Vanguard to be or...?

[wanaberetiree]

I have majority of my accounts in Schwab and a smaller portion (~10%) in Fidelity.

Now I am thinking about getting rid of one of my targeted MF (in Schwab) and buying Vanguard Wellington Admiral Fund (BTW Admiral shares are not available thru Schwab).

The dilemma - should I open a new account with Vanguard and "diversify" my accounts or not?

Is vanguard "better" then Schwab or Fidelity? (for example tools and calculators - does Vanguard do a good job with them?)

Any input is highly appreciated!!!

PS: I do understand that this is not a big deal, but wanted to poll this forum for any type of experiences with brokerages.

 

[tgotch]

I used Schwab for several years during my performance chasing days....

I "saw the light" a few years ago, and put all my money into VG funds through Schwab.

When I saw VG lower their admiral shares threshold, it was a no brainer. I transferred all my funds over from CS to VG to take advantage of the admiral shares. I was told by the VG guy that all my eligible funds would automatically transfer to admiral. Didn't happen, and took me several calls to get them to complete this, but they are now admiral.

I am still learning VG, but I think CS has some better tools for trading...but I don't buy/sell much anymore, so I don't need all those tools.

I still have my CS account, may throw some play money into it in the future if I get the itch to trade some stocks...

 

[wanaberetiree]

I used Schwab for several years during my performance chasing days....

I "saw the light" a few years ago, and put all my money into VG funds through Schwab.

When I saw VG lower their admiral shares threshold, it was a no brainer. I transferred all my funds over from CS to VG to take advantage of the admiral shares. I was told by the VG guy that all my eligible funds would automatically transfer to admiral. Didn't happen, and took me several calls to get them to complete this, but they are now admiral.

I am still learning VG, but I think CS has some better tools for trading...but I don't buy/sell much anymore, so I don't need all those tools.

I still have my CS account, may throw some play money into it in the future if I get the itch to trade some stocks...

Thx. Did you get any charges from CS for closing accounts?
Does VG have any account fees?

 

[tgotch]

If I recall correctly, I think CS charged $40-$50 for the transfers. I don't recall any fees from VG.

 

[Midpack]

IMO your choosing from among the best, so it's personal preference.

I once had all my money with Fidelity, when I traded individual stocks and active mutual funds I think it was the best choice - and probably still is.

When I started to move to index funds, I moved all my money to Vanguard, they're better in that arena (more offerings and lower expenses). I am almost all index funds now, and no individual stocks FWIW.

My 401k is currently with Schwab, and I have been pleased with their service.

I won't comment on multiple brokers. All my money is with Vanguard and I sleep fine at night, those discussions have been talked about in other threads.

So I'd say they are all good, depends on what you want.

 

[wanaberetiree]

Another consideration would be - convenience and ease (or otherwise) of managing multiple accounts with different brokerages and asset classes across them. Is anybody doing this?

 

[LOL!]

It's funny sad, but you cannot buy Vanguard Wellington or even Vanguard Wellesley at Vanguard Brokerage, so I do not know why you are trying to compare brokerages.

We have accounts at Vanguard, WellsFargo, TIAA-CREF, Fidelity, and TDAmeritrade. It is trivial to manage all the accounts because most of them are in "set-and-forget" mode and never need looking at. All assets are entered in the M* portfolio manager online and in MSMoney on the home hard disk. Neither of these care which vendors the actual assets are located at.

If I had to pick only one vendor, I would choose WellsFargo because it is totally free and one can purchase Vanguard funds there without commission.

 

[wanaberetiree]

It's funny sad, but you cannot buy Vanguard Wellington or even Vanguard Wellesley at Vanguard Brokerage

I am not sure I understand this - Wellington and Wellesley are closed funds?

 

[LOL!]

No, there is Vanguard Brokerage Services which won't sell anyone any Vanguard funds, and there is Vanguard Mutual funds which is not a brokerage.

The only brokerage that offers both Vanguard Wellington and Wellesley Admiral share classes for no commission is WellsFargo. You can also buy them with no commission directly from the mutual fund company as well.

 

[W2R]

Just go to Vanguard and open up an account, and buy the Admiral shares of Wellington that you had in mind. I think you'll be very happy with Vanguard.

 

[clifp]

I have majority of my accounts in Schwab and a smaller portion (~10%) in Fidelity.

Now I am thinking about getting rid of one of my targeted MF (in Schwab) and buying Vanguard Wellington Admiral Fund (BTW Admiral shares are not available thru Schwab).

The dilemma - should I open a new account with Vanguard and "diversify" my accounts or not?

Is vanguard "better" then Schwab or Fidelity? (for example tools and calculators - does Vanguard do a good job with them?)

Any input is highly appreciated!!!

PS: I do understand that this is not a big deal, but wanted to poll this forum for any type of experiences with brokerages.

About 5 or 6 years ago I moved my Vanguard GNMA from Schwab to Vanguard for the same reason Schwab didn't offer Admirality funds. I told Vanguard what I wanted to do they had me fill out some paperwork, a week or two later the funds were moved. I did a conversion to Admiral funds (this is NOT a taxable event BTW). In the whole process nobody charged me a dime.


Vanguard has the lowest cost mutual funds but I think Schwab has better tools. (I have not bother to learn Fidelity's). Basically if you are going to only buy mutual funds or ETFs I think moving everything to Vanguard makes the most sense. If you plan making individual stock or bonds I think Schwab is better. Both Schwab and Vanguard offer you tools to combine portfolios. IMO Vanguard is better for use on a daily basis, but Schwab monthly portfolio analysis is terrific for giving you a bigger picture view.

 

[wanaberetiree]

Thank you all!
Will Quicken have any troubles connecting to VG?

 

[Keim]

Doesn't for me.