brokerage/fund house that handles solo 401ks?

mclaugh

Anyone know of a discount brokerage or fund house that handles Solo 401ks?

Currently, I have about half my my Solo 401k in a Fidelity account. Most of the account is funds, but there are a few individual stocks. Problem is, the account is "non-prototype" (their term), so I can't trade or add to positions online: I either have to visit to the local branch, which is the opposite direction from most of my daily and weekly activities, or mail in the paperwork. It's a pain in the keester, not to mention hugely inconvenient.

I'd also like to consolidate my Solo 401k under one roof: currently, I have funds purchased directly from Fairholme, Royce, D&C, Matthews, and TRP in the account, in addition to the funds and stocks in the Fido non-prototype account, so it's becoming a little unwieldy to manage the thing.

I have taxable and Roth IRA accounts with Scottrade, but they're not set up for solo 401ks so that's a no-go. Any other suggestions or recommendations?

Thanks.

MaxBialystock

For many years, I had a self-directed 403b with Royce, and then with T. Rowe Price, when I became unhappy with Royce. If they do 403b, they also surely do 401k.

I was the only full-time employee, and chose each and every fund into which the money would go. I did not have to choose from off of a not-so-great list of approved funds. But of course, then you're "married" to that particular fund family...

...Although, in such a case, there'd be nothing stopping you from simply opening another 401k, with a different fund family. I just chose not to do so, for the sake of simplicity. Just make sure your Treasurer or Payroll office has your wishes and desires and selections straight and correct. ...Yes, I see you have some individual stocks, too. I never did. But there must be a way to iron this out. (I was a pastor, and did not have a lot of hoops to jump through about this stuff. I simply had a conversation with my treasurer, in each of the churches I served, and communicated any changes I wanted to make to him/her.)

MaxBialystock

....But I guess I'm not helping to solve your consolidation conundrum...Sorry.

Dan

TD ameritrade and TR Price handle solo 401-k accounts, apparently better than Fido. You used to have to buy T R Prices funds with their but I,m not sure it is still that way. The good thing about T Rowe is that they used to offer a Solo 401-k Roth plan which was pretty sweet. I have a friend that has a solo 401-k at TD Ameritrade that I run for her. They offer lots of funds including many institutional versions (Pimco) and others all tradeable over the phone. They might even offer a Roth version by now but I don't know. I heard Vanguard was going to offer a solo 401-k plan but I don't know if they ever did.

Dan

Investor

Reply to @MaxBialystock: Having a solo-401k is a different thing than having a self-directed 401k or 403b.

BobC

Schwab handles solo 401k accounts. We have a number of client solo 401k accounts there, with no trading restrictions of which I am aware.

mclaugh

Thanks for the suggestions, folks.

I discovered this morning that FIDO now offers a Solo 401k prototype account, and that I can change to the prototype account by opening a new prototype account and sending a letter of instruction to FIDO requesting that they do a non-reportable, transfer in kind of the assets in my current account to the newly established account.

I'll take a close look at Schwab, TD Ameritrade, and TRP, but (most) other things being equal, I'll probably stick with FIDO.

Again, thanks for the suggestions.

MaxBialystock

Reply to @Investor: Thank you, I just learned something.