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...
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.