Where to put my 401k...

[sideview1]

Hello, this is my first post on the forum, but I have been doing research online with Bing and Google and threads from this forum popup and seem quite helpful. So, I'm hoping to get some good recommendations and pointers on what to do. Thanks!

I recently switched jobs and now need to decide what to do with my 401k rollover. I feel it is a large amount (~170k) and I want to make sure I put it in a good spot to grow. I also have a SEP IRA and small investment acct (windsor II) that is slowly recovering after I bought near the peak. I then have some small retirement accounts in American Funds and ING (< 10k). So, I was thinking I'd start consolidating them all at Vangaurd. It was the path of least resistance, they have low fees, and are generally recommended, although I have heard they customer service is not great. I also figure if I do decide to start trying to invest I will just open acct for investment with Scotttrade or something else.

Unfortunately, after taking the time to set up the new account, selecting about 8 funds, and then picking the percentages, I hit submit, and the site popped up a dialog, but it was blank, and no buttons anywhere. I couldn't do anything. When I logged in, all my efforts were gone. I sent them a note, and they said, it didn't look like I had started. This makes me suspect on how reliable their site will be for long term investments.

Now I'm wondering if I should go to Fidelity or T.Row Price for my retirement accounts. I also have the ability to open account with USAA would they be a better option? Maybe just roll it over to my new 401k company PayChex?

Any pointers and suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I'm 33 and would like to make sure the place I pick has a solid history, and would make it so I should be good for the long-term since I have a while before retiring.


Sorry for the long winded first post!

[disneysteve]

I'm surprised nobody has responded to this yet.

The "big 3" companies are Vanguard, Fidelity and T. Rowe Price. Any one of those would be an excellent choice. They all offer a broad range of funds. They all have pretty low expenses - I think Vanguard is the leader there. They all have great customer service. I'm not sure where you heard otherwise about Vanguard. I've been with them for years and have a 6-figure amount invested with them. Their website is very good and easy to navigate and on the few occasions I've needed to call them, the reps were always excellent at understanding and handling my issues.

Under no circumstances would I roll over an old 401k into the new 401k. You have far more options and control if you roll it into an IRA.

When you say you have "small retirement accounts in American FUnds and ING" what do you mean? What types of accounts are they? Could you also roll them over to Vanguard?

As for Scottrade, I think they are a perfectly good discount broker and have 2 accounts with them myself, one taxable and one SEP-IRA. There are brokers with lower commissions and ones that probably have better service but I think Scottrade is a good all around choice. I've not had any issues with their website and I happen to live close to one of their physical offices so if I ever have a problem, I can go talk to someone in person.

[thomsoad]

Personally I like Dodge and Cox. I think you should at least check em out.