Switching brokerages?

[Guest marbs69]

I have mulitple accounts with different brokerages and i was wondering how i would go about combining them all in to one. Do I have to pay any special fees for doing this. thanks

[John G]

Probably the easiest way to do this is to talk to the brokerage or mutual fund family where you want all the accounts to be consolidated and ask for a direct transfer. You will be filling one of their forms for each account which you want to consolidate - generally just a one page - but often the custodian will want a copy of the most recent monthly statement from each IRA. You give this back to the custodian and they get it done. Anywhere from 10 days to a month. Your job would be to check that it is all done as you request, do not assume, confirm each transaction.

You can request all assets to transfered in kind. This can almost always be accomplished with very few exceptions. However, if your instructions are not clear, the custodian may liquidate all your positions and then transfer the cash.

The receiving custodian rarely charges any fees, they are very happy to see your account grow in size as IRA/Roth accounts are prized because they rarely move. However, you may find that each closed account will trigger a termination fee. You should ask about this before you take this action. I have seen fees in the $20 to $75 dollar range. While you may pay termination fees, you are likely to save on annual custodian fees with a consolidated IRA.