Sell Me on Fidelity rather than Vanguard

[GTFan]

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Originally Posted by Helen I think that's part of it, but Vanguard hasn't improved their administrative procedures or improved their website. It all feels very antiquated. After jumping through numerous hoops to link a checking account to Vanguard that I easily linked to Fidelity I threw in the towel and moved everything to Fidelity.

Funny you mentioned that, I was easily able to add a CU checking account recently at VG but at Fido it bombed out at the end, and a chat confirmed I would have do it with the old fashioned send-in-a-form routine.

[frayne]

As an addendum, I use FIDO as they were my original 401K vehicle, that was rolled into an IRA after I retired. It is all pre-tax and my Vgd account is all after tax investments. Just seemed to make sense for me at the time.

[RetiredAt55.5]

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Originally Posted by mathjak107 i find it amusing that vanguard the grand pappy of do it yourself investing , releases studies that show how do it yourself investing generally leaves investors as a group short of what managed money can add in value by having an adviser . they then promote their money mgmt and robo services . ...

Well, to be fair, your average investor (ie not sophisticated) will probably make mistakes like buying and selling too frequently, panicking during a downturn and selling, etc, etc.

So I don't see anything shady here. Vanguard has historically promoted the do it yourself investor model, but that works best if the investor is willing to devote their time to learning. Notice that Vanguard has no brick and mortar sites for clients.

The advisor offering is an attempt and acknowledgement that Vanguard had to provide something to address this need.

[mathjak107]

i agree , but vanguards entire marketing strategy was based on anyone can beat the pro's .

[Backdraft57]

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Originally Posted by MRG Took me over a month to get Fidelity to return my phone call. I called three times and finally used the F word(fiduciary) on Facebook to get them to call.

Interesting. Guess it's all about the luck of the draw with both companies on who you happen to deal with. Sad really that one person can ruin your opinion of an entire company.

[MRG]

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Originally Posted by mathjak107 i agree , but vanguards entire marketing strategy was based on anyone can beat the pro's .

Now they are providing value added guidance to those investors who still want handholding. They're doing it for .3% not the industry standard 1%. Of course with index funds the entire fee structure is cheaper than say a Jones.

I know your a big Fidelity guy and use the same newsletter my DF did. At the end of his life he was paying those folks 1.5% plus the active fund fees to manage his money. They were really nice to him. Vanguard's PAS would have been a better solution.

Not sure why you think expanding their products to reach another group of investors is a bad thing. These folks appear to want an advisor. After all Jones has a billion under management. That's a lot of folks who could save substantial dollars with a cheaper, better option.

[Helen]

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Originally Posted by mathjak107 i agree , but vanguards entire marketing strategy was based on anyone can beat the pro's .

I don't think they've strayed from this. By beating the pros I think they meant index funds can beat the pros. Their PAS services use index funds.

Their .3%. AUM is still quite low comparatively and gives people who don't want to manage their money a low cost option.

I think Jack Bogle is a man of high integrity, he certainly stands out in the world of finance. I hope Vanguard will address the customer concerns. I would love to move our money back to Vanguard someday.

[VanWinkle]

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Originally Posted by Backdraft57 Ha!! I started to type the same reply but then saw yours. Amen. I guess my ego expects people to do their job and do what they say they will do.

Hand holding is not a bad thing and is required by many people. It just might be better for those people to get a brokerage that maintains offices for that type of service. I have found that an ego will sometimes get in the way of reasonable choices, including in my own life.

[bUU]

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Originally Posted by GTFan But that doesn't change my response that both of them have pros/cons (as seen in this thread, same as all the other threads), so unless you have a bad experience with one of them there's not much different here than any other discussion.

I understood you saying that the first time but it is still a logical fallacy.

Just because two things both "have" pros and cons does not mean that there isn't much difference between them.

What's important is the relative amount of positive versus negative.

What I see people saying in this thread is that the situation has changed. Something that had more positive and less negative before now has more negative and less positive and something else that had more negative and less positive before now has more positive and less negative. Like I said I was surprised to hear this. But that is indeed what people are saying.

[VanWinkle]

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Originally Posted by bUU I understood you saying that the first time but it is still a logical fallacy. Just because two things both "have" pros and cons does not mean that there isn't much difference between them. What's important is the relative amount of positive versus negative. What I see people saying in this thread is that the situation has changed. Something that had more positive and less negative before now has more negative and less positive and something else that had more negative and less positive before now has more positive and less negative. Like I said I was surprised to hear this. But that is indeed what people are saying.

Could you repeat that?

[Backdraft57]

I would still have my IRA moved to Vanguard because I have VG funds at FIDO and would get the admiral shares and not be charged 75 bucks to buy more. Sadly they didn't seem to want it moved or care about getting it moved.

[GTFan]

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Originally Posted by bUU What I see people saying in this thread is that the situation has changed. Something that had more positive and less negative before now has more negative and less positive and something else that had more negative and less positive before now has more positive and less negative. Like I said I was surprised to hear this. But that is indeed what people are saying.

You and I are reading different threads, obviously.

[meierlde]

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Originally Posted by VanWinkle I agree if you need hand holding, trust services or your ego stroked, Vanguard would not be the first choice. They are more of a no nonsense, treat all peeps the same kind of company for the simpleton, like me! If you are trading on margin, calls and options, lots of individual stock exchanges, Vanguard would not be a good first choice. I do all of my business with them on line and they have been helpful when I called them. I am also considering opening an account at Fido for a 2nd taxable account, but not because I am unhappy with Vanguard.

Recently my former megacorp decided to change its 401k custodian away from Vanguard. I wanted to stay and called and it took about 1/2 hour on the phone and 3 days later it was all done. No fuss no Muss. So good service there. Other than that I do everything online.

[Backdraft57]

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Originally Posted by meierlde Recently my former megacorp decided to change its 401k custodian away from Vanguard. I wanted to stay and called and it took about 1/2 hour on the phone and 3 days later it was all done. No fuss no Muss. So good service there. Other than that I do everything online.

Glad for you. Don't understand why I got a complete runaround.

[mathjak107]

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Originally Posted by MRG Now they are providing value added guidance to those investors who still want handholding. They're doing it for .3% not the industry standard 1%. Of course with index funds the entire fee structure is cheaper than say a Jones. I know your a big Fidelity guy and use the same newsletter my DF did. At the end of his life he was paying those folks 1.5% plus the active fund fees to manage his money. They were really nice to him. Vanguard's PAS would have been a better solution. Not sure why you think expanding their products to reach another group of investors is a bad thing. These folks appear to want an advisor. After all Jones has a billion under management. That's a lot of folks who could save substantial dollars with a cheaper, better option.

why would he pay fidelity monitor 1.50% when he could simply follow their newsletter for 99 bucks a year ? even my wife who has no interest in this stuff can follow any occasional fund swaps on her own .

unless you have no self discipline i fail to see the need to get both the newsletter and have them mange your money for a fee

[bUU]

Question: About ten years ago my assigned consultant at Fidelity arranged to have all fees that my former IRA custodian charged to close out that IRA and roll it over into Fidelity. I'll probably find some time in the next week or two to ask my new consultant if they're still willing to do that, but I'm wondering if anyone here has had any experience with such reimbursements.

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Originally Posted by GTFan You and I are reading different threads, obviously.

Or you're simply ignoring the posts that don't jive with your preconceived notions, while I was surprised by them and allowed them to shape a new understanding of the situation for me.

[Dawg52]

I used to get calls once a qtr from my Fidelity private client rep.... just to check in and see if I needed anything. Haven't heard from him in over 3 years. I do get a free TT download annually.

[MRG]

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Originally Posted by mathjak107 why would he pay fidelity monitor 1.50% when he could simply follow their newsletter for 99 bucks a year ? even my wife who has no interest in this stuff can follow any occasional fund swaps on her own . unless you have no self discipline i fail to see the need to get both the newsletter and have them mange your money for a fee

He was a demented 95 year old. He couldn't keep his password straight for a day! He needed someone to do it for him.

Why pay 1.5% plus active fees on top of Fidelity's active management when Vanguard's much cheaper.

Old age isn't kind.