Vanguard Perk Levels

[Bikerdude]

What 'perks' does Vanguard offer on balances of $500,000 and more?

My Schwab account offers free research reports, lower trade costs and free ATM withdrawals.

 

[LOL!]

Practically everybody gives free ATM withdrawals, free research, and free trades.
Vanguard gives you a free boilerplate financial plan.

 

[dmpi]

What 'perks' does Vanguard offer on balances of $500,000 and more?

My Schwab account offers free research reports, lower trade costs and free ATM withdrawals.

If you got enough in Schwab, they will assign you your own Financial Consultant who will sometime call you up and offer free golf tickets, shows, etc. That's one of my big motivations to get richer... I want to see if the perks get better!

 

[megacorp-firee]

If you got enough in Schwab, they will assign you your own Financial Consultant who will sometime call you up and offer free golf tickets, shows, etc. That's one of my big motivations to get richer... I want to see if the perks get better!

What are the clip levels before you start getting these perks?

 

[brewer12345]

If you got enough in Schwab, they will assign you your own Financial Consultant who will sometime call you up and offer free golf tickets, shows, etc. That's one of my big motivations to get richer... I want to see if the perks get better!

Any clue what asset level they start giving you this treatment at?

 

[saluki9]

For retail accounts this starts at $500K (total household) but doesn't really get to anything special until you pass $1M

 

[dmpi]

For retail accounts this starts at $500K (total household) but doesn't really get to anything special until you pass $1M

This is correct. I think it starts around $1M.

 

[LOL!]

I have found that getting a "personal" advisor is not that helpful. They tend to call you with "deals" that they have. Deals that you don't want to be involved with.

One perk that is very helpful though: With enough money in your account, you do not have to pay a fee to transfer assets "in kind" out of your account or to close your account.

 

[brewer12345]

For retail accounts this starts at $500K (total household) but doesn't really get to anything special until you pass $1M

OK, so when I get to $1MM, the butt-kissing starts in earnest.

 

[dmpi]

I have found that getting a "personal" advisor is not that helpful. They tend to call you with "deals" that they have. Deals that you don't want to be involved with.

I never get the call about stock "deals". They just call me up every now and then and chat about stock and the market. What they really want is for you to let them manage your money. They have this nice way of saying "we can do better than you", lets us have at it.

 

[youbet]

I never get the call about stock "deals". They just call me up every now and then and chat about stock and the market. What they really want is for you to let them manage your money. They have this nice way of saying "we can do better than you", lets us have at it.

That's my experience with Schwab as well. My so-called "personal advisor" is well aware that I'm not interested in advisory services, so instead of invitations to fancy dinners at five star restaurants where that subject is brought up, he just gives us $100 American Express gift cards and we go to the restaurant without the help of a "personal advisor."

The guy assigned to us is actually quite helpful/knowledgible. The office is just down the street and being RE, I usually have some reason and the time to make an appointment and stop in and dump some issues for him to solve two or three times a year.

You do have to be up front and frank with these folks to be sure you get what you want for the higher fees (than Vanguard or Fidelity) that you pay. They know that for me:
1. No sales pitches
2. Handle chores/requests in person, free, accurately, promptly and with a smile. Be accurate and correct the first time, everytime.
3. Pass out perks to partially offset the higher fees.

BTW, for me, the higher costs are the commissions I pay ($9.95) to buy ETF's. Because Schwab's commissions for MF's not on their "no fee list" are high, and Vanguard funds are not on their "no fee list," I do suffer the inconvenience of owning VTI instead of VTSMX, etc.

 

[Culture]

I have considerably more than $1M with Vanguard, and I can assure you the only perk I get is lower fees on my investments. I supposedly have a personal account representative, but I have never heard from him/her. I am happy with this situation, as I would rather spend (or not spend) my money directly as opposed to having it returned in the form of enticements.

 

[winnie]

I have considerably more than $1M with Vanguard, and I can assure you the only perk I get is lower fees on my investments. I supposedly have a personal account representative, but I have never heard from him/her. I am happy with this situation, as I would rather spend (or not spend) my money directly as opposed to having it returned in the form of enticements.

I agree. No annoying calls from Vanguard.

But there are a few other perks if you have "flagship" status (over $1M) -- 10 free stock trades a year and then very low fees on subsequent trades (about $9, in think). Also a no-fee visa/debit card and free checking account with bill pay, if you want it.

winnie

 

[Nords]

Fidelity will offer perks based on either total assets (so you can have spouse accounts considered along with yours in the asset total) or number of trades. If you trade like a hyperactive bunny then they treat you as if you're making them a millionaire.

They seem pretty lenient about membership. Once you're in there's considerable leeway on assets under managment or number of trades. You have to really flunk out to be ejected.

Free billpay, dedicated phone number to the same team answering without a hold queue, free research, IPO allocations, and (ta-daaaaa!) client appreciation dinners.

It's a bit weird to call them and say "Hi, this is Nords. Do you need my account number or are you bringing it up from my caller ID phone number?" and having them say "Oh, hi, Mr. Nords, we know who you are. What can we do for you?!?" Goes right to my head every time.

They're offering a free personalized retirement plan. I'm looking forward to it!

 

[terminator]

According to their website, you must put $500k (of the $1MM) in Vanguard's funds to be "Flagship" and get the 12 free trades and then $8 trades. If you don't then you are "Voyager" and pay $22.50 per trade. That's why I ended up at Fido.

 

[LOL!]

If we were going for cheapest trades, then something like WellsFargo is the place to be. I like the fact that when I make a trade for free, a little message pops up and says, "Thanks LOL!, your commission has been charged to another customer who doesn't have as high a balance as you do." [just kidding]

OTOH, TDAmeritrade sends out free flashlight/toolkits and free golf clubs every now and then. But they also send you a 1099DIV for the gold clubs.

The landscape of brokers, their fees and their perks seems to change monthly, so what was the best then, is not the best now, and may not be the best in the future.

 

[justin]

But they also send you a 1099DIV for the gold clubs.

I wouldn't mind getting 1099'ed for receiving a bunch of gold clubs. Just how many trades does one have to make before receiving gold clubs?

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

OK, so when I get to $1MM, the butt-kissing starts in earnest.

I wonder how much you have to throw in there to get a full on butt Brunsky?

 

[tlockwood]

If you have $1M or more in Vanguard they will do a financial plan for you for free. I decided to try this out. You fill out a form online and set up an appointment to speak with a financial advisor for about 45 minutes. One week before the appointment they will send me the financial plan. Vanguard uses fee-only advisors, no commisions, so hopefully he won't try to sell me anything.

This financial plan costs $1,000 if you have a low balance.

Until I see plan and have my meeting with the financial advisor, it is hard to know how much this is worth.

 

[megacorp-firee]

Until I see plan and have my meeting with the financial advisor, it is hard to know how much this is worth.

It will be interesting to get your report back on this. Please post the results when you have had the meeting.

 

[Bikerdude]

Free billpay, dedicated phone number to the same team answering without a hold queue, free research, IPO allocations, and (ta-daaaaa!) client appreciation dinners.

Schwab offers the above minus the dinners at the $500K mark. What's the level at Fido?

 

[Nords]

Schwab offers the above minus the dinners at the $500K mark. What's the level at Fido?

Here's Fidelity's full fee schedule:
http://personal.fidelity.com/accounts/pdf/FBS-BKCOMMSCHED-0105.pdf

We weaseled in under the frequent-trader perk but the $$$ threshold is either $50K (doubtful) or $1M (probably) totaled among all accounts.

Looks like Billpay is part of having any Fidelity account, with no minimums required.

 

[LOL!]

If you have $1M or more in Vanguard they will do a financial plan for you for free. I

They will do this if you deposit $100K with them all at once or if you have $250K with them. You do not need to have $1M with them. Maybe they will give you 4 plans with $1M?

 

[tlockwood]

Your right about the amounts neede to get a free financial plan. I remembered it incorrectly.

 

[Jeb-NY]

I'm currently only Voyager level because I haven't moved all my 401K money in yet. I'm new to VG so I may have just hit them on a few bad days but I noticed if you go in cold on their regular number you get into a big phone tree and a long que. When I call the special Voyager number I got a short phone tree and a very short que. Last time I made these calls back to back because I didn't take the time to look up the Voyager number till after I was in the que. That is a big perk as far as I'm concerned.

Jeb