So I was one of the few that started the process against Mainstar late 2021 early 2022. I had done everything I could think of and was 100% assured that Mainstar was going to keep up their custodial agreements. I had paid the fees and made sure they were made in a timely manner along with making sure the accounts were validated between Mainstar and Computershare.
Best believe… The customer service Mainstar has already knew the shares I was giving them were to be registered, and would NEVER be sold. So there was no intention of ever dealing with the selling “problems” they stated from my perspective.
I’ve logged into both Mainstar and Computershare to validate each account was consistent and nothing changed. It worked for the good year and some change…
Getting that letter (which I received personally yesterday) was not anywhere near what I had discussed and validated with the customer service representative. There was no “delay” of information being sent. There isn’t any “issues” with registering. There weren’t any “problems” with the Computershare side…
But you know the problems that did exist?
The brokers transferring to Mainstar…
Fidelity took 3 weeks… Vanguard took 4 months… Multiple calls, multiple validations, several representatives with both brokers couldn’t figure out why the transfers took forever. For reference, Mainstar DRSed the shares, I created my login and got that login pin within 3 days, beginning to end. Everything was great.
I don’t blame Mainstar for their current predicament. They were likely forced and many insiders probably paid off on it, but the Mainstar business was as legit as possible up until this recent fiasco.
They worked with me to get them out of Fidelity and Vanguard correctly. These same shares will travel once again to their new home in my well built LLC then…
See you fellow Mainstar Apes with your well built LLCs if you plan to journey that way yourselves. If not, you each should know what is best for you to do in your situations.
As always, I’m not suggesting anything, nor am I giving any financial advice. You are your own best judge of character in your own finances. You should not listen to me or anyone else you do not trust.
What a hell of an adventure this is…
It’s really aggravating to see all this happening, but also good to see that you are already well on your way. This will only make all fighters even stronger. Diamond hands will NEVER be broken. FIGHT ON FELLOW FIGHTER!!! 🫡
THE GOOD FIGHT WILL PREVAIL
I have a strong suspicion that a vast majority of retirement account shares can be pulled from their tax advantaged accounts with much less penalty than people think with a little strategy and selectively choosing shares that are in the red especially.
The fear of paying tax at MOASS makes no sense considering that the solution is just to liquidate a couple more shares to make up for the taxes.
It’s a tax advantaged account… There’s already plenty in Computershare in my name and some in the brokerages that are planned on being sold at my price, but those will likely be screwed over in some shape as well.
The tax advantaged accounts aren’t for me and what I have to worry about in taxes… They’re the accounts that will be donated, they’ll be put through a trust and estate planning, they won’t be taxed at all (in current US laws) and I don’t plan on using them for myself at all. That’s a huge hurdle many don’t understand. The taxes I would have to pay now aren’t taxes at all in the future use of these accounts. The worst part of it, is that it has to stay under the US codes because of the account, best part, it’s an asset that I can hold in those accounts that will never even have to be taxed.
It’s certainly been a learning moment. FBO custodial situations are more precarious than we expected for sure.
Despite the disappointment, I look forward to seeing what comes of all this. I’m hoping there are more IRA custodians out there that can help with the LLC route. Having only 2 options right now does not feel like enough to help every ape that wishes to do this.
I’m the same as you. Bananyabangarang and I tried to get the word out about Mainstar and kept getting suppressed. I was always able to get someone on the phone at Mainstar if I had a question. They were very fast to do everything to get my account set up.
I’m considering IRA Financial Trust now. They’re pricey, but seems to be about the only show in town now. I have several thousand shares in my IRA so it probably makes sense to pay the fees and get an LLC so I can keep those shares safe. Mainstar is no better than holding at a broker now IMO.
Hey I finally made it to lemmy! I’m also considering doing a distribution at this point but will need to plan for the taxes. I’m glad the topic of IRA shares is getting attention again now on reddit at least
This situation freaking sucks. Americans really are completely hostages to Wall Street. Your retirement accounts are controlled by Wall Street, any time you use a broker, it’s also controlled by them. This freaking sucks.
What’s this well built LLC thingy?
You can create an LLC holding company which can hold the shares as the custodian. You are the owner of that LLC, so it’s a backwards way of saying the shares are in your name because you control the entity that holds the shares “for you”
