Fiduciary & Self Managing Question

According to ChatGPT, fiduciaries are not legally required to say you're better off self-managing.

My parents are not comfortable managing their money, but I do it for them. Would they let you do it (assuming you are financially literate and complexity is low)?

If I were the fiduciary, I would make my decision to work with them based on how much their assets are worth that I would be managing. I'm not going to spend a lot of time managing small assets. It's (probably) not worth it.

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According to ChatGPT, fiduciaries are not legally required to say you're better off self-managing. My parents are not comfortable managing their money, but I do it for them. Would they let you do it (assuming you are financially literate and complexity is low)?

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If I had to guess, probably not. Some people are just odd about money, and I'm sure you understand what I mean.

Would you happen to know how difficult or easy it is to transfer everything over to somewhere else like Vanguard? I don't know every detail of the assets, but I know there is at least an IRA, annuities, and something like 53 different mutual funds (thank you so much, Edward Jones)!

An ACATS transfer of shares to another broker is super simple. If there is a Schwab office nearby, consider using them instead of Vanguard so parents are more comfortable with in person customer service if needed. You could have them go in and they'll help them with the transfer paperwork.

The big issue is gonna be getting out of the numerous mutual funds if they're held in a taxable brokerage. Selling and reallocating will trigger capital gains. If it's all on retirement accounts reallocation can be done without tax consequences.

Have the new brokerage initiate the transfer not EJ so they don't have to deal with the grad sell from their advisor to stay w EJ. Unless you want to go with them and berate him for the ridiculous portfolio and exploiting your folks.

Eta: transferring the annuity is a whole different matter and may be a pain in the arse from what I'm reading.

My experience has always been that it's not difficult to do it, but I've only ever transferred qualified money (401Ks, IRAs) or mutual funds. Usually they'll ask if you want to transfer the mutual fund shares or liquidate (but this was a long time ago, so YMMV).

I don't know how transferring annuities would work.

I would start at Fidelity and they will walk you through it. Granted, I have never worked with Fidelity, but it's always been super easy with Schwab.

No it doesnt mean they are stuck with an advisor/fees, Schwab is a low cost brokerage like Vanguard or Fidelity.
They offer advisory services for a fee IF YOU WANT but default is just self managed. I have only used their in person offices once to make sure a transaction I was unfamiliar with (transferring shares to a family member as a gift) was handled correctly. It was like walking into a bank branch. They helped me fill out the paperwork (for free) and didnt try to upsell me or offer additional services. I have an assigned "financial consultant" (not an advisor) that occasionally calls or emails with offers to review my portfolio etc for free but I've only done that once and the review just confirmed what i already knew. He was helpful in setting up an asset backed line of credit and negotiated a lower than advertised rate at my request.

Most brokerage firms will also refund some transfer fees charged by your current broker. But you may have to ask.

You may be able to get them a transfer bonus up to $1k. https://www.schwab.com/referral (Just the Schwab referral info page not a personal referral link)

Or, better yet try to negotiate a better incentive if they have a large account balance. I'd use current Robinhood or other broker incentive offers as a negotiating point (recently 2% transfer bonus)

If they're going to the New Orleans Schwab building, please let me know how the experience was. I haven't had to go there yet but might have to eventually.