I wanted to reach out to you today under the guise of a throwaway account as I have friends and family that are familiar with my original username that I did not want exposed for confidential reasons. In 2002, before he passed away, my grandfather left me $150,000 in a professionally managed Wells Fargo brokerage account. In the 16 years since it’s inception it has grown from $150,000 to $286,000 YTD. This is about a 5.2% increase. The professionally managed account has a 2% management fee which, over the 16 years since it’s inception has added up to roughly $50,000 in management fees.
Up until now, I have not had access to the account as my grandfather made it so that I could only access it once I turned 25. Tomorrow I will be turning 25 and can do what I want with it. I am very much into personal finance, financial independence and investing and over the years I have read many books and discovered that the return rate I have seen on this particular portfolio is atrocious.
As I am gearing up to move the money away from Wells Fargo and into Vanguard I have done some research and discovered that had the $150,000 been invested into VFAIX (Vanguard Financials Index Fund Admiral Shares) I would’ve seen a 285% return rate and grown the portfolio from $150,000 to roughly $481,016.52. Furthermore, if the money had been invested in any of the following index funds, SPY, DIA, or VTI, I would’ve seen a minimum return rate of 209%. I am not looking to do anything extreme with the money I am getting. I would likely shift it into Vanguard and have it diversified amongst a well blended portfolio for aggressive growth with minimal fees. With that being said, I am not a professional and would need assistance in re-balancing my portfolio every once and a while and perhaps need assistance in selecting a blend of ETFs that would be good for aggressive growth. All things considered, I am very, very nervous to do all this as my whole life my money has been managed by professionals where I’ve felt secure and well taken care of. It wasn’t until I became more financially literature that I discovered that I could potentially be doing better in diversified ETF’s and vanguard mutual funds. On a side note, my dad also told me that keeping the money with Wells Fargo is good because then I will be better off when time comes to get a loan for a house.
As of right now I have a steady, secure job where I earn $100,00 a year and receive a $29,000 bonus at the end of the year. I currently am maxing out my ROTH IRA and my 401k company matched program and own 40% of a home in southern California where I currently reside. The other 60% of the home is owned by my father where he contributes to 60% of the mortgage.
After having read all this, what do you guys think is the best route to take? Keep it with the Wells Fargo Advisors, or move it into a Vanguard account where I independently manage and rebalance by myself? If you were me, what would you do?
Thank you all for your advice and help. This is a very big day for me as I am excited, but also very torn on what to do and very nervous. Tl;dr – grandfather left me $150,000 with wells fargo advisors to be professionally managed. In it’s 16 years since inception it has grown to $286,000. This is a 5.2% growth, which I find to be atrocious.
Submitted January 30, 2018 at 04:46PM by throwaway10952345 http://ift.tt/2nrGorl
