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That's why I have accounts with 4 different brokerages and I am building self contained portfolios in each of them. Diversification is not just about asset allocation, but with who, and also who's the custodian.
Everyone is assumed guilty and will never be proven innocent. Capitalism got equated with Greed and polluted by Objectivism somewhere, sometime during our history. It's like trying to take sugar once it is in the coffee.
Reply to @VintageFreak: I guess I can't totally eliminate the possibility of shenanigans, but maybe I can contain it: so I use three brokerage houses for the mutual funds and transfer agents (thru DRS) for the stocks. I also have taken cash build-up out of the Big Bank and sent it to a credit union. Just sayin'
Yup, and there are other advantages to the credit union. Some, like my wife's, at work, offer free checks FOR LIFE. Just don't bounce anything, and expenses are pretty much nil.
When Chase took over my bank and started charging for everything, I started looking around. Charles Schwab Bank offered their High Yield Investor Checking that has no minimums, fee free ATM and interest on the money in the account. As mentioned above, I have also split my assets amongst three companies.
Most people don't want to make the move because of attached services like bill pay or whatever. These days with the internet it doesn't take much effort to recreate these services with another vendor.
>> Diversification is not just about asset allocation, but with who, and also who's the custodian. Everyone is assumed guilty and will never be proven innocent.
Wow. I have hitherto always been impressed with the pleasantly low level of paranoia in these forums.
One of the many arguments for consolidating investments is the treatment you get. (Also tax reporting, ease of review, etc.)
If you have everything with, oh, Schwab, Vanguard, Fido, BoA/ML, and the like, or any CU, the odds of shenanigans, fraud, ripoff, etc. are zero, or as close as can be had in this life.
Reply to @davidrmoran: Hi David! I hadn't thought of myself as paranoid, but on reflection maybe I am...geez, I even have a fire extinguisher mounted on my tractor Maybe that's called an ounce of prevention... I'm surprised by the faith you may be putting in BoA/ML as I have pretty much chucked them in the same wagon with Sentinel, Peregrine and MFGlobal, although admittedly the 7th Circuit C of Appeals has somehow reversed its opinion on the Sentinel mess, after having left shareholders out on an ice floe for 2 years; who knows, maybe the shareholders will get back 2 cents on the dollar in the end. All that having been said, I think spreading the stuff around in a convenient manner is not a bad way to go: my stuff at Brok A, wife's stuff at Brok B, kids' stuff at Brok C, and a static portfolio of taxable div-paying stocks at transfer agents with OUR NAMES on the shares payable into an account at a CU. A few more pieces of paper at year's end is not a hassle (like it was when it was all at the fund families - yikes). And I sleep better. Gotta go put a fire extinguisher in my car now...I forgot. best, hawk
Reply to @hawkmountain: A false, straw analogy. Totally so. I believe in fire extinguishers. I did not exactly say I had 'faith' in ML (they give a ton of money to anti-gov pols who vote against ML interests, among other things), but nothing whatsoever is going to happen to my investments there in, say, ICMBX, AAPL, GLRBS, or SCHD. Seriously?
Comments
dealing with the large fund houses. Of course identity theft is an issue but thats a different problem
Everyone is assumed guilty and will never be proven innocent. Capitalism got equated with Greed and polluted by Objectivism somewhere, sometime during our history. It's like trying to take sugar once it is in the coffee.
I guess I can't totally eliminate the possibility of shenanigans, but maybe I can contain it: so I use three brokerage houses for the mutual funds and transfer agents (thru DRS) for the stocks. I also have taken cash build-up out of the Big Bank and sent it to a credit union. Just sayin'
Most people don't want to make the move because of attached services like bill pay or whatever. These days with the internet it doesn't take much effort to recreate these services with another vendor.
Wow. I have hitherto always been impressed with the pleasantly low level of paranoia in these forums.
One of the many arguments for consolidating investments is the treatment you get. (Also tax reporting, ease of review, etc.)
If you have everything with, oh, Schwab, Vanguard, Fido, BoA/ML, and the like, or any CU, the odds of shenanigans, fraud, ripoff, etc. are zero, or as close as can be had in this life.
Hi David! I hadn't thought of myself as paranoid, but on reflection maybe I am...geez, I even have a fire extinguisher mounted on my tractor
I'm surprised by the faith you may be putting in BoA/ML as I have pretty much chucked them in the same wagon with Sentinel, Peregrine and MFGlobal, although admittedly the 7th Circuit C of Appeals has somehow reversed its opinion on the Sentinel mess, after having left shareholders out on an ice floe for 2 years; who knows, maybe the shareholders will get back 2 cents on the dollar in the end.
All that having been said, I think spreading the stuff around in a convenient manner is not a bad way to go: my stuff at Brok A, wife's stuff at Brok B, kids' stuff at Brok C, and a static portfolio of taxable div-paying stocks at transfer agents with OUR NAMES on the shares payable into an account at a CU. A few more pieces of paper at year's end is not a hassle (like it was when it was all at the fund families - yikes). And I sleep better.
Gotta go put a fire extinguisher in my car now...I forgot.
best, hawk