Tony Novak profile picture
  "AskTony" column archive        


Categories

Most Popular

AskTony Archive

This Web site contains a compilation of more than a thousand consumer finance  columns written by Tony Novak from the 1980s through 2006, updated and reformatted for maximum usefulness today.  New material was added after 2010.

Content is the opinion of the author and does not represent the position of any other person or entity. Information is from sources believed to be reliable but cannot be guaranteed.

The author is paid for product endorsements and has an ownership or other financial interest in the businesses related to the topics covered.

New questions

Submit consumer finance questions at OnlineAdviser.org and health insurance questions at OnlineNavigator.org

Sponsored by:

FreedomBenefits.net Insurance Exchange - your source of valuable information on state and federal health reform benefits.

Core Health Insurance - America's favorite mini-med insurance  with affordable premiums, freedom to choose providers, optional PPO discounts and guaranteed eligibility regardless of medical conditions.

Please support the Web sites that make publication of AskTony services possible.

Cost to transfer IRA

originally posted: 11/22/2006  reposted: 2/18/2011 This post has not been recently reviewed or revised by the author and may be out of date. If you notice an error or are in doubt, please send a new question by email or ask for an update. Email asktony@tonynovak.com.

Q: How much will it cost to move an inherited IRA that is invested in five diversified funds in an annuity to the same or similar five funds with a discount brokerage account? Would it be worthwhile in terms of fees saved?

A: The transfer cost is minimal; certainly less than $100 for most portfolio transfers. The main cost is a charge of $8 for each fund purchased. Assuming that you are only concerned with net long term investment returns, then you could assume a net savings of at least 1% of assets each year, so a $10,000 account would "break even" within the first year. There are other values included in an annuity that you may want to consider before cashing in. Also, you should consider that an investment of a few hours of adviser's time will likely result in lower taxes. The potential taxes at stake here are a much larger issue in this situation than the account fees or adviser fees. The lowest cost is Scottrade. The adviser form is available online at .

Summary

More resources:

ValueHealth Hospitalization insurance ValueMed Outpatient insurance