Simplifying one's financial life

[Tradd]

I know I will never go down to one or two checking accounts and one brokerage account. That is too simple for me, at least at this stage.

But I did empty out one tiny brokerage account and moved the money into a different one. Now I have to actually close the brokerage account itself, just aren't any branches of the bank in this state.

I have big bank checking/savings/credit card. IRA (rollover 401K) and high yield savings with Vanguard. Current job 401K. I closed out my Apple credit card. Didn’t need it.

[bae]

About 8 years ago, I had to deal with my mother-in-law and father-in-law's estates.

They each had a nightmarish number of accounts all over the place. My mother-in-law had 6 different safe deposit boxes around the country. Making any sense of this, and getting the assets into the hands of the heirs, was quite a job, it took years.

Just a few months ago, I finally tracked down ~$90k that was sitting in an account that was established 20 years ago for a trust for the education of a minor relative. I found the documentation for it when I happened to open a book on my shelf belonging to my father-in-law, and a statement fell out.

So, to "simplify" my financial life, the first thing I did after the estate disaster was to put a list of all of my accounts onto a single piece of paper, and into a single computer file, which my daughter has access to, in case I should get hit by a bus, or Rob decides to put a bullet in my head because I'm guilty of murder for living the rentier lifestyle.

[catherine]

Wow, this is such a timely post! Just recently I've been tearing my hair out and saying, "there has to be a better way!" I started looking at YouTube videos on "How to SimplifyYour Finances" and I revisited Dave Ramsey podcasts. I feel like I have too many accounts. Nothing seems simple. I pay some bills from my business account, some bills from my personal checking, some from my joint checking. I'm constantly juggling.

So I'm definitely the one with no suggestions, but definitely one following this thread! happystuff, I love your "credit and forget it" haha!

[iris lilies]

Wow, this is such a timely post! Just recently I've been tearing my hair out and saying, "there has to be a better way!" I started looking at YouTube videos on "How to SimplifyYour Finances" and I revisited Dave Ramsey podcasts. I feel like I have too many accounts. Nothing seems simple. I pay some bills from my business account, some bills from my personal checking, some from my joint checking. I'm constantly juggling.

So I'm definitely the one with no suggestions, but definitely one following this thread! happystuff, I love your "credit and forget it" haha!

Start with Narrowing the number of banks you do business with. Maybe you already do this. I think multiple accounts are less of a problem than multiple banks.
I just verified that we have only 2 banks. I am OK with that for the moment.

[iris lilies]

About 8 years ago, I had to deal with my mother-in-law and father-in-law's estates.

They each had a nightmarish number of accounts all over the place. My mother-in-law had 6 different safe deposit boxes around the country. Making any sense of this, and getting the assets into the hands of the heirs, was quite a job, it took years.

Just a few months ago, I finally tracked down ~$90k that was sitting in an account that was established 20 years ago for a trust for the education of a minor relative. I found the documentation for it when I happened to open a book on my shelf belonging to my father-in-law, and a statement fell out.

So, to "simplify" my financial life, the first thing I did after the estate disaster was to put a list of all of my accounts onto a single piece of paper, and into a single computer file, which my daughter has access to, in case I should get hit by a bus, or Rob decides to put a bullet in my head because I'm guilty of murder for living the rentier lifestyle.

Geez it is terrible/silly when people fade away with such large amounts of money floating around.

[Tybee]

Can you create a .rollover IRA if you aren’t working? I guess so.

Tybee when you moved out those funds, did they charge those horrible exit fees? I forget about those because I don’t close down brokerage accounts for the most part. One time I did it immediately after retiring and oh my God they took out a ton of money. Shysters.

We recently moved money from our city Edward Jones brokerage guy to the Hermann Edward Jones brokerage guy because our city guy moved to another company and so we no longer had any ties at all there.

Yes, you can, according to Investopedia:
There is no age limit for opening an IRA, which means you can open an account even after you retire. Keep in mind that contributions can only come from earned income. You may also choose to transfer or roll funds over from an eligible retirement account you already have.

No horrible exit fees that I found, Pretty straightforward.

[Tybee]

There are "rules" about moving from 457B to an IRA. There will be an "exit fee" and apparently the funds were in an annuity so more complication there. I may just cash it out and go on a nice trip to see the ocean again.

I would talk to someone at Fidelity or Schwab to help set it up. No way would I cash it out since you may live a long time and that tax deferred status is great.

[pinkytoe]

So I thought about this and this is my current situation:
Checking/Savings at Big Bank (very little interest)
Savings Account at online bank (better interest)
Various accounts at Vanguard
Two credit cards - one joint and one in DH's name
Maybe move the online savings to Vanguard?

[Tradd]

So I thought about this and this is my current situation:
Checking/Savings at Big Bank (very little interest)
Savings Account at online bank (better interest)
Various accounts at Vanguard
Two credit cards - one joint and one in DH's name
Maybe move the online savings to Vanguard?

Check out the Cash Plus account at Vanguard. That’s what I use.

[pony mom]

My financial life is way more complicated now than years before. Since before the death of my mom, I've taken over my parents' bill paying, checkbooks and credit cards. I also inherited investment accounts when my cousin died, and my sister's share of those when she recently died. So now I have to track: two savings, two credit cards, three checking, two beneficiary IRAs, my own IRA, a small Roth IRA, three investment accounts, and four CDs.

I've been following YMOYL suggestions for tracking expenses for years. My checking accounts had funds designated for my different expenses and I kept track of each. Now that I've inherited a decent amount, I will be retiring Jan 3rd!!!, and my income will come from the beneficial IRAs that have to be depleted within 6 years. So there's not really a need for a budget like before when money was tighter. The only way to really simplify my personal finances is to just have my quarterly lump sum as my income to cover everything. I'll probably still keep track of what I'm spending (I just enjoy it), but just deduct from that monthly amount instead of designating an amount for each category. Whew! It doesn't seem less complicated, but it should be.

The investment accounts will still be separate, as two are in a Trust. Dad's expenses are still separate from mine too. Thank goodness for financial advisors and accountants.