Everything to Fidelity

[JoMoney]

The bulk of my assets (>95%) are at Fidelity. No complaints about using Fidelity, and it's certainly easier to do things like Roth conversions or transfer money between accounts when it's all under the same roof.
The biggest problems I've ran into with having literally "everything" at Fidelity are:
I changed jobs and the new employer's 401k plan was administered through T Rowe Price
Every once in awhile I've needed a cashiers check (which Fidelity used to offer, but currently doesn't)
Fidelity's Rewards Visa credit card is nice, but there are other cards that have been better for my situation

What do you do when you need a cashier’s check? Seems weird they would no longer offer it.

It doesn't come up very often, the last time I needed one I opened an account elsewhere, which is something I've done from time to time to take advantage of banks offering new account bonuses.
Fidelity stopped offering cashiers checks during COVID with no specifics as to if/when they might return to offering them, or why they stopped. My guess is it's a vulnerability (if someone illegitimately requests a cashiers check) that's more troublesome to sort out than electronic methods of payments.

[placeholder]

Looks like Fidelity's $1,000 bonus for $1M+ is a far cry from WF's offer of $2,500 for $25K+

That doesn't sound right... got a link?

Sorry, $2,500 for $250K+
https://www.doctorofcredit.com/my-2500- ... nch-visit/

Be aware that the offer seems to have a hard requirement for an in person visit with a banker so if like me there are no local branches it's not really an option.

[Carno]

Looks like Fidelity's $1,000 bonus for $1M+ is a far cry from WF's offer of $2,500 for $25K+

That doesn't sound right... got a link?

Sorry, $2,500 for $250K+
https://www.doctorofcredit.com/my-2500- ... nch-visit/

Be aware that the offer seems to have a hard requirement for an in person visit with a banker so if like me there are no local branches it's not really an option.

I read in the DoC posts that some folks would drive thousands of miles to visit a branch for a $1,000 bonus.

[MN-Investor]

Vanguard was nagging me to move my two mutual funds from a Vanguard mutual fund account to a Vanguard brokerage account or they were going to charge me $25 per year per fund. I wasn't real happy with how the funds were performing - VAIPX and VWIUX - so I thought about selling them. But my only two options at Vanguard if I sold them were to either immediately reinvest those funds or they would send me a check. I didn't know what I wanted to invest that money in, and I certainly didn't want a check of that amount going through the mail. So I solved the problem... I transferred the two funds to my Fidelity brokerage account! Phooey on Vanguard. I'll sell the funds at Fidelity and put it in a 5% money market account.

[typical.investor]

...
I pretty much ignored all the talk about 2F Authentication until I was hacked last year and almost lost $5,000, which was avoided by E*trade restricting my account just in time. Now everything I do is 2FA.

When you say you were "hacked" you mean someone logged into your E*trade account? By what means did you "almost lose $5,000" ? Did they link an external account and try to push cash out via ACH, or something else ?

A combination of hacked email due to some sort of data breach cause by an unknown source, hacker(s) calling Etrade and pretending to be me (social engineering) then creating an account and linking it to an external one. But all this was detected to be unusual activities and my account was partially restricted for all transactions. I noticed all this when I started to have a problem accessing my email account.

2FA will help.

So might turning on BOTH sms and email notifications.

That way, if they get your mail account, you still get sms notifications from Etrade (password change, bank added).

And if they hijack your mobile number by posting it out and getting sms, you will still get email notifications from Etrade (password change, bank added).

I think everyone needs to do that even with lockdown mode at Fidelity. Notification is key because social engineering can undo any lock.

Anyway, Etrade gives complete fraud protection: $0 liability for unauthorized use of your account. So does Vanguard, Fidelity and Schwab. See their requirements!

[kraven]

If you want all the bells and whistles, Fidelity is the way to go. I remain a loyal Vanguard customer.

Thanks Dave, helpful post. What are the bells and whistles of Fidelity as you see/use them? TIA

[Boglenaut]

Has anyone had a negative (or positive) experience doing this or does anyone recommend against it?

We moved most accounts to Fidelity and are glad we did. We got a $1000 bonus, but would have moved them anyway. I am very happy with Fidelity.

We did not move our taxable account yet... we have quite a few non-covered shares and I am afraid if something goes wrong with the cost basis...

My wife has a 401K from a previous employer we will move someday, but don't want to close the option of a backdoor Roth for her.

[dave1054]

If you want all the bells and whistles, Fidelity is the way to go. I remain a loyal Vanguard customer.

Thanks Dave, helpful post. What are the bells and whistles of Fidelity as you see/use them? TIA

Cash managed account
Credit card
HSA
Charitable Trust


All useful perks except I prefer the higher yields of Vanguard money market accounts and muni bond funds.

Many bogleheads have accounts at both companies and get the best of both worlds

[rkhusky]

Opened my first Fidelity account (inherited IRA) and wasn’t impressed. You couldn’t use a whole set of special characters in the password, which doesn’t speak well of their security processing. And when you select a month for a date, it pops up an error, until you put something in for day and year. Minor stuff, but certainly not the perfection I was expecting from all the badmouthing about Vanguard’s site. Once there is something in the account, I will give it more of a test drive.

[GaryA505]

One last part of my thinking process: when RMD time comes it seems that it will be much easier having one Rollover IRA. I one each at Vanguard and Fidelity. While this won't matter for a while, I was going to combine them sooner or later.

I'm in "RMD time" and it's no big deal to have two accounts. They both calculate it for you and it's easy to set up an auto withdrawal however you like it. One thing to keep in mind though. Vanguard can only do auto withdrawals for Vanguard mutual funds, while Fidelity can do it for any mutual fund.

[Chv396]

Been at Fidelity since around 1991, and very solid service. Have my taxable brokerage, Rollover and Roth IRA’s there. My spouse does also.

[syngameon]

I recommend doing it. I did it myself earlier this year. The employer had locked my 401K at TAA-CREF and I transferred it the day I stopped working for them.

Fidelity is good for the most part, but rolling over investments and transferring 401Ks can be somewhat of a headache with them. Just stay on it and things will get moving.

[Charles Joseph]

One last part of my thinking process: when RMD time comes it seems that it will be much easier having one Rollover IRA. I one each at Vanguard and Fidelity. While this won't matter for a while, I was going to combine them sooner or later.

I'm in "RMD time" and it's no big deal to have two accounts. They both calculate it for you and it's easy to set up an auto withdrawal however you like it. One thing to keep in mind though. Vanguard can only do auto withdrawals for Vanguard mutual funds, while Fidelity can do it for any mutual fund.

Thanks GaryA505. I did end up moving everything to Fidelity at the end of September. So far so good. Kind of weird totally leaving Vanguard though.

[Kendall]

Wilsonbh's post has been merged into an active thread here.

[GaryA505]

One last part of my thinking process: when RMD time comes it seems that it will be much easier having one Rollover IRA. I one each at Vanguard and Fidelity. While this won't matter for a while, I was going to combine them sooner or later.

I'm in "RMD time" and it's no big deal to have two accounts. They both calculate it for you and it's easy to set up an auto withdrawal however you like it. One thing to keep in mind though. Vanguard can only do auto withdrawals for Vanguard mutual funds, while Fidelity can do it for any mutual fund.

Thanks GaryA505. I did end up moving everything to Fidelity at the end of September. So far so good. Kind of weird totally leaving Vanguard though.

I'm still split between Vanguard and Fidelity, but will probably end up all at Fidelity. I might have stayed with Vanguard. However, I like the Fidelity account features and local office for when I get older, and for my wife when I'm gone. I'll probably have mostly, or all, Vanguard mutual funds at Fidelity.

[smartspider1106]

For those that transferred from vanguard, did you do a an in-kind transfer? I have a large balance in vtsax so not sure how they handle that. The rest is cash and a small etf position.

[Boglenaut]

For those that transferred from vanguard, did you do a an in-kind transfer? I have a large balance in vtsax so not sure how they handle that. The rest is cash and a small etf position.

For tax-advantaged accounts, I moved Vanguard funds over in-kind. But not all mutual funds can do this, so call Fidelity first to verify your specific holdings. VTSAX should. All ETFs should as well. Once there, you can hold VTSAX or sell it and buy something else. Buying more VTSAX incurs fees, selling does not. For me, I gradually sold VTSAX and bought FZROX. One thing to note: If you sell a non-Fidelity fund it takes one day for the funds to settle, so you cannot exchange the same day. Because it was a large holding, I did it over many days so I would not have too much out of the market on any given day (the day it goes up 2%, for example).

(Fidelity Zero funds are great, but because they can only be held at Fidelity they are not recommended for taxable accounts in case you ever want to move out.)

For taxable, I converted to ETF's at Vanguard and moved them in-kind to avoid taking capital gains. So now I just buy VTI when I want to add to the position. It never goes out of the market when moving. I normally don't like ETFs, but VTI is an easy one. Only Vanguard can convert VTSAX to VTI, so do it before you move. Not all mutual funds can be converted. VTSAX can be converted. I could have held VTSAX at Fidelity, but wanted to simplify and did not want to hold a fund with fees to add to the position.

I really am glad we consolidated at Fidelity. After the initial hassle, life is much simpler now. We also stopped using our Costco Visa and got the Fidelity branded card, which is much easier to manage as well now.

In all cases, VG will sell any left over fractional shares, but that is tiny. So you will get a small amount of cash following a bit later. One hesitation I had was I worried the non-covered shares' cost-basis would not move over in my taxable account, but all went fine. Make sure to collect that information from Vanguard before moving, just in case.

Make sure to ask Fidelity about transfer bonuses before moving. I got $1000. I believe VG now has a $100 account closing fee, but I moved before that.

[GaryA505]

For those that transferred from vanguard, did you do a an in-kind transfer? I have a large balance in vtsax so not sure how they handle that. The rest is cash and a small etf position.

VTSAX will transfer in-kind to Fidelity. Some people here will convert to VTI before transferring (in a taxable account), but I see little reason to do that since they are two share classes of the same fund. And, keep in mind that at Fidelity you can do automatic withdrawals on mutual funds, but not ETFs. Maybe you don't care about that now, but some day you will probably retire and you might like to set up an "automatic paycheck" from your taxable account. That's what I plan to do.

[smartspider1106]

Thanks. Fidelity has been lobbying me to consolidate there for a year and I’ve been nervous to do so. This makes me feel better about it.

[tuningfork]

For those that transferred from vanguard, did you do a an in-kind transfer? I have a large balance in vtsax so not sure how they handle that. The rest is cash and a small etf position.

When I moved from Vanguard to Fidelity I transferred all my Vanguard funds in-kind. Before the transfer, a Fidelity rep verified this was possible for each of the funds I held. Once at Fidelity, in my tax-advantaged accounts I exchanged all my Vanguard funds for equivalent Fidelity funds. In my taxable account, I had (and still have) a significant VTSAX holding that will stay in VTSAX. I didn't see a need to convert it to VTI before transferring. The Fidelity rep agreed with me, saying it would save us a lengthy phone call with Vanguard (he was going to be on the call with me if I wanted to convert it to ETF). Once we initiated the transfer, everything was at Fidelity in just a couple of days.

[f8andbethere]

For those that transferred from vanguard, did you do a an in-kind transfer? I have a large balance in vtsax so not sure how they handle that. The rest is cash and a small etf position.

When I moved from Vanguard to Fidelity I transferred all my Vanguard funds in-kind. Before the transfer, a Fidelity rep verified this was possible for each of the funds I held. Once at Fidelity, in my tax-advantaged accounts I exchanged all my Vanguard funds for equivalent Fidelity funds. In my taxable account, I had (and still have) a significant VTSAX holding that will stay in VTSAX. I didn't see a need to convert it to VTI before transferring. The Fidelity rep agreed with me, saying it would save us a lengthy phone call with Vanguard (he was going to be on the call with me if I wanted to convert it to ETF). Once we initiated the transfer, everything was at Fidelity in just a couple of days.

FWIW my call to Vanguard for an MF>ETF conversion took less than ten minutes, including time on hold. I recall reading you can initiate a conversion through the website now too.

ETF advantages in a taxable account make a conversion at VG seem like a no-brainer.

[GaryA505]

For those that transferred from vanguard, did you do a an in-kind transfer? I have a large balance in vtsax so not sure how they handle that. The rest is cash and a small etf position.

When I moved from Vanguard to Fidelity I transferred all my Vanguard funds in-kind. Before the transfer, a Fidelity rep verified this was possible for each of the funds I held. Once at Fidelity, in my tax-advantaged accounts I exchanged all my Vanguard funds for equivalent Fidelity funds. In my taxable account, I had (and still have) a significant VTSAX holding that will stay in VTSAX. I didn't see a need to convert it to VTI before transferring. The Fidelity rep agreed with me, saying it would save us a lengthy phone call with Vanguard (he was going to be on the call with me if I wanted to convert it to ETF). Once we initiated the transfer, everything was at Fidelity in just a couple of days.

ETF advantages in a taxable account make a conversion at VG seem like a no-brainer.

Only if you plan to NEVER use Vanguard's or Fidelity's free automatic withdrawal services, since they don't work with ETFs.

[f8andbethere]

Only if you plan to NEVER use Vanguard's or Fidelity's free automatic withdrawal services, since they don't work with ETFs.

Good to know!

[TheRoundHeadedKid]

I've got two thirds of my investments at Vanguard and the other third at Fidelity, and I'm planning to transfer everything to Fidelity. I use Fidelity Cash Management, have had good customer service experiences, and feel better about Fidelity security systems (such as Money Transfer Lockdown and their two-factor ID through the mobile app). I'm also retired now and think it will be easier for my wife to have everything in one place when they pull the sheet over my face.

Has anyone had a negative (or positive) experience doing this or does anyone recommend against it?

I wouldn't put everything in one basket, no matter how great it is. Kind of cognitive-dissonance-like when people advocate diversifying their portfolio but then keep them with one brokerage.

[Rajsx]

When I transferred to Fidelity after 30 yrs at Vanguard, as per Fidelity Rep's advice I converted at Vanguard our Vanguard Mutual Funds namely Total Stock Index, Total International Stock Funds & Total Bond Index to their respective ETFs VTI, VXUS & BND.

The Vanguard ETFs were then transferred in kind to Fidelity with their local Office, which also helps to some extent. Fidelity also keeps asking me to take their advisory services as Vanguard was selling their PAS.

But so far so good I continue to be a DIYer at Fidelity with Vanguard ETFs.

Good Luck

[lws]

No. Don't do it.
I wan tempted but resisted the urge.
Very glad I did now.

[LoveTheBogle]

No. Don't do it.
I wan tempted but resisted the urge.
Very glad I did now.

Why?

[Tom_T]

The OP used to be a frequent poster here, but he suddenly vanished in May and hasn't returned. Unlikely he'll see any new responses.

That said, I moved from Vanguard to Fidelity two years ago and have never regretted it.

[lepegasus]

I've got two thirds of my investments at Vanguard and the other third at Fidelity, and I'm planning to transfer everything to Fidelity. I use Fidelity Cash Management, have had good customer service experiences, and feel better about Fidelity security systems (such as Money Transfer Lockdown and their two-factor ID through the mobile app). I'm also retired now and think it will be easier for my wife to have everything in one place when they pull the sheet over my face.

Has anyone had a negative (or positive) experience doing this or does anyone recommend against it?

We use the Fidelity’s CMA for our joint accounts (savings/brokerage and checking), one for our rental property, and another for my wife’s 1099 income. It allows us to have one interface for all of our needs. Customer service is the best at fidelity, and I moved “all in” on fidelity for the exact reason you stated. If something were to happen to me, it’s streamlined for my wife’s ease of use.

[rkhusky]

No. Don't do it.
I wan tempted but resisted the urge.
Very glad I did now.

Why?

Perhaps because of Fidelity’s recent problems and their ham-handed response of locking people’s accounts and/or blocking withdrawals for nearly a month:
viewtopic.php?t=439500
viewtopic.php?t=440114

[nedsaid]

The OP used to be a frequent poster here, but he suddenly vanished in May and hasn't returned. Unlikely he'll see any new responses.

That said, I moved from Vanguard to Fidelity two years ago and have never regretted it.

He also moved everything back to Vanguard.

[TipsQuestions]

I wouldn't put everything in one basket, no matter how great it is. Kind of cognitive-dissonance-like when people advocate diversifying their portfolio but then keep them with one brokerage.

Companies go bankrupt all the time. How often do you read about accounts disappearing at the major retail investment companies Bogleheads use?

[Coastingthrulife]

Have exclusively been with Fidelity for about 20 years and no complains whatsoever. I also use their cash Management Account although I do keep a very small Bank of America account, but don't use it much.

I was with Schwab until switching to Fidelity - because a Schwab guy was trying to churn my account and "losses were my fault for not listening to him." As Treasurer of my college class assets, I found Vanguard's policies and customer service inferior and cumbersome. Their funds might be ok, but, as a Three Fund guy (S&P500 Index, corporate bond fund, and MM), Fidelity is just as good.

We have $3MM with them across (taxable brokerage, trad IRA, and roth IRA) and they check in every 6 months to see if I have any questions. Otherwise, except for a single very soft attempt to get me to use their tax advantaged active management service, they don't pressure me for any of their services.

[rkhusky]

I wouldn't put everything in one basket, no matter how great it is. Kind of cognitive-dissonance-like when people advocate diversifying their portfolio but then keep them with one brokerage.

Companies go bankrupt all the time. How often do you read about accounts disappearing at the major retail investment companies Bogleheads use?

Not disappearing, but locked and not being able to move or withdraw your money.

[2pedals]

I wouldn't put everything in one basket, no matter how great it is. Kind of cognitive-dissonance-like when people advocate diversifying their portfolio but then keep them with one brokerage.

Companies go bankrupt all the time. How often do you read about accounts disappearing at the major retail investment companies Bogleheads use?

Not disappearing, but locked and not being able to move or withdraw your money.

I am interested in knowing how long it would take to get access to your money back after a "drive-by" lockdown. What are the potential risks of random lockdowns and why would they lock you out? What are we talking about? A few days or a few years?

[LoveTheBogle]

I’ve noticed a lot of these threads recently talking about Fidelity lock outs. Is this just a rare case that has blown out of proportion or is this a recent phenomenon in which a material amount of people are experiencing? Certainly Fidelity would try to get a handle on things if it is actually a lot of people rather than just a few very vocal people???

[nassau34]

I have a significant Fidelity account, but I still like the idea of having my assets spread across Vanguard, Schwab, and Fidelity. They all have their positives and negatives. In the case of Fidelity their disadvantage is that their money market funds pay significantly lower than what Vanguard has due to Fidelity’s approximately 30 basis point higher expense ratios.

[rkhusky]

I wouldn't put everything in one basket, no matter how great it is. Kind of cognitive-dissonance-like when people advocate diversifying their portfolio but then keep them with one brokerage.

Companies go bankrupt all the time. How often do you read about accounts disappearing at the major retail investment companies Bogleheads use?

Not disappearing, but locked and not being able to move or withdraw your money.

I am interested in knowing how long it would take to get access to your money back after a "drive-by" lockdown. What are the potential risks of random lockdowns and why would they lock you out? What are we talking about? A few days or a few years?

Don’t know about the account locks, but people are talking about commonplace 27 day holds on money transferred in before you can withdraw. You’re still free to trade those funds however, just not withdraw.

[typical.investor]

I wouldn't put everything in one basket, no matter how great it is. Kind of cognitive-dissonance-like when people advocate diversifying their portfolio but then keep them with one brokerage.

Companies go bankrupt all the time. How often do you read about accounts disappearing at the major retail investment companies Bogleheads use?

Not disappearing, but locked and not being able to move or withdraw your money.

I am interested in knowing how long it would take to get access to your money back after a "drive-by" lockdown. What are the potential risks of random lockdowns and why would they lock you out? What are we talking about? A few days or a few years?

Don’t know about the account locks, but people are talking about commonplace 27 day holds on money transferred in before you can withdraw. You’re still free to trade those funds however, just not withdraw.

Some have complained:

a) IRS refund was received via direct deposit and when they wired money out to buy a property and buy equipment for a business of theirs the account was locked

b) Company 401k at Fidelity informed them they could earn $500 for opening a checking account and making two direct deposits. After opening the checking and making two direct deposits from their paycheck, some money was transferred to another bank which resulted in the account being locked

c) Self-Employed 401k with Fidelity had employee contributions using ACH (from personal acct) and employer contributions from a mobile check deposit (from Employer/LLC business account). The employer contributions caused a lock.

d) Fidelity blocked account and unblocked it when called. However debit cards were also canceled and new ones could not be issued.

e) Debit card payment failed (not due to lack of funds) and Fidelity notified them to get a new card. Were told it would be expedited to arrive for a planned trip, then told all debit card issuance is stopped due to the fraud issue.

I can't verify any of these claims (in the Fidelity Reddit Thread) but all I can say is Fidelity notified me today that I will be getting new debit cards. Mine doesn't expire until 3/27 so I am confused as to why. They say it's a card refresh with a new look... ok.

[yaun]

I am using Fidelity CMA/Brokerage for checking and there are new problems with this solution:

I had 10k from a Charles Schwab account under my name going into my Fidelity Brokerage account on 9/11 and today a debit of 2.1k by the bank servicing my mortgage failed out of the blue. There are 12k available in cash on the account. Additionally 2.5k in SGOV. I called and was told that 'as part of industry wide security measures' funds from EFT transfers are now held for 16 business days thus the 10k I had deposited wont clear until 10/3.

This is a very recent change. And I was told on the phone that this is related to various fraud schemes which are going on. What irritates me most is that I never received any notification of this change. I executed the EFT as a PULL from the Fidelity side and that confirmation email also had no further information about the change in business rules but was keeping the 'funds should be available in 1-2 days' language. I was now advised to use Wires rather than EFTs to fund my account if I want to have the funds clear faster than the 16 business days.