I use Vanguard for my own IRAs and brokerage account. I'm fairly savvy in personal finance, although I'm a "boring" index mutual fund-type of guy.
My father (92yo) is declining in health and cognitively isn't really there any more. He never really told my mother (84yo) about how he managed their money and she's very intimidated by the concepts. He's very old-skool and believed money was the provider/man's territory. And he grew up at a time where individual stocks and bonds were the most common investment. She's agreed to let me see her accounts and they have everything with Morgan Stanley -- one joint brokerage account and two traditional IRAs. The brokerage account is made up of \~24 random stocks and, over the past 10 years, the portfolio has trailed the S&P by 2-3% points. This, on top of whatever MS is taking out for commissions and fees.
I was trying to explain what's going on and steer her to a mutual fund. However, I cannot find anything on the dashboard that allows her to sell anything. If you click the ticker, it just shows standard portfolio or market information. My hunch is she's supposed to contact someone at MS and ask make a trade, at which point she would pay a commission. If I'm right, I'm even more pissed off. But I'm hoping I'm just missing something here. Anyone use MS and can provide some insight?
Thanks, all.