Switching Roth IRA from T Rowe to Fidelity or Vanguard

[AK59]

I have a Roth IRA with T Rowe Price and in it I am holding both TRBCX and PRWCX.

I have a brokerage account with Fidelity where I am holding VOO and one with Vanguard that was originally an UGMA account and is now my brokerage account that holds VWINX.

I can roll my IRA over to Fidelity or Vanguard with a $20 fee from T Rowe, which I will try to get either to buy out the fee. I can also do an in-kind transfer to avoid any taxes.

I am still debating what I want to put my holdings in VTSAX and possibly VTIAX to diversify a bit and lower my expense ratios before I start paying out big dollars on those two funds.

Here are my questions I cannot seem to find answered

1. Do both Fidelity and Vanguard allow fractional share purchases within an IRA? I have done so with Fidelity on my brokerage account, but it doesn't seem that I can with Vanguard? I would go with Fidelity in this case as it seems more simple to do automatic investments weekly and not have to buy full shares.

2. Can I do automatic weekly investments into my IRA? This is what I currently have set up with T Rowe, but it only seems you can do automatic transfers from your bank account?

3. What happens to my holdings of TRBCX and PRWCX when I transfer over? It seems that Fidelity has those holdings but Vanguard does not. Do I need to cash out, purchase all into other funds?

4. Anything that I have missed or you have advice on.

[retired@50]

I can roll my IRA over to Fidelity or Vanguard with a $20 fee from T Rowe, which I will try to get either to buy out the fee.

I can also do an in-kind transfer to avoid any taxes.

Vanguard probably won't reimburse the $20 fee, unless they've changed their policy. Fidelity might, you'd have to ask.

You don't necessarily have to transfer in-kind to avoid any taxes, since this is a Roth IRA, it's a tax-free custodian to custodian transfer that isn't subject to taxes anyway. Whether you transfer mutual fund shares or cash from a money market account, it's irrelevant.

Regards,

[AK59]

I can roll my IRA over to Fidelity or Vanguard with a $20 fee from T Rowe, which I will try to get either to buy out the fee.

I can also do an in-kind transfer to avoid any taxes.

Vanguard probably won't reimburse the $20 fee, unless they've changed their policy. Fidelity might, you'd have to ask.

You don't necessarily have to transfer in-kind to avoid any taxes, since this is a Roth IRA, it's a tax-free custodian to custodian transfer that isn't subject to taxes anyway. Whether you transfer mutual fund shares or cash from a money market account, it's irrelevant.

Regards,

Do you have any knowledge if I would just hold my current funds without being able to invest into them if I go with Vanguard? I plan to broaden with VTSAX, but would still like to contribute to TRBCX if possible.

[retired@50]

I can roll my IRA over to Fidelity or Vanguard with a $20 fee from T Rowe, which I will try to get either to buy out the fee.

I can also do an in-kind transfer to avoid any taxes.

Vanguard probably won't reimburse the $20 fee, unless they've changed their policy. Fidelity might, you'd have to ask.

You don't necessarily have to transfer in-kind to avoid any taxes, since this is a Roth IRA, it's a tax-free custodian to custodian transfer that isn't subject to taxes anyway. Whether you transfer mutual fund shares or cash from a money market account, it's irrelevant.

Regards,

Do you have any knowledge if I would just hold my current funds without being able to invest into them if I go with Vanguard? I plan to broaden with VTSAX, but would still like to contribute to TRBCX if possible.

Based on the linked Vanguard page below, it appears you could still buy some TRBCX while holding the fund at Vanguard.

Link: https://investor.vanguard.com/mutual-fu ... IntExt=EXT

Once you visit the page linked above, be sure to click on the "NTF" logo near the TRBCX symbol, for a full explanation of the rules and restrictions for purchase.

Regards,

[Duckie]

I have a Roth IRA with T Rowe Price and in it I am holding both TRBCX and PRWCX.
<snip>
What happens to my holdings of TRBCX and PRWCX when I transfer over? It seems that Fidelity has those holdings but Vanguard does not. Do I need to cash out, purchase all into other funds?

Vanguard will take TRBCX but at 0.68% why would you want to keep it? PRWCX is closed to new investors but since you are transferring existing shares it may be possible that Vanguard will take them. However, that fund costs 0.69%. Again, why would you keep it?

Liquidate at T Rowe Price and transfer cash.

[sycamore]

1. Do both Fidelity and Vanguard allow fractional share purchases within an IRA? I have done so with Fidelity on my brokerage account, but it doesn't seem that I can with Vanguard? I would go with Fidelity in this case as it seems more simple to do automatic investments weekly and not have to buy full shares.

For mutual funds, both allow fractional share purchases.

For ETFs and stocks, both let you buy whole shares. Fidelity also lets you buy in dollar amounts, which essentially gets you fractional shares.

2. Can I do automatic weekly investments into my IRA? This is what I currently have set up with T Rowe, but it only seems you can do automatic transfers from your bank account?

Yes. I have not actually done this but here's what I see in my Vanguard account:
1) I select Profile & account settings > Automatic investment. It shows a message "Automatic investments allow you to move money from an authorized bank on file into an existing Vanguard account."
2) I select my Trad IRA account (I have a taxable, Trad, and Roth)
3) I select Move money from "bank account" (I had to configure the bank account info in Vanguard previously)
4) For "Contribution method" I choose "Enter a specific contribution amount". Doing this allows me to specify a frequency (Every month, Every year, Every week, Every two weeks, Twice each month) as well as the Beginning on date, and an "Until" option. And of course I can specify the amount.

4. Anything that I have missed or you have advice on.

For your taxable brokerage account, make sure you download and preserve your trade confirmations (or in general your transaction history). This tells you the date, basis in dollar and share amounts (and commission, if any) for your existing shares. Download this information *before* initiating the transfer -- sometimes when you completely transfer an account, the old brokerage may not let you access its history anymore.

This basis information *should* get transferred from your old brokerage to your new brokerage just fine, although note that often the shares will be transferred to the new account first, and the basis info transfer is sometimes delayed by a week or two. Be sure to check that the basis info gets transferred and is correct. If not, you'll have your original trade confirmations to rely on for when you sell the shares (in the future).

Also note that a brokerage is only required to track basis info for trades in 2012 (I think) or later. If you made purchases prior to that, you're responsible for tracking it and reporting it when you sell.

For your Trad IRA account, if you've been making non-deductible contributions, presumably you've been keeping track of them on IRS form 8606.

Download any documents you want to keep (like 5498 or year-end statements) from the old brokerage before you initiate the transfer.

[mr_brightside]

i wouldn't do anything -- T. Rowe is reputable and those fees - while higher than index funds - are not egregious

if you like the index funds better going forward just direct new money in that direction

-------------------------------------------------

[AK59]

i wouldn't do anything -- T. Rowe is reputable and those fees - while higher than index funds - are not egregious

if you like the index funds better going forward just direct new money in that direction

-------------------------------------------------

I agree, but I would prefer to have my Roth under once account and not have to split it up between T Rowe and Vanguard/Fidelity. Transferring into one allows me to have all funds under one umbrella.