Get Your Investments Organized!

When I work with potential clients, I find they share what they have in their main accounts quickly and easily.  What will take longer to get around to are the other accounts they haven’t done anything with for years, and in some cases decades! These accounts might be an IRA account they opened with their insurance agent with $4,000 or $5,000 years ago, a 401(k) account they funded at a company they worked for in the past, or a mutual fund they invested in and haven’t done anything with in years.

If this is your situation, accounts like these are costing you hundreds and in a few cases, thousands of dollars a year. It is important to be aware of what these accounts are costing you, and how easy it can be to get them organized into one place.  Many of these accounts are charged an annual maintenance fee and high management fees, and are probably in subpar Low Cost Investment Strategies Orlando. The combination of these three points can cost you 1% to 3% return a year, and though this may not seem like a lot over one year, it is a substantial amount of money over multiple years.

Here are three easy steps to help you organize these accounts:
1. Collect all your monthly and annual statements into one file folder. Then identify which of these accounts you can consolidate. This should take you less than 30 minutes on a Saturday morning.

2. Find an advisor who works with a firm that does not have annual maintenance fees and can access high value/low cost funds. An advisor will help you shorten the process and make it much easier to do this task, versus you trying to do it on your own. For example, we know the paperwork you need to rollover a 401(k) into an IRA, and will ensure you sign it correctly, have the check issued, follow-up for you, etc.

3.Do it! Although the concept is simple, it is not always easy to consolidate and move around your smaller accounts. It can take time; in some cases you might require paperwork to go back and forth a few times. Many clients get frustrated and just give up at this point. Do not do this — this is what many of the firms you have investments with are counting on.  Benign neglect of your accounts!

I know this may sound like a small problem and not worth the work involved.  Please know it is worth the effort and time invested. You could be spending an extra $100 a year in expenses on a $15,000 401(k) account you are no longer contributing to, and the investments may be lagging similar investments by 1%. This could be costing you about $300 a year, as an example. That’s $3,000 over ten years, and we all know how easily this can happen.

Many clients know they should get these accounts organized and consolidated, but don’t realize how much it is costing them to do nothing.  Make it a goal to consolidate your orphan accounts by year end!

Resource By : http://corewealthconsultants.com/get-your-investments-organized-2