Greetings, by all means, please feel free to comment:
I read your comments regarding ETF’s in your Roth with Fidelity. I have been retired for two years and made a one-time withdrawal from TSP upon retirement. I’m seriously considering a full withdrawal via “gentle” monthly roll-overs into a traditional IRA, then convert monthly into a Roth. My main purpose in handling it this way is to eventually have all of my TSP in a generational/stretch Roth IRA and to manage my taxes on a yearly basis as I make the conversions. I understand that I have to deplete my TSP within 120 months (IRS rule for roll-over IRA eligibility). I want to buy mostly ETF’s that mimic the TSP funds and a few others, this method can also serve as a form of dollar cost averaging. I’ve had a Roth with TD Ameritrade for about 15 years (all stocks) and have about decided that their short –term trading fee of $19.99 for buying or selling the commission-free ETF’s within 30 days along with their rather high expense ratios is prohibitive. I’m also looking at Fidelity, Schwab and Vanguard but leaning more toward Fidelity. If you were in my shoes, with which of these three investment firms would you open your IRA’s? Fidelity, Schwab and TD Ameritrade all have offices within 15 miles of my home. The drawback with Vanguard is that there will be no face-to-face interaction, seminars, they fact that they are so dang big, etc. With Fidelity when you sell do you have to wait 3 or 4 business days to settle before you can re-invest these same proceeds? No short-term trading fees right? Do you buy any ETF’s that mimic C, S, I, G and F? If so, what are they? What other tidbits can you offer regarding Fidelity or the other firms and your strategies for investing in ETF’s? If you were just now opening a Roth, would you still open it with Fidelity?
I’ve read tons of info on these firms' websites and it’still tough to make a decision on which one. All comments and opinions will be appreciated. :wacko: