Thoughts on Vanguard

[fisemper]

After reading through some of the post, I notice vanguard funds keep coming up a lot. Are their funds preferred over another for any particular reason? My account is with USAA and they sold off to Schwab so I have an option to jump that ship if I want. I have about two weeks to do so. I'm thinking of just going with Vanguard. I have also seen their name when looking up funds on other sites. I'm not going to keep many stocks, so if they are more focused on other types of investments I think they may be a good option to look at. Anyone had experience with Schwab and Vanguard? Is there anything I would be missing from Schwab? Thanks in advance.

 

[RE2Boys]

Vanguard is known for indexing and for very low expense ratios in managing mutual funds. All of my retirement accounts are with Vanguard. Some folks find that their customer service leaves much to desire, possibility due to rapid growth in recent years. I much prefer Fidelity for the management of individual stocks and bonds. I left USAA about 30 years ago due to the high fees they charged for mutual funds.

 

[target2019]

We have Vanguard and Schwab accounts. All USAA inherited money is making its way to Schwab.

The choices are Vanguard, Schwab and Fidelity. Each has strengths.

 

[MRG]

I use Fidelity and Vanguard, both have a no hack guarantee as does Schwab. I will never invest anyplace that doesn't. The other funds would have a hard time doing that because of the third-party services they use.

 

[Brat]

Originally (WAAY back) we were at Fidelity. We went to Vanguard for the low fees for a couple of years then went back to Fidelity. The reason for the switch was that Vanguard's procedures did not meet our estate planning goals and the fact that Fidelity has a local office would make it much easier for my husband should I predecease him. We kept our Vanguard Wellington fund until this last implosion when I sold most of it. Vanguard has excellent index ETFs, I particularly like VUG a large-med cap growth fund.

Fidelity charges a fee if you want to buy a Vanguard mutual fund but not for their ETFs.

 

[OldShooter]

Well, you have to differentiate between Vanguard as a broker and Vanguard funds.

As far as funds go, Vanguard (Jack Bogle) created the first retail index fund and index funds have always been a big part of the business. These have been conventional mutual funds. ETFs came later, I believe after Bogle retired as he didn't like them. Vanguard has historically been the low price leader, primarily because it is a mutual company/owned by the fund shareholders, so there is no profit taken by a management company. In the past couple of years the brokerage houses have been slitting each others' throats on fees to the point that many total market funds have negligible or no fees. IMO VG has lost most of their cost advantage. But I don't think we've seen the end of the fee battle; these companies have to make money somewhere. It's IMO a watch and wait situation. We are heavily into VG funds.

As a broker, Vanguard gets mentioned together here with Schwab and Fido (Fidelity). All seem to be viewed as white hats with only slight differences. Vanguard has only two or three offices around the country where the other two have many. Face-to-face is nice sometimes though I don't see my Schwab guy more than once in a couple of years. AFIK, Vanguard's telephone relationships tend to be more impersonal. They do offer some cheap management options though. They responded to a small nonprofit's RFQ that I wrote and offered to run $4m for 40bps but with a very impersonal interface. They were the low bidder but we passed because we wanted a little more personalized service. As it turned out that was the right decision. IIRC we are paying 59bps now.

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.

I'm surprised you have a two week decision deadline. Normally an account can be transferred between brokers or custodians at any time by simply filling out a form at the receiving company and transferring the assets in kind. Very low friction and usually fairly fast.

Good luck.

 

[pb4uski]

I have both Vanguard and Fidelity... Vanguard for many years and Fidelity for only couple years. They're both ok.

 

[fisemper]

Well, you have to differentiate between Vanguard as a broker and Vanguard funds.

As far as funds go, Vanguard (Jack Bogle) created the first retail index fund and index funds have always been a big part of the business. These have been conventional mutual funds. ETFs came later, I believe after Bogle retired as he didn't like them. Vanguard has historically been the low price leader, primarily because it is a mutual company/owned by the fund shareholders, so there is no profit taken by a management company. In the past couple of years the brokerage houses have been slitting each others' throats on fees to the point that many total market funds have negligible or no fees. IMO VG has lost most of their cost advantage. But I don't think we've seen the end of the fee battle; these companies have to make money somewhere. It's IMO a watch and wait situation. We are heavily into VG funds.

As a broker, Vanguard gets mentioned together here with Schwab and Fido (Fidelity). All seem to be viewed as white hats with only slight differences. Vanguard has only two or three offices around the country where the other two have many. Face-to-face is nice sometimes though I don't see my Schwab guy more than once in a couple of years. AFIK, Vanguard's telephone relationships tend to be more impersonal. They do offer some cheap management options though. They responded to a small nonprofit's RFQ that I wrote and offered to run $4m for 40bps but with a very impersonal interface. They were the low bidder but we passed because we wanted a little more personalized service. As it turned out that was the right decision. IIRC we are paying 59bps now.

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.

I'm surprised you have a two week decision deadline. Normally an account can be transferred between brokers or custodians at any time by simply filling out a form at the receiving company and transferring the assets in kind. Very low friction and usually fairly fast.

Good luck.

Thanks for the information. The two week is just the deadline before USAA moves to Schwab and I will lose access for a few days during the transition. I can move anytime before and after, of course. I thought about the fee for VG at Schwab, so since I am looking long term that is really less than steak dinner. I had looked at Fidelity, but they don't have some of the funds I currently have at USAA that will transition. Really if I do nothing, then at least I don't have to go through the account-sign up myself.

 

[fisemper]

Fidelity charges a fee if you want to buy a Vanguard mutual fund but not for their ETFs.

I had briefly thought about that, which shouldn't be an issue if I go long.

 

[statsman]

I have both Vanguard and Fidelity... Vanguard for many years and Fidelity for only couple years. They're both ok.

It probably doesn't matter, but we're looking to roll over a good chunk of 401(k) money into an IRA, and a little voice keeps telling me not to choose the same service we're currently using for our other funds. Something along the lines of having all eggs in one basket. Again, I'm not sure if this is a real concern. Anyway, we'll probably end up using multiple companies for our investments for that reason.

 

[target2019]

I had briefly thought about that, which shouldn't be an issue if I go long.

With Schwab you'll likely sell USAA funds and move to ETFs that trade for free there. That's our plan.

 

[MRG]

It probably doesn't matter, but we're looking to roll over a good chunk of 401(k) money into an IRA, and a little voice keeps telling me not to choose the same service we're currently using for our other funds. Something along the lines of having all eggs in one basket. Again, I'm not sure if this is a real concern. Anyway, we'll probably end up using multiple companies for our investments for that reason.

+1
I will never have just one provider. Doesn't have to be a disaster. I had the state of PA lock one account for several months to ensure they received their taxes from DF'S estate. It could be a disaster too, my IT career in financial services was enhanced because of them.

 

[REWahoo]

We keep all our mutual fund investments at Vanguard for simplicity but have CDs and a money market account at a separate financial institution. I'm not all that concerned about safety or a disaster situation, but as MRG points out, chit happens...

 

[tdv2]

I have almost all my assets at Fidelity....they have a well trained professional staff, good web tools and local offices, very happy with them. Have large positions in both Vanguard and Fidelity index funds in taxable and traditional IRA/Roth accounts. As others have said, Vanguard is unique in that when you own a Vanguard fund you become part owner of the company providing it. For this reason there is no incentive for them to gouge you with excessive fees. I believe this is still the only fund company for which this is true.

 

[lordjust]

i couldnt buy Wellesley or wellington on schwab... did i miss something ?

Well, you have to differentiate between Vanguard as a broker and Vanguard funds.

As far as funds go, Vanguard (Jack Bogle) created the first retail index fund and index funds have always been a big part of the business. These have been conventional mutual funds. ETFs came later, I believe after Bogle retired as he didn't like them. Vanguard has historically been the low price leader, primarily because it is a mutual company/owned by the fund shareholders, so there is no profit taken by a management company. In the past couple of years the brokerage houses have been slitting each others' throats on fees to the point that many total market funds have negligible or no fees. IMO VG has lost most of their cost advantage. But I don't think we've seen the end of the fee battle; these companies have to make money somewhere. It's IMO a watch and wait situation. We are heavily into VG funds.

As a broker, Vanguard gets mentioned together here with Schwab and Fido (Fidelity). All seem to be viewed as white hats with only slight differences. Vanguard has only two or three offices around the country where the other two have many. Face-to-face is nice sometimes though I don't see my Schwab guy more than once in a couple of years. AFIK, Vanguard's telephone relationships tend to be more impersonal. They do offer some cheap management options though. They responded to a small nonprofit's RFQ that I wrote and offered to run $4m for 40bps but with a very impersonal interface. They were the low bidder but we passed because we wanted a little more personalized service. As it turned out that was the right decision. IIRC we are paying 59bps now.

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.

I'm surprised you have a two week decision deadline. Normally an account can be transferred between brokers or custodians at any time by simply filling out a form at the receiving company and transferring the assets in kind. Very low friction and usually fairly fast.

Good luck.

 

[bolt]

After reading through some of the post, I notice vanguard funds keep coming up a lot. Are their funds preferred over another for any particular reason? My account is with USAA and they sold off to Schwab so I have an option to jump that ship if I want. I have about two weeks to do so. I'm thinking of just going with Vanguard. I have also seen their name when looking up funds on other sites. I'm not going to keep many stocks, so if they are more focused on other types of investments I think they may be a good option to look at. Anyone had experience with Schwab and Vanguard? Is there anything I would be missing from Schwab? Thanks in advance.

Its all about saving every penny you can as long as you can fisemper. IMHO.

Conventionalism rarely works outside the .gov services complied ratings.

PS lordjust commented i couldnt buy Wellesley or wellington on schwab... did i miss something ?
lordjust, afaik- you post: I couldn't buy Wellesley or wellington on schwab... did i miss something ?

AFAIK/IME/IIRC
It cost $75 to buy Wellesley last I looked on a base fido brokerage acct. Even now!
IIRC Both are closed.
Look it up, its late @2:16am.

Good luck!

 

[DrRoy]

Vanguard is good, but I find Fido is more full service and that is who I use.

 

[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.

 

[target2019]

i couldnt buy Wellesley or wellington on schwab... did i miss something ?

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.

 

[aza455]

I use Fidelity and Vanguard, both have a no hack guarantee as does Schwab. I will never invest anyplace that doesn't. The other funds would have a hard time doing that because of the third-party services they use.

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

 

[MRG]

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/help/SecurityOnlineFraudPledgeContent.jsp

 

[Sunset]

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]

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]

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.