Multiple Investment Accounts:Benefits, Risks &When They're Right

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Diversification is good, right?

Well, yes, it is if it's genuinely diversification. But it doesn't work if your idea of being diversified is having your money in many different places.

These days, due to the volatility of the job market and the explosion of fintech, it's easier than ever to grow the number of your investment accounts.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average person will change jobs 12 times during their career.

That means potentially 12 different 401(k) or 403(b) accounts if you're a good retirement saver.

Plus, investors have several opportunities to open various investment accounts outside their 401(k)s.

Maybe you gained exposure to other types of investments on a recommendation from your brother-in-law, the stockbroker.

And maybe you purchased an annuity financial product on “advice” from your cousin, the tax advisor.

Perhaps your socially conscious sister turned you on to an SRI robo-advisor with great interactive tools and calculators.

As long as you're investing to reach your financial goals, how can it be wrong?

Accumulating Retirement and Brokerage Accounts is Easy

Brenda and Gary are good savers, making them vulnerable to AAS (account accumulation syndrome).

Gary had his current 401(k) and an old 401(k) from a prior employer.

Brenda, a teacher, spread her retirement savings around a few of the dozens of vendors participating in her school district's 403(b) program.

• Their accountant recommended a financial advisor who sold them a variable annuity.
• They had money in a joint account at a mutual fund company and more savings with an insurance company.
• And they'd both opened individual accounts, Roth IRAs, at their credit union.

Related:IRA vs. 401(k):How they differ and where to invest 1st

There are several problems with this approach.

1. It's hard to get a good picture of how you're investing your money .

From how much you have in stocks versus bonds to the amount in the U.S. stock market versus international investments.

It takes digging into each provider's information to understand your investment portfolio.

2. It's hard to keep track of your investment balances .

Si vous êtes passé à la dématérialisation, vous devez garder une trace des noms d'utilisateur et des mots de passe de toutes les sociétés de fonds. If not, you'll still get statements from multiple providers, and some will be quarterly, while others are monthly.

Bien entendu, vous pouvez atténuer ce problème en utilisant un service d’agrégation de comptes. Empower and Tiller Money are great, but some accounts may not be accessible through these services.

3. Il n'est pas facile de suivre vos dépenses d'investissement.

Brenda and Gary's average investment expenses ranged from 0.65 percent at the mutual fund company to over 4.50 percent in the variable annuity. Empower dispose également d'un analyseur de dépenses dans sa suite d'outils financiers gratuits.

4. Il est difficile de changer de stratégie d'investissement .

As you get older and closer to the time when you'll be tapping your retirement savings for living expenses, you'll want to reduce the risk of your investment strategy.

With a large number of accounts, it becomes harder to make the transactions necessary to move your investments to meet your needs better.

5. It's hard to manage what happens to the various types of assets when you or your spouse dies .

The more retirement accounts (company or individual) you have, the more beneficiary designations there are to manage.

Plus vous possédez de comptes de placement, plus vous devez renommer si vous choisissez de créer une fiducie familiale.

À tout le moins, il y a plus de vendeurs avec lesquels votre famille peut travailler pour régler votre succession.

Connexe :

• How to Avoid Mistakes in Retirement Planning
• Common Mistakes in Estate Planning

Easy Doesn't =Best

Just because you can quickly sign up with an online broker or easily invest as little as $5 on an app doesn't mean you should.

Garder les choses simples est votre meilleure approche lorsqu’il s’agit de votre argent et de votre allocation d’actifs. 

While you may need several types of accounts, i.e., a 401(k), IRA, education savings, and a taxable brokerage account, you likely don't need them spread over several investment firms.

Consider choosing a single mutual fund company or discount brokerage firm to hold your investing funds outside your current company-sponsored tax advantaged account.

If you change jobs, roll your 401(k) or 403(b) into either your new employer's retirement plan or into an individual retirement account at your fund company or brokerage service.

Simplifying the number of accounts and investment firms you manage can help you confidently make financial decisions because you won't chase information.

Un autre avantage supplémentaire de la consolidation de vos investissements est que vous bénéficierez de services premium supplémentaires à mesure que votre solde augmente.

Par exemple, mon mari et moi avons la majeure partie de nos économies chez Vanguard.

As our investments grew through savings, 401(k) rollovers, and market increases, we were offered access to a financial planner for free, lower cost share classes, and more free brokerage account trades than I'll ever use in a year. Other providers offer similar perks.

Plus vous attendez pour simplifier, plus ce sera difficile.

Les comptes imposables et les rentes, en particulier, peuvent être difficiles à déplacer.

Mutual funds held with the fund company generally must be sold if you switch companies, creating a taxable transaction.

Le revenu des rentes est imposable au moment du retrait, à moins que le produit ne soit transféré dans une autre rente.

Pourquoi vous pourriez avoir besoin de plusieurs courtiers en investissement

In most cases, simplicity is better.

Still, just like some of you benefit from multiple bank account providers, some of you will enjoy advantages utilizing more than one brokerage company to achieve your financial goals.

Par exemple :

• Vous pouvez conserver vos rollovers 401(k) et un Roth IRA chez Vanguard. But choose to utilize an app such as Acorns to continuously invest your pocket change and Worthy Bonds for an alternative investment with fixed interest. 
• Peut-être utilisez-vous Fidelity pour vos investissements de retraite, mais souhaitez-vous investir dans des entreprises dirigées par des minorités via M1 Finances Community Pies. Or use UNest to stash cash for your children's future and easily invite extended family to make financial gifts to your child.
• When you have substantial amounts of money in investments or uninvested cash sitting in money market funds at a brokerage waiting to invest, you may choose to have accounts at multiple brokerages to ensure adequate Securities Investor Protection Corporation, SIPC, coverage.
• When you have children from a prior relationship who are beneficiaries of some but not all of your investment accounts, you might use a different brokerage to manage those accounts. This will help to more easily delineate them from investments your current spouse will inherit.

Some investors decide to use more than one broker to access specific funds or asset classes. Ceux-ci peuvent inclure un fonds indiciel particulier, un fonds négocié en bourse ou une crypto-monnaie.

Others still chase incentives for opening an account. Or because they're trading frequently or looking to become a day trader. But they aren't the norm.

Devriez-vous avoir plusieurs comptes d'investissement ?

The bottom line, our lives are complicated enough.

For most of us, there isn't any need to add complexity to our financial decisions with numerous brokerage accounts outside of our tax advantage retirement accounts.

Still, if you see an advantage to using more than one broker to achieve a financial goal, try to keep the number low. And use a service such as Empower to help you track all your investments.

Keeping as many of your various types of brokerage accounts in a single location will go a long way toward simplifying your financial life.

Suivant :

Article by Julie Grandstaff and Women Who Money Cofounders Vicki Cook and Amy Blacklock.

Julie is the author of “Save Yourself:Your Guide to Saving for Retirement and Building Financial Security.” She's a twenty-five-year veteran of the financial services industry, where she managed billions of dollars for both individuals and institutions. Julie retired at the age of fifty-one. Her book, “Save Yourself,” is a comprehensive guide to saving for retirement and shoring up your financial security so you can do whatever it is you want.

Les femmes qui ont de l'argent

Amy Blacklock et Vicki Cook ont cofondé Women Who Money en mars 2018 pour fournir des informations utiles sur des sujets liés aux finances personnelles, à la carrière et à l'entrepreneuriat afin que vous puissiez gérer votre argent en toute confiance, augmenter votre valeur nette, améliorer votre santé financière globale et éventuellement atteindre votre indépendance financière.