Another Vanguard unhappy story

[upset264]

Been with Vanguard in various amounts and accounts all my life.

Had an account with Capital One for years that was in my name only. I wanted to add my wife as joint owner for convenience if I die before her. But Capital One was making that difficult so I opened a new joint brokerage acct. at Vanguard. Transferred the money over in 2 or 3 transactions the last being on August 4th. Set up the checking account for transfers and did the verification where they make two small deposits and you verify the amounts.

Now it's Sept. 9th. Wife wants $$$ in her checking account. Go to Vanguard to make a transfer out and I get a message that they won't due it because the funds were recently transferred in. What? Five weeks?

Can't find a phone number anywhere on their site. Finally found a way to send a message. Looks like this account is going to be short lived.

 

[gauss]

I think there is a 10 day hold at Vanguard on removing new purchases with outside funds.
edit: oops I now see that it was the last transfer in on Aug 4.

-gauss

 

[DrRoy]

You might try Fidelity. I've been there over 40 years.

 

[JoeWras]

Hey OP. Do you still see the warning about the new linked bank? I'm going through this right now, with my "bank" actually being Fidelity because I'm going to start shifting my treasuries to Fidelity as they mature. No more new money for me into VG. Anyway:

1) After logging in, go here: https://personal.vanguard.com/us/XHTML/BankSummary

2) Do you see the following? You shouldn't after 2 weeks.

 

[Whisper66]

.....Been with Vanguard in various amounts and accounts all my life.....Can't find a phone number anywhere on their site.....

Confused on why you couldn't find a phone number easily...took a brief look myself...

(1) On the web page...Go to "Vanguard.com" ... "Contact us" ... there's a phone number
(2) On any monthyly statement ....should be a phone number on it ... at least I see one on mine which I assume is typical
(3)Even a simple google search ..."Vanguard contact number" ... again a number shows up.

 

[upset264]

You might try Fidelity. I've been there over 40 years.

Fidelity is my main brokerage. Never had a problem.

 

[upset264]

Hey OP. Do you still see the warning about the new linked bank? I'm going through this right now, with my "bank" actually being Fidelity because I'm going to start shifting my treasuries to Fidelity as they mature. No more new money for me into VG. Anyway:

1) After logging in, go here: https://personal.vanguard.com/us/XHTML/BankSummary

2) Do you see the following? You shouldn't after 2 weeks.

No, my bank is available for transfers in either direction.

 

[upset264]

Confused on why you couldn't find a phone number easily...took a brief look myself...

(1) On the web page...Go to "Vanguard.com" ... "Contact us" ... there's a phone number
(2) On any monthyly statement ....should be a phone number on it ... at least I see one on mine which I assume is typical
(3)Even a simple google search ..."Vanguard contact number" ... again a number shows up.

Not on mine. There should be a contact us link with a page giving phone numbers, mailing address, email etc. All I find is in messages you can send them a message which I have done.

 

[Rianne]

Right on VG website. Even if you're not an investor yet.

Personal investors
Are you a Vanguard investor or looking for information about Vanguard and its services?
Our Client Services team is available Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., Eastern time
Call 877-662-7447
Support Center—FAQs, tutorials, and more
Personal investors site

 

[upset264]

I finally found a phone number and called. You won't believe what they told me.

The account was funded by several transfers from Capital One. Despite the fact that I have linked a Wells Fargo checking account with identical owners at an identical address, due to money laundering regulations money can only go out to the account it came from in the first year.

I argued that that is ridiculous by they are adamant. While the rep stayed on the line I set up a partial transfer back to Capital One. I told the rep that if that transfer is completed successfully I will be transferring the remaining funds back to Capital One.

They are adamant that it is out of their hands. Federal regulations. Either way it's nuts.

 

[Souschef]

Fidelity is my main brokerage. Never had a problem.

+1
I just transferred a managed account to Fido from Morgan Stanley. They said it would be complete by 9/12. It s there today.

 

[OldShooter]

... They are adamant that it is out of their hands. Federal regulations. ...

You can test this by asking to talk to a Compliance Officer.

 

[plsprius]

All this talk about trouble with Vanguard has caught my attention, as I have never had these kind of problems with individual and 401 accounts over 40+ years with Vanguard. (Also have accounts at Schwab and Fidelity. They are all roughly the same to me.)

In any case, I spent a few seconds with a google search and found this information that I hope may be useful. YMMV.

How to send money to a bank that has not been authenticated

You can send money to and from Vanguard if you link your bank account online. The initial authorization process takes 7-10 days, after which you can initiate purchases and redemptions online anytime.

If you need to make your withdrawal sooner than 7-10 days please call us at 877-662-7447, one of our representatives will be able to help with the best solution for your situation. Our representatives are available Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Eastern time.​

 

[aja8888]

Just curious, someone should ask Vanguard what they are doing with the transferred funds when they hold them (unavailable to you) for 7 to 10 days (I'm no longer at Vanguard)?

 

[tulak]

Just curious, someone should ask Vanguard what they are doing with the transferred funds when they hold them (unavailable to you) for 7 to 10 days (I'm no longer at Vanguard)?

Fidelity did the same to me with funds transferred from T-Mobile Bank. I had to wait 7-10 days before I could transfer those funds elsewhere. I talked to Fidelity and the problem was with T-Mobile Bank, not Fidelity.

One reason I’m glad to be rid of T-Mobile Bank.

 

[jazz4cash]

I finally found a phone number and called. You won't believe what they told me.

You are right. I don’t believe what they told you.

 

[MRG]

I finally found a phone number and called. You won't believe what they told me.



The account was funded by several transfers from Capital One. Despite the fact that I have linked a Wells Fargo checking account with identical owners at an identical address, due to money laundering regulations money can only go out to the account it came from in the first year.



I argued that that is ridiculous by they are adamant. While the rep stayed on the line I set up a partial transfer back to Capital One. I told the rep that if that transfer is completed successfully I will be transferring the remaining funds back to Capital One.



They are adamant that it is out of their hands. Federal regulations. Either way it's nuts.

So unfair they comply with the regulations regarding money laundry and other lowlife's that use their services to help obfuscate money's origin? Honestly?

It's a lot easier for the industry to just go along with what you tell them to do instead of the regulatory bodies. Damn those pesky audits can go away too. Not much need for fraud detection and operational integrity. Probably soon they'll be able to open up security and just let hackers have free reign.

 

[ShokWaveRider]

We never had issues with Vanguard over the years but we did change in favor of a brokerage with a Brick and Morter office in my area. No other reason.
.

 

[Gumby]

Is there some reason you can't just give your wife money out of your Capital One account? Write a check to her, maybe? Then you can add Wells Fargo to your Vanguard account after the year is up.

As in most situations, there are two options. You can insist that they do it your preferred way and fail in your mission, or you can find a workaround and succeed.

 

[upset264]

Is there some reason you can't just give your wife money out of your Capital One account? Write a check to her, maybe? Then you can add Wells Fargo to your Vanguard account after the year is up.

As in most situations, there are two options. You can insist that they do it your preferred way and fail in your mission, or you can find a workaround and succeed.

The Capital One balance is zero. I transferred it all to Vanguard. The Wells Fargo account is already set up and verified at Vanguard. The account shows money available for withdrawal. But then they won't do it because it's a new account. Have to wait until July 19, 2023 one year from the day I opened the account.

I have other accounts to get money from, that's not the issue. It's that if you open a new account at Vanguard (even after having other accounts, Brokerage, IRA's) over the years, you can only transfer out to the account the funds came from.

 

[upset264]

So unfair they comply with the regulations regarding money laundry and other lowlife's that use their services to help obfuscate money's origin? Honestly?

It's a lot easier for the industry to just go along with what you tell them to do instead of the regulatory bodies. Damn those pesky audits can go away too. Not much need for fraud detection and operational integrity. Probably soon they'll be able to open up security and just let hackers have free reign.

So a law abiding citizen that transfers tens of thousands of dollars into a new account, having had other accounts at the same institution for years, with no change in name or address, shouldn't be able to withdraw $1,000 to a verified established bank account? Which is also linked and active on another Vanguard account? Has to wait a year?

What are you thinking?

 

[aja8888]

So a law abiding citizen that transfers tens of thousands of dollars into a new account, having had other accounts at the same institution for years, with no change in name or address, shouldn't be able to withdraw $1,000 to a verified established bank account? Which is also linked and active on another Vanguard account? Has to wait a year?

What are you thinking?

My guess is that ONE reason for the long delay in you having access to YOUR MONEY is to give them time to make interest on YOUR DEPOSIT for the period of time they are keeping you from accessing it (the Float).

I am saying that is only one reason for the delay.

 

[cathy63]

So a law abiding citizen that transfers tens of thousands of dollars into a new account, having had other accounts at the same institution for years, with no change in name or address, shouldn't be able to withdraw $1,000 to a verified established bank account? Which is also linked and active on another Vanguard account? Has to wait a year?

What are you thinking?

I agree it's silly, but I'm wondering if this would work:
- transfer money from the new Vanguard account to the old one that has the WF account linked
- transfer money from the old Vanguard account to WF

 

[cathy63]

My guess is that ONE reason for the long delay in you having access to YOUR MONEY is to give them time to make interest on YOUR DEPOSIT for the period of time they are keeping you from accessing it (the Float).

I am saying that is only one reason for the delay.

Two different issues are getting conflated in this thread.
1) it takes 7 to 10 days to access money you transfer in to a Vanguard account (I think that's the post you meant to reply to)
2) you have to wait a year before you're allowed to electronically transfer money out of Vanguard to a different bank than it was transferred in from (what you actually replied to)

I've no idea if #2 is an actual Federal banking regulation or if it's a Vanguard internal thing. It's silly either way, because obviously Vanguard has enough info to "know their customer" in this case. They do pay interest on it and they do allow withdrawals in other ways.

 

[Texas Proud]

My guess is that ONE reason for the long delay in you having access to YOUR MONEY is to give them time to make interest on YOUR DEPOSIT for the period of time they are keeping you from accessing it (the Float).

I am saying that is only one reason for the delay.

Probably not... the deposit should be the day they got it so you are earning interest the whole time...


The delay is to get verification from the other bank that there is actual money there to transfer...



There are crooks out there...