I recently received a letter and packet from Vanguard stating that my linked checking account that I use to purchase funds will be deleted unless I complete the packet that requires notarized signatures from both account owners.
I am curious as to why they are suddenly requiring this even though I have been regularly transferring money into the account. The account has been active and used for many years. Weird.
Has anyone else received this letter recently?
When I received that letter, I thought it applied to an active account link. It turned out that my letter applied to a "never verified" account associated with my wife's IRA. Apparently they used to send out PIN letters to verify accounts, and my wife never entered the PIN they sent. Now Vanguard is doing away with sending PIN letters and the associated UI for entering the PINs on their website.
I called my Vanguard rep, and the "workaround" to avoid needing notarized signatures was to delete the never verified account and then create a brand new link to the exact same account I had just deleted. Vanguard verified the newly linked account "the new way" by making two deposits into the account, each less than a dollar. After the deposits were made, I went to the Vanguard website and entered their size to verify the account. All done on the web, no US Postal Service involved, except for the eventual acknowledgement letter.
Go to the Vanguard Website and drill down to:
- My Portfolio
- Account Profile
- Bank Information
I suspect that besides your active account, you will see a never verified account. Just use the "Delete" link to get rid of it. Then use the "Add a new bank" button to add it back if you really wanted it. The details of the verification portion is described by a "Message" that they automatically send you which you will read on their website.
Clearly they are not handling the transition from PIN based verification as smoothly as they might. I had to actually TALK to a Vanguard rep ON THE PHONE. It was [-]horrible[/-] not that bad actually.
