Vanguard - last straw?

[RetiredHappy]

Was the promo of $6k a recent event at Fidelity or in years past ?.

I wonder how much money needs to be transferred for a promo at Fidelity ?

About 4 months ago - several million dollars. I think the minimum to get a bonus is a million dollars.

You will need to ask if they are running their promo.

 

[Perryinva]

Ahhh s e v e r a l millliyun dollars. Out of my league. My several is 2, LOL

No wonder you Retired Happy…

 

[RetiredHappy]

Ahhh s e v e r a l millliyun dollars. Out of my league. My several is 2, LOL

No wonder you Retired Happy…

Minimum started at $1M.

 

[steelyman]

I received a 2021 1099-R form from Vanguard today. It reports a distribution from a Roth IRA that was created in 1998 and had only contributions.

The amount is correct but the taxable amount is not determined (it should be $0). This surprised me since Vanguard should have all records relating to the account. The only thing I can think of that might explain it is the conversion from a mutual fund to brokerage account.

It’s not a big deal as far as doing my tax return is concerned but makes me a bit wary of Vanguard’s handling of the transition. I plan to continue withdrawing from retirement accounts but will favor removing from Vanguard while maintaining my asset allocation.

 

[VanWinkle]

I received a 2021 1099-R form from Vanguard today. It reports a distribution from a Roth IRA that was created in 1998 and had only contributions.

The amount is correct but the taxable amount is not determined (it should be $0). This surprised me since Vanguard should have all records relating to the account. The only thing I can think of that might explain it is the conversion from a mutual fund to brokerage account.

It’s not a big deal as far as doing my tax return is concerned but makes me a bit wary of Vanguard’s handling of the transition. I plan to continue withdrawing from retirement accounts but will favor removing from Vanguard while maintaining my asset allocation.

I do taxes and most 1099Rs other than annuities show taxable amount not determined. That does not mean they are unaware of your records, it is just not their place to determine taxes.

 

[steelyman]

I do taxes and most 1099Rs other than annuities show taxable amount not determined. That does not mean they are unaware of your records, it is just not their place to determine taxes.

Interesting, good to know. I could check but it’s possible that prior withdrawals were taken from Fidelity accounts, not Vanguard (I’ve only been withdrawing since 2018). Those others broke out the taxable amount as I expected.

I’ll still focus on taking from Vanguard where possible (without upsetting the asset allocation). It’d be nice to have fewer 1099s down the road.

 

[Koolau]

I do taxes and most 1099Rs other than annuities show taxable amount not determined. That does not mean they are unaware of your records, it is just not their place to determine taxes.

Good to know. I'm expecting some 1099s due to extracting some dividend money that was being held in a tax-free account (at Vanguard.) I'm not sure of the verbiage I need to 'splain to IRS that I don't owe them anything on it. I certainly hope my accountant knows since YMMV.

 

[Shredder]

After 3 fruitless attempts to get an address for direct deposit of my ss, I left for fido last spring.

I did leave my Ira since it's all in Wellesley and I started drawing it down.

I've got a few messages after, that I ignore, just like they did to me.

 

[HI Bill]

At one time I had a personal representative at Vanguard, that was nice. At some point that was dropped.

Me, too. But he was inconsistently available. They also used to prepare financial plans for their clients with personal representatives. I had two completed based on my retirement desires, and they, coupled with FIRECALC, etc., helped give me the drive to RE. The plans did want me to do a bunch of AA changes that would have resulted in paying a lot of taxes at once, which I didn't do.

 

[RetMD21]

Had a phone appointment today. I got MIL set up for auto-RMD withdrawals. It took about 4 minutes. Another great interaction with Vanguard.

 

[Koolau]

Had a phone appointment today. I got MIL set up for auto-RMD withdrawals. It took about 4 minutes. Another great interaction with Vanguard.

How long did it take BEFORE the 4 minutes?

In the words of Tom Petty "The Waiting Is the Hardest Part." Getting to talk to someone has occasionally been problematic. From THERE, things have generally gone fairly smoothly. Of course, we all have different needs and it's certainly possible that Vanguard is good at some things and terrible at others. So far, I guess I've been fortunate - except the (sometimes) long waits on the phone. YMMV

 

[RetMD21]

Made an appointment. The rep called 2 minutes early. No wait at all

 

[Graybeard]

How long did it take BEFORE the 4 minutes?

In the words of Tom Petty "The Waiting Is the Hardest Part." Getting to talk to someone has occasionally been problematic. From THERE, things have generally gone fairly smoothly. Of course, we all have different needs and it's certainly possible that Vanguard is good at some things and terrible at others. So far, I guess I've been fortunate - except the (sometimes) long waits on the phone. YMMV

I called last week with questions about RMDs, the wait was about 30 minutes and they gave me the option for a call back. The call back came in 30 minutes. Rep was helpful and there weren't any issues, went smooth.

 

[Koolau]

I called last week with questions about RMDs, the wait was about 30 minutes and they gave me the option for a call back. The call back came in 30 minutes. Rep was helpful and there weren't any issues, went smooth.

Nice! I REALLY like the option of a call-back. YMMV

 

[Markola]

Nice! I REALLY like the option of a call-back. YMMV

I used it this week. Works great. Just be sure to turn off robocall filters while waiting.

 

[Splash]

I have been a Vanguard customer for 25+ years. I was a Fidelity customer before that. I have always been satisfied with Vanguard but I am a pretty low maintenance customer. I wanted to move DH's inheritance accounts from TDA and rollover a portion of my 401k into an IRA. After reading all of the negative Vanguard customer service comments, I was afraid of what that experience would be like. I even opened HSAs at Fidelity to get a feel for the Fidelity website and experience. There are no local Fidelity or Schwab offices within 150 miles of where I live so that was not a factor for me. 9 months ago, I decided to move DH's accounts to Vanguard and if I wasn't happy with the experience I would rollover my 401k to Fidelity. The transfer of inherited accounts (IRA, Roth, and Taxable accounts) from TDA to Vanguard could not have gone smoother. I did call Vanguard with a question and was shocked when someone answered right away and was able to walk me through the transaction on-line. 3 months ago, I did a partial rollover from my 401k at Alight in 2 steps. I had a portion rolled over directly to Vanguard in a tIRA and a portion sent to me in a check that I then mailed to Vanguard to deposit into a Roth IRA. Again, everything happened flawlessly.

It's extremely frustrating when we don't get what we expect especially when it involves our hard earned money. I'm sure Vanguard as well as other brokerages have had their share of disappointing their customers. I almost didn't give Vanguard a chance based on the negative reviews so it only seems fair that I share my positive experience.

 

[OldShooter]

... I am gradually moving my accounts to Fidelity & Schwab, both have local offices in our town. I am hoping for better customer service. ...

You'll probably get your best customer service by concentrating your assets at one house. Schwab, I know, bumps up your service level if you have $1M with them. I'm sure Fido has a similar program. Ask them both about this. Schwab's IIRC is called "Pinnacle" class. There is also a >$10M class but I don't remember the name.

For example, when calling telephone support and entering one of our account numbers we are forwarded to an upgraded support line with shorter wait times and more experienced staff. We also have "our guy" assigned to the account and he is very helpful with administriva and screwup minimization. Never any sales efforts; he knows better.

 

[FLSUnFIRE]

I'm a boring low-maintenance investor. Still happy with Vanguard even thought the latest iteration of the app was a step back. I opened my first Fidelity Account last fall for my HSA and thought if I accidentally earn income in my retirement I might open an IRA there as well. So far, Fidelity has underwhelmed me with issues opening my account online that required a phone call and I'm not a fan of the app and the website is underwhelming and takes a lot of digging to find what I want IME. Neither are bad but it seems like Fidelity gets more love around here and I can't see why now that I've experienced both.

 

[swakyaby]

I’ve been an investor for 20+ years with Vanguard, Fidelity, and T.Rowe Price. I am also a low maintenance buy and hold customer who has been satisfied with Vanguard’s customer service during my infrequent contacts. After reading the recent comments about the excessive phone call wait times, and recently experiencing this at Fidelity, I placed a call earlier this week to Vanguard’s Flagship phone line to see if things have changed.

One thing I liked is having a voice recognition passcode (optional) that I previously set up. So instead of answering security questions, I simply say “At Vanguard, my voice is my password.” It asked for a few words describing the purpose of my call, and I said I was inquiring about transferring my IRA to Vanguard. Those must have been the magic words because I was transferred to a live Flagship representative in 30 seconds, tops. I remarked to him surprise at how quickly he picked up, and he said it was probably a combination of the time of day (it was 2:00 pm PST), and that it was after Christmas. Anyway, it was a pleasant transaction and, to me, Vanguard customer service continues to be helpful, efficient, and polite. So, not everyone has been having negative experiences.

 

[Graybeard]

I once again had to call Vanguard today. Honestly, I have called them more times this year than in the past 10 years combined! All these calls have been due to me taking my 1st RMD this year for 2021.

Like the last 2 times, the wait was 30+ minutes so I opted again for the call back. It took about 45 minutes this time but then a rep was on the line in less than 1 minute.

While I changed all my communication with Vanguard to paperless in August, I was shocked to get an RMD notification letter detailing the balance in my roll over IRA and the RMD amount! I went paperless for security reasons so why am I getting a letter via the USPO? Seems there was one setting for confirmations that was paper so he fixed it and in about 2 minutes I was done.

Despite problems that some people have encountered, my experiences have been positive.

ETA - Fido is not notifying me via email that I can look at end of quarter statements and worse year end! Every financial institution emails me when a monthly statement is ready to see. It occurred to me that the last statement they sent me via USPO was 2Q21 when I was getting paper and I guess it is on me to look for them now having gone paperless! There is nothing in place for them to email me about this. I never cared for Fido's service, they are the custodian for my 401k, and this is just another example of why I don't care for them and would resist moving money there. Vanguard seems to be doing things fine.

 

[MRG]

I have been a Vanguard customer for 25+ years. I was a Fidelity customer before that. I have always been satisfied with Vanguard but I am a pretty low maintenance customer. I wanted to move DH's inheritance accounts from TDA and rollover a portion of my 401k into an IRA. After reading all of the negative Vanguard customer service comments, I was afraid of what that experience would be like. I even opened HSAs at Fidelity to get a feel for the Fidelity website and experience. There are no local Fidelity or Schwab offices within 150 miles of where I live so that was not a factor for me. 9 months ago, I decided to move DH's accounts to Vanguard and if I wasn't happy with the experience I would rollover my 401k to Fidelity. The transfer of inherited accounts (IRA, Roth, and Taxable accounts) from TDA to Vanguard could not have gone smoother. I did call Vanguard with a question and was shocked when someone answered right away and was able to walk me through the transaction on-line. 3 months ago, I did a partial rollover from my 401k at Alight in 2 steps. I had a portion rolled over directly to Vanguard in a tIRA and a portion sent to me in a check that I then mailed to Vanguard to deposit into a Roth IRA. Again, everything happened flawlessly.



It's extremely frustrating when we don't get what we expect especially when it involves our hard earned money. I'm sure Vanguard as well as other brokerages have had their share of disappointing their customers. I almost didn't give Vanguard a chance based on the negative reviews so it only seems fair that I share my positive experience.

+ a million.
For every transaction that people had issues with hundreds of millions more were performed flawlessly. These back offices track their issues, actively go after problem areas to reduce their costs and increase customer satisfaction.

Having spent decades in the industry here's some things to help your own interests: To get through it's good to call early or late, callback is awesome for both sides of the conversation[emoji4]. The weeks between middle of January and the end of April are peak volumes at every provider; plan accordingly. It's tax season you and everyone else are driving up their peak volumes, don't call if you don't have to. Self service doesn't get tired from working too many hours, try it. If things get confusing or get weird with a human representative ask for their supervisor to join the call. This is an opportunity for the CSR to demonstrate their skills or act as documentation for training opportunities. Lastly filling out that exit survey is valuable those are utilized by management, in extreme circumstances a personal letter to the CEO can be effective.

 

[feelthefreedom]

Anybody else becoming disenchanted with Vanguard?

We've actively consolidated our assets with VG over the past 7 years. Customer service has become hard get, phone service menus a joke, flagship status meaningless, no effort to support reasonable cash/money market positions, Personal Advisor Services fee is their highest priority.


Baron's agrees:
https://www.barrons.com/advisor/articles/vanguard-tech-problems-51643661407?mod=mw_latestnews

 

[feelthefreedom]

no more free "point in time" consultations

I wonder if they've decided you need to pay the 0.3% PAS fee to get decent service now, and nothing is free anymore? I used to have an assigned Flagship rep, then a team, and now it seems to be just whoever answers.]

They have decided that...they don't have to say it, it is in their actions.

They no longer do what they used to call "point in time" advisor consultations...now it's 0.30% or no consults. I've done a couple of their interview phone calls with Personal Advisor Services reps. What was so unsatisfying is they all speak in boilerplate VG language. 60/40 portfolio for all! with occasional rebalancing.

The one tempting part is at least you get a dedicated advisor and an efficient means to contact them.

 

[rkser]

Our Flagship Select Rep. has been a NO SHOW at 2 of the prior made appointments.

The guys at Vanguard must be laughing at us Suckers, who are still clinging on to Vanguard, hoping things will turn around.

 

[aja8888]

I left Vanguard 3 years ago and never looked back. I'm back with Schwab and they have brick and mortar offices if you need to speak with someone directly. Their phone service has been great too.