Vanguard Notice About Fund Only Platform

[easysurfer]

I just got another email from Vanguard asking to make the transition away from Mutual Funds only to the "new and improved" investment platform.

At least now there is a year of 2022 or sooner to retire the old platform.

I'm still loitering and lingering until the deadline comes closer as funds area all I need. Index investing and rebalance once a year. Don't need the fancy stuff .

 

[W2R]

Wow, I thought the year they were going to force it was 2020! If it was me, and they told me 2022, I wouldn't do it yet.

After many such emails I got suckered into making the change to a brokerage account last year. When you log in the interface looks the same, and isn't too hard to figure out, but there are a few minor differences that I don't like (such as having to keep a low interest rate money market settlement account, even though I already had Prime Money Market).

 

[target2019]

We are also clinging to the past, and will transition on the 5th of never. Okay, I get it, they will force it on us at some time.

 

[easysurfer]

We are also clinging to the past, and will transition on the 5th of never. Okay, I get it, they will force it on us at some time.

Yep, I'm waiting until I get run out of the building .

 

[REWahoo]

You will be assimilated...

 

[MRG]

Probably saves them, us, 10 million every year in maintenance and support costs. Besides this allows the development team to focus on the future instead 35 year old code.

ETA: Of course this could related to third-party software they utilized in the application. If product X release Y goes out of support a responsible vendor will make sure they're able to support their customers needs. It's quite possible to code yourself into a corner when a third party solution goes away.

 

[easysurfer]

Probably saves them, us, 10 million every year in maintenance and support costs. Besides this allows the development team to focus on the future instead 35 year old code.

Probably all true.

But I just don't like instant replay with baseball.

 

[target2019]

Yep, I'm waiting until I get run out of the building .

Waiting will give me time to decide if I really want 4 Vanguard brokerage accounts...with 4 additional money funds. Maybe I'm wrong about that?

 

[Texas Proud]

Waiting will give me time to decide if I really want 4 Vanguard brokerage accounts...with 4 additional money funds. Maybe I'm wrong about that?

I think I got 8 or 9 different ones...




The other BIG problem that I have is statements... I am old fashion and want paper for annual statements but that is (or at least was) not an option... before, I had only one brokerage account and the rest on the old platform... I got a consolidated stmt for all accounts and they had a total for them all.


Now, I get a stmt for each account! I called to get my consolidated back and they are sending something but it is not the same.... so when stmt time I get a bunch of paper stmts that are useless...


BTW, you can keep the Prime MM account, it is just not your sweep account anymore...

 

[easysurfer]

My hope is that when 2022 rolls around I'll get another email telling me to convert before the old way of doing things gets retired in around a few years after that .

Hasn't the request to [-]kick people out and [/-] move to the new way been going on for about 4 years now?

 

[target2019]

My hope is that when 2022 rolls around I'll get another email telling me to convert before the old way of doing things gets retired in around a few years after that .

Hasn't the request to [-]kick people out and [/-] move to the new way been going on for about 4 years now?

Probably at least 4 years, maybe more.

A thought I had was how our positive interactions with a competitor (Schwab) during this time has left me wondering if the Vanguard brokerage experience will leave me frustrated? Only time will tell, I suppose.

I will definitely leave 2 out of 4 accounts at Vanguard. But 2 others can be eliminated or consolidated elsewhere.

 

[W2R]

BTW, you can keep the Prime MM account, it is just not your sweep account anymore...

Obviously they don't obliterate Prime MM when you make the big transition. So lucky me, every time any money goes into or out of my VMFXX ("Federal MM Fund", = settlement MM) account, I have to log into Vanguard and manually transfer that money to or from Prime MM if I want the slightly better interest rate it provides. It's just so annoying.

 

[Markola]

I made this change years ago when they first requested it and don’t understand what the big deal is for some. All companies their websites constantly, which is all this change feels like to me. It hasn’t cost me any money that I know of.

 

[W2R]

My hope is that when 2022 rolls around I'll get another email telling me to convert before the old way of doing things gets retired in around a few years after that .

Hasn't the request to [-]kick people out and [/-] move to the new way been going on for about 4 years now?

At least 4 years. And they always make it seem so urgent. My guess is that your hope will become your reality in 2022.

 

[Gumby]

I still have the traditional Vanguard accounts, and I am unwilling to switch until I find out what the catch is. I am like Danny Moses in Michael Lewis' book "The Big Short"

When a Wall Street firm helped him to get into a trade that seemed perfect in every way, he asked the salesman, “I appreciate this, but I just want to know one thing: How are you going to f*** me?”

Heh-heh-heh, c’mon, we’d never do that, the trader started to say, but Danny, though perfectly polite, was insistent.

We both know that unadulterated good things like this trade don’t just happen between little hedge funds and big Wall Street firms. I’ll do it, but only after you explain to me how you are going to f*** me. And the salesman explained how he was going to f*** him. And Danny did the trade.

 

[jollystomper]

I had already performed this action on my tIRA to allow direct transfer to a new Roth IRA, so no big deal in my view. I received the notice for my taxable account and already performed the transition. I have not noticed anything different, and it is one less thing for me to be "nagged" about.

They are better than Fidelity,.I still have to call to transfer funds from my tIRA to Roth IRA because my tIRA account is "too old (likely meaning non-brokerage) so I cannot do online transfers. No indication from them yet that anything can be done about it (though in truth I have not raised a fuss about it).

 

[target2019]

So we have another line of demarcation. Those that transitioned willingly, and those of us who are like Danny Moses.

 

[Scrapr]

Probably all true.

But I just don't like instant replay with baseball.

what are your feelings on the Designated Hitter?

 

[easysurfer]

what are your feelings on the Designated Hitter?

Nope. I want pitchers to bat.

Back to the Vanguard thing. IMO, asking me to switch to the new method I compare to as if I'm a left-handed hitter asked to be a switched hitter. Why should I switch if I'm totally content batting on one side. Sure, there may be some advantages for some folks, but I'm happy just being who I am.

 

[Onward]

I made this change years ago when they first requested it and don’t understand what the big deal is

+1

 

[HI Bill]

Waiting will give me time to decide if I really want 4 Vanguard brokerage accounts...with 4 additional money funds. Maybe I'm wrong about that?

I've opened up a two extra accounts for 1) Separate marital property (inheritance); and 2) annual spending/new home funds. Having a bunch of accounts helps me manage $, taxes, and distributions on different ages of account investments (LTCGs). I't a bit annoying, but I find it necessary as I plan for the transition to ER. I have the following accounts:

• 1 ROTH
• 1 Rollover IRA
• 1 Inherited IRA
• 1 Brokerage (inheritance, not tax-deferred)
• 1 Brokerage (majority of taxable accounts)
• 1 Brokerage (annual expenses and new house fund where sales of equities with LTCGs resulting in 0% taxes go)

When I roll over my 401(k), I'll open another IRA account so that I can separately track the basis of the employer match for those funds.

The transition was easy and is really not a big deal. The only issue is that you get separate statements for each account.

 

[RunningBum]

Nope. I want pitchers to bat.

Back to the Vanguard thing. IMO, asking me to switch to the new method I compare to as if I'm a left-handed hitter asked to be a switched hitter. Why should I switch if I'm totally content batting on one side. Sure, there may be some advantages for some folks, but I'm happy just being who I am.

Um, no, it's nothing like that. I don't fault you for not wanting to switch. There were a couple annoyances the year I did, but it's nothing like what you compare it to.

 

[rk911]

I just got another email from Vanguard asking to make the transition away from Mutual Funds only to the "new and improved" investment platform.

At least now there is a year of 2022 or sooner to retire the old platform.

I'm still loitering and lingering until the deadline comes closer as funds area all I need. Index investing and rebalance once a year. Don't need the fancy stuff .

hmmm. either we've never received these emails, never saw these emails or somehow it doesn't affect us. just what is this new platform? and what is considered the old platform? nearly 100% of our VG investments are in mutual funds except for a small amount in their money market.

 

[RunningBum]

hmmm. either we've never received these emails, never saw these emails or somehow it doesn't affect us. just what is this new platform? and what is considered the old platform? nearly 100% of our VG investments are in mutual funds except for a small amount in their money market.

Look at your account titles, does it say "Brokerage" in the name? Like

(Your Name) -- Brokerage Account -- (acct #)

It may be that you opened your account when all new accounts were done as brokerage accounts. Or maybe you converted a few years ago and it was so uneventful you don't recall.

 

[rk911]

yes, our living trust is titled as a brokerage. we created it about 2-yrs ago.