Who holds your Solo 401k?

Have a question about your personal investments? No matter how simple or complex, you can ask it here.
Post Reply
User avatar
Topic Author
new2bogle2
Posts: 570
Joined: Sun Dec 29, 2013 11:49 am

Who holds your Solo 401k?

Post by new2bogle2 »

I use VG for my Roth (max it every year). I am self employed. I have read a whole number of different things online but want to talk here with like-minded investors. Also I think there is a whole wealth of trusted information that can be obtained here from bogleheads, and the internet is filled with information that cannot be trusted.

At the moment, I still qualify for my Roth, I do hope one day that I make enough money to not qualify, but I think I am (at least) a few years away from that success, of course the sooner the better and of course I may never reach such limits. My wife and I file together and the past couple years we only average a few thousand over $100k in taxable income.

If there is any other information I could answer, to help me select the correct place to hold my 401k, please ask. thanks.
JDDS
Posts: 1056
Joined: Sun Mar 16, 2014 2:24 pm

Re: Who holds your Solo 401k?

Post by JDDS »

Vanguard for mine.

Other custodians plans can be useful if you both have other non-Roth IRAs and make too much to
contribute directly to a Roth IRA. Other custodians also offer products other than VG mutual funds. Neither of these restrictions bothered me.
chrysogonus
Posts: 109
Joined: Wed Jun 18, 2014 12:16 pm

Re: Who holds your Solo 401k?

Post by chrysogonus »

Ameritrade. We had some traditional IRAs we needed to rollover, and Vanguard doesn't support that. Ameritrade offers most Vanguard ETFs without a commission, though. It was fairly easy to setup.
placeholder
Posts: 8421
Joined: Tue Aug 06, 2013 12:43 pm

Re: Who holds your Solo 401k?

Post by placeholder »

Vanguard doesn't offer Admiral shares or ETFs in their i401k plans.
User avatar
Topic Author
new2bogle2
Posts: 570
Joined: Sun Dec 29, 2013 11:49 am

Re: Who holds your Solo 401k?

Post by new2bogle2 »

placeholder wrote:Vanguard doesn't offer Admiral shares or ETFs in their i401k plans.
are their regular shares still low enough fees, or can you find lower fees at other places for a i401k?
User avatar
Topic Author
new2bogle2
Posts: 570
Joined: Sun Dec 29, 2013 11:49 am

Re: Who holds your Solo 401k?

Post by new2bogle2 »

chrysogonus wrote: Ameritrade offers most Vanguard ETFs without a commission, though.
do I have this correct: Ameritrade offers some/most VG ETFs in a person's i401k without a commission, but VG itself offers 0 such ETF's in that same person's i401k?
User avatar
bertie wooster
Posts: 764
Joined: Mon Jun 25, 2007 5:14 pm

Re: Who holds your Solo 401k?

Post by bertie wooster »

Mine is managed by fidelity. Their spartan funds are excellent and I'm pretty happy with them.
User avatar
Toons
Posts: 14467
Joined: Fri Nov 21, 2008 9:20 am
Location: Hills of Tennessee

Re: Who holds your Solo 401k?

Post by Toons »

Fidelity :happy
"One does not accumulate but eliminate. It is not daily increase but daily decrease. The height of cultivation always runs to simplicity" –Bruce Lee
ERISA Stone
Posts: 1626
Joined: Tue Jun 24, 2014 8:54 am

Re: Who holds your Solo 401k?

Post by ERISA Stone »

TD Ameritrade.
User avatar
TheTimeLord
Posts: 12130
Joined: Fri Jul 26, 2013 2:05 pm

Re: Who holds your Solo 401k?

Post by TheTimeLord »

Fidelity, they were just a lot easier to work with and more helpful than Vanguard. Vanguard was also limited in your investment options. On the plus side for Vanguard they offered a solo Roth option that Fidelity does not.
Last edited by TheTimeLord on Mon Sep 22, 2014 10:16 am, edited 1 time in total.
IMHO, Investing should be about living the life you want, not avoiding the life you fear. | Run, You Clever Boy! [9085]
LeeMKE
Posts: 2233
Joined: Mon Oct 14, 2013 9:40 pm

Re: Who holds your Solo 401k?

Post by LeeMKE »

+1 Fidelity
The mightiest Oak is just a nut who stayed the course.
JDDS
Posts: 1056
Joined: Sun Mar 16, 2014 2:24 pm

Re: Who holds your Solo 401k?

Post by JDDS »

new2bogle2 wrote:
chrysogonus wrote: Ameritrade offers most Vanguard ETFs without a commission, though.
do I have this correct: Ameritrade offers some/most VG ETFs in a person's i401k without a commission, but VG itself offers 0 such ETF's in that same person's i401k?
Vanguard only offers Vanguard mutual funds, investor shares. There is no brokerage option.
linenfort
Posts: 2241
Joined: Sat Sep 22, 2007 9:22 am
Location: #96151D

Re: Who holds your Solo 401k?

Post by linenfort »

Fidelity, but only because Vanguard wasn't offering solos at the time I set it up.
It still has Vanguard ETFs in it.
chrysogonus
Posts: 109
Joined: Wed Jun 18, 2014 12:16 pm

Re: Who holds your Solo 401k?

Post by chrysogonus »

new2bogle2 wrote:
chrysogonus wrote: Ameritrade offers most Vanguard ETFs without a commission, though.
do I have this correct: Ameritrade offers some/most VG ETFs in a person's i401k without a commission, but VG itself offers 0 such ETF's in that same person's i401k?
Correct. The only two ETFs that are not commission free that I wish were are VXUS and VNQI. The fullnlist is on their site.
nordsteve
Posts: 1104
Joined: Sun Oct 05, 2008 9:23 am

Re: Who holds your Solo 401k?

Post by nordsteve »

Fidelity here as well. 9 years ago when I created mine the only Vanguard option was through a third party.

No customer service issues.
User avatar
White Coat Investor
Posts: 17413
Joined: Fri Mar 02, 2007 8:11 pm
Location: Greatest Snow On Earth

Re: Who holds your Solo 401k?

Post by White Coat Investor »

Mine is at Vanguard, but there are good reasons to go somewhere else:

http://whitecoatinvestor.com/where-to-o ... solo-401k/

Etrade, for instance, should get a mention on this thread.
1) Invest you must 2) Time is your friend 3) Impulse is your enemy | 4) Basic arithmetic works 5) Stick to simplicity 6) Stay the course
truenorth418
Posts: 637
Joined: Wed Dec 19, 2012 6:38 am

Re: Who holds your Solo 401k?

Post by truenorth418 »

Fidelity for me, as well.
User avatar
JonnyDVM
Posts: 2999
Joined: Wed Feb 12, 2014 5:51 pm
Location: Atlanta, GA

Re: Who holds your Solo 401k?

Post by JonnyDVM »

bertie wooster wrote:Mine is managed by fidelity. Their spartan funds are excellent and I'm pretty happy with them.
We also use Fidelity. Vanguard would be my second choice.
I’d trade it all for a little more | -C Montgomery Burns
oragne lovre
Posts: 536
Joined: Tue Nov 25, 2008 2:34 pm

Re: Who holds your Solo 401k?

Post by oragne lovre »

EmergDoc wrote:Mine is at Vanguard, but there are good reasons to go somewhere else:

http://whitecoatinvestor.com/where-to-o ... solo-401k/

Etrade, for instance, should get a mention on this thread.
+1
The finest, albeit the most difficult, of all human achievements is being reasonable.
User avatar
Topic Author
new2bogle2
Posts: 570
Joined: Sun Dec 29, 2013 11:49 am

Re: Who holds your Solo 401k?

Post by new2bogle2 »

EmergDoc wrote:Mine is at Vanguard, but there are good reasons to go somewhere else:

http://whitecoatinvestor.com/where-to-o ... solo-401k/

Etrade, for instance, should get a mention on this thread.

I hadn't thought of Etrade - what are some advantages Etrade offers that others don't?
rixer
Posts: 758
Joined: Tue Sep 11, 2012 4:18 pm

Re: Who holds your Solo 401k?

Post by rixer »

Schwab
huskerdoc2035
Posts: 16
Joined: Sat Apr 19, 2014 6:36 pm

Re: Who holds your Solo 401k?

Post by huskerdoc2035 »

Why not more for TDAmeritrade as they have 100 commission free ETFs with no minimum limits that have many Vanguard ETFs? I looked at Fidelity and they do have low ER Spartan funds but many appear to have minimum limits of 2500 or 10k (Im just starting a solo 401k this year and don't have a lot of money yet to hit these minimums) and you also have to pay the trading fee everytime you buy/sell correct? If that is the case are most people only buying in at one time per year to minimize this cost? As I'm starting out would I maybe be better off using TDAmeritrade with the commission free ETFs and no limits until I build up a larger portfolio then switch to Fidelity or Vanguard? TIA
snowman
Posts: 1477
Joined: Thu Jan 31, 2013 11:59 am

Re: Who holds your Solo 401k?

Post by snowman »

huskerdoc2035 wrote:Why not more for TDAmeritrade as they have 100 commission free ETFs with no minimum limits that have many Vanguard ETFs? I looked at Fidelity and they do have low ER Spartan funds but many appear to have minimum limits of 2500 or 10k (Im just starting a solo 401k this year and don't have a lot of money yet to hit these minimums) and you also have to pay the trading fee everytime you buy/sell correct? If that is the case are most people only buying in at one time per year to minimize this cost? As I'm starting out would I maybe be better off using TDAmeritrade with the commission free ETFs and no limits until I build up a larger portfolio then switch to Fidelity or Vanguard? TIA
Few points. First, you don't pay trading fee when purchasing Fidelity Spartan funds. Second, their investment minimum in Spartan funds - investor shares in solo 401k accounts is $500, not the usual $2,500. And third, you can buy commission-free ETFs if you really prefer ETFs over MFs. I don't see any reason not to use Fidelity from the get to.
JDDS
Posts: 1056
Joined: Sun Mar 16, 2014 2:24 pm

Re: Who holds your Solo 401k?

Post by JDDS »

Often the fund minimums are different in 401(k) accounts. Vanguard Individual 401(k) waves fund minimums where the general minimum is less than $10k. For example Vanguard Total Stock Market Investor Shares $3k minimum is $0 minimum within a Vanguard i401(k).
huskerdoc2035
Posts: 16
Joined: Sat Apr 19, 2014 6:36 pm

Re: Who holds your Solo 401k?

Post by huskerdoc2035 »

snowman wrote:
huskerdoc2035 wrote:Why not more for TDAmeritrade as they have 100 commission free ETFs with no minimum limits that have many Vanguard ETFs? I looked at Fidelity and they do have low ER Spartan funds but many appear to have minimum limits of 2500 or 10k (Im just starting a solo 401k this year and don't have a lot of money yet to hit these minimums) and you also have to pay the trading fee everytime you buy/sell correct? If that is the case are most people only buying in at one time per year to minimize this cost? As I'm starting out would I maybe be better off using TDAmeritrade with the commission free ETFs and no limits until I build up a larger portfolio then switch to Fidelity or Vanguard? TIA
Few points. First, you don't pay trading fee when purchasing Fidelity Spartan funds. Second, their investment minimum in Spartan funds - investor shares in solo 401k accounts is $500, not the usual $2,500. And third, you can buy commission-free ETFs if you really prefer ETFs over MFs. I don't see any reason not to use Fidelity from the get to.
Thanks snowman, that's really helpful. I tried looking through their site but maybe needed to dig a little bit deeper. I also need to read some more to get a better understanding of the difference between ETFs and MFs. Several books I read seemed to make ETFs as the way to go and then I'm seeing more and more about funds on here.
huskerdoc2035
Posts: 16
Joined: Sat Apr 19, 2014 6:36 pm

Re: Who holds your Solo 401k?

Post by huskerdoc2035 »

JDDS wrote:Often the fund minimums are different in 401(k) accounts. Vanguard Individual 401(k) waves fund minimums where the general minimum is less than $10k. For example Vanguard Total Stock Market Investor Shares $3k minimum is $0 minimum within a Vanguard i401(k).
Thanks I appreciate that, I have a hard time teasing out those details from looking at their websites.
User avatar
Topic Author
new2bogle2
Posts: 570
Joined: Sun Dec 29, 2013 11:49 am

Re: Who holds your Solo 401k?

Post by new2bogle2 »

snowman wrote:
huskerdoc2035 wrote:Why not more for TDAmeritrade as they have 100 commission free ETFs with no minimum limits that have many Vanguard ETFs? I looked at Fidelity and they do have low ER Spartan funds but many appear to have minimum limits of 2500 or 10k (Im just starting a solo 401k this year and don't have a lot of money yet to hit these minimums) and you also have to pay the trading fee everytime you buy/sell correct? If that is the case are most people only buying in at one time per year to minimize this cost? As I'm starting out would I maybe be better off using TDAmeritrade with the commission free ETFs and no limits until I build up a larger portfolio then switch to Fidelity or Vanguard? TIA
Few points. First, you don't pay trading fee when purchasing Fidelity Spartan funds. Second, their investment minimum in Spartan funds - investor shares in solo 401k accounts is $500, not the usual $2,500. And third, you can buy commission-free ETFs if you really prefer ETFs over MFs. I don't see any reason not to use Fidelity from the get to.

sounds good snowman. are there any negatives to Fidelity as host of a 401k account??? anyone?
snowman
Posts: 1477
Joined: Thu Jan 31, 2013 11:59 am

Re: Who holds your Solo 401k?

Post by snowman »

new2bogle2 wrote:
snowman wrote:
huskerdoc2035 wrote:Why not more for TDAmeritrade as they have 100 commission free ETFs with no minimum limits that have many Vanguard ETFs? I looked at Fidelity and they do have low ER Spartan funds but many appear to have minimum limits of 2500 or 10k (Im just starting a solo 401k this year and don't have a lot of money yet to hit these minimums) and you also have to pay the trading fee everytime you buy/sell correct? If that is the case are most people only buying in at one time per year to minimize this cost? As I'm starting out would I maybe be better off using TDAmeritrade with the commission free ETFs and no limits until I build up a larger portfolio then switch to Fidelity or Vanguard? TIA
Few points. First, you don't pay trading fee when purchasing Fidelity Spartan funds. Second, their investment minimum in Spartan funds - investor shares in solo 401k accounts is $500, not the usual $2,500. And third, you can buy commission-free ETFs if you really prefer ETFs over MFs. I don't see any reason not to use Fidelity from the get to.

sounds good snowman. are there any negatives to Fidelity as host of a 401k account??? anyone?
I would suggest using a search function, there have been multiple discussions in the past year about advantages/disadvantages of all companies offering solo 401k accounts. Mine is with Fidelity, and I don't see any downside. However, they do not offer Roth, nor do they allow you to take out a loan. Other brokers have different limitations, so it really depends on what features/functions you are looking for.
JDDS
Posts: 1056
Joined: Sun Mar 16, 2014 2:24 pm

Re: Who holds your Solo 401k?

Post by JDDS »

snowman wrote:
new2bogle2 wrote:
snowman wrote:
huskerdoc2035 wrote:Why not more for TDAmeritrade as they have 100 commission free ETFs with no minimum limits that have many Vanguard ETFs? I looked at Fidelity and they do have low ER Spartan funds but many appear to have minimum limits of 2500 or 10k (Im just starting a solo 401k this year and don't have a lot of money yet to hit these minimums) and you also have to pay the trading fee everytime you buy/sell correct? If that is the case are most people only buying in at one time per year to minimize this cost? As I'm starting out would I maybe be better off using TDAmeritrade with the commission free ETFs and no limits until I build up a larger portfolio then switch to Fidelity or Vanguard? TIA
Few points. First, you don't pay trading fee when purchasing Fidelity Spartan funds. Second, their investment minimum in Spartan funds - investor shares in solo 401k accounts is $500, not the usual $2,500. And third, you can buy commission-free ETFs if you really prefer ETFs over MFs. I don't see any reason not to use Fidelity from the get to.

sounds good snowman. are there any negatives to Fidelity as host of a 401k account??? anyone?
I would suggest using a search function, there have been multiple discussions in the past year about advantages/disadvantages of all companies offering solo 401k accounts. Mine is with Fidelity, and I don't see any downside. However, they do not offer Roth, nor do they allow you to take out a loan. Other brokers have different limitations, so it really depends on what features/functions you are looking for.
Fidelity also doesn't make electronic contributions as easy as other providers. For some that matters not at all, but it was semi-important to me. There have been some great discussions here, and a general Google should turn up some blog comparisons of features among providers as well.
User avatar
Topic Author
new2bogle2
Posts: 570
Joined: Sun Dec 29, 2013 11:49 am

Re: Who holds your Solo 401k?

Post by new2bogle2 »

JDDS wrote: There have been some great discussions here, and a general Google should turn up some blog comparisons of features among providers as well.
thanks snowman and jdds
User avatar
Topic Author
new2bogle2
Posts: 570
Joined: Sun Dec 29, 2013 11:49 am

Re: Who holds your Solo 401k?

Post by new2bogle2 »

oragne lovre wrote:
EmergDoc wrote:Mine is at Vanguard, but there are good reasons to go somewhere else:

http://whitecoatinvestor.com/where-to-o ... solo-401k/

Etrade, for instance, should get a mention on this thread.
+1
are you also an Etrade supporter? care to explain in any more detail please (or anyone else)?
User avatar
Topic Author
new2bogle2
Posts: 570
Joined: Sun Dec 29, 2013 11:49 am

Re: Who holds your Solo 401k?

Post by new2bogle2 »

bertie wooster wrote:Mine is managed by fidelity. Their spartan funds are excellent and I'm pretty happy with them.

is the Spartan fund the S&P 500 index or the US Total Market Index?
Mark2614
Posts: 249
Joined: Mon Sep 08, 2014 10:53 pm

Re: Who holds your Solo 401k?

Post by Mark2614 »

What is the fee to buy Vanguard funds in the Fidelity solo 401k? Is it worth it? I like to contribute weekly. Is it a fee every time you make a contribution? Or just the first time you buy the fund?
JDDS
Posts: 1056
Joined: Sun Mar 16, 2014 2:24 pm

Re: Who holds your Solo 401k?

Post by JDDS »

new2bogle2 wrote:
bertie wooster wrote:Mine is managed by fidelity. Their spartan funds are excellent and I'm pretty happy with them.

is the Spartan fund the S&P 500 index or the US Total Market Index?

Spartan is more like a brand or family of funds. There's a comparison to Vanguard on the wiki: http://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Fidelity ... _investing
Spirit Rider
Posts: 13977
Joined: Fri Mar 02, 2007 1:39 pm

Re: Who holds your Solo 401k?

Post by Spirit Rider »

JDDS wrote:
new2bogle2 wrote:
bertie wooster wrote:Mine is managed by fidelity. Their spartan funds are excellent and I'm pretty happy with them.
is the Spartan fund the S&P 500 index or the US Total Market Index?
Spartan is more like a brand or family of funds. There's a comparison to Vanguard on the wiki: http://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Fidelity ... _investing
Think of Spartan as a marketing label to convey meaning. Definition: suggestive of the ancient Spartans; sternly disciplined and rigorously simple, frugal, or austere. Which is pretty much what all index funds are. Vanguard and other competitive index funds are the same, but Fidelity marketing people like cute names for things.

There are many Spartan (S&P 500, Total Market, TIPS, Total Bond Market, etc...) index funds.
billfromct
Posts: 2057
Joined: Tue Dec 03, 2013 8:05 am

Re: Who holds your Solo 401k?

Post by billfromct »

I helped my daughter open up an Individual Roth 401k as a contract worker for the US Government with Vanguard because she has her general mutual fund account, her Roth IRA and her variable annuity with Vanguard.

I thought it would be a lot easier to roll over the Vanguard Individual Roth 401k to her Roth IRA after she gets a full time job with benefits.

It was pretty easy to open the Vanguard I Roth 401k as Vanguard does a lot of hand holding if you need it.

bill
User avatar
Topic Author
new2bogle2
Posts: 570
Joined: Sun Dec 29, 2013 11:49 am

Re: Who holds your Solo 401k?

Post by new2bogle2 »

JDDS wrote:
new2bogle2 wrote:
bertie wooster wrote:Mine is managed by fidelity. Their spartan funds are excellent and I'm pretty happy with them.

is the Spartan fund the S&P 500 index or the US Total Market Index?

Spartan is more like a brand or family of funds. There's a comparison to Vanguard on the wiki: http://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Fidelity ... _investing
ok got it, thanks!
Pizzasteve510
Posts: 635
Joined: Sun Jul 27, 2014 3:32 pm

Re: Who holds your Solo 401k?

Post by Pizzasteve510 »

Schwab. Funded it today.

BTW, information on whitecoatinvestor says you can't do IRA rollovers. This is wrong, as I rolled in 2 IRAs today. They may not have realized they are listed as 403b plans in the solo 401k plan documents.
Post Reply