Fidelity vs Vanguard vs Schwab vs...

[KSpan]

Long story short is that I have a couple of retirement accounts that need to be rolled together and I'm currently undergoing 'paralysis of the analysis' - a number of solid options and no clear differentiation for my admittedly-basic situation.

I'm not looking for anything fancy with these investments - mutual funds and ETFs with a buy-and-hold outlook. At this point I feel like Fidelity is the direction i want to go; any clear reason not to? I like their platform better than Vanguard and the fees have pulled very close, if not cheaper at Fidelity in some cases. 

[Stim]

I used to work for Vanguard here in Charlotte, so I can only speak to them.  They really do have the lowest overall fees - not just with the funds themselves, but no account management fees either if you sign up for e-delivery.  They do a good job at not nickel and diming people with hidden fees.  But in a sense you get what you pay for.  Vanguard's website and app are outdated, but if you're not going to be doing much trading that doesn't really matter.  

If you call customer service you can expect a VERY long wait.  20 minutes is considered a short wait honestly.  Everyone who works there is miserable and processing simple paperwork can sometimes take months with how backed up everything is.

I left Vanguard a few months ago, but still have my money invested there.  Vanguard is known for the buy and hold strategy - just leave your money in and let it do its thing, so if that's your philosophy they'll be a good fit.  I would skip out on their advice service.  It only costs 0.3%, but it's just a glammed up robo advisor, it doesn't do anything you can't do on your own.

Happy to answer any specific questions you have about Vanguard!

[thefuzz]

I use Schwab, and have been nothing but impressed.

[Paa Langfart]

I would advise you to not be so fast to move into an investment such as mutual funds or etf s.  They all cost you money and it has been proven again and again that by and large they do NOT outperform the general stock market indexes.  Personally I invest in dividend paying companies which have been consistently been paying good dividends over a long period of time.  Companies such as Johnson and Johnson, Exxon, PepsiCo, and etc.  I would also be very leery to invest any new money at this time in any funds or stocks - valuations are very high and we are overdue for a large pull back.  What will precipitate it, could happen at any time given the state of the world and our current administration.

[Stim]

People were also terrified to invest in 2010 and its pretty much done nothing but go up since then.  No one knows when a crash will come. This bull market could go on for 5 more years or could end tomorrow, you can't time the market. Just put it in and don't panic when there's a downturn. 

[pstall]

If you don't plan on rolling them into a NEW 401k down the road, you can comingle them into 1 IRA. Stick to no load or idex funds.

[Paa Langfart]

Read this page about the Schiller P/E ratio, take a look at it 's current number of 28 and tell me it is a good time to invest in the stock market.  If you are dollar cost averaging a set amount of money every month for years, maybe.  If,  like the op suggests you want to dump a wad of cash ( roll over) into an investment today, it is my opinion that you are making a big mistake.  If I were you I would open an account  in an insured money market type vehicle and dollar cost average it into the market over time -  don't be fooled into believing that the market is " different this time " and what goes up is going to keep doing so.  It is not and we are only one major crisis away from a free fall.

 

http://www.gurufocus.com/shiller-PE.php