April 3, 2017 By

Q&A: Investment advisor’s fees

Dear Liz: Two years ago I rolled my 401(k) into an IRA at the suggestion of an advisor after I lost my job. The rollover was $383,000, and a secondary amount of $63,000 was transferred from my after-tax savings to a second account. All the fees for the advisor are taken from my small account and are 1.5% annually. My IRA is now at $408,000. Assuming an average earnings of 3% annually ($12,000), and with the advisor taking 1.5% ($6,000), I’m thinking this is not beneficial to me financially and that can I do better. Also, why is the advisor taking his fee out of my small (after-tax) account? I am 67 and filed for full Social Security in January.

Answer: You should ask your advisor to confirm this, but withdrawals from the smaller account are likely to trigger a smaller tax bill since most of the money there has already been taxed. A withdrawal from your larger account, which is presumably all pre-tax money, would result in a larger tax bill for you.

That’s the end of the good news. Given your age, with perhaps decades of retirement ahead, a good benchmark for you to use to compare your returns would be Vanguard’s Balanced Composite Index, which tracks the performance of funds that have 60% of their portfolios in stocks and 40% in bonds. The index returned 8.89% in 2016 and has a three-year average of 6.49%. Even a portfolio with a much lower proportion of stocks would have gotten better results than you did. Vanguard’s Target Retirement 2015 fund, with a stock exposure of less than 30%, earned 6.16% last year and 4.04% on average over the last three years.

Investment performance shouldn’t be the only way you judge an advisor, but giving up half your returns to fees could dramatically reduce the amount you have to live on in retirement.

Fortunately, you have options. You could hire a fee-only planner who charges by the hour to design a portfolio for you, and implement it yourself at one of the discount brokerage firms such as Schwab, Vanguard, Fidelity or T. Rowe Price.

Or you could explore the digital investment options known as robo-advisors, which invest and rebalance your money using computer algorithms. Some of the pioneers in this field include Betterment, Wealthfront and Personal Capital. Schwab, Vanguard and T. Rowe Price also offer digital investment services directly to consumers, while Fidelity offers it to advisors.

If you still want the human touch, some of the services — including Betterment, Personal Capital, Vanguard and T. Rowe Price — combine digital investment with access to advisors.

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March 27, 2017 By

Q&A: Annuities and fees

Dear Liz: I must object to a point you made in a recent column. You wrote: “…Also, annuities often have high fees, so you’d need to shop carefully and understand how the surrender charges work.” To write “…annuities often have high fees” is misleading, because there are annuities that don’t have fees, such as fixed annuities and indexed annuities. Coupling that phrase about fees with the admonition “you’d need to shop carefully and understand how the surrender charges work” is also a disservice to the public. Of course, an investor has to understand surrender charges! Just like if they try to end a bank CD too soon, there’s a penalty, or if they try to get out of a real estate deal incorrectly, or if they commit some other kind of breach of contract. That doesn’t mean that annuities are bad investments, especially when their principal is guaranteed, and no fees to pay.

Answer: Thanks for bringing up two areas of confusion that are actually linked.

All investments have costs. Many, including mutual funds and variable annuities, explicitly state their fees. With fixed and indexed annuities, the cost isn’t disclosed. Instead, it’s built into the interest rate spread — the difference between what the insurer earns on your money and what it pays into your account, said financial planner Michael Kitces, partner and director of financial planning research at Pinnacle Advisory Group in Columbia, Md.

“In other words, if the annuity company pays 2.5% on its annuity, it likely earned closer to 3% or 3.5% in the first place,” Kitces said. The insurer keeps the remainder to recover commissions paid to the insurance agent and the annuity’s own profit margins, he said.

Indexed annuities are a little more complicated. These promise investors they will get a certain portion of the return earned by some market benchmark while protecting them from market losses. The insurers use the spread to cover their overhead costs, profits and commissions. But instead of paying the remaining yield into your account, insurers use the money to purchase options that provide the promised participation rate in the index, said Kitces, who writes the Nerd’s Eye View blog at kitces.com.

Either way, surrender charges encourage people to stay invested long enough for the insurance company to get back enough money from the interest rate spread to cover the cost of commissions. If people need their money during the first few years, the surrender charge they pay is designed to make up the difference between what the insurer paid out and what it has received from the yield spread. Surrender charges are typically around 7% to 9% and may persist for seven or more years, although the penalty declines over time.

You’ve heard that “there’s no such thing as a free lunch.” Investors need to understand that they’re paying a price for their investments, even if they can’t see the money directly coming out of their pockets. Costs are a drag on investor returns and how big their portfolios can grow. That’s why it’s important to minimize those costs. When insurers don’t disclose the costs, it’s hard to know how much you’re giving up compared to what you could earn from another investment.

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March 13, 2017 By

Q&A: Investing during retirement

Dear Liz: I’ll be retiring shortly. After 30 years of public service, I’m fortunate to have a generous pension. I’ll be paying off all my debts upon retirement, including my mortgage. I have a deferred compensation account that I will leave untouched until I’m required to take disbursements at 70 1/2 (15 years from now). Until then I will have disposable income but no significant tax deductions. Short of investing on my own in a brokerage account (and perhaps incurring capital gains taxes), are there any other investment vehicles that perhaps would be tax friendlier?

Answer: A variable annuity could provide tax deferral, but any gains you take out would be subject to income tax rates, which are typically higher than capital gains rates. (Annuities held within IRAs are subject to required minimum distributions starting after age 70 1/2. Those held outside of retirement funds will be annuitized, or paid out, starting at the date specified in the annuity contract.) Also, annuities often have high fees, so you’d need to shop carefully and understand how the surrender charges work.

Many advisors would recommend investing on your own instead and holding those investments at least a year to qualify for lower capital gains rates. This approach is particularly good for any funds you may want to leave your heirs, since assets in a brokerage account would get a “step up” in tax basis that could eliminate capital gains taxes for those heirs. Annuities don’t receive that step-up in basis.

You also shouldn’t assume that waiting to take required minimum distributions is the most tax-effective strategy. The typical advice is to put off tapping retirement funds as long as possible, but some retirees find their required minimum distributions push them into higher tax brackets. You may be better off taking distributions earlier — just enough to “fill out” your current tax bracket, rather than pushing you into a higher one.

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January 2, 2017 By

Q&A: Advice for an investing newcomer

Dear Liz: I am not versed at all in money matters. I have no clue where to invest or even if I should invest. I have $5,000 squirreled away that I am totally comfortable investing for 12 months because I feel I would have no need for it before then. Can you make a suggestion where I should put it to make a safe return?

Answer: An FDIC-insured bank account.

Investing requires a longer time horizon and a willingness to risk losing some of your principal. If you can’t do either, you need to stick with low-risk, low-reward options.

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December 19, 2016 By

Q&A: How much risk is too much in retirement?

Dear Liz: If you have all your required obligations covered during retirement, is having 70% of your portfolio in equities too risky?

Answer: Probably not, but a lot depends on your stomach.

Retirees typically need a hefty dollop of stocks to preserve their purchasing power over a long retirement, with many planners recommending a 40% to 60% allocation in early retirement. A heftier allocation isn’t unreasonable if all of your basic expenses are covered by guaranteed income, such as Social Security, pensions and annuities. Ideally, those pensions and annuities would have cost-of-living adjustments, especially if they’re meant to pay expenses that rise with inflation.

Historically, retirees have been told they need to reduce their equity exposure as they age, but there’s some evidence that the opposite is true. Research by financial planners Wade Pfau and Michael Kitces found that increasing your stock holdings in retirement, where the allocation starts out more conservative and gets more aggressive, may reduce the chances of running short of money. Their paper, “Reducing Retirement Risk with a Rising Equity Glide-Path,” was published in the Journal for Financial Planning and is available online for free.

That said, you don’t want your investments to give you ulcers. If you couldn’t withstand a big downturn — one that cuts your portfolio in half, say — then you may want to cushion your retirement funds with less risky alternatives.

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November 21, 2016 By

Q&A: Mixing family and finances

Dear Liz: I have a relative who is a certified financial planner. He suggested we invest in annuities from which he will make commissions. When I asked him about his commission amount, he said he doesn’t feel the need to disclose that information because the fees don’t come out of my investment, therefore making them irrelevant. He says his fiduciary responsibility makes disclosing his commissions unnecessary. Is this correct?

Answer: Your relative needs to review the CFP ethical requirements. He wasn’t required to disclose dollar amounts or percentages of compensation until you specifically asked for that information. Once you did, he’s obligated to tell you. He (and you) can learn the details on the CFP Board of Standards site (www.cfp.net).

Commissions are far from irrelevant, especially when the product is as expensive and complicated as an annuity. Before you invest in any annuity, you should run the investment past a fee-only certified financial planner. Fee-only planners are compensated only by fees their clients pay and not by commissions that could influence their advice.

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November 7, 2016 By

Q&A: What to consider when investing in target date retirement funds

Dear Liz: I have 100% of my 401(k) in a fund called “Target Retirement 2030.” This fund is made of several other funds, so does that qualify as “diversified”?

Answer: It does. Target date funds have become increasingly popular in 401(k) plans because they do the heavy lifting for investors. The funds select asset allocations and grow more conservative in their mix as the retirement date approaches.

Target date funds aren’t perfect, of course. Some are too expensive. The typical target date fund charges about 1%, but Vanguard and Fidelity charge as little as 0.15%.

Another issue is the “glide path” — how quickly the funds get more conservative. There’s no consensus about what the right glide path should be, and investment companies offer a lot of different mixes. Any given glide path may be too steep for some people and too shallow for others, depending on their circumstances. As an investor, you can compensate for that by choosing funds dated later or earlier than your targeted retirement date. If the 2030 fund gets too conservative too fast for your taste, for example, you could choose the 2040 fund instead.

Despite the downsides, you’re likely to be much better off in a target date fund than you are in some of the other options. Too often novice investors take too much or too little risk without realizing it. They may have all of their money in “safe” low-return options, which means they’re losing ground to inflation. Or they may have all their money in stocks, including their own company’s stock, and would be unprepared for a downturn wiping out a good chunk of their portfolio’s value.

Even those who know they should diversify often do it wrong by randomly distributing their contributions across their investment options. If you don’t know what you’re doing, or you simply prefer investing professionals to take charge, target date funds are a good way to go.

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September 12, 2016 By

Q&A: How to avoid hiring a Madoff-like financial advisor

Dear Liz: What is the best way to pick a financial advisor to make sure they don’t make off with all your retirement money? I don’t want Bernie Madoff handling my retirement savings.

Answer: Even if you turn over day-to-day investment decisions to an advisor, you should make sure your money is invested at an independent custodian such as a nationally known brokerage or mutual fund company. That won’t immunize you from fraud, but Ponzi schemes are a lot harder to pull off when there’s third-party oversight.

Returns that are too good to be true, investments that you don’t understand or pressure from an advisor to invest are other red flags for fraud.

Protecting yourself from fraud is important, but so is protecting yourself from bad or conflicted advice. You need to check out any advisor thoroughly. Ask about experience, credentials and other qualifications. Find out how they get paid. Fee-only advisors are compensated only by the fees their clients pay and don’t accept any commissions for recommending products. Fee-based advisors, by contrast, may accept fees and commissions.

Your advisor should be willing to sign a fiduciary oath to put your interests first. That’s not currently required. Advisors can put you in expensive or underperforming investments just because those options pay them higher commissions and there’s little legal recourse for investors unless they can prove that the investments were clearly unsuitable for their situation.

Starting next year, advisors will be held to a fiduciary standard when counseling clients about retirement funds. There’s no reason you should wait for that rule to kick in, though. You can download a copy of a fiduciary oath for your advisor to sign at www.thefiduciarystandard.org.

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July 5, 2016 By

Q&A: How to get out from under high brokerage fees

Dear Liz: I have two accounts at a full-service brokerage. One is an inherited IRA and the other is a Roth IRA that I opened. Both have a mix of stocks and mutual funds that I chose. My accounts have done well, but I am not happy with the commissions that my brokerage charges when I trade, which I don’t do often. What do I have to do to move these accounts somewhere else that doesn’t charge such high commissions? I don’t want to sell the stocks and funds in the accounts, but to transfer them intact. If I had to sell the funds, I’d end up paying some of the fees that I’m trying to avoid.

Answer: As long as you don’t own any proprietary mutual funds in those accounts, you should be able to transfer the actual investments and your IRAs to another brokerage — just pick a discount brokerage this time. Those high commissions erode the amount you’ll have at retirement and aren’t necessary if you’re managing your own investments.

The new brokerage will be eager to help — just call and explain you want to transfer the assets “in kind.” You’ll be provided with the information and forms you need to start the process, and the new brokerage will take it from there.

Be prepared for one bite in the form of “account liquidation” fees. Many (but not all) investment firms charge these when you close IRAs, and they can range from $20 to $95 per account.

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July 5, 2016 By

Q&A: Dealing with a big lottery win

Dear Liz: My brother-in-law won a good chunk of money playing the lottery. He is waiting for the check to come any day now. He is willing to give me $2 million. The question for you is how I can maximize that amount of money short term or long term?

Answer: If your brother-in-law has any sense at all, he’ll realize he shouldn’t have promised any gifts before he assembled a team of professional advisors. And they almost certainly will have a dim view of him giving you a seven-figure sum.

Handouts that large have gift tax consequences. Anything over the annual exemption amount, which this year is $14,000 per recipient, has to be reported on a gift tax return. Amounts over $14,000 count against his lifetime exemption limit, which is $5.45 million this year. Once that limit is exceeded, he’ll owe substantial tax on any gifts.

Also, the $5.45-million limit is for gift and estate taxes combined. Any part of the exemption he uses during his lifetime for gifts won’t be available to shield his estate from estate taxes when he dies. Although, given his apparent generosity, he may not have enough left at his death to trigger an estate tax.

It’s not uncommon for those who receive large windfalls to wind up broke, especially if the amount is much larger than they’re used to handling. More than a few professional athletes and lottery winners have wound up in bankruptcy court. They spend or give away money at a clip that simply isn’t sustainable.

Which may be the road down which your brother-in-law has started. You can take advantage of your relative’s ignorance by holding him to his pledge or you can do the right thing, which is to encourage him to hire fee-only advisors — including a CPA, an estate-planning attorney and a comprehensive financial planner who’s willing to sign a fiduciary oath — to help him deal with this windfall.

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