Should I dump my Vanguard Advisor?

[downrod]

I currently have approx 600K invested in Vanguard funds through their PAS.
I have been in this relationship for approx 4 months. I transferred these assets from Ameriprise, where I was blindly getting taken to the cleaners for the previous 10 yrs.... I finally wised up.

I am considering dumping the advisor service, since I do not plan on doing anything with my investment for the next 3.5 yrs.
At that time, I am planning to retire. It is very likely that I will be looking to pick the service back up at that time, as I am guessing that I will need help setting up the best withdrawal strategies, tax implications, etc.

I could save over 6K by dumping the advisor, but I also know that the service isnt really designed to be bounced in and out of. Is this a good idea?

I am looking for input as toi the correct course of action. Thanks!

 

[GravitySucks]

If you don't need them dump them.
They'll be happy to take your $6k+ later.

 

[kgtest]

I am biased but I would say stop paying for things you don't need?

Once you have 1MM in Vanguard, you automatically get access to an advisor with the Flagship program TODAY...not sure if that 1MM would be raised in 3.5 years though...otherwise your assets might grow into the provided service if you hit Flagship level of assets in 3.5 years?

https://investor.vanguard.com/investing/benefits/flagship

 

[RunningBum]

Agree that there's no reason to keep them.

Also, take a look at this thread: http://www.early-retirement.org/forums/f28/taxes-and-withdrawal-strategy-99562.html
Vanguard does not seem all that strong about withdrawal strategies, and I think they specifically say they do not address tax management. So you may not want them in 3.5 years anyway.

 

[travelover]

Dump 'em. You don't need day to day advice once you have an investment strategy set up. And between here and Bogleheads you can get excellent advice on new situations.



The exception might be if you are prone to panic and sell on a downturn and need an advisor to talk you down.

 

[Floridatennisplayer]

Dump them! Now!

From the advice gained here I dumped my Fidelity Managed BS. All they managed to do was take my money. Went with a simple 2 fund system and I am way up from where I was with them.

 

[teejayevans]

If you add another $400K, then the advice will be free.

 

[socaldonnan]

This is a very timely question that was asked as we’ve been in the Vanguard Advisor program for 2 years. I just brought this up to my husband a couple of days ago. DH & I are in agreement that we will dump this service. I do like our representative but since we can get a free review each year we will take advantage of that service. DH just started his RMD & I thought we might need some help on that. But that didn’t seem to be the case. As someone mentioned, we’ll be saving about $6,000 yearly in fees. We’ll throw that in grand babies college fund.

 

[MikeTN]

$6,000 is 1%. I thought Vanguard was charging 0.3% for advice.

 

[kcowan]

Dump it all in VBAL and fire her!

 

[LOL!]

If you add another $400K, then the advice will be free.

This is untrue. PAS is never free.

0.3% of $600,000 is $1,800 per year, so I don't see $6,000 of savings in this thread.

But if one is not getting $1,800 (and growing) of value per year, then by all means discontinue the service. I would not call it "firing" nor "dumping." One might call it "enlightenment."

 

[target2019]

$6K divided by 3.5 years is $1714 per year.
$600K times .3% is $1800 per year.
Fire the PAS!

 

[LOL!]

$6K divided by 3.5 years is $1714 per year.
$600K times 0.3% is $1800 per year.
Fire the PAS!

Watch out for typos!

 

[bolt]

I would!

 

[Ronstar]

I would too

 

[davebarnes]

This is a rhetorical question. Right?

 

[teejayevans]

This is untrue. PAS is never free.

0.3% of $600,000 is $1,800 per year, so I don't see $6,000 of savings in this thread.

But if one is not getting $1,800 (and growing) of value per year, then by all means discontinue the service. I would not call it "firing" nor "dumping." One might call it "enlightenment."

From website:
“You're a Flagship client at Vanguard, which means you get personalized services reserved for our high-net-worth investors.
Helping you look at your wealth holistically is important to us. As a Flagship client, you'll have exclusive resources available to you, including Vanguard professionals who can help you meet your investment and wealth management needs.
These include specialists in areas like estate planning, trust services, financial planning and advice, and philanthropy.”

 

[tmitchell]

solo?

I've been using Vanguard Advisory for a couple years and just now crossed the 1M mark. I'm an emotional investor and feel like it's useful to have some one rational between me & the "abort" button.

But given I've crossed the 1M mark do you all think it's still a good idea to go it solo?

 

[DrRoy]

Dump immediately, if not sooner.

 

[donheff]

I have no idea what you get from VG for .3% but I can tell you I got nothing for my $1M+ Admiral account. I asked for a "free plan" per conversations here. I didn't really need it but was curious about what they offer. I was expecting some sort of glossy three page PDF with boilerplate analysis and recommendations. Something that would dangle niceties as an advert for the paid service. But my account rep acted like he didn't know what I was talking about. He finally sent me an email with a couple of thoughts about transferring my outside assets to VG -- useless. I guess you pay the .3% to get the three page glossy.

 

[RunningBum]

VG used to give Admiral accounts a financial plan. I'm under the impression they don't do that anymore. Mine was ok. At the time I had a lot of individual stocks and they didn't try to get me to sell any, or at least very few. A bit of consolidation. I learned more here than from the plan. I wasn't disappointed, but I wasn't impressed. At least they didn't push for me to transfer more assets in. They suggested a few moves like that, but no pressure at all to make it happen. They just said to let them know if they could help with making any suggested changes, and that it was up to me.

 

[JoeWras]

VG used to give Admiral accounts a financial plan. I'm under the impression they don't do that anymore.

It's been a few years for us. At the time, here's how it went for the free advice:

We made an appointment, and we had to fill out a few quesitons, and we were asked to put all of our outside Vanguard stuff into the "OTHER" section of the dashboard. Here you can track non-VG assets (a handy feature too). I think we also had to give permission for the CFP to see our entire dashboard.

We had the meeting, he looked at our balances in asset classes, taxable vs. non-taxable, and domestic/international.

We had a nice discussion about those items and he gave some advice, which was actually pretty good.


Nothing written down, no booklet or plan, etc. Mostly, advice on how to keep these things in balance and to watch our portfolio analysis view.

 

[mrfeh]

Dump 'em. You don't need day to day advice once you have an investment strategy set up. And between here and Bogleheads you can get excellent advice on new situations.

+1

Stop paying for the service now, and start educating yourself so you won't need them in the future either: https://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Bogleheads®_investing_start-up_kit

 

[downrod]

I cancelled the PAS today. I am on my own now!
I am hopeful that when important decisions need to be made, I can get some good advice here. Thanks everybody!

 

[travelover]

I cancelled the PAS today. I am on my own now!
I am hopeful that when important decisions need to be made, I can get some good advice here. Thanks everybody!

Good advice - yes. Birthday cards? No.