Moving to Fidelity from Vanguard

[calmloki]

Not everything - but we are moving all our T-bills to Fidelity. Keeping them all in one account so it's clean and simple. I had no problems with VG are far as buying T-bills weekly, but Fidelity offers auto roll-over and VG doesn't as far as I know - should make life easier yet.

I've never bought T-bills (or anything else) on the secondary market from VG - just felt real opaque. Fidelity looks more obvious and much easier - may actually try it.

Leaving stocks and ETFs in VG for now.

Why do you all have your investments where you do?

 

[RetireBy90]

We have almost all at Fido. My 401K was with them and I tired of consolidating numbers. I moved some IRA funds there and over a couple years moved remaining IRA funds and then converted the 401K to my IRA. I like having all in one place and haven’t really had any issues over this time. Easy to work with customer service calls and there are many local offices if I need in person access.
We have an advisor that DW is comfortable with in case I go before her. We meet with her about once a year, zoom now days, to keep DW comfortable with talking to her.

 

[Golden sunsets]

We moved our fixed income taxable money from Merrill to Fido a couple of years ago. I think their bond inventory, including breadth and variety is far superior to Merril's. Their treasury auction interface is also superior to those I've seen on Merrill and Vanguard. Yes they do have auto roll, which we utilize for a treasury ladder, we maintain. But we also own corporates, munis snd CD's from Fido. They also make buying the same day a Bond matures available, where Vanguard does not.

We do prefer the Merrill platform for equities, so our Fido preference is for fixed income only.

 

[MarieIG]

Currently, I have accounts at Vanguard (a traditional and Roth IRA) and two brokerage accounts. Why? I like their sweep, I've been there a long time and have some old school mutual funds in my IRAs. I also find it easy to buy treasuries there (thus far auction only) and like their CD search function.

I have a brokerage at TD Ameritrade. (I hate their Schwab sweep account.) They had better customer service than Vanguard as they were able to figure out cost basis of some old holdings wherein Vanguard was not. (They recently sent out some time sensitive materials wherein the option expired on September 6th - the letter was dated September 6th and received September 15th.) My timed-traveling skills have yet to be honed, so I was less than thrilled. I sent them an email and the response was to contact my personal representative. Hmmm. I like the (current) TD research options.

More recently, I opened a Fidelity account - sort of as a trial run. I now have there a cash management account (acts like a bank account and gives free checks), a brokerage account which has a high interest-earning core/sweep account and two treasuries, a Rollover traditional IRA, and a Rollover Roth. I opened up the traditional IRA for the purpose of a 60-day rollover in conjunction with tax withholding, and opened up a little Roth, just to have one there. The Rollover IRA currently has a CD that pays interest monthly, and when the interest comes in I do a Roth conversation with it. The customer service is middling. Better than Vanguard's current customer service and not as good as Schwab's customer service. (When I contact TD - I get a Schwab rep.)

 

[jazz4cash]

…

 

[jazz4cash]

I was a Vanguard Guy. Still have tremendous respect for how Bogle and VG changed the industry in favor of us little guys. My employer chose Fidelity when they rolled out a 401k plan in ~’83. As I acclimated to Fido it just felt like VG was stuck in a low cost model when you can sometimes achieve more value by paying a bit more. Now I don’t even think VG has a cost advantage. I still have an account there but the web interface feels antiquated and I like Fido’s B&M offices.

Edit: just used my Fido CMA to pay property taxes for the first time. Sweet.

 

[jebmke]

Have been with VG for 35 years. Our needs are simple since I keep our portfolio simple. If I were to start fresh today not sure that would be my choice but so far, no need to move.

 

[Trailwalker]

We have most of our assets at Vanguard, but also have HSA, DAF and CMA accounts at Fidelity. A mix of what each does well works for us.

 

[2017ish]

We now have FIDO, Schwab, and Merrill Edge. The latter accounts are solely to maintain the highest credit card rewards with our free BoA card.

Have roughly 60/40 FIDO/Chuck. Fidelity is superior for USGovernment debt instruments and rolling over when they mature--and the buying process seems very transparent. I'd call them equal for buying and rebalancing among ETFs. Haven't yet used either one to automatically send money to our BoA checking account each month (and withhold taxes while doing so). But, both of them appear to be pretty pain free for that important task, which we will initiate next year for one or the other.

We had big account balances at Vanguard until mid 2022, but read too many bad tales on Bogleheads about trying to transfer accounts after death of owner, as well as other issues involving the need for customer service. Both FIDO and Chuck have offices nearby and either DW or our sons will be able to deal with a real person when that time comes.

(And the free international ATM transactions at both brokerages, although not a huge amount of savings, are appreciated.)

 

[Midpack]

I’ve been with VG for decades, but I am seriously thinking about moving our three sizeable IRAs to Fidelity once the Treasuries mature (soon). They just continue to go downhill re: service, it’s alarming. I’d leave our brokerage account at VG since it’s all VG index funds, but that could move as well if VG doesn’t wake up.

Latest evidence, absurd!

 

[DrRoy]

All but my 401K at Fido. Moved from Vanguard long ago for matched low fees and wider services.

 

[NW-Bound]

2/3 of our assets are with Merrill Edge. I still have accounts at Schwab, and a bit in Vanguard.

As an active investor, I like Merrill Edge trading platform the best, particularly for options.

I was happy with Schwab service in the past when I had to call them for some assistance, so will keep money there. Schwab finally had free stock trading to match Merrill Edge, but the option trading fee is still higher, plus I don't like their platform as well.

Vanguard, I opened accounts with them many years ago to check them out, was not happy with the service so never put more money there.

Looking at the Quicken screen, I see that I still have 17 accounts with 9 institutions. I can consolidate and get rid of 3 accounts and 3 institutions. The rest cannot be. I have his/her Treasury Direct, his/her Roth, his/her 401k (for the stable value fund), his/her IRA, HSA, etc... Without Quicken, I cannot keep track of and manage them.

 

[W2R]

Why do you all have your investments where you do?

I have always had just about everything at Vanguard. When I was starting out investing I was completely clueless, so I asked my big brother (a very successful investor) how to get started. He suggested Vanguard. During my decades of investing with Vanguard, I have never had any difficulties with them and have no reason to change.

I was also a member of the Bogleheads forum from the start, and before that the Morningstar "Vanguard Diehards" forum from which it arose. Later on I joined here when I finally realized this forum wouldn't ride me out of town on a rail for retiring at 61. Liked the investing philosophies on these related forums.

There's one exception: I also have some money in the TSP, because that's where it went when I earned it. While working I always contributed the maximum allowed to the TSP. All of it is in the "G Fund" which is a stable bond fund that is guaranteed to never drop in share price. Access to the "G Fund" is part of my benefits as a former federal employee, and AFAIK it cannot be bought from places like Vanguard or Fidelity. So, in order to keep that fund I am not moving that money over to Vanguard.

 

[Koolau]

Currently, I have accounts at Vanguard (a traditional and Roth IRA) and two brokerage accounts. Why? I like their sweep, I've been there a long time and have some old school mutual funds in my IRAs. I also find it easy to buy treasuries there (thus far auction only) and like their CD search function.

I have a brokerage at TD Ameritrade. (I hate their Schwab sweep account.) They had better customer service than Vanguard as they were able to figure out cost basis of some old holdings wherein Vanguard was not. (They recently sent out some time sensitive materials wherein the option expired on September 6th - the letter was dated September 6th and received September 15th.) My timed-traveling skills have yet to be honed, so I was less than thrilled. I sent them an email and the response was to contact my personal representative. Hmmm. I like the (current) TD research options.

More recently, I opened a Fidelity account - sort of as a trial run. I now have there a cash management account (acts like a bank account and gives free checks), a brokerage account which has a high interest-earning core/sweep account and two treasuries, a Rollover traditional IRA, and a Rollover Roth. I opened up the traditional IRA for the purpose of a 60-day rollover in conjunction with tax withholding, and opened up a little Roth, just to have one there. The Rollover IRA currently has a CD that pays interest monthly, and when the interest comes in I do a Roth conversation with it. The customer service is middling. Better than Vanguard's current customer service and not as good as Schwab's customer service. (When I contact TD - I get a Schwab rep.)

Pssst. Wellesley!

 

[MarieIG]

Pssst. Wellesley!

I remember!

 

[Steeler75]

DW has her funds at Vanguard and I have mine at Fidelity. Having used both web sites for years, for me, Fidelity’s is much more user friendly.

Also, DW’s 403B through her mega corp is with Vanguard too. I inquired if we could just flip current 403B to an IRA and keep current investments since they already have the assets. Told we’d have to sell everything in 403B then repurchase in IRA. Don’t quite understand why, but it may not be a Vanguard issue.

Told the rep if I have to liquidate to convert then I’d transfer assets to Fidelity….

 

[easysurfer]

Moved my stuff from Vanguard to Fidelity. Yep. That sounds about right .

 

[jebmke]

I’ve been with VG for decades, but I am seriously thinking about moving our three sizeable IRAs to Fidelity once the Treasuries mature (soon). They just continue to go downhill re: service, it’s alarming. I’d leave our brokerage account at VG since it’s all VG index funds, but that could move as well if VG doesn’t wake up.

Latest evidence, absurd!

if all you have is treasuries and index funds those should be easy to move.

 

[Texas Proud]

2/3 of our assets are with Merrill Edge. I still have accounts at Schwab, and a bit in Vanguard.

As an active investor, I like Merrill Edge trading platform the best, particularly for options.

I was happy with Schwab service in the past when I had to call them for some assistance, so will keep money there. Schwab finally had free stock trading to match Merrill Edge, but the option trading fee is still higher, plus I don't like their platform as well.

Vanguard, I opened accounts with them many years ago to check them out, was not happy with the service so never put more money there.

Looking at the Quicken screen, I see that I still have 17 accounts with 9 institutions. I can consolidate and get rid of 3 accounts and 3 institutions. The rest cannot be. I have his/her Treasury Direct, his/her Roth, his/her 401k (for the stable value fund), his/her IRA, HSA, etc... Without Quicken, I cannot keep track of and manage them.

I moved my Merrill Edge to Schwab... I opened it to see how it was... but then found out that the advisors will cost money no matter what... I was doing this in case I pass so someone can help DW...



I cannot say how good or bad it really was as I was not there long... the online stuff seemed to be OK... not sure what they paid on idle cash though...

 

[Affinity4Investing]

We moved our fixed income taxable money from Merrill to Fido a couple of years ago. I think their bond inventory, including breadth and variety is far superior to Merril's. Their treasury auction interface is also superior to those I've seen on Merrill and Vanguard. Yes they do have auto roll, which we utilize for a treasury ladder, we maintain. But we also own corporates, munis snd CD's from Fido. They also make buying the same day a Bond matures available, where Vanguard does not.

We do prefer the Merrill platform for equities, so our Fido preference is for fixed income only.

I second all you said. Merrill seems to get the biggest complaints on the fixed-side while I see the most positive comments made in favor of Fido's fixed-side. Schwab in somewhere in the middle. Merrill is losing a lot of $ by refusing to significantly enhance their fixed-side.

 

[pb4uski]

... Why do you all have your investments where you do?

Currently all Schwab except HSAs, which are at Fido and online savings account at Discover Bank (and I-Bonds at Treasury Direct, which will be mostly gone from Treasury Direct by Jan 2024).

Everything now at Schwab was at Vanguard until last year. Customer service hassles principal reason for moving. Straw that broke the camel's back was Vanguard's insistence on redoing bank documents and requiring notarized signatures when we converted mutual fund accounts to brokerage accounts... we had the bank account linked to the mutual fund account for decades and used it regularly but that wasn't good enough for them. F them. If I was going to go through getting notarized signatures from the three co-trustees in two different states I figured that we would just do it for Schwab.

The thing I like best about Schwab is that I have two people that I can call and more often than not one or the other actually answers the phone. If they don't and I leave a message they call me back within 24 hours.

Thing I like least about Schwab is their stupid 0.45% settlement account and having to transfer funds to and from SWVXX in order to get a decent yield on uninvested cash.