Thoughts on Vanguard

[MRG]

Quote:

Originally Posted by aza455 Can you link/point to the “no hack” guarantee statement by Vanguard and Fidelity?

Here's a link to Vanguard's.


https://personal.vanguard.com/us/hel...dgeContent.jsp

[Sunset]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jim584672 Vanguard is a joke. Web site is way out of date and clunky. They ban the inverse and leveraged ETFs from trades. Get a real broker.

All sorts of different investment firms are better than others at different things.
Vanguard is great for buy and hold investors or people wanting to do infrequent trades.

The website works well enough.

I also have used 5 other brokerages, my philosophy is pick which brokerage works best for what you want or the account you want.

[Whisper66]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jim584672 Vanguard is a joke......

Guess a lot of people like the Vanguard "joke". Among the best (in my opinion) choices for the DYI investor, the Assets under management (from simple google inquiry) are:
Vanguard $5.6 Trillion
Fidelity $2.46 Trillon
Schwab $3.25 Trillion

FWIW - I'm a relatively simple investor with index funds and a few stocks. I make trades just a few times a year. I've had Vanguard accounts for many years and never had a problem with them. In recent years have moved accounts from two other companies to Vanguard because of good VG experience. I personally find the web site easy to use and I make all my trades through it. I've also had very good service from VG reps when I called for things such as consolidating accounts into my VG accounts. I've never had Fidelity or Schwab accounts but hear equally good things about them. If I had any issues with Vanguard, they would be the ones I looked into.

[RE2Boys]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jim584672 Vanguard is a joke. Web site is way out of date and clunky. They ban the inverse and leveraged ETFs from trades. Get a real broker.

Unfortunately, all the times I used a real broker, the broker concentrated on lining his pockets at my expense

[prudent_one]

Vanguard has served me well for over a decade. I have a little at Fidelity as well, no problems there either. I believe Schwab would have worked fine also. My needs are ultra-simple. The website isn't flashy but it does what I need. I recognize others would want more things which they might get from Fidelity and/or Schwab. There's no one-size-fits-all answer.

The great thing is that it's relatively easy to move accounts and if someone's first choice isn't working out, you're not stuck with it forever. There are plenty of people who say VG stinks/use Fidelity and plenty who say the opposite (and throw Schwab into the mix as well) based on their own experiences.

Needs are different. I have told her to move everything to Fidelity if something happens to me, and the reason is that they have a local office. I know that will be better for her, to be able to sit down with someone face to face.
I will point out Vanguard has never tried to upsell me and Fidelity has. But when I told Fidelity never to call me again, they have complied.

[Helen]

Quote:

Originally Posted by prudent_one I will point out Vanguard has never tried to upsell me and Fidelity has. But when I told Fidelity never to call me again, they have complied.

I met with a Fido rep once to have some Vanguard accounts moved to Fidelity. The guy kept pushing what he called an index fund, but he wouldn't give me the ticker. I wasted an hour with him then several emails before I realized he was trying to push me into an AUM account. I sent a very angry email to the branch manager.

[braumeister]

I think all of them have bad apples (pushy, ill-informed, or both) among their employees, but they are a very small percentage of these high quality companies. Vanguard, Fidelity, and Schwab have all given me good service, within their respective competencies, over many years.

I personally rank Vanguard last in that group, simply because they are relatively inflexible in some areas and also because they have a fairly primitive website operation compared to the other two. Vanguard also made a couple of things very difficult for me some years ago, and as a result I moved everything I had with them over to Fidelity and Schwab.

I can do some things easier on the Fidelity website and other things easier on the Schwab website, so they each have pros and cons for me. Both Fidelity and Schwab have local offices I can get to with about a 20 minute drive, so that's another big plus for them.

I will also say that I still own a fair amount of Vanguard products, in the form of ETFs, at Fidelity. It's important to distinguish between their products and their service.

[fisemper]

I went ahead and started the process of setting up a vanguard account. I didn't realize they estimate 4-6 weeks to transfer. I now have to overnight the paperwork (which should be done online in the digital age) or wait until the USAA/Schwab deal is done this month and redo all the paperwork. I've tried to search out the same similar funds on Scwhab and as of now I don't like it. I think Vanguard is much easier.


Also, just a quirk, but does Schwab force investors to have a 2-step login via their phone? This is forced on by Vanguard and for me, this is a big disadvantage since I do travel frequently and am without a cell a good portion of my time. I understand the minimal need to login, but at some point I will need to do so and will not because of this.

[target2019]

Quote:

Originally Posted by fisemper I went ahead and started the process of setting up a vanguard account. I didn't realize they estimate 4-6 weeks to transfer. I now have to overnight the paperwork (which should be done online in the digital age) or wait until the USAA/Schwab deal is done this month and redo all the paperwork. I've tried to search out the same similar funds on Scwhab and as of now I don't like it. I think Vanguard is much easier. Also, just a quirk, but does Schwab force investors to have a 2-step login via their phone? This is forced on by Vanguard and for me, this is a big disadvantage since I do travel frequently and am without a cell a good portion of my time. I understand the minimal need to login, but at some point I will need to do so and will not because of this.

I think at this point all responsible financial companies use 2FA. I use a hardware token provided by Schwab, whereas wife uses text to her phone.

What are the funds you're trying to match. You do realize the USAA funds will transfer, and finding lower-cost equivalanets isn't an immediate need?

Good luck with the transfer. As previously mentioned, we're letting things transfer, then making decisions later.

[MRG]

Quote:

Originally Posted by aza455 Can you link/point to the “no hack” guarantee statement by Vanguard and Fidelity?

https://personal.vanguard.com/us/help/SecurityOnlineFraudPledgeContent.jsp

I thought I had posted this
Apologies.

[fisemper]

Quote:

Originally Posted by target2019 I use a hardware token provided by Schwab

I think this would work

Quote:

Originally Posted by target2019 What are the funds you're trying to match. You do realize the USAA funds will transfer, and finding lower-cost equivalanets isn't an immediate need?

The match is more about being able to find them. I was reading the boglehead info over the weekend and they already do that. It was the Schwab search method, whereas on Vanguard it's all up front without searching, just going down the list. Also, the only USAA related anything I own is the High Yield in the roth. I've used my account mostly for individual stocks, which I am trying not to do much of.

[Rianne]

I found this:


https://personal.vanguard.com/us/hel...dgeContent.jsp


I was concerned as well.

[target2019]

Quote:

Originally Posted by fisemper I think this would work The match is more about being able to find them. I was reading the boglehead info over the weekend and they already do that. It was the Schwab search method, whereas on Vanguard it's all up front without searching, just going down the list. Also, the only USAA related anything I own is the High Yield in the roth. I've used my account mostly for individual stocks, which I am trying not to do much of.

Schwab OneSource is where you start. MF or ETF, and so on.

I think I understand now that you have individual stocks and want to sell, and go with a broad ETF or MF. ETFs are here:
https://www.schwab.wallst.com/Prospe...schwabETFs.asp

Maybe SCHB is one possibility.

[OldShooter]

Quote:

Originally Posted by fisemper ... Also, just a quirk, but does Schwab force investors to have a 2-step login via their phone? This is forced on by Vanguard and for me, this is a big disadvantage since I do travel frequently and am without a cell a good portion of my time. I understand the minimal need to login, but at some point I will need to do so and will not because of this.

Yes, Schwab has a two-step login. Once you have done the dance, though, they store a cookie and the login becomes one-step. I have my browser clear cookies when it is closed, so I end up back with the 2-step login fairly frequently. Here are the options they offer:

[OldShooter]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rianne I found this: https://personal.vanguard.com/us/help/SecurityOnlineFraudPledgeContent.jsp ...

Hmmm ... lot of fine print. Schwab's is simpler:

"Schwab will cover 100% of any losses in any of your Schwab accounts due to unauthorized activity."

More here: https://www.schwab.com/schwabsafe/security-guarantee

[Whisper66]

Quote:

Originally Posted by fisemper .....Also, just a quirk, but does Schwab force investors to have a 2-step login via their phone? This is forced on by Vanguard and for me, this is a big disadvantage since I do travel frequently and am without a cell a good portion of my time. I understand the minimal need to login, but at some point I will need to do so and will not because of this.

Not recommending this but If you wish to login with your personal computer at Vanguard, you can do that without 2FA authentication. It just takes one logon with 2FA authentication and identifying the computer as “trusted”. Future logins do not require 2FA authentication then.

[lordjust]

Quote:

Originally Posted by target2019 OP hasn't stated they are wanting to buy Wellington or Wellesley, unless I've overlooked something. Schwab and Fidelity offer both funds, I believe. But the buy will cost you. I jst checked this at Schwab, and Wellesley is available, but Wellington is closed for now. Assuming OP has a taxable brokerage, W & W may not be the best fit in their case. Other Vanguard funds and ETFs have equivalent choices at Fidelity or Schwab. There've been long threads about choosing between Vanguard, Fidelity, and Schwab. If OP mentions their holdings, responses may make more sense.

I was responding to oldshooters comment
"You can buy Vanguard funds at Schwab and Fido, sometimes with a small transaction fee. If you are buy and hold as we are it is completely negligible. So wanting VG funds doesn't need to sway your choice of a broker. VG may not have as broad a fund offering as Schwab and Fido, but you should check as I am guessing."

[OldShooter]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Whisper66 Not recommending this but If you wish to login with your personal computer at Vanguard, you can do that without 2FA authentication. It just takes one logon with 2FA authentication and identifying the computer as “trusted”. Future logins do not require 2FA authentication then.

Sounds like the same as Schwab -- a cookie. So if you clear cookies for general security as I do, you'll be back to 2 factors with VG too. Not a big deal IMO.

[IMATERP]

Quote:

Originally Posted by lordjust I was responding to oldshooters comment "You can buy Vanguard funds at Schwab and Fido, sometimes with a small transaction fee. If you are buy and hold as we are it is completely negligible. So wanting VG funds doesn't need to sway your choice of a broker. VG may not have as broad a fund offering as Schwab and Fido, but you should check as I am guessing."

Actually, the “transaction fees are negotiable.” I currently am with TD Ameritrade (which was bought out by Schwab) and I am able to purchase Out of Network funds for $16.95 each as opposed to $75 Fidelity charges.). Thus, I can purchase Wellesley or Wellesley Global for $16.95.

I

[fisemper]

Lots of good options. I do delete all cookies when exiting so I will always have to do 2FA when I login. I'm just going to have to live with this part.

One reason I wanted to stay with VG is while looking at the fees they have several non VG funds without transaction fees where Schwab still has ~$49 fee for non Schwab funds (not all). I'm still going to keep the Schwab account because I still want to hold other funds not available with VG.