Another Vanguard problem

Texas Proud said:
I normally do have her there... but she was out shopping and I thought it would be really easy to talk about the $25 fee they charged... but found out they want to charge another $25 fee since she was not converted to e-delivery... and I cannot change that without her...


I have had too many problems with Vanguard the last few years... my 35 years with them are coming to an end sometime next year ...
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If you find that V doesn't meet your needs, by all means, find a company that does. I'm just surprised you would switch because you have to have your DW there when you wish to change her accounts. My gut tells me the other companies will have similar demands though I don't know that for a fact. And what ever irritating issues V has, I'm guessing other "houses" will have different ones - though I don't know for a fact.

I'm still a little PO'd with V about the fees or forcing a switch (which turned out to be a 10 or 15 minute call for all my accounts - and then handing the phone to DW for hers.) It's not what I actually wanted. But the hassle of moving all those accounts to a company I have yet to research provides enough inertia that I won't be doing it. Who knows, they might be WORSE!:facepalm:

Please let us know where you land and how it all w*rks out for you and if they let you handle your DW's accounts without her being present. Heh, heh, my Big Sis (the radical feminist) wouldn't use a company that allowed a spouse to change her accounts - not that she actually has a spouse.:LOL:

Thanks and best of luck.:flowers:
 
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I found the switch from the legacy accounts to the new brokerage accounts to be fast and painless. Go with e-delivery, and back up statements to the cloud. Safer than having paper statements mailed and stored at the house. Really, I don't understand what all the fuss is about! Every company has issues. Vanguard's are minor.
 
FYI Fidelity does not charge you to mail your statements for any type of account.
 
Gumby said:
You appear to have your mind made up, but this may be helpful to others:

I have "access" to my young wife's accounts and I do all of the portfolio transactions for the two of us. However, if it involves a transaction for her accounts, I always sign in to Vanguard with her login credentials, just to avoid this situation. I also know from the very rare times I have dealt with Vanguard on the phone that, if it involves her accounts, they want her to be on the call. I think the limits on what I can do as someone with "access" to her accounts and the requirement that she be on calls are prudent measures to protect her interests.
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That's odd. DH and I have complete control over all accounts, Roths, tIRA, trust, and stocks without each other's online approval. We had to get some forms notarized and sent snail mail to VG but he can do anything without me and visa versa. Now, the risk is one of us setting up an account in some obscure bank and emptying the whole thing. But we trust each other:)
 
Koolau said:
If you find that V doesn't meet your needs, by all means, find a company that does. I'm just surprised you would switch because you have to have your DW there when you wish to change her accounts. My gut tells me the other companies will have similar demands though I don't know that for a fact. And what ever irritating issues V has, I'm guessing other "houses" will have different ones - though I don't know for a fact.

I'm still a little PO'd with V about the fees or forcing a switch (which turned out to be a 10 or 15 minute call for all my accounts - and then handing the phone to DW for hers.) It's not what I actually wanted. But the hassle of moving all those accounts to a company I have yet to research provides enough inertia that I won't be doing it. Who knows, they might be WORSE!:facepalm:

Please let us know where you land and how it all w*rks out for you and if they let you handle your DW's accounts without her being present. Heh, heh, my Big Sis (the radical feminist) wouldn't use a company that allowed a spouse to change her accounts - not that she actually has a spouse.:LOL:

Thanks and best of luck.:flowers:
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Thanks for your thoughts.... it is not just this... I have had problems off and on with V for the last 2 years... and very few have they resolved them in a way I would say is right..


I am sure that I will have problems at other brokers... but V has been frustrating me and so far the others have not... also, the others seem to value me as an investor which I do not feel that V does... I have an assigned person to handle my account... V got rid of that MANY years ago... I think I have enough assets there that I could have an assigned person...


I know that many people still sing their praises for V... more power to you... if they do what you want then stay with them... I am keeping my sister's account there as we do nothing except for IRA distributions... so no need to move..
 
Rianne said:
That's odd. DH and I have complete control over all accounts, Roths, tIRA, trust, and stocks without each other's online approval. We had to get some forms notarized and sent snail mail to VG but he can do anything without me and visa versa. Now, the risk is one of us setting up an account in some obscure bank and emptying the whole thing. But we trust each other:)
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See if you can change the mailing address or the email address of an account... that is the latest that I could not do...


Previously I could not convert her MF account to a brokerage account..


I could do everything else that I had tried...
 
Texas Proud said:
See if you can change the mailing address or the email address of an account... that is the latest that I could not do...


Previously I could not convert her MF account to a brokerage account..


I could do everything else that I had tried...
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We haven't changed either in over 10 years. With security the way it is, I'd imagine you'd have to jump through hoops to do that. Looks like you have to have plan approval through the administrator.https://retirementplans.vanguard.co... plan allows address,have not done so already.
 
I know this is a different topic but still under Vanguard Problems..........I printed my 12/31/23 Statements over the weekend. I just looked at the starting balances online and several of the investments have changed values.
VTIAX was 31.08 per share on the statement and now it is 31.13.
VIMAX was 289.51 per share on the statement and now it is 288.07.
VSMAX was 103.34 per share on the statement and now it is 102.19.
I just went to review the statements online and Vanguard is saying that the statements will be delayed till January 8th.
This lowered my market value by about 15K. Did anyone else see these changes?
I think there was an error in striking the NAVs for 12/31/23?
 
Some folks on Bogleheads were complaining that some MF prices were not recorded until late.

I looked to see what my RMD would be in 2024 and a message said numbers wouldn't be updated until 8 January.

So I got my dusty calculator out.
 
I was actually able to download 4 12/31/23 statements but then lost access before I was able to download my children's UGMA accounts. Now there are no statements on the website.
 
Koolau said:
I can't get a printer to w*rk longer than a few months. Ink IS EXPENSIVE! I'm sure some folks find using a printer to be relatively cheap and their printers reliable. I do not.

Charge me Vanguard (and I'll whine) but send me my hard copies!
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I ditched my ink jet printer years ago and got a laser printer. The cartridges last a long long time!
 
OnTheBeach said:
I was actually able to download 4 12/31/23 statements but then lost access before I was able to download my children's UGMA accounts. Now there are no statements on the website.
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I just tried logging on 1/2/24 2:45PM MST and received a message that statements wouldn't be available until January 8, and that they are updating their performance metrics.

I had no problems downloading December statements from Fidelity and Schwab. Yet another reason I'm switching to Fidelity this month.
 
I'm finding the latest VG fumbles both amusing and concerning. On the bright side my 94 yo mom's extremely conservative accounts are showing a 15% return. She's happy. I know better. I downloaded year end statements for her and now find that they have disappeared from the website. Since I also shop at Walmart I realize there are compromises when low cost is the prime objective. The problem is that Vanguard currently has little or no competitive advantage.
 
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foxfirev5 said:
I'm finding the latest VG fumbles both amusing and concerning. On the bright side my 94 yo mom's extremely conservative accounts are showing a 15% return. She's happy. I know better. I downloaded year end statements for her and now find that they have disappeared from the website. Since I also shop at Walmart I realize there are compromises when low cost is the prime objective. The problem is that Vanguard currently has little or no competitive advantage.
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And I think you hit the nail on the head... they used to have a big competitive advantage over everybody else... not any longer...


When I actually saved money by being there I could overlook the various fumbles and lack of service that VG had, but now that I save nothing with them over FIDO or Schwab I want to have good service...


I can still own their funds and buy their ETFs if I want but get better service elsewhere...


Now just waiting for a good cash offer for moving...
 
Can't log in on my laptop. Worked fine 2 weeks ago. Called VG, and 45 minutes later - after trying a large number of fixes - still cannot. The rep will put in a ticket. Get this....5-7 business days before they can look at it.

So, 5-7 business days with no account access.

Yeah, after 20+ years, I'm done.
 
HarveyS said:
Can't log in on my laptop. Worked fine 2 weeks ago. Called VG, and 45 minutes later - after trying a large number of fixes - still cannot. The rep will put in a ticket. Get this....5-7 business days before they can look at it.

So, 5-7 business days with no account access.

Yeah, after 20+ years, I'm done.
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I can log in. So must be something you are doing wrong :confused:

Can you login with something else (since you specified laptop doesn't login) ?
 
Thanks for the confirmation that you can log in. Yeah, could be something I'm doing different / wrong. I can access some of my accounts on the app on my phone - but not all. And I cannot trade (wanting to buy) in a Roth account that I can access on the phone.
 
HarveyS said:
So, 5-7 business days with no account access.

Yeah, after 20+ years, I'm done.
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It may just be a problem with your operating system or browser, or even whether your computer has the proper security features. I've had no problems. I'm using Windows 11, and keep it up to date. I had to finally replace my iPhone 6 two years ago (with the 13) when the operating system was no longer secure enough to run financial apps!
 
HarveyS said:
Can't log in on my laptop. Worked fine 2 weeks ago. Called VG, and 45 minutes later - after trying a large number of fixes - still cannot. The rep will put in a ticket. Get this....5-7 business days before they can look at it.

So, 5-7 business days with no account access.

Yeah, after 20+ years, I'm done.
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I had been with Vanguard for 23 years and finally transferred all the funds to Fidelity in the last week. Even when Fidelity did an in-kind transfer from Vanguard to Fidelity, they locked some stock shares from transferring, so I had to call them again so they would remove the lock on the account. Sad that their customer service over the past 5 years drove me away for good. Fidelity, on the other hand, contacted me multiple times during this transfer to provide updated status, and I have a direct number I can call to reach the same local advisor.
 
i pulled everything from vanguard …they stink

First vanguard sold us on how anyone can get the results of the pros simply by indexing .

Then they got into promoting their managed accounts and they released a study that said no we can’t .

Investor behavior is doing most of us harm .

Then they got into trust mgmt and deleted all our beneficiaries from joint accounts .

They told us we would be better served with trusts .. WRONG .

I don’t need a trust ,so I pulled our money .

Then the grand pappy of do it yourself indexing was promoting their actively managed funds as superior in advertisements ..

I won’t even go in to their poor customer service and the way reps handle or rather lack of handling of calls.

While I do use vanguard etfs I will not give vanguard any money to handle directly
 
This morning, it took me 5 attempts to log into Fidelity. Received some message that said they could not accommodate my request at this time, try again later. I suspect they have a capacity issue. This has happened many times in the past.


Since bashing Vanguard seems to be common on this board, I thought I'd point out that other brokerages also have issues from time to time. And I've never had an issue logging into Vanguard.
 
RE2Boys said:
This morning, it took me 5 attempts to log into Fidelity. Received some message that said they could not accommodate my request at this time, try again later. I suspect they have a capacity issue. This has happened many times in the past.


Since bashing Vanguard seems to be common on this board, I thought I'd point out that other brokerages also have issues from time to time. And I've never had an issue logging into Vanguard.
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i was logged in to fidelity off and on all morning , no issues
 
I use Vanguard and Schwab for my accounts and Fidelity for DGF's accounts, all for over 30 years. Used Schwab to manage my DM's accounts while she was alive.

I have no preference of any one over the others. They all work fine for me.
 
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