sell my Vanguard admiral shares first (be out of the market couple of days) before rolling over to Schwab?
"One of the funny things about stock market, every time one is buying another is selling, and both think they are astute" - William Feather
Gadget
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Re: Fidelity as a one stop shop

Post by Gadget »

hotpancakes wrote: Sat Dec 15, 2018 10:16 pm
xzhou wrote: Sat Dec 15, 2018 9:29 pm My experience with CMA is that the default sweep account is an FDIC-insured ultra-low-interest account, not SPRXX that hotpancakes uses or FCFXX that I use. The move from cash to higher interest MMF has to be manually initiated. Is there an automation mechanism that I missed?
Nope, that's how they make money on CMA accounts. I know you can use a regular Fidelity brokerage account in much the same way as a CMA account, but Fidelity requires that you have $250k+ in order to provide free ATM rebates, etc. In either case, you cannot use FCFXX as the standard settlement fund, although their brokerage account does use a Federal Money Market fund instead of the low-interest FDIC option on the CMA. I believe the inability to set FCFXX as the settlement fund on the regular brokerage account relates to regulatory concerns, namely that brokerages are prohibited from using a settlement fund that can break the buck. This wasn't necessarily true in the past. It's the same reason why Vanguard moved from their Prime Money Market to Federal Money Market settlement fund.
This isn't quite true. You can set it up where it's fully automated. I have the CMA account named "Checking", and made a new brokerage account named "Savings". They even show up as "checking" and "savings" in mint. The savings account is the overdraft fund for the checking account and covers all debits from checking instantly (when setup that way). I keep $0 in the CMA account. All direct deposits go to "savings". All debits including ATM cash withdrawls get pulled from "checking".

If you do it this way, the "savings" account can have FZFXX or SPAXX as the core account. They are both at about 1.88% today. Done this way, it's like a 1.88% yield checking account with free ATM deposits that is fully automated. Then when you remember, you can purchase one of the higher yielding money market funds that everyone else is talking about like FZDXX or SPRXX. You have to do that manually, but they yield higher. I haven't checked all money market funds, but at least FZFXX, SPAXX, FZDXX, and SPRXX will all auto liquidate to cover debits from the CMA account.
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indexfundfan
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Re: Fidelity as a one stop shop

Post by indexfundfan »

Gadget wrote: Sun Dec 16, 2018 10:10 am This isn't quite true. You can set it up where it's fully automated. I have the CMA account named "Checking", and made a new brokerage account named "Savings". They even show up as "checking" and "savings" in mint. The savings account is the overdraft fund for the checking account and covers all debits from checking instantly (when setup that way). I keep $0 in the CMA account. All direct deposits go to "savings". All debits including ATM cash withdrawls get pulled from "checking".
Has this setup been tested with ATM withdrawals?

The last time I checked (if there are no funds in the CMA) check and ACH debits in the CMA can be satisfied by "overdraft" from your brokerage account. But ATM withdrawals cannot -- the reason given was that there is "no enough time for approval". It would be nice to know that ATM withdrawals are covered now.
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Nate79
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Re: Fidelity as a one stop shop

Post by Nate79 »

BogleMelon wrote: Sun Dec 16, 2018 9:43 am
stan1 wrote: Sun Dec 16, 2018 9:37 am
BogleMelon wrote: Sat Dec 15, 2018 9:25 pm
Nate79 wrote: Sat Dec 15, 2018 9:22 pm Why don't you use Schwab for all your needs? That's what we do.
I thought about that, but Schwab lack one important fund to me: extended market index. I need this fund in my Roth because the only good index fund in my 401K is S&P 500 fund. I prefer to own the whole market not just the top 500 companies.
A couple easy choices:
1) Just use the S&P 500 Index and don't worry about it. Adding 20% small caps makes a negligible difference unless it is part of a bigger strategy to overweight small blend. If you prefer small value over small blend anyways just buy small value.
2) Use the Vanguard Extended Market S&P Completion ETF VXF. Do you get any free trades at Schwab?
No I dont get any free trades at Schwab.
I may consider #1. Now if I rolled over my Roth from Vanguard to Schwab, would Vanguard charge me any fees? Also do I have to sell my Vanguard admiral shares first (be out of the market couple of days) before rolling over to Schwab?
Vanguard does not charge transfer/account closing fees. Schwab has in my experience allowed you to hold admiral shares. Contact then to check on your exact fund to make sure but with Vanguard closing the investor shares my guess is that you will be able to hold and trade admiral shares at most brokers.
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oldcomputerguy
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Re: Fidelity as a one stop shop

Post by oldcomputerguy »

jbranx wrote: Sat Dec 15, 2018 9:17 pm very good Visa card with US Bank that gives you 2% on all transactions that you can deposit back into your account; ATM reimbursement; collision damage waiver on rental cars;
Minor correction: the Fidelity Visa credit card is through Elan Financial, while the debit/ATM card is serviced through BNY Mellon and uses PNC Bank as the underlying bank (at least that’s true for mine).
There is only one success - to be able to spend your life in your own way. (Christopher Morley)
arf30
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Re: Fidelity as a one stop shop

Post by arf30 »

indexfundfan wrote: Sun Dec 16, 2018 10:28 am The last time I checked (if there are no funds in the CMA) check and ACH debits in the CMA can be satisfied by "overdraft" from your brokerage account. But ATM withdrawals cannot -- the reason given was that there is "no enough time for approval".
Yup, that'll still happen. Only workaround is to keep $500 in the CMA using the cash manager.
Hockey10
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Re: Fidelity as a one stop shop

Post by Hockey10 »

I really like Fidelity. I have most of my assets there, but not all of them. I still subscribe to the theory of not putting all your eggs in one basket.
Old Guy
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Re: Fidelity as a one stop shop

Post by Old Guy »

I’m thinking of moving our TSP accounts to Fidelity based on comments in a thread I posted recently because of inheritance issues in Thrift. Does Fidelity offer anything to new customers? In another thread I saw a mention of American Airline miles.

Thanks.
jbranx
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Re: Fidelity as a one stop shop

Post by jbranx »

oldcomputerguy wrote: Sun Dec 16, 2018 11:14 am
jbranx wrote: Sat Dec 15, 2018 9:17 pm very good Visa card with US Bank that gives you 2% on all transactions that you can deposit back into your account; ATM reimbursement; collision damage waiver on rental cars;
Minor correction: the Fidelity Visa credit card is through Elan Financial, while the debit/ATM card is serviced through BNY Mellon and uses PNC Bank as the underlying bank (at least that’s true for mine).
Elan Financial is a sub of US Bank, which is very good at credit card and data management. It's worth pointing out the fact because Fido's previous card with Bank American/Fleet Boston was a nightmare in my experience. Elan allows you to monitor the card directly inside the Fidelity account, provides email and text alerts on all charges to the card at lightning speed (usually before even Amazon can send a purchase email) and has very good customer service on its direct line for Fido customers. The debit/PNC card has worked at every ATM I have ever tried in the US and elsewhere. The 2% rewards are auto deposited into the Fido cash account if you set it up. Pretty snazzy arrangement. I'd recommend anyone transferring to Fidelity ask for free trades to get everything transferred and set up.
a_movable_life
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Re: Fidelity as a one stop shop

Post by a_movable_life »

b0B wrote: Sun Dec 16, 2018 11:28 am The internet is already a "one stop shop" (for online stuff). The illusion of "consolidating" at Fidelity could easily cost you $1,000 per year
Mind elaborating on this?

There was a very long thread a couple weeks ago about Fidelity going into the HSA market.

Right now I am with CS for the banking and one Rollover IRA (NJ 403B funds so NJ taxed already). I started with Vanguard 12 years ago and have most of everything else there (The other Rollover, Roth, Taxable, and my I401k). Then the HSA is at Saturna. I'd be curious what I would need to print for the basis/bookkeeping if I moved things over.

It would nice to have everything under one roof and login. I'm guessing that is why my Uncle is at Merrill Lynch/BOA but he may be so high net worth they waive everything. The bad news if I get hacked, then I REALLY get hacked.
Gadget
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Re: Fidelity as a one stop shop

Post by Gadget »

arf30 wrote: Sun Dec 16, 2018 11:14 am
indexfundfan wrote: Sun Dec 16, 2018 10:28 am The last time I checked (if there are no funds in the CMA) check and ACH debits in the CMA can be satisfied by "overdraft" from your brokerage account. But ATM withdrawals cannot -- the reason given was that there is "no enough time for approval".
Yup, that'll still happen. Only workaround is to keep $500 in the CMA using the cash manager.
I will try it this week and find out. When I first set it up, I also thought this so I kept $500 in it. But someone on this forum said it also worked with $0 in it. I chatted with Fidelity customer service, and they said the ATM would still work with $0 in the CMA account.

My balance has just now widdled down to $0 from the $500 I thought I needed. I will report back this week if I remember.
MikeG62
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Re: Fidelity as a one stop shop

Post by MikeG62 »

Gadget wrote: Sun Dec 16, 2018 10:10 am
hotpancakes wrote: Sat Dec 15, 2018 10:16 pm
xzhou wrote: Sat Dec 15, 2018 9:29 pm My experience with CMA is that the default sweep account is an FDIC-insured ultra-low-interest account, not SPRXX that hotpancakes uses or FCFXX that I use. The move from cash to higher interest MMF has to be manually initiated. Is there an automation mechanism that I missed?
Nope, that's how they make money on CMA accounts. I know you can use a regular Fidelity brokerage account in much the same way as a CMA account, but Fidelity requires that you have $250k+ in order to provide free ATM rebates, etc. In either case, you cannot use FCFXX as the standard settlement fund, although their brokerage account does use a Federal Money Market fund instead of the low-interest FDIC option on the CMA. I believe the inability to set FCFXX as the settlement fund on the regular brokerage account relates to regulatory concerns, namely that brokerages are prohibited from using a settlement fund that can break the buck. This wasn't necessarily true in the past. It's the same reason why Vanguard moved from their Prime Money Market to Federal Money Market settlement fund.
This isn't quite true. You can set it up where it's fully automated. I have the CMA account named "Checking", and made a new brokerage account named "Savings". They even show up as "checking" and "savings" in mint. The savings account is the overdraft fund for the checking account and covers all debits from checking instantly (when setup that way). I keep $0 in the CMA account. All direct deposits go to "savings". All debits including ATM cash withdrawals get pulled from "checking".

If you do it this way, the "savings" account can have FZFXX or SPAXX as the core account. They are both at about 1.88% today. Done this way, it's like a 1.88% yield checking account with free ATM deposits that is fully automated. Then when you remember, you can purchase one of the higher yielding money market funds that everyone else is talking about like FZDXX or SPRXX. You have to do that manually, but they yield higher. I haven't checked all money market funds, but at least FZFXX, SPAXX, FZDXX, and SPRXX will all auto liquidate to cover debits from the CMA account.
I believe the automated sweep only works one way - as overdraft protection for the core cash account. If you end up with excess cash in the CMA cash account ("checking" account using your words), I do not believe it will automatically sweep excess cash account funds at the end of the day to the higher yielding MMF. That needs to be done manually.

At least that is how it works with my brokerage account at Fidelity. My core account is SPAXX while I try to keep my excess cash in FZDXX. If I transfer cash to Fidelity it goes to SPAXX automatically. I then have to login to Fidelity and request a transfer from SPAXX to FZDXX once the funds have cleared.
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Gadget
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Re: Fidelity as a one stop shop

Post by Gadget »

arf30 wrote: Sun Dec 16, 2018 11:14 am
indexfundfan wrote: Sun Dec 16, 2018 10:28 am The last time I checked (if there are no funds in the CMA) check and ACH debits in the CMA can be satisfied by "overdraft" from your brokerage account. But ATM withdrawals cannot -- the reason given was that there is "no enough time for approval".
Yup, that'll still happen. Only workaround is to keep $500 in the CMA using the cash manager.
I just tried this today and it worked. I verified I had zero dollars in my cma account. I withdrew 30 cash at an atm from the cma. I got my cash, and in the online activity of the cma it shows the 30 covered as overdraft from Brokerage account. All instantly. No funds for ATM withdrawal required in the CMA.
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indexfundfan
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Re: Fidelity as a one stop shop

Post by indexfundfan »

Gadget wrote: Mon Dec 17, 2018 10:16 am
arf30 wrote: Sun Dec 16, 2018 11:14 am
indexfundfan wrote: Sun Dec 16, 2018 10:28 am The last time I checked (if there are no funds in the CMA) check and ACH debits in the CMA can be satisfied by "overdraft" from your brokerage account. But ATM withdrawals cannot -- the reason given was that there is "no enough time for approval".
Yup, that'll still happen. Only workaround is to keep $500 in the CMA using the cash manager.
I just tried this today and it worked. I verified I had zero dollars in my cma account. I withdrew 30 cash at an atm from the cma. I got my cash, and in the online activity of the cma it shows the 30 covered as overdraft from Brokerage account. All instantly. No funds for ATM withdrawal required in the CMA.
Thanks for the update. It looks like now I can then stick everything in the investment account instead.
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JoMoney
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Re: Fidelity as a one stop shop

Post by JoMoney »

Can anyone confirm if you're required to have both a CMA & separate brokerage account to make the overdraft work, or can you simply buy a MMF within the CMA and "overdraft" from that?
"To achieve satisfactory investment results is easier than most people realize; to achieve superior results is harder than it looks." - Benjamin Graham
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Re: Fidelity as a one stop shop

Post by snowman »

JoMoney wrote: Mon Dec 17, 2018 2:16 pm Can anyone confirm if you're required to have both a CMA & separate brokerage account to make the overdraft work, or can you simply buy a MMF within the CMA and "overdraft" from that?
You don't need brokerage account. I only have CMA. I don't keep any cash - 100% in MMF. Any time I do ACH, write a check, or get money out of ATM, money comes out of MMF. It's seamless and free.

However, if you deposit money, you need to buy MMF manually. If you don't, money stays in cash account earning much lower interest rate.

My son also has Fidelity Visa card (I don't), and that one is well integrated into CMA. 2% cashback gets deposited there every cycle, and the monthly bill payment is automatically withdrawn from MMF in CMA.
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Re: Fidelity as a one stop shop

Post by Gadget »

JoMoney wrote: Mon Dec 17, 2018 2:16 pm Can anyone confirm if you're required to have both a CMA & separate brokerage account to make the overdraft work, or can you simply buy a MMF within the CMA and "overdraft" from that?
You can do it this way. The reason some of us aren't is so we don't have to manually purchase MMFs. The Core fund in a brokerage account is a way better interest rate than the core fund in the CMA account if you forget to manually buy a MMF.
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Re: Fidelity as a one stop shop

Post by Cash »

Another reason for the separate brokerage account is to place a limit on the amount that can be “overdrafted” by the CMA.
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smarcus3
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Re: Fidelity as a one stop shop

Post by smarcus3 »

Overdraft protection requires a separate brokerage account with money market funds as a position. I've use Fido's cash management account since it's inception 10 years ago or so.

Only marginal negative is the 0.6% interest rate with the checking account. Overall worked great.
This is my personal opinion. I'm an engineer not a financial advisor.
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Re: Fidelity as a one stop shop

Post by slbnoob »

Awesome. I've been looking to do this myself for a while. I plan to do the following:
Use the brokerage "savings" for direct deposit of my paycheck. Funds go into the core position yielding ~1.8%.
Open a CMA "checking". Keep 0 here but use this account for all ATM withdrawals, checks, auto drafts, and CC bill payments, etc.
This limits my "savings" account info to my employer and exposes the "checking" everywhere else the spending is happening, drawing an illusion of a distinction between them.
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Re: Fidelity as a one stop shop

Post by smarcus3 »

slbnoob wrote: Tue Dec 18, 2018 12:53 pm Awesome. I've been looking to do this myself for a while. I plan to do the following:
Use the brokerage "savings" for direct deposit of my paycheck. Funds go into the core position yielding ~1.8%.
Open a CMA "checking". Keep 0 here but use this account for all ATM withdrawals, checks, auto drafts, and CC bill payments, etc.
This limits my "savings" account info to my employer and exposes the "checking" everywhere else the spending is happening, drawing an illusion of a distinction between them.
Yup. I did this for a while. The auto draft protection feature requires a minimum account balance in the CMA of $250. Eventually, just added check writing to the non-CMA brokerage account and no longer utilize the CMA account. But have it open if I need ATM withdrawals fee free.

You can buy SPRXX instead of SPAXX to get 2.11% instead of 1.89%. If you have $100K you can open the premium money market fund to get a bit more on top of that as well.
This is my personal opinion. I'm an engineer not a financial advisor.
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Re: Fidelity as a one stop shop

Post by BUBear29 »

Alliant offers free overdraft protection via transfer from savings. Same thing as the whole fiedlity cma thing but with ncua insurance
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JoMoney
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Re: Fidelity as a one stop shop

Post by JoMoney »

BUBear29 wrote: Tue Dec 18, 2018 10:01 pm Alliant offers free overdraft protection via transfer from savings. Same thing as the whole fiedlity cma thing but with ncua insurance
But do they have an integrated brokerage to hold your investments, and a 2% cashback credit card, to make it a "one stop shop" for all your finance needs ?
"To achieve satisfactory investment results is easier than most people realize; to achieve superior results is harder than it looks." - Benjamin Graham
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Re: Fidelity as a one stop shop

Post by BUBear29 »

JoMoney wrote: Tue Dec 18, 2018 10:53 pm
BUBear29 wrote: Tue Dec 18, 2018 10:01 pm Alliant offers free overdraft protection via transfer from savings. Same thing as the whole fiedlity cma thing but with ncua insurance
But do they have an integrated brokerage to hold your investments, and a 2% cashback credit card, to make it a "one stop shop" for all your finance needs ?
they have a 2.5% cashback card. i would never brokerGe where i bank personally. Alliant for banking for me and vanguard for investing.

i did try the fidelity cma but found it slightly confusing vs a smooth banking interface. to each their own.
There is no dignity quite so impressive, and no one independence quite so important, as living within your means.
Cash
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Re: Fidelity as a one stop shop

Post by Cash »

BUBear29 wrote: Tue Dec 18, 2018 11:17 pm
JoMoney wrote: Tue Dec 18, 2018 10:53 pm
BUBear29 wrote: Tue Dec 18, 2018 10:01 pm Alliant offers free overdraft protection via transfer from savings. Same thing as the whole fiedlity cma thing but with ncua insurance
But do they have an integrated brokerage to hold your investments, and a 2% cashback credit card, to make it a "one stop shop" for all your finance needs ?
they have a 2.5% cashback card. i would never brokerGe where i bank personally. Alliant for banking for me and vanguard for investing.

i did try the fidelity cma but found it slightly confusing vs a smooth banking interface. to each their own.
I like Alliant. It was my primary online bank before Fidelity. But there is nothing Alliant can do that Fidelity can’t, but lots that Fidelity can do that Alliant can’t. And even the things that they can both do are usually easier with Fidelity.

For instance, sending a wire with Alliant requires faxing or emailing in a form, waiting for them to call you to verify everything, including the fee, and then waiting for the funds to actually go out. With Fidelity, you can send a wire online in just a couple of minutes (even less time than that if you’ve sent a wire to the same place previously), and it’s free.
Socal77
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Re: Fidelity as a one stop shop

Post by Socal77 »

Seems the biggest trade off is not getting better high yield savings elsewhere.

That's why I have not done it.

Although I would very much like the convenience of having all in one login etc., I don't like that they do not have a better high yield savings option.
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