Charles Schwab Complaint
Submitted by: Anonymous | Post a complaint | Back to Complaints Forum
I inherited some Schwab IRA accounts in 2012. I found a house I wanted to buy with some of my inheritance. I called Schwab and asked how I go about doing that. I had no previous knowledge of IRA’s or any other investment accounts. I relied on Schwabs guidance. I was told by several Schwab employees that I didn’t have to pay taxes on the money. So, I went through the process, under their advisement and guidance, only to get hit with an audit and nearly 40K worth of penalties, fees and taxes owed. I have told the IRS what they did to me, they don’t give a crap. Schwab said they would help when I first called but then….they back peddled and for the past few years I have been trying to get them to do the right thing and they won’t. One of the men from the client advocacy team, Dan B******, actually just admitted that their employee, Ryan, agreed I didn’t have to pay taxes. So, the employees response when I said, “I don’t have to pay taxes on this money?” was, “True”. Their was another employee I spoke to, prior to Ryan who preformed the liquidation of stocks and whatever else the accounts are composed of, who told me I could “take the whole thing out and wouldn’t have to pay taxes because the accounts were more than 5 years vested (or something along those lines). Dan Bartell claims to not have access to that conversation. So, he’s cherry picking audio tapes to try to say they didn’t do anything wrong. There are several important facts here; 1) I relied on the professional guidance of Charles Schwab to help me decide what to do with these inherited accounts 2) I needed 220K to purchase real estate. There were 4 accounts. 3 Roths and 1 simple. Come to find out years later, the simple account is liable for tax. Ryan took the bulk of the money I needed to purchase the house out of the one account liable for tax when there was enough money in the other 3 accounts to cover what I needed. The amount he took out of the simple account was 101K. This put me in the highest tax bracket!! He could have taken 50K out of the simple account and I would have been ok. 3) All conversations are recorded. When I asked to come in and listen to the recordings, I was told I needed a court order. Dan B****** is now telling me that he, or anyone else, did not say that….another lie.
What would you like the company to do to fix the problem? (optional)
I would like for Schwab to pay the taxes owed on the money they told me I didn’t have to pay taxes on as well as any penalties and interest due to the IRS. Currently, the IRS wants approximately 40K