Multiple banks or Consolidate

[Zedon]

I was thinking of opening an account at Fidelity for my 2013 roth IRA but then I realized that I already have money spread across 3 banks for savings, 2 online brokerages for my roth ira's and use another bank for my mortgage. Is there any reason using multiple banks would be a good idea. I am now thinking of consolidating to reduce confusion. There is no more than 20k in any of the accounts right now.

Not sure that it matters besides making it easier on my brain to remember where all my money/debts are and any PWs I need for them. Anyone have an argument either way?

[kork13]

Because none of the accounts have more than $20k, there's no real reason that you would necessarily need to maintain all of the multiple accounts. If you prefer simplicity, just go ahead and consolidate. The only proviso would be to ensure you don't have more than $250k at any single bank to maintain FDIC coverage... But that's not the case for you, so not a factor.

Personally, I would consolidate the brokerage accounts into Fidelity (since you're looking to open your Roth IRA there as well). From there, you will have access to some excellent mutual funds & ETF's, plus you will be able to buy anything else that you choose to from there.

For the banks, it depends on how you use them and what benefits they give you. Is there one bank that you use primarily, or that gives you particularly good benefits and/or customer service, or simply that has the lowest fees and/or highest interest rates? I would first prefer to consolidate into a bank that has all or most of those things. If no one bank has all of those features, that's when I would consider maintaining accounts at multiple institutions (which is what I currently do). This is a choice that you should make just based on your preferences and what you do/don't value from each bank.

Bottom line: if there's one or two financial institutions that meets all of my needs/desires for managing my money, I would absolutely consolidate into them in order to simplify my financial life. Go through and figure out what you value, and consolidate as appropriate.

[Retired To Win]

Multiple Banks Help Me Keep My $$ Buckets Separate

Having multiple bank accounts helps me keep my finances organized. (I do make sure that none of the accounts cost me any fees, and that I get the best interest rates I can.)

Right now, I have 5 accounts in 3 banks.

Two savings accounts are for my Health Costs Reserve and my Baseline Budget Reserve. Having those accounts keeps my reserve moneies separate and "safe" from more easily accessed checking accounts (and earning some interest).

Two checking accounts are for my Baseline Budget expenses and for my Discretionary Fund expenses. Again, the separation helps me keep control of what money is for what purpose.

Finally, one other temporary account is holding the funds I've allocated for a significant amount of home improvements currently underway.

I have tried keeping all the money together and just separating the allocations on a piece of paper. For me, having the various money buckets actually separated in distinct bank accounts has proven simpler and preferable.

Retired To Win
making the most of my time and my money

[Petunia 100]

I was thinking of opening an account at Fidelity for my 2013 roth IRA but then I realized that I already have money spread across 3 banks for savings, 2 online brokerages for my roth ira's and use another bank for my mortgage. Is there any reason using multiple banks would be a good idea. I am now thinking of consolidating to reduce confusion. There is no more than 20k in any of the accounts right now.

Not sure that it matters besides making it easier on my brain to remember where all my money/debts are and any PWs I need for them. Anyone have an argument either way?

I like to keep things as simple as I can, so I would definitely choose 1 custodian for my Roth and keep all of my Roth money in one account.