Transfer of IRA’s with fee

I have 2 IRA’s with Schwab–one regular and one Roth. I am moving them to Vanguard. Schwab charges a $50 fee for each transfer and won’t let me pay for the fees with a separate check. When the funds reach Vanguard can I deposit $50 in each of these accounts to make up for the fees Schwab took out or is this a no-no?



Unfortuneatly, you cannot make such a contribution to the Vanguard IRA unless you are eligible for a regular IRA contribution, and have not already contributed the maximum for either 2007 or 2008 as the case may be. This would be coded and reported as a regular IRA contribution.

Note that the Schwab charge is NOT considered a reported taxable distribution, it just decreases the value of your IRA balance transferred to Vanguard. It would be better for you if Schwab could debit the entire amount from the TIRA and nothing from the Roth, but doubt if they will agree to that. No harm done in asking however.



You may want to ask them where it says you cannot pay the fee out of pocket, and if they do not consider this an administrative fee. Administrative fees can be paid out of pocket



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