Vanguard Financial Planning

[jerome len]

FYI on moving everything to Fidelity:

You do have different people and departments at VG that make it difficult to move everything to VG. ........you can have and I've had the same problems at Fidelity.

I gave Fido all my banking ftranfer info for my IRA and and when i wanted to have some funds wired from my brokerage account they needed all the same info.....in writing.... that I had just given them a couple of months ago.....why? different account, different person. And, when I wanted a money transfer to pay taxes, they wouldn't release the money without a reason.....my money my business. Why? they were afraid I was moving it to another financial company.

Frankly, for many reasons, some good, some not, both VG and fido make it difficult to do busiess I''m high value client with both and will remain that way. If I had to choose one it would be VG......lower cost, more ETF funds and less trying to sell me high cost products.

Now, both fido and VG are better than others but I don't think, overall, you'll have fewer problems, better options or less costs with fido than VG. Maybe, some of us have better VG or fido reps......that probably is the reason some of us prefer one or the other.

finally, I like being affiliated with bogleheads......that's vg and another reason more of my money is with VG. And.....I read Barrons, they often recommend VG ETF funds.....less often than fido funds.

guess I'm lucky to have investment funds and the opportunity to complain about either of them on any given day.

 

[Dimsumkid]

Frankly, for many reasons, some good, some not, both VG and fido make it difficult to do business I''m high value client with both and will remain that way.

I'm curious, are you in the Fidelity Private Client group? If so, I'm surprised you had to use a different rep, since you would have a dedicated person to take care of all your accounts. If there were any problems, they would handhold you through them and not even make you wait on the phone if it took more than a few minutes to correct the problem.

 

[nwsteve]

Oh my, cash incentive. That's my kind of talk. How are their fees overall as compared to VG? Think I'll threaten VG with this when I talk to them on Monday. It's a hassle moving to VG, but no more so doing it again to Fidelity if I have to.

Obviously, the larger the deposit, the better the incentive. ;-).
As far as expenses, depends on what you are looking for. Clearly VG owns the low cost segment, but they also own the low service as well (at least in my experiences with them over the 20+ years)
Since you can buy VG etfs at Fido, price for them and MF equivalents the same. Fido just added some new ETFs with expense ratios near or below VG. Fido also gives access to a nymber of Ishare etfs at no cost.
nwsteve

 

[Bestwifeever]

... And, when I wanted a money transfer to pay taxes, they wouldn't release the money without a reason.....my money my business. Why? they were afraid I was moving it to another financial company....

Seriously? And what if you were, would they refuse to transfer it? I might ask for a supervisor if anyone wanted to know a reason we were withdrawing money.

 

[Midpack]

FYI on moving everything to Fidelity:

You do have different people and departments at VG that make it difficult to move everything to VG. ........you can have and I've had the same problems at Fidelity.

I gave Fido all my banking ftranfer info for my IRA and and when i wanted to have some funds wired from my brokerage account they needed all the same info.....in writing.... that I had just given them a couple of months ago.....why? different account, different person. And, when I wanted a money transfer to pay taxes, they wouldn't release the money without a reason.....my money my business. Why? they were afraid I was moving it to another financial company.

Frankly, for many reasons, some good, some not, both VG and fido make it difficult to do busiess I''m high value client with both and will remain that way. If I had to choose one it would be VG......lower cost, more ETF funds and less trying to sell me high cost products.

Now, both fido and VG are better than others but I don't think, overall, you'll have fewer problems, better options or less costs with fido than VG. Maybe, some of us have better VG or fido reps......that probably is the reason some of us prefer one or the other.

finally, I like being affiliated with bogleheads......that's vg and another reason more of my money is with VG. And.....I read Barrons, they often recommend VG ETF funds.....less often than fido funds.

guess I'm lucky to have investment funds and the opportunity to complain about either of them on any given day.

I rarely talk live to 'my rep' or anyone else at Vanguard, and I am sure I wouldn't at Fidelity if I still had accounts with them. There are undoubtedly some unusual exceptions, but I can't remember any transaction that can't be done online. All my buy, sell and transfers are done online - instantly or at the next close of business day. We've also done four transfers from 401ks to rollover IRAs at Vanguard, each was completely painless. I've never talked to anyone or had a transaction of any kind held up, not once. YMMV

 

[Alan]

I rarely talk live to 'my rep' or anyone else at Vanguard, and I am sure I wouldn't at Fidelity if I still had accounts with them. There are undoubtedly some unusual exceptions, but I can't remember any transaction that can't be done online. All my buy, sell and transfers are done online - instantly or at the next close of business day. We've also done four transfers from 401ks to rollover IRAs at Vanguard, each was completely painless. I've never talked to anyone or had a transaction of any kind held up, not once. YMMV

There is a little anomaly that we've had with FIDO that we haven't had with VG. We each had tIRA's at FIDO (DW) and VG (me) and then rolled over our 401k's to rollover IRA's Shortly after we each created a ROTH IRA to receive conversions. With VG I can do conversions from either the Rollover or tIRA into the ROTH online. With FIDO we can do online conversions to ROTH from the Rollover IRA but not from the tIRA; that requires a telephone call. Not a problem going forward because this year we moved the last of DW's money from the FIDO tIRA to her ROTH so she now only has a ROTH and a Rollover IRA, so conversions can be handled online.

 

[Animorph]

There is a little anomaly that we've had with FIDO that we haven't had with VG. We each had tIRA's at FIDO (DW) and VG (me) and then rolled over our 401k's to rollover IRA's Shortly after we each created a ROTH IRA to receive conversions. With VG I can do conversions from either the Rollover or tIRA into the ROTH online. With FIDO we can do online conversions to ROTH from the Rollover IRA but not from the tIRA; that requires a telephone call. Not a problem going forward because this year we moved the last of DW's money from the FIDO tIRA to her ROTH so she now only has a ROTH and a Rollover IRA, so conversions can be handled online.

That's strange. I've done a backdoor Roth contribution for DW the last couple of years. That was from a tIRA created just for that purpose to a Roth IRA created at the same time.

And I have no idea what special circumstances would lead to requiring a reason for moving money. I do it all via EFT and have transferred plenty of cash from Fidelity to online banks this year. Was it perhaps after receiving a bonus for moving new funds to Fidelity, which might be contingent on leaving them there for a period of time?

 

[nwsteve]

I have had a similar experience with needing to call to do a Roth conversion from rollover ira at Fido--explanation was that there certain holdings in the account that require a rep handle the transfer. I think it has something to do with account valuation of funds. The item reference was a traded bond position. No bond, no problem with on line conversion.
Nwsteve

 

[Alan]

That's strange. I've done a backdoor Roth contribution for DW the last couple of years. That was from a tIRA created just for that purpose to a Roth IRA created at the same time.

And I have no idea what special circumstances would lead to requiring a reason for moving money. I do it all via EFT and have transferred plenty of cash from Fidelity to online banks this year. Was it perhaps after receiving a bonus for moving new funds to Fidelity, which might be contingent on leaving them there for a period of time?

I have had a similar experience with needing to call to do a Roth conversion from rollover ira at Fido--explanation was that there certain holdings in the account that require a rep handle the transfer. I think it has something to do with account valuation of funds. The item reference was a traded bond position. No bond, no problem with on line conversion.
Nwsteve

The rep told us it was because the ROTH and rollover IRA were in a brokerage account and the tIRA was in a Mutual fund account and the online software simply doesn't allow a member to transfer monies between the two. Note that regardless of which account the money is in, it is held in mutual funds. I've attached a screen snippet to show the accounts. The call to give the instructions was easy enough and the transaction went through that day.

 

[jerome len]

Yes, I'm a member of their private client group. Whenever I call my rep I get voicemail and then a return phone call from his assistant. Then, if I want to withdraw funds I get asked why and, frankly, it just isn't their business. So, it's easier for me when I want to withdraw funds to call their help desk and handle business directly. The only time my "private banker" contacts me is when they want to sell me something like an annuity.......my fido banker is my fido salesperson. I'm busy, hate always getting a voice mail, hate having an assistant call me back instead of my "private banker" . When I get a phone call from a business associate I return my calls myself. And......finally I NEVER have my assistant dial the number while I sit on the sidelines and when my party answers ask them to hold while they get me on the line......my fido "private banker" does that as well. Sorry to sound off.......maybe some of this is my fault but I HATE going through all the cr*p when I need cash from my fido money market fund which, by the way, is only paying me .01% at this time. Like Midpack I prefer doing most of my business on line. fido, however, will not let you remove more than $100,000 on line without talking to a rep......they will, however, let you invest over $100,000 without talking to a rep. I had a substantial real estate sale this year and needed to send my favorite Uncle a check for over 100k........impossible to do without talking to a live person who wants to ask you "why" you're removing the money from your account......apologize, again, for sounding off.......but, they wasted a couple hours of my time just to give me my money.

 

[Alan]

Like Midpack I prefer doing most of my business on line. fido, however, will not let you remove more than $100,000 on line without talking to a rep......

That sounds like an understandable security check. Maybe you can sign some document that says fido are not in anyway responsible for online fraud on your accounts.

 

[Options]

There are undoubtedly some unusual exceptions, but I can't remember any transaction that can't be done online.

Precisely. What. Pizzas. Me. Off. I can't do it all effortlessly online.

I cringe when someone's going to provide me with "service" because it's usually not as good as i could have done myself anyway. I'm a totally self-service individual and if i could do all of this myself i would (to eliminate the very problems i'm encountering now). unfortunately, in order to consolidate my holdings to VG i need what is referred to as the current (highly substandard) "concierge service banghead" they're providing me in order to do it.

i will be kicking ashtray with VG next week if this doesn't get resolved. i have much better things to do with my time. [end of rant]

 

[pb4uski]

....Then, if I want to withdraw funds I get asked why and, frankly, it just isn't their business. ...

+1 I guess that I wouldn't mind having to do transactions over a certain amount by phone rather than on line, but I would not put up with having to give them a reason why. Like you say, none of their damn business. It would only happen once for me and then I would tell them if it ever happens again they will have a good sized account walking out the door to another service provider.

 

[jerome len]

That sounds like an understandable security check. Maybe you can sign some document that says fido are not in anyway responsible for online fraud on your accounts.

I don't mind security checks......they do that as well and I appreciate it. My challenge is asking me "why" I'm asking for my own money. whenever you call fido you will go through a thorough security check prior to any discussion about your account. That's appropriate and appreciated.

 

[REWahoo]

If I was a FIDO customer (I'm not) and was asked "why do you want to withdraw the money", my answer would be the same every time: NYDB.

 

[Sarah in SC]

I have never heard of Schwab asking someone why they wanted to move money. Ever. It is their money to do with what they choose.

 

[Midpack]

I have never heard of Schwab asking someone why they wanted to move money. Ever. It is their money to do with what they choose.

Fidelity never challenged me either in the 15 or so years I was with them. Not even when I abruptly moved my entire portfolio to Vanguard. They called once and asked if there was anything they could do to change my mind. I politely said 'no' and they thanked me for my (past) business. It was a 1 minute call at most. Just one data point FWIW...

 

[In-control]

I thought that it was 1 million for the plan to be free but that might have changed. As a Flagship member you get a bunch of things at deep discounts or free. Some of them not listed, like free checking. I enjoy my discussion with the VG financial planner each year. They are honest, don't try to sell me anything or skimp on time.

They also told me last year, based on the information I had given them, that I could retire. Since I was 50 it was the first person in that industry that said that.

Additionally I have $ in Fidelity Spartan index funds and they have never told me to transfer them. So they they get big points in my mind for that.

Their are not many people that you can talk to about this subject - as most seem to think that your not serious or just bragging.