Either I or Vanguard messed up my ROTH contribution

[dvalley]

So last year Feb 2018 I opened a ROTH with vanguard while doing my 2017 taxes. My AGI was low enough that I could make a reduced contribution towards my 2017 ROTH and I did.

Now doing my 2018 taxes I noticed I can once again make a reduced contribution. However, when I logged into vanguard I couldn't see a list of year by year contributions like I was used to with Scottrade but I do see a $4k balance which is about right. I sent them a message and they're saying I never contributed to ROTH for 2017 but since I opened the account in Feb 2018 I contributed towards 2018. Now I'm pretty sure that I selected 2017 as the year for my last contribution and the screenshot attached shows I haven't made any contribution in 2018 so that further confirms that. However, the drop down list of the years doesn't have the option for me to select the year 2017. Anyway, I wrote this in the message back to them and awaiting response.

I have to say vanguard's website leaves a lot to be desired compared to other brokerages. The most annoying one is where I don't get prompted for a login screen until after I'm forced to select where I want to go (so I have to select account maintenance for example) and then they display the login screen.

 

[kaneohe]

Do you have access to your monthly statements that might show when you made the contribution and for what yr? These kinds of things reveal what the organization is really like for customer service. Good luck in your voyage here.

 

[fosterscik]

You can find when you contributed pretty easily. Go to "my accounts" then "transaction history". The drop-down lets you chose a time period.

 

[pb4uski]

You can find when you contributed pretty easily. Go to "my accounts" then "transaction history". The drop-down lets you chose a time period.

Right, that will tell him when the contribution was made (in 2018 from what he wrote) but it won't necessarily tell him what tax year the contribution was for... remember a contribution made in 2018 before 4/15/18 can be designated as being applicable for 2017 or 2018.

 

[pb4uski]

.....The most annoying one is where I don't get prompted for a login screen until after I'm forced to select where I want to go (so I have to select account maintenance for example) and then they display the login screen.

Perhaps I am misunderstanding you but it doesn't work that way for me... once I log on I can go anywhere until I log out or time out.

I have both Vanguard and Fidelity and while I'll concede that Fidelity's website is better, it is not heads and tails better than Vanguard in my experience for the things that I do.

 

[sengsational]

If you look for "confirmations" after going to where the statements are, you should have a PDF for those kinds of transactions.


And I also got to a login page, get that done, then go to my own account stuff without additional bother

 

[dvalley]

Thanks everyone as @pb4uski said below the statements or confirmations won't show which tax year the contribution was applied to. I did find the amount I contributed digging through the statements however.

Right, that will tell him when the contribution was made (in 2018 from what he wrote) but it won't necessarily tell him what tax year the contribution was for... remember a contribution made in 2018 before 4/15/18 can be designated as being applicable for 2017 or 2018.

Perhaps I am misunderstanding you but it doesn't work that way for me... once I log on I can go anywhere until I log out or time out.

I have both Vanguard and Fidelity and while I'll concede that Fidelity's website is better, it is not heads and tails better than Vanguard in my experience for the things that I do.

I notice it after I come back to the site the next day by typing the URL personal.vanguard.com...it remembers me via the browser cookies so it doesn't prompt me for a login until after I actually select a sub-menu to go to. You're right, I used to have Fidelity too and it wasn't a whole lot better either from a UI perspective.

 

[Sunset]

.....


I notice it after I come back to the site the next day by typing the URL personal.vanguard.com...it remembers me via the browser cookies so it doesn't prompt me for a login until after I actually select a sub-menu to go to. You're right, I used to have Fidelity too and it wasn't a whole lot better either from a UI perspective.

Thank goodness it does that, otherwise a person would just go to the site using your computer and have access to everything.
Forcing you to log in again with your password is pretty much a standard way of handling secure websites.

 

[dvalley]

Thank goodness it does that, otherwise a person would just go to the site using your computer and have access to everything.
Forcing you to log in again with your password is pretty much a standard way of handling secure websites.

Indeed, been in IT developing secure websites since the late 90s. My complaint is that instead of prompting me to login when I first go to vanguard.com it displays the full menu as if I've already logged in. Only to display the login page after I've selected something from a sub menu. There's just no reason for initially presenting the page as if I've logged in. This happens because the cookie hasn't expired but enough time has lapsed that it needs to re-authenticate so basically a mismatch in the time cookie is supposed to persist and the time when they feel reauth is necessary. I don't have this issue with dozens of other banking websites.

Anyway, as to the original post, for posterity...they replied back saying 'sorry for the confusion, your 2017 contributions can be found in the Tax center by looking at your 2017 IRS Forms 5498'. That is what I needed to do so all is good.