Vanguard Slow to Process Rollover

Have a question about your personal investments? No matter how simple or complex, you can ask it here.
Post Reply
User avatar
Topic Author
steadyeddy
Posts: 771
Joined: Tue Mar 31, 2009 5:01 pm
Location: The Alps of the Midwest

Vanguard Slow to Process Rollover

Post by steadyeddy »

I mailed a check to Vanguard early last week instructing them that it was an indirect rollover ans should be invested in my existing IRA account. I received a call from Vanguard on Monday of this week that ended with the rep saying he would take care of the contribution "right away." The funds haven't show up in my account, so I called today and the rep told me that their processing department is backed up right now and I could expect to see my contribution "hopefully by the end of next week because Monday is a holiday." They confirmed I would receive the closing price on the day the funds are invested...apparently a day of their choosing.

In the long run, it really doesn't matter--I'm trying to tell myself this. In the short run, I'm a little irked because the funds to be purchased have been trending up steadily and the check is a significant percentage of my net worth. Is two weeks of processing time slow or am I being unreasonable?
gerrym51
Posts: 1679
Joined: Sat Apr 27, 2013 1:44 pm

Re: Vanguard Slow to Process Rollover

Post by gerrym51 »

although i am no expert i had this issue once at another broker and was told they did this twice a month only
User avatar
Sunny Sarkar
Posts: 2443
Joined: Fri Mar 02, 2007 12:02 am
Location: Flower Mound, TX
Contact:

Re: Vanguard Slow to Process Rollover

Post by Sunny Sarkar »

I have done several rollovers into Vanguard for both myself and my spouse, and my experience has been nothing but excellent! Every time the Vanguard rep completed the setup in my Vanguard account, then got the other company on a 3-way call and went through all the required steps with them, and finally leaving me with precise instructions about the next steps I need to do (if anything at all) to complete the process. Whenever physical checks were involved, they got credited into my Vanguard account in a very timely manner. All this excellent service for such low expense ratios = a very happy customer here.
"Buy-and-hold, long-term, all-market-index strategies, implemented at rock-bottom cost, are the surest of all routes to the accumulation of wealth" - John C. Bogle
User avatar
tfb
Posts: 8397
Joined: Mon Feb 19, 2007 4:46 pm

Re: Vanguard Slow to Process Rollover

Post by tfb »

steadyeddy wrote:I'm a little irked because the funds to be purchased have been trending up steadily and the check is a significant percentage of my net worth. Is two weeks of processing time slow or am I being unreasonable?
Way too slow. If you drop off a check at Fidelity's local office it would be credited to your account on the same day, available for purchases either the same day or the next business day.
Harry Sit has left the forums.
User avatar
frugaltype
Posts: 1952
Joined: Wed Apr 24, 2013 9:07 am

Re: Vanguard Slow to Process Rollover

Post by frugaltype »

steadyeddy wrote:I mailed a check to Vanguard early last week instructing them that it was an indirect rollover ans should be invested in my existing IRA account. I received a call from Vanguard on Monday of this week that ended with the rep saying he would take care of the contribution "right away." The funds haven't show up in my account, so I called today and the rep told me that their processing department is backed up right now and I could expect to see my contribution "hopefully by the end of next week because Monday is a holiday." They confirmed I would receive the closing price on the day the funds are invested...apparently a day of their choosing.

In the long run, it really doesn't matter--I'm trying to tell myself this. In the short run, I'm a little irked because the funds to be purchased have been trending up steadily and the check is a significant percentage of my net worth. Is two weeks of processing time slow or am I being unreasonable?
Schwab took forever to process one of these.

Vanguard once took a long time, and kept telling me they hadn't received the check (which was sent directly from the source company), even though I called in several times and someone claimed to have even looked for it among checks without documentation. It turned out that some processor had not looked at a second part of the check and so missed the SS number, etc. I would keep annoying them and try to escalate this. I would have no confidence at all that this is because some processing department is backed up.
Zhen
Posts: 56
Joined: Sun Jun 29, 2008 10:11 am

Re: Vanguard Slow to Process Rollover

Post by Zhen »

I just did a rollover a few weeks ago. The check was deposited to my newly opened Rollover IRA account in 2 or 3 days.
money
Posts: 57
Joined: Sun Jan 20, 2013 4:31 pm
Location: California

Re: Vanguard Slow to Process Rollover

Post by money »

I found the process of rolling over from Fidelity to Vanguard much too slow. I have a 401k that I would also like to roll-over to consolidate, but I am hesitating due to the length of the delay.
1Fi1LTvx8KmtotRqcha9mj5h43319mJvjY
User avatar
structure7
Posts: 14
Joined: Wed May 01, 2013 10:41 am
Location: Phoenix, AZ

Re: Vanguard Slow to Process Rollover

Post by structure7 »

I'm on week 2 of my wire rollover from USAA. They did send me some correspondence, however, laying out the 12-15 day process and what was happening over that timeframe. Hopefully straightforward transfers from my checking will be quicker!
User avatar
FelixTheCat
Posts: 2035
Joined: Sat Sep 24, 2011 12:39 am

Re: Vanguard Slow to Process Rollover

Post by FelixTheCat »

I processed a rollover and Vanguard did it in less than a week. Remember patience is a virtue. :D
Felix is a wonderful, wonderful cat.
MoonOrb
Posts: 1505
Joined: Thu Jan 24, 2013 5:58 pm

Re: Vanguard Slow to Process Rollover

Post by MoonOrb »

I felt like Vanguard took a long time to process a rollover I did recently, too. I am not sure, however, whether the delay was mostly on Vanguard's end or on the end of the institution from which the funds were coming. In any case, I was committed to investing with Vanguard for reasons other than "I want really responsive customer service," so while I would have preferred a faster rollover, it didn't make any difference to my decision to roll the funds into a Vanguard account. I don't think you're being unreasonable for thinking it should have been done faster--you just need to decide whether your frustration on that point trumps the other reasons you want to use Vanguard. That was an easy question for me to answer when I was in a similar situation.
gkaplan
Posts: 7034
Joined: Sat Mar 03, 2007 7:34 pm
Location: Portland, Oregon

Re: Vanguard Slow to Process Rollover

Post by gkaplan »

money wrote:I found the process of rolling over from Fidelity to Vanguard much too slow. I have a 401k that I would also like to roll-over to consolidate, but I am hesitating due to the length of the delay.
I did, as well, but that was because Fidelity sent the rollover check to me, instead of to Vanguard, as Vanguard and I had requested in a teleconference call with the Fidelity representative.
Gordon
money
Posts: 57
Joined: Sun Jan 20, 2013 4:31 pm
Location: California

Re: Vanguard Slow to Process Rollover

Post by money »

I had the check mailed direct to Vanguard from Fidelity. I did not really specify which end of the process took the longest since I am unsure in retrospect. I think on each end there was some delay; it is just too bad these transfers cannot be made more quickly in general if you need to liquidate your holdings. I guess recent market speeds are making me drag my feet to move to Vanguard to take advantage of my perception of their current value proposition.
1Fi1LTvx8KmtotRqcha9mj5h43319mJvjY
DetroitRed
Posts: 183
Joined: Tue May 17, 2011 4:16 pm

Re: Vanguard Slow to Process Rollover

Post by DetroitRed »

gkaplan wrote:
money wrote:I found the process of rolling over from Fidelity to Vanguard much too slow. I have a 401k that I would also like to roll-over to consolidate, but I am hesitating due to the length of the delay.
I did, as well, but that was because Fidelity sent the rollover check to me, instead of to Vanguard, as Vanguard and I had requested in a teleconference call with the Fidelity representative.
Doing an indirect rollover (having the check sent directly to you) can be problematic. They usually withhold 20% for taxes and if you don't put the 20% into the new account within 60 days it triggers taxes. Also, if you don't complete the transfer within 60 days it triggers taxes.

There are fewer potential pitfalls if you do a direct rollover (have the check sent directly to the new place).
gkaplan
Posts: 7034
Joined: Sat Mar 03, 2007 7:34 pm
Location: Portland, Oregon

Re: Vanguard Slow to Process Rollover

Post by gkaplan »

DetroitRed wrote:
gkaplan wrote:
money wrote:I found the process of rolling over from Fidelity to Vanguard much too slow. I have a 401k that I would also like to roll-over to consolidate, but I am hesitating due to the length of the delay.
I did, as well, but that was because Fidelity sent the rollover check to me, instead of to Vanguard, as Vanguard and I had requested in a teleconference call with the Fidelity representative.
Doing an indirect rollover (having the check sent directly to you) can be problematic. They usually withhold 20% for taxes and if you don't put the 20% into the new account within 60 days it triggers taxes. Also, if you don't complete the transfer within 60 days it triggers taxes.

There are fewer potential pitfalls if you do a direct rollover (have the check sent directly to the new place).
The check was made out to Vanguard, but Fidelity mailed it to me, instead of to Vanguard.
Gordon
gerrym51
Posts: 1679
Joined: Sat Apr 27, 2013 1:44 pm

Re: Vanguard Slow to Process Rollover

Post by gerrym51 »

I was going to a rollover from my 2nd 401 k-i have 2 from different employers. My current 401 k provider would not transmit or send check directly. it had to be sent to me first.the broker i was sending it to sent me an email with a scan tag enabling me to get special federal express envelope. i was still uncomfortable with doing this and opted not to have it done. my wife who was in HR at her former company says the envelope system is very common for rollovers.
Default User BR
Posts: 7502
Joined: Mon Dec 17, 2007 6:32 pm

Re: Vanguard Slow to Process Rollover

Post by Default User BR »

gerrym51 wrote:I was going to a rollover from my 2nd 401 k-i have 2 from different employers. My current 401 k provider would not transmit or send check directly. it had to be sent to me first.the broker i was sending it to sent me an email with a scan tag enabling me to get special federal express envelope. i was still uncomfortable with doing this and opted not to have it done. my wife who was in HR at her former company says the envelope system is very common for rollovers.
It's very common to have the check sent to the employee address of record. MyMegaCorp does that. It's a safety mechanism so that someone can't hack your account and have your funds sent elsewhere. I'm not sure why you were hesitant about it.


Brian
Post Reply