Experiences On Moving IRA Money And Leaving Just A Drop?

denki | Oct 20, 2023 | 158 posts since 2019

Many places charge a fee (from $25, $30, etc) when you close out your IRA account completely with them.

When wanting to move IRA funds elsewhere (having one FI send it to another directly themselves) have any of you been successful in trying to leave a few pennies in IRA accounts to avoid paying the IRA Closeout fee?

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Answers

choice1 | Oct 20, 2023 | 370 posts since 2023

I have one CU that continues to carry $1 in an IRA. The fee was $25 if account closed…so there it is years later and added carrying costs to them. I do have a long term membership in that CU but I don’t think that’s a factor

LongTimeDAFan | Oct 20, 2023 | 69 posts since 2022

We have like $24 in an IRA with some investment firm (I forget what name they go by today, as it keeps changing), and their fee is $40 to close it out. So every month they mail us a statement that shows our $24.05 is still there. That's been going on for... oh, 14 years or so. There's not a lot I can do about it, so that's how it is. Stupid? Yes!

111 | Oct 20, 2023 | 672 posts since 2019

Fidelity used to be a bit hard-core about this. I had 2 medium-size IRAs there. Several years ago when I wanted to move them, I found each had a $50 closing fee and Fidelity would not let me move the last $50 out of either account! I moved the rest, but those $50 line items have been there for years. A few years ago I read that they canceled IRA closing fees, probably to compete with Vanguard and others. (Several of the websites that review IRA accounts will identify and mildly "shame" those that still have closing fees.) The $50 line items are not a big deal to me since I have other accounts with Fidelity and thus would receive a monthly e-statement anyway, but I probably should transfer them to another IRA to tidy up the statement.

My impression is that the trend has been for some financial institutions to drop those fees - not out of the goodness of their hearts, but for competitive reasons. So, you might want to confirm that your FI is still charging the fee and if so, ask for a fee waiver.

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