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Who holds your Solo 401k?

Posted: Sun Sep 21, 2014 10:23 pm
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.

Re: Who holds your Solo 401k?

Posted: Sun Sep 21, 2014 10:33 pm
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.

Re: Who holds your Solo 401k?

Posted: Sun Sep 21, 2014 11:02 pm
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.

Re: Who holds your Solo 401k?

Posted: Mon Sep 22, 2014 1:25 am
by placeholder
Vanguard doesn't offer Admiral shares or ETFs in their i401k plans.

Re: Who holds your Solo 401k?

Posted: Mon Sep 22, 2014 7:09 am
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?

Re: Who holds your Solo 401k?

Posted: Mon Sep 22, 2014 7:12 am
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?

Re: Who holds your Solo 401k?

Posted: Mon Sep 22, 2014 7:18 am
by bertie wooster
Mine is managed by fidelity. Their spartan funds are excellent and I'm pretty happy with them.

Re: Who holds your Solo 401k?

Posted: Mon Sep 22, 2014 7:22 am
by Toons
Fidelity :happy

Re: Who holds your Solo 401k?

Posted: Mon Sep 22, 2014 8:44 am
by ERISA Stone
TD Ameritrade.

Re: Who holds your Solo 401k?

Posted: Mon Sep 22, 2014 8:51 am
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.

Re: Who holds your Solo 401k?

Posted: Mon Sep 22, 2014 9:08 am
by LeeMKE
+1 Fidelity

Re: Who holds your Solo 401k?

Posted: Mon Sep 22, 2014 9:50 am
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.

Re: Who holds your Solo 401k?

Posted: Mon Sep 22, 2014 10:05 am
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.

Re: Who holds your Solo 401k?

Posted: Mon Sep 22, 2014 12:32 pm
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.

Re: Who holds your Solo 401k?

Posted: Mon Sep 22, 2014 1:25 pm
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.

Re: Who holds your Solo 401k?

Posted: Mon Sep 22, 2014 1:47 pm
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.

Re: Who holds your Solo 401k?

Posted: Mon Sep 22, 2014 3:05 pm
by truenorth418
Fidelity for me, as well.

Re: Who holds your Solo 401k?

Posted: Mon Sep 22, 2014 4:42 pm
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.

Re: Who holds your Solo 401k?

Posted: Mon Sep 22, 2014 6:30 pm
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

Re: Who holds your Solo 401k?

Posted: Wed Sep 24, 2014 12:53 pm
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?

Re: Who holds your Solo 401k?

Posted: Wed Sep 24, 2014 3:02 pm
by rixer
Schwab

Re: Who holds your Solo 401k?

Posted: Wed Sep 24, 2014 5:44 pm
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

Re: Who holds your Solo 401k?

Posted: Wed Sep 24, 2014 9:10 pm
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.

Re: Who holds your Solo 401k?

Posted: Wed Sep 24, 2014 9:13 pm
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).

Re: Who holds your Solo 401k?

Posted: Wed Sep 24, 2014 10:00 pm
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.

Re: Who holds your Solo 401k?

Posted: Wed Sep 24, 2014 10:02 pm
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.

Re: Who holds your Solo 401k?

Posted: Wed Sep 24, 2014 10:10 pm
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?

Re: Who holds your Solo 401k?

Posted: Wed Sep 24, 2014 10:35 pm
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.

Re: Who holds your Solo 401k?

Posted: Wed Sep 24, 2014 11:05 pm
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.

Re: Who holds your Solo 401k?

Posted: Thu Sep 25, 2014 6:55 am
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

Re: Who holds your Solo 401k?

Posted: Thu Sep 25, 2014 1:45 pm
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)?

Re: Who holds your Solo 401k?

Posted: Mon Sep 29, 2014 8:51 am
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?

Re: Who holds your Solo 401k?

Posted: Mon Sep 29, 2014 9:23 am
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?

Re: Who holds your Solo 401k?

Posted: Mon Sep 29, 2014 9:56 am
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

Re: Who holds your Solo 401k?

Posted: Mon Sep 29, 2014 10:22 am
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.

Re: Who holds your Solo 401k?

Posted: Mon Sep 29, 2014 10:33 am
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

Re: Who holds your Solo 401k?

Posted: Thu Oct 02, 2014 9:41 pm
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!

Re: Who holds your Solo 401k?

Posted: Thu Oct 02, 2014 9:49 pm
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.