Vanguard Announces New Fees (Except for the Rich)
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 16 พ.ค. 2024
- Vanguard just announced a slate of new fees on everything from getting help buying Vanguard funds to transferring accounts away from Vanguard. If you have at least $1 million or $5 million at Vanguard, some fees are waived.
Here are the new fees:
**Broker-assisted commission**: A $25 broker-assisted commission will be charged for each Vanguard mutual fund and Vanguard ETF® (exchange-traded fund) trade placed over the phone and for closing transactions placed by Vanguard Brokerage Services® to cover a margin call or satisfy an outstanding debt owed in your brokerage account. (This fee will not be charged for brokerage accounts enrolled in a Vanguard-affiliated advisory service or for clients with $1 million or more in qualifying Vanguard assets.)
**Certificate deposit fee**: A $100 processing fee (per CUSIP) will be charged for the deposit of physical share certificates into your brokerage account.
**Class Action Service Fee**: 20% for Vanguard to process class action claim filing, but you can opt out of the service.
**Foreign securities and American Depositary Receipts (ADRs) dividends fee**: A fee of 1% on the gross dividend amount will be charged when a dividend is paid on a foreign or ADR asset held in U.S. dollars.
**Restricted security legend removal fee**: A $250 processing fee may be charged for research and removal of a restriction on a security held in your brokerage account.
**Account closure and transfer fee**: A $100 processing fee may be charged for account closure or transfer of account assets to another firm. (The fee will not be assessed for clients who hold at least $5 million in qualifying Vanguard assets.)
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The $25 broker-assisted fee to buy Vanguard funds is waived "for brokerage accounts enrolled in a Vanguard-affiliated advisory service or for clients with $1 million or more in qualifying Vanguard assets." And the $100 account transfer fee is waived "for clients who hold at least $5 million in qualifying Vanguard assets."
Fantastic, I'm off the hook.
That's exactly the question I was going to ask. Thanks for this great video. I've already forwarded it to a few people. Thank you for what you do.
@@payroll970 LOL... I'm planning to have ~ 4,999,999 by EOD.
I spent 45 minutes on hold w/Vanguard last night to ask about fees. One thing I learned was that you can ask for help and they will guide you for free,
I’ve never been on hold that long with Fidelity.
The whole reason most of us used Vanguard is that we trusted Bogle. He was on the side of the investor. If Vanguard is going to go the same way as the industry, that changes the calculus.
They are! Those who stick with Vanguard Index funds over the long term are rewarded. But those who want to trade in and out, move here to there, should have to pay for that; not long term shareholders which is Vanguards ethos!
Jack Bogel would be infuriated if he was to see what happened to Vanguard now
They n ed to step up their game with the website. Still quite clunky, even with recent vhanges
@@noreenn6976 i never had much of an issue with their website except for a particular glitch that lasted for a few years that forced me to complete a particular trade over my phone. i can't even recall what it was now but it was a buy order on one of my accounts. it will kick me into an unrelated page in their website instead of the ordering page.
the quarterly dividends tab doesn't seem to correlate with amounts that stop at the tax quarters and seems to continue on up to the 15th of the month when the taxes are due and this bugs me when doing quarterly estimated taxes. no experience with other brokerages.
i much prefer the previous version of their mobile app. the current one is only in vertical mode and i see less info at a glance. the previous version screen rotated.
i actually have 3 accounts at fidelity: an old 401k, a 457b and my HSA. i prefer the layout of vanguard as the positions in each account are seen right away instead of having to dive in deeper to each account.
Fidelity has zero fee basic index funds (FNILX and FZROX) and a 2% cash back Visa card. Fidelity's Premium money markets are also great, as is their Conservative Income Bond Fund (FCNVX).
Bogle brought low cost investing directly (i.e. without a sales person) to consumers. That was hugely successful (an understatement). Jack fought against Vanguard bringing ETFs to market. Vanguard customers bought mutual funds and held them forever. This was very, very different than all the other mutual funds that were sold to customers.
Providing low cost mutual funds that sold themselves largely by mailing in a physical check) is a business Vanguard was a world class leader. And that low cost mentality has been an overwhelming (insurmountable?) impediment for Vanguard to compete over the past decade with Fidelity and Schwab. People now demand a great website and an app for a phone that work…not a mail room that processes checks that come in by the tens of thousands a day. Vanguard has utterly fails to make that transition.
Vanguard’s “customer service” was and unfortunately continues to be providing low cost mutual funds and ETFs. Period. That approach provides Vanguard with way less revenue to update their computer systems, that are decades out of date (and very expensive to update) let alone come up with a functional website and an app that is intuitive. Schwab and Fidelity have the revenue and lots of ways to generate more to make those improvements.
Jack Bogle’s laser focus on “low cost” mutual funds has crippled Vanguard because their revenue is not sufficient to compete with Fidelity or Schwab. Vanguard has fallen…and I don’t think they’re going to be able to get up.
@@noreenn6976 I find myself having to hunt for data, much more so than a few years ago.
Vanguard - legacy brokerage that just put the final nail in its own coffin. Gen-Z and younger won't touch this brokerage
I tend to agree
With a website that bad and no more low fees to make up for it, Millennials aren't going to put up with this and GenZ definitely isn't. And these guys are about to inherit a LOT of money. I've been worried about Vanguard for a while and this doesn't help.
Bingo. I’m an older Gen-Xer. I wanted to love Vanguard, but it’s archaic website and poor customer service was a turn-off compared to Fidelity’s robust website and fantastic customer service. It will be worse with the younger, tech savvy generations. Vanguard is in deep trouble.
@@cathyg1099 "older" millennial here - I love Fidelity and Schwab's interfaces, services, customer service, and offerings. I haven't used Vanguard in over 5 years after using the other two. I also direct most people who ask me where to start to check start with either Fidelity or Schwab.
I mean, my employer uses them for 401k. So all the new 18 year old employees are using this (staring 2025, with the automatic contribution rule).
Last year I transferred all my Vanguard accounts (IRA TRAD, IRA ROTH, 401K) to Fidelity and I am extremely happy.
If you did that because Fidelity offered services that Vanguard didn't, then you made a wise decision.
If you did that because you think you will make more money at Fidelity, then you are mistaken. The difference between the expense ratios at Fidelity and Vanguard are large and within a few months you will have lost more money than any fee increase that Vanguard has instituted. And your losses will be compounded monthly.
@@MrDocneesonyou can purchase same ETFs at same expense ratios
On the Fidelity platform I own no fidelity, ETFs or mutual funds, but I do on VGT and SCh G
So Fidelity’s platform is so nice and you can own funds from other companies. Can you get all these benefits of great customer service and their webinars and a free financial planner whenever you want and the retirement software is almost as good as new retirement and it’s free.
Did I mention it’s free
@@MrDocneeson Fidelity index funds have lower ERs than Vanguard.
@@MrDocneeson It's been many years since Vanguard was the only game in town when it comes to low-cost index funds. Fidelity's and Schwab's index funds have roughly the same fees or lower than Vanguard. Plus, you can always buy Vanguard ETFs if you really want the Vanguard funds. I honestly don't see any reason to pick Vanguard over Fidelity/Schwab these days.
Account closure fee is like an enslavement tax - we'll free you when you pay for your freedom.
You have til July to move out if you don't like it
I think move out fee is reasonable to prevent people using their brokerage as a mean to trigger account transfer to Robinhood for a 3% match
Smith Barney charged me when I switched to Vanguard years ago.
Agreed, but everyone charges them because it takes time and effort to transfer funds. Vanguard is trying to focus on their customers so I'm happy they are charging those who are bailing to reduce costs in other areas!
Charles Schwab charged me a $75 account closure fee years ago. And I was furious when I moved everything to Vanguard. Well, I guess Vanguard is no better and maybe now even worse than Schwab. God I miss John Bogel
The CEO failed to understand what made Vanguard good. Took to long to get rid of him.
The present CEO is supposed to be scheduled for replacement,I think by the end of this year.
Thank god! Replace the CEO. Horrible.
What made Vanguard so good was its employees! CEO is doing the correct thing enhancing the compensation and benefits package of employees! When you guys make a profit you think like Capitalists, but when you are hit with fees you think like Socialist! Come on now!
@@barneycasting8331 The phone support staff are employees, and if you dealt with them you would have seen that they are poorly educated for their jobs, and frequently give you wrong information.
@@barneycasting8331 When you have experienced some of Vanguard's phone support or their new website in the last couple of years, you know that the CEO has cut cost in such way that it has become impossible to stay with Vanguard as an investor.
I called Vanguard today. The $100 account closure fee is only if you move the assets in kind to another firm. If you sell the assets online and transfer them to your bank account, there is no fee. The rep said the letter was not written very well.
Do you have any evidence that this is true? The way it’s written, they could potentially charge you $100 every time you withdraw any assets or cash.
Make no mistake, these are "testing the waters" fees. They are trying to ease the customers in with these bad news. In the near future, they will have another round of new fees.
These fees are likely in response to low net worth investors making a documentation nightmare for vanguard when switching to robinhood
So, basically returning the 90s? Y’all have had it easy for the past 2 decades.
Exactly. They are watching and I'm sure some customers will react.
Those who stick with Vanguard Index funds over the long term are rewarded. But those who want to trade in and out, move here to there, should have to pay for that; not long term shareholders, which is both Vanguards ethos AND in the best interest of remaining shareholders.
Rob Berger, you are the man for all that you do!
I've been a Vanguard Indexer for 35 years. Amazing to watch the rise and fall. I don't thing Boggle would be happy. Thinking of moving to Fidelity and using the zero cap weighted index funds.
@@MyNameIsJeff872 😅
@@MyNameIsJeff872 Thanks Jef
@@MyNameIsJeff872 probably auto correct got his ars! easy buddy.
Fidelity is the new Vanguard.
Can't use zero ER funds in retirement accounts. If you're moving a 401k remember they cut a check and your retirement floats outside the market for several days, so consider rolling over to Fidelity 10% at a time.
Thanks for the information Rob! I think a number of us were waiting on this video. I just got off the phone with 2 vanguard service reps, and they stated some concerning additional information. Namely, that it doesn’t take a full closure of the account to trigger the $100 fee, but instead any partial transfer that could occur under certain circumstances (like a partial transfer initiated by Fidelity). Also, this is on a per account basis, so if you have Roth,brokerage, and HSA that is $300 in fees. Additionally, I asked if VXUS would be subject to the 1% dividend fee, and both of them said yes. I think this is incorrect, but the email from vanguard is so poorly written that it is causing confusion for everyone, even Vanguard’s own associates. Very disappointed with the direction of Vanguard.
I read on one blog about these fees "Readers note that the 1% fee is only for stocks that trade on foreign exchanges, not funds like VXUS which trade on US exchanges."
@@cmdrfunk Agreed! My main frustration is with vanguard associates giving out bad information because they can’t understand their own policies. I believe better communication would have gone a long way here. The whole interaction undermines my confidence for Vanguard’s future.
@@Schizeophonic After being on hold for 40 minutes I was told closing fee would only apply when totally closing account. But when I mentioned the email she could not locate it and I ended up reading it to her. I think vanguard’s best days are over. Thinking of moving to fidelity even though fees are a bit higher and returns are a bit lower on target funds.
It is their management. It is Philly style of vicious management creating us mess.
with these recently announced changes by Vanguard, would be useful to me to see a comparison of common investor fees among Vanguard, Fidelity, and Schwab. would perhaps put the Vanguard changes into proper context.
Agreed, most of these fees are in line with the other major brokerage firms
@@cmai553 Bogle didn't create Vanguard to get in line with other brokerage firms. He named the company Vanguard for a reason.
Rob- I'm new to your channel and just wanted to say thank you for this video. I've been generally happy with Vanguard ... but have had a different feel from them over the past few years. After your excellent explanation of the email I recently received, I think I'll stay put for now. I'll be interested to see how I feel now that's they've moved me to some type of robot/personal advisor product. Again, thanks for a great, simple to understand video for a Vanguard client.
Thank you. When I got the email I was hoping you would explain it to me. Your videos are always so helpful.
Thank you for helping me interpret the VG email Rob. I always appreciate your insight.
Whew!! We just transferred all our money out of Vanguard in December, just in time. This is really amazing, given that Vanguard's latest advertising blitz is about how well they treat their clients because they are "owners". It's just a shame what the new Vanguard management has done. Poor Jack must be rolling in his grave.
I withdrew my money a year ago as well. Vanguard is terrible.
Due to Vanguard's mutual ownership structure it's not clear to me that these fees are increasing the cost for Vanguard account holders as a whole. These changes clearly increase the cost for those who do these specific actions. But for account holders who don't do these things these new fees may actually save them money as cost that was there all along, and had to be covered by the mutual fund fees, can now be charged solely to those who perform these cost bearing actions. This would allow Vanguard to lower expense ratios, avoid increasing them, or worst case increase them by a smaller amount than they would have otherwise to absorb any rising costs. Of course, the alternative is that these fees are being used to raise employee wages beyond inflation in which case this is a deterioration of Vanguard's low cost promise.
Thanks for the objective and informative review of these changes. This is really helpful.
Telephone assistance is very expensive for the company, and may frequently cost more than $25 for the company to provide that service. I don't really blame them for wanting to put a price on those calls.
Thank you for your input and explaining this.
Vanguard has very poor customer service now compared to 25 years ago.
Thanks Rob, excellent information as usual.👍
Always appreciate your thoughts and analysis, Rob!
Rob, I have be waiting almost 24 hours for you to make this video(ha ha) and you delivered! Thanks for explaining all the fees in plain English and I am sure Mr. Bogel would not have allowed this to happen. I thought Vanguard was owned by us, did we vote for this?
I just opened a brokerage account with vanguard last month, I am closing it today. Thanks for the info
Ron Berger thank you for the explanation and your advice. You do Invester great service with your videos.
It seems to me that Vanguard is “cleaning house.” They likely have too many small dollar accounts (and with the Ascensus move too many small business accounts) that are tying up too many resources.
I don’t know if adding fees fixes the issues, but they appear to be focusing on disincentives for certain things.
Thanks for sharing all of your knowledge
Thank you for explaining in plain English all the new fees.
"What sets us apart: Our company is owned by its member funds, which in turn are owned by fund shareholders. With no outside owners to satisfy, we focus squarely on meeting the investment needs of our clients." 🙄
Give me a publicly traded company (Schwab) or privately owned company (Fidelity) brokerage with great customer service over a "member owned" brokerage with crappy customer service...
If we own the company then let vote the bums out.
@@rgarri6396did that with the proxy vote index card sent to me every year. Every time I would vote differently.
Yes! This is exactly their pitch and then they turn around and screw their "owners". They couldn't be more deceitful in my opinion.
@@richardlarson2969 The most poorly owned companies/organizations in America are often "member owned." You even see the same thing with Credit Unions. If I'm a "Vice President of Bullshit" in some publicly owned company and you're the CEO, you're not going to put up with my crap because you will be held accountable by the Board and the stockholders. If we're both in a "non-profit" owned by the members- you're probably going to do nothing about me because you don't want to rock the boat. Let the members think all is well. If they dig too deep, they might not like the job you are doing either...
In the past, you have been critical of Vanguard for not investing enough in its services, particularly their online services. You said that perhaps their low-cost strategy was catching up with them so they did not have the resources to keep up with the competition. Recently, I've noticed that Vanguard has started making such improvements. So perhaps Vanguard giving more attention to its own income will be a long-term benefit for its customers. 🤞
I received that letter a week after I opened their cash management savings account. My first thought was to close the account but then read the part about the $100 closure fee. I'm glad you mentioned that some brokerages will pay these fees if you transfer to them because I was feeling kind of stuck. I'm going to explore this option. Thanks for another informative video.
The bottom line Vanguard is trying to drive away small accounts and only wants ones with millions or corporate accounts.
😢
Not just millions, at least $5million!
I was planning on leaving Vanguard anyways as their getting rid of their individual 401K business. Found out about that via your previous video. I've already opened up a Schwab account and am now working on setting up the 401K and transferring funds. This just confirms my decision to move on this asap. Thanks so much for all your great work.
Thanks for the great review.
This is likely in rewponse to robinhood. Probably have a ton of customers with less than 10 grand in their account jumping ship and its turning into a documentation nightmare for vanguard over 0.00000001% of their holdings. I dont like the idea of fees any more than the next guy but this is probably just ensuring you're not leaving on a whim. None of these fees apply to me so I'm staying the course.
@@K1OIK response
What happened to Robinhood?
Hi @Rob Berger, what do you think about selling out of vanguard ETFs now (before capital gains build up) and replacing them with other funds (e.g. VOO to IVV)? Any risk of those funds/vanguard going under sometime in the next 20 years, and could that incur a lot of unwanted taxes in the future?
Seems like a philosophy of pay for the services you use and don't pay for those you don't use. Given the rising price of personnel nowadays I expect their options were make people pay for what they use vs spread the fees to everyone regardless of whether they use them or not. Sounds like a fair choice to me, after all they are not a welfare organization.
I've been with Vanguard literally decades. During COVID I had to interact with them a lot because of an inheritance, and it was miserable dealing with them. I chalked it up to the difficulties during that time period, but it left a bad taste for Vanguard in my mouth. Since then Vanguard has just gotten worse and worse. I'm now exploring options to switch to another company.
I see a lot of Fidelity customers here in the comments. My account has been with Schwab for many years. The few times I've ever needed to call have been pleasant and easy. I love the website. My current 401k with work, however, is Fidelity. I don't know if it being a 401k account is the reason, but I detest the website in comparison to my Schwab interface. Also, I do believe Schwab has an incentive available to new accounts if referred by a current customer. At least that was the case some months ago when I checked.
Yep, same experience here. I now use several other large brokerage firms that I’m not mentioning for security reasons. They are all better than Vanguard.
Fidelity is fantastic choice. Ive been with them for 5 years. Moved from Edward Jones
Can you expand more on what the issue was with inheritance? I am planning to setup a cashplus savings acct for my mom, and expect to inherit it when she eventually passes. What pitfalls did you run into?
@@ucdcrush I had to make perhaps a dozen phone calls to Vanguard to accomplish all the tasks involved with the inheritance, which was somewhat complicated. Each time I called them there was a 30-40 minute wait to speak to the appropriate person who could help me. That's the part that was miserable to deal with. It's not like Vanguard did anything wrong or bungled it, but having to wait so long every time was pretty unpleasant.
The ADR fee doesn't make any sense. The ADR sponsor handles all the work - it buys the foreign stock on the foreign exchange, deposits it with a custodian, and receives the payment in the foreign currency and converts it to US dollars. They are the ones who charge the fee, and quite rightly so, as they do all the work. Vanguard just receives the dividend in US dollars, just like any stock, so why should they get a fee?
Yeah this one threw me off. Can’t make sense of this. Does anyone know if fidelity charges this?
Thanks for the info.
I am just educating myself about the stock market. I appreciate your help. Thank you
I just don't see these fees as being a big deal. It's not like they are raising the expense ratios on your investments.
Just moved all my IRA accounts from Vanguard (about 2 million) to Robinhood and they added a $60,000 bonus to my IRA accounts!- 3% match, and covered transfer fees. Yes, investment choices don't include bonds or mutual funds and you are required to keep the money in for 5 years; but holy smokes that's a sweet ass bonus
No thanks
Vanguard has been making a lot of subtle changes that remove utility and convenience. They seem to be struggling as a company. Lots of red flags. I’m jumping ship before the fee to transfer takes effect.
Has anybody heard if Bogel's family is transferring to Fidelity?
Like you, I manage my own accounts at Vanguard and none of these fees affect me. I was using their team to manage my accounts until I realized they were putting my money into poorly performing ETFs. When I asked them to put my money into index funds, they REFUSED, so I fired them and am doing fine on my own. I managed my own 401k during my working years and made a lot of money riding the S&P 500 index so hopefully, I'll do the same at Vanguard.
Good that you fired your personal advisor at Vanguard. I did the same in 2021. In Vanguard's investment ecosystem that is largely passive there really is no need for their PAS services. Rob Berger will certainly be a benefit to your knowledge on how to manage your investments yourself.
Exactly where do you opt out for the class action fees? I'm not finding it anywhere.
Would switch to Fidelity be cost effective ?
The ADR dividend fee, if I'm not mistaken, is a change from a flat $1 fee to a percent-based fee. Depending on how much capital you have in these types of securities, this could actually be a net reduction in fees.
Nothing wrong with the broker assisted fee. Ties up their employees, to do something that is SUPER easy to do yourself, online. If you need help, call up, ask a million questions, then do it yourself with 2 clicks on a computer.
A lot of seniors do not have a computer. Seniors are the ones with the most retirement money. Again the old people get dinged.
Fidelity costs nothing to call.
They’re not charging you when you call with a question, they’re charging you when you have a broker complete the transaction for you on the phone. All you have to do is call in, ask all your questions, then complete the transaction yourself online. Most brokerages charge that same fee.
Easy to see things from one’s own perspective.
Agree that the optics aren't good and Vanguard could use a liitle help from PR. Though they'd probably add a "public relations advisory fee" given recent history.
I like vanguard's Wellesley mutual fund. I'm curious if Fidelity has a similar fund? Or will it just transfer over to Fidelity if I change accounts?
I jumped ship several years ago. Loving the much "greener pastures" for all those years. Let's pray that all stays the same in the future.
Gotta believe Vanguard knows these fees will cost them customers, assuming they are fine with that
When I first saw this I was alarmed but once you went through the new fees I realized none of these would impact me personally unless I sold everything and left Vanguard.
Hahaha! Me too!!
None of these fees apply to me. Seems like an over reaction, but thank you!
Completely agree. In theory it keeps my fees low and puts the cost on PITA customers that constantly need to call customer service. Everyone’s costs are going up. I love making PITA customers pay the increased fees and not me.
Yet
What did they say during WWII about the Nazis coming for someone else, but you didn't care because they weren't coming for you, and eventually, when they did come for you, you're all by yourself?
@@steftrando They are just getting started. Wait till they implement a monthly fee for everyone just for having any accounts with them.
I’ve been an etrade customer since 1999 and I wasn’t thrilled when Morgan Stanley bought them. Slowly, the features and service are being eroded. I have 7 figures there and no longer have service rep. I have a guy assigned but when I call, it goes to a help desk type of service. I guess it’s just the way it will be everywhere.
So what do recommend we move to?
You’re looking for services beyond their core business. They aren’t a retail broker and clearly add brokerage and retail advisory services as value adds, but only to the degree that they don’t become an expense. Their core business is as an asset manager (albeit passive for the most part) and manufacturer. Distribution is largely handled for them via retirement plans and other intermediaries. They don’t need retail, so it’s not surprising they are adding fees to recover some of the costs. Don’t expect them to be something they aren’t.
Defensive
The cost of everything is going up. One time fee increases for specific actions or services may seem costly, but the long term gain you receive from industry low expense ratios far out weigh those fees.
Hello.
Their low expense ratio ETFs are available at other brokers that doesn't charge these fee.
They need to sell or close their non performing units that is now compounding cost and wiping out all the good things.
im a small time retired investor- wellington, wellesley IRAs. Noticed a few years ago the phone customer service decreased. Past few years i dont buy or sell. Vanguard isnt what it used to be. Thanks for explaining the email that i didnt understand.
Thank you very much...
does this affect VOO investors on non-vanguard platforms?
Absolutely bananas! I have an old rollover ira there of sub 1k. This makes me hate vanguard more
Thank you Rob! Where does one opt out of the class action service please?
I can’t find it either. My email doesn’t have the opt out link.
If I remember right, years ago they charged a maintenance fee for accounts that didn't have a large amount in them. Then they got rid of that. Does anybody remember that? That favored wealthier people over the younger people just starting out.
The maintenance fee is simply waived if you elect electronic delivery. If you want mailed paper the fee applies. I have no issue with this because it drives people to lower cost options which saves all of us money.
@@clintonwoodward I have no problem either. What I am saying is Rob and others act like there were no fees in the past. It wasn't waived in the past either. They also had higher fees for the funds in the past and still charge less for people with bigger balances with Admiral shares.
I think an important clarification is that the broker assisted fee does not apply if you call and ask a representative to show you how to make the trade. It only applies if they’re the ones placing the trade for you.
Exactly. Schwab is the same.
I think Vanguard does not want any calls, as I indicated in my post. They are not investing in customer service at all. I do all my self managing on the computer, but sometimes need some clarification or help on how to do it, and just advised they will close my accounts if I continue to call. This is not just about fees, but about customer service being cancelled.
@@ShirleyRand-ix5wj Your "needs" are obviously far more than they can handle. Perhaps Fidelity or Schwab would be able to handle them. You could try both of them. Good luck.
I am a longtime (decades) Vanguard account holder and these trends concern me. I have also noticed a significant quality reduction in phone services I.e., extensive wait times.
Thanks for sharing! I got the email last night and just transferred two accounts to schwab this morning! Definitely expedited my decision I had been contemplating for a few months.
Many of the brokerages appear to be backtracking on “free” everything. Fidelity is trying to charge for ETFs, M1 changed their fee structure recently, and now this. Robinhood appears to be the only one keeping costs low and benefits high. I wonder how much higher interest rates are behind this or whether the drive for lower fees has finally hit a wall.
where do you opt out of the class action service fees?
I guess they figured it costs money to do all the transfer work when people move money out. Many people do it to get a bonus so they figured people are already getting paid and some places like you said cover it anyway. I really don't like the account closure fee. If you have 3 or 4 accounts do they charge for each one if you close them all? ira, roth ira, brokerage?
I’ve been a Vanguard client for my entire adult life of 35 years. Generally satisfied, but the trend isn’t good. The problem is that if I were to sell things and move it would trigger a lot of capital gains. I bet a lot of people are in this situation. So Vanguard won’t attract new customers and will gradually get less and less competitive.
Same here
Bogle was clearly the driving force behind the entire philosophy, which was low fees and good service to the customers/owners. Since his passing, they have gone downhill, exactly as you said. In tech, they call this enshitification.
The fees are every where. Fidelity charges me $100 to handle my ADR dividend.
It’s clear vanguard wants out of the small consumer market and that’s a shame. It’s against what their founder stood for.
No it's not. They're adding costs for extra bs, to keep fees low where it matters
Vanguard is a great investment platform for the 20th century
newly retired went though their financial advisor, and deceived not to do that, didn't see value. I think their website is becoming less user friendly. I just rearranged ( with some info I got from advisor's original plan). They been doing things that are quite concerning and now these fees. They only give you a month before fees take effect and I and going to be too busy to do before free time is up. There is a bad pattern emerging and it is only going to get worse. I will seriously looking at fidelity later this year. I think they are kicking up a shit storm and it may bit them in the ......
So how does one opt out of the Class Action Service? It's not clear in the updated terms of service document.
Will these new charges effect my index funds IRA, Roth and S&P?
I'll take Vanguard off my list.
Rob, I believe the main concern is what might be behind these decisions. Are they having issues? Are they slowly and consistently moving the company in a different direction? Short term these fees don't mean much.
But they might be only the tip of the iceberg. And if that is the case, then I need to find a new home.
I cant qualify my statement, but I have read that Vanguard has adopted WOKE policies and invest in companies that dont support oil/gas, and do support green agendas. We all hear how well thats wrecking the economy. At the verge of anger, these fee increases are the straw on the camels back for me.
I converted a physical certificate (from the 1990s) a couple of years ago. I just did it directly; it didn't occur to me to have my broker do it.
I suspect most of the people who find themselves with a physical certificate these days inherited it from a parent or grandparent.
Thanks for the info. I have some funds with Vanguard and would also like to see a comparison with current data between them as commented below, looking at a side by side with Fidelity, Schwab, etc.
No free lunch! I guess their very low cost fee structure is catching up to Vanguard.
I've got retirement investment accounts at Schwab, Merrill Lynch, Betterment and Vanguard. The Vanguard account has only $100K in it in both a Roth 401K and a standard 401K. My initial thought was to roll that over into my NEXT employers 401K plan (I am between jobs right now) but that may not happen before July 1.
I'm not dissatisfied with Vanguard but I don't like having too many accounts with different brokerage firms and like to consolidate. I also would prefer not to convert the 401K and Roth 401K into IRA's which I would be forced to do if I rollover into a non-employer sponsored account. Would you leave it be or do a rollover if you were in my situation?
Sigh, this makes me really consider switching to that offer/promotion Robinhood is offering even though I don't like that company. Or I'll just move it all to Fidelity.
So if you have a modest rollover Ira will vanguard charge the closure fee when you spend down the account down to zero?
No, the “closure” fee has to do with transferring to another firm, not emptying your account.
My worry is about calling to ask about a technical problem with the Vanguard website. Will I still incur the $25 fee just to speak to a human? What if I have just a general question?
Thank you for video! I have come to respect your opinion. I think you provide much better insight than Bogleheads.
I am retired (74 years old) with a Vanguard account under $1 million. I dropped out of Vanguard PA less year due to the changes that would not allow me to set my foreign exposure or percentage. I have been with Vanguard for over 10 years and had very little contact with them except to take RMD. It looks like I can take my RMD and waive the fee if I do it online. I use to do everything online with Fidelity when I had an account with them. Needless to say the Vanguard website is more changeling and not as user friendly as Fidelity.
I wonder if Vanguard will charge me a fee as a draw down or close one of my funds in my IRA to take my RMD? Vanguard had set up several (6) accounts in my IRA and some are below $5000. I am considering moving everything to Fidelity since they have an office where I live?
Yup, got the email. Taking their cue from Spirit.
Good info. So whom offers the best website, great funds, and low fees?
I really like fidelity’s website and app. I’ve heard nothing but bad things about how behind/obtuse vanguard is. Although I only started investing a few years ago.
Video did not address specific conditions for last fee about what amount is considered low balance and what is the minimum activity to not be considered inactive?
transferred to fidelity yesterday. the final straw was them not offering any crypto-related products OR ability to buy existing products.
I withdrew all my money a couple years ago for different reasons. This confirms I made the right choice. Never again will I ever use Vanguard.
Got the email. While it doesn't affect me, it is a bit distressing that Vanguard is in a fee increasing mode.
Is the a trend now? Adding fees that effect those who are starihg to inesting or dont have enough money. M1 will start charge those who dont have certain amount of assets. Last time i check betterment will charge you a fee if you dont automatically deposite a certain amount.
Glad I transferred to Fidelity.