Withdrawing funds from a tIRA - Merrill Edge vs Vanguard

[tlveik]

I opened a Merrill Edge traditional IRA this year because that's where my 401k is (or was). I'm not finding any easy way with the online account to withdraw funds from it. I'll have to call in I guess. Does this work easier with a Vanguard IRA account? Can funds be withdrawn from a Vanguard IRA account online simply by logging in and clicking a few buttons?

Old enough to avoid penalties, young enough to avoid RMD.

[David Jay]

I have a tIRA at Vanguard. I have never contacted Vanguard for any transaction since I retired in 2019, everything done online.

[OnTrack2020]

The answer to your question is yes, and the process is very straightforward. You go to your account holding/s and click on which holding you want to "sell." It then brings up another screen and asks how much of that holding you want to sell (either in dollars or shares). And then another screen will ask how much you want to withhold for federal and state taxes. That's pretty much the procedure.

[tlveik]

The answer to your question is yes, and the process is very straightforward. You go to your account holding/s and click on which holding you want to "sell." It then brings up another screen and asks how much of that holding you want to sell (either in dollars or shares). And then another screen will ask how much you want to withhold for federal and state taxes. That's pretty much the procedure.

And then those proceeds could be moved directly into a Vanguard money market fund for example I assume?

Are the taxes included in the initial sell amount you entered or are taxes added to the sell amount you entered?

If I decide to move the IRA to Vanguard I don't have to wait a year because it would be trustee to trustee correct?

[pshonore]

The answer to your question is yes, and the process is very straightforward. You go to your account holding/s and click on which holding you want to "sell." It then brings up another screen and asks how much of that holding you want to sell (either in dollars or shares). And then another screen will ask how much you want to withhold for federal and state taxes. That's pretty much the procedure.

Just a note that some states (like Connecticut) have a form that must be filed if you want $0 withholding. ME will require you to file this form for $0 withholding but others like Fidelity just seem to ignore it. At ME, it can take a few days to get the form and file it. DAMHIKT.

[WoodSpinner]

OP,

I have a MerrillEdge IRA as well and haven’t had a problem selling and transferring the money to my bank accounts.

What exactly is the issue?

Happy to help

WoodSpinner

[Geologist]

The answer to your question is yes, and the process is very straightforward. You go to your account holding/s and click on which holding you want to "sell." It then brings up another screen and asks how much of that holding you want to sell (either in dollars or shares). And then another screen will ask how much you want to withhold for federal and state taxes. That's pretty much the procedure.

And then those proceeds could be moved directly into a Vanguard money market fund for example I assume?

Are the taxes included in the initial sell amount you entered or are taxes added to the sell amount you entered?

If I decide to move the IRA to Vanguard I don't have to wait a year because it would be trustee to trustee correct?

You can specify the fund into which the withdrawal is moved, so a money market fund can be specified.

By taxes, I assume you mean withholding. You don't have to have taxes withheld. At Vanguard, withholding taxes are subtracted from the initial sell amount you enter.

[tlveik]

OP,

I have a MerrillEdge IRA as well and haven’t had a problem selling and transferring the money to my bank accounts.

What exactly is the issue?

Happy to help

WoodSpinner

How do you do that? I see no way to do that. There is no account number that I can find anywhere for an ACH transfer and the only transfer method that I can find is to bring money into the account, nothing for taking money out of the account.

[bltn]

Our largest IRA is with Vanguard. I ve made changes twice this year with our monthly withholding from IRA withdrawals due to changing tax circumstances. Everything done online very easily.
I like Vanguard s website for control of our investments. Very intuitive.

[dukeblue219]

OP,

I have a MerrillEdge IRA as well and haven’t had a problem selling and transferring the money to my bank accounts.

What exactly is the issue?

Happy to help

WoodSpinner

How do you do that? I see no way to do that. There is no account number that I can find anywhere for an ACH transfer and the only transfer method that I can find is to bring money into the account, nothing for taking money out of the account.

Have you added external accounts to Merrill Edge? If so they should be listed on your Transfer tab.

[WoodSpinner]

OP,

I have a MerrillEdge IRA as well and haven’t had a problem selling and transferring the money to my bank accounts.

What exactly is the issue?

Happy to help

WoodSpinner

How do you do that? I see no way to do that. There is no account number that I can find anywhere for an ACH transfer and the only transfer method that I can find is to bring money into the account, nothing for taking money out of the account.

Log in to Merril Edge using a browser.

Go to Accounts/Transfer & Withdrawals

Look for the Add Account hyperlink

It takes a couple of days to complete but once set up it will appear in your account transfer drop down.

Hope this helps!

WoodSpinner

[tlveik]

Have you added external accounts to Merrill Edge? If so they should be listed on your Transfer tab.

The account I would like to add is PNC Bank which is the Vanguard Cash Plus account. When I enter the numbers for that it asks for my PNC login info. First off I don't really want to give them my login info. But anyway I don't have a login for PNC Bank. I get there through Vanguard.

I wish they could do verification with a trial deposit.

[tlveik]

OP,

I have a MerrillEdge IRA as well and haven’t had a problem selling and transferring the money to my bank accounts.

What exactly is the issue?

Happy to help

WoodSpinner

How do you do that? I see no way to do that. There is no account number that I can find anywhere for an ACH transfer and the only transfer method that I can find is to bring money into the account, nothing for taking money out of the account.

Log in to Merril Edge using a browser.

Go to Accounts/Transfer & Withdrawals

Look for the Add Account hyperlink

It takes a couple of days to complete but once set up it will appear in your account transfer drop down.

Hope this helps!

WoodSpinner

My previous post describes the problem I had with this.

Do your cash accounts in your Edge account have a routing number and account number? If I could figure those out I could pull money out.

[WoodSpinner]

OP,

I have a MerrillEdge IRA as well and haven’t had a problem selling and transferring the money to my bank accounts.

What exactly is the issue?

Happy to help

WoodSpinner

How do you do that? I see no way to do that. There is no account number that I can find anywhere for an ACH transfer and the only transfer method that I can find is to bring money into the account, nothing for taking money out of the account.

Log in to Merril Edge using a browser.

Go to Accounts/Transfer & Withdrawals

Look for the Add Account hyperlink

It takes a couple of days to complete but once set up it will appear in your account transfer drop down.

Hope this helps!

WoodSpinner

My previous post describes the problem I had with this.

Do your cash accounts in your Edge account have a routing number and account number? If I could figure those out I could pull money out.

I don’t have an after tax brokerage account at Merrill any more so I can’t help with that.

No help with the PNC issue.

Did you try your Vanguard account login?

WoodSpinner

[tlveik]

I'm the original poster in this thread. Still having trouble withdrawing money from my Merrill Edge IRA. I would prefer to withdraw money without having taxes withheld. My state does not require withholding if no federal taxes are withheld. I would rather do all tax payments with estimated payments.

But Merrill won't let me do this without filling out a paper form and mailing it in.

I know others above have said this is an easy online transaction at Vanguard. Is it still an easy online transaction if you don't want taxes withheld?

[pshonore]

I'm the original poster in this thread. Still having trouble withdrawing money from my Merrill Edge IRA. I would prefer to withdraw money without having taxes withheld. My state does not require withholding if no federal taxes are withheld. I would rather do all tax payments with estimated payments.

But Merrill won't let me do this without filling out a paper form and mailing it in.

I know others above have said this is an easy online transaction at Vanguard. Is it still an easy online transaction if you don't want taxes withheld?

Merrill does allow for electronic transmission of documents like the withholding form. From Merrill's Main Menu, click on Help and Settings, then click "Send Document" and follow the prompts. You will have to fill in the fields on the document and store a local copy in order to transmit it.

[GoodOmens]

Have you added external accounts to Merrill Edge? If so they should be listed on your Transfer tab.

The account I would like to add is PNC Bank which is the Vanguard Cash Plus account. When I enter the numbers for that it asks for my PNC login info. First off I don't really want to give them my login info. But anyway I don't have a login for PNC Bank. I get there through Vanguard.

I wish they could do verification with a trial deposit.

I'm going through this now as all my accounts I want connected don't allow logins (My Morgan Stanley checking shows up as another bank too). On the forms & applications tab (Under Help & Settings) there should be a Funds Transfer Service (FTS) form (Should be under Forms by Title but you can search for it too). Should be an option to e-sign one - fill out the details and attach a copy of a voided check. You can also mail it in.

No idea turn around time. Submitted mine (e-sign) last Thursday for my checking and have not seen it linked yet (But end of year is a terrible time to do investment things)....

Another option might be to transfer to BoA and pull funds that way or via a pull from your institution if you linked it on the Vanguard side.

[tlveik]

I'm the original poster in this thread. Still having trouble withdrawing money from my Merrill Edge IRA. I would prefer to withdraw money without having taxes withheld. My state does not require withholding if no federal taxes are withheld. I would rather do all tax payments with estimated payments.

But Merrill won't let me do this without filling out a paper form and mailing it in.

I know others above have said this is an easy online transaction at Vanguard. Is it still an easy online transaction if you don't want taxes withheld?

Merrill does allow for electronic transmission of documents like the withholding form. From Merrill's Main Menu, click on Help and Settings, then click "Send Document" and follow the prompts. You will have to fill in the fields on the document and store a local copy in order to transmit it.

Thanks pshonore and GoodOmens for your suggestions. I will look for them.

[GoodOmens]

I'm the original poster in this thread. Still having trouble withdrawing money from my Merrill Edge IRA. I would prefer to withdraw money without having taxes withheld. My state does not require withholding if no federal taxes are withheld. I would rather do all tax payments with estimated payments.

But Merrill won't let me do this without filling out a paper form and mailing it in.

I know others above have said this is an easy online transaction at Vanguard. Is it still an easy online transaction if you don't want taxes withheld?

Merrill does allow for electronic transmission of documents like the withholding form. From Merrill's Main Menu, click on Help and Settings, then click "Send Document" and follow the prompts. You will have to fill in the fields on the document and store a local copy in order to transmit it.

Thanks pshonore and GoodOmens for your suggestions. I will look for them.

You get setup? It took about a 5-10 business days for them to process my e-sign form to add an account.

You can also call them and get your Merrill Edge checking account number, which will allow you to link your ME account in your third party banks external transfers via trial deposits.

[tlveik]

I'm the original poster in this thread. Still having trouble withdrawing money from my Merrill Edge IRA. I would prefer to withdraw money without having taxes withheld. My state does not require withholding if no federal taxes are withheld. I would rather do all tax payments with estimated payments.

But Merrill won't let me do this without filling out a paper form and mailing it in.

I know others above have said this is an easy online transaction at Vanguard. Is it still an easy online transaction if you don't want taxes withheld?

Merrill does allow for electronic transmission of documents like the withholding form. From Merrill's Main Menu, click on Help and Settings, then click "Send Document" and follow the prompts. You will have to fill in the fields on the document and store a local copy in order to transmit it.

Thanks pshonore and GoodOmens for your suggestions. I will look for them.

You get setup? It took about a 5-10 business days for them to process my e-sign form to add an account.

You can also call them and get your Merrill Edge checking account number, which will allow you to link your ME account in your third party banks external transfers via trial deposits.

I submitted an e-sign form on Jan 5 for an IRA withdrawal. It appeared to be automatically submitted when I e-signed. Didn't have to go to Help and Settings, and click "Send Document". Only option was to mail a check. Still waiting. They wouldn't let me ACH transfer to my local bank account which I was able to add to my Merrill Edge account.

I also called in and asked for my Merrill Edge checking account number, he said my account doesn't have one.

Not impressed so far.

[CletusCaddy]

I'm the original poster in this thread. Still having trouble withdrawing money from my Merrill Edge IRA. I would prefer to withdraw money without having taxes withheld. My state does not require withholding if no federal taxes are withheld. I would rather do all tax payments with estimated payments.

But Merrill won't let me do this without filling out a paper form and mailing it in.

I know others above have said this is an easy online transaction at Vanguard. Is it still an easy online transaction if you don't want taxes withheld?

Merrill does allow for electronic transmission of documents like the withholding form. From Merrill's Main Menu, click on Help and Settings, then click "Send Document" and follow the prompts. You will have to fill in the fields on the document and store a local copy in order to transmit it.

Thanks pshonore and GoodOmens for your suggestions. I will look for them.

You get setup? It took about a 5-10 business days for them to process my e-sign form to add an account.

You can also call them and get your Merrill Edge checking account number, which will allow you to link your ME account in your third party banks external transfers via trial deposits.

I submitted an e-sign form on Jan 5 for an IRA withdrawal. It appeared to be automatically submitted when I e-signed. Didn't have to go to Help and Settings, and click "Send Document". Only option was to mail a check. Still waiting. They wouldn't let me ACH transfer to my local bank account which I was able to add to my Merrill Edge account.

I also called in and asked for my Merrill Edge checking account number, he said my account doesn't have one.

Not impressed so far.

I submitted a form for IRA direct transfer on 1/17, one week later and still no movement.

Merrill offers huge bonuses for transferring assets in but I would rather they spend more on customer service