Search found 506 matches

by reisner
Wed Sep 28, 2022 1:26 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Vanguard Customer Service Mega-thread
Replies: 1512
Views: 167341

Re: Vanguard customer service has declined significantly

After ten months of trying but failing to make a gift of VG shares to a charity, I kept the funds but moved to Schwab. They gave me a thousand dollars, a free financial advisor who is great, and perfect service. I am about to move my checking and banking accounts to them too and also get their credit card.
by reisner
Wed Aug 24, 2022 4:01 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Greece June 2023
Replies: 17
Views: 2134

Re: Greece June 2023

But first read "Travelers to an Antique Land: The History and Literature of Travel to Greece." Available cheap on Amazon. A guy named Robert Eisner wrote it and got reviewed in the NYT Book Review issue on best books of the year.
by reisner
Sat Jul 30, 2022 10:01 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Help me select the proper BH Kitchen Knife
Replies: 37
Views: 3728

Re: Help me select the proper BH Kitchen Knife

I do 85-90% of my food prep with a six inch Victorinox chef's knife. Thin stock, ideal length, great balance. I seldom have to reach for the eight inch and find myself often not bothering to size down to the paring. Knife sets are for saps.
by reisner
Thu Jun 09, 2022 10:21 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Opinions on high end appliances
Replies: 119
Views: 12126

Re: Opinions on high end appliances

2005 we moved from San Diego to Port Townsend, WA. The house came with an expensive 36" Thermador range. A few weeks after we moved in the igniters on the eleven-year-old stove died. They were no longer made and unobtainable in a nationwide search. American Home Shield Warranty wrote us a $6000 check. We would have bought a much cheaper GE Profile, but they came in only 30 inch and 42 inch. We bought a $7000 Wolf. In the next three years it needed three repairs. In our current California Home, the GE combo oven that is three years old has broken. A repairman came out the other day but left a potential fire danger unresolved--overheating control board even if just using the microwave--and I cannot get through the labyrinthine phone menu...
by reisner
Tue Nov 09, 2021 4:05 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Is Vanguard so bad?
Replies: 402
Views: 46631

Re: Is Vanguard so bad?

Vanguard customer service has been unspeakably bad and time consuming for me since last October. This summer I moved my VG funds to Schwab. Service has been terrific, rofessional and timely, plus they paid me a $1000 bonus. I feel welcome there, and no longer did at VG.
by reisner
Sat Oct 23, 2021 2:31 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: When does saving money mentality change in retirement?
Replies: 133
Views: 14658

Re: When does saving money mentality change in retirement?

I don't like having a lot of stuff. If I want something and think I'll use it, I buy it. If I don't think I'll use it, I resist. On top of that, the habit of looking for bargains will never die. eBay, I'm talking about you. I have noticed certain luxury brands hold their valuee; certin others, just as good, don't. Therein are the best bargains, like a $130 Faherty shirt for $22. I feel responsible for what I buy, and resort to eBay again if I find I'm not using something.

We don't stint on food, and become more generous with charities by the year.
by reisner
Fri Sep 17, 2021 10:43 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Schwab Information Thread with FAQ, Links, Tips and Q&A
Replies: 693
Views: 104178

Re: Schwab Information Thread with FAQ, Links, Tips and Q&A

Funny, back when we got some money, from a sale of our house in San Diego, I invested heavily and ignorantly in Fidelity Canada and Latin America. Those 45% gains supported us for a few years, until I became woke at about the time they began to tank. Still have a soft spot, but not a dime for them.
by reisner
Fri Sep 17, 2021 7:57 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Schwab Information Thread with FAQ, Links, Tips and Q&A
Replies: 693
Views: 104178

Re: Schwab Information Thread with FAQ, Links, Tips and Q&A

I moved 1.2 million. I don't think I would be charged to purchase. But it really doesn't matter. We bought these VG funds at the start of 2010, when already retired. I haven't bought anything since then, just skimmed off a little of the cream to supplement pension and taking SS at 66 in 2011.
by reisner
Fri Sep 17, 2021 9:42 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Schwab Information Thread with FAQ, Links, Tips and Q&A
Replies: 693
Views: 104178

Re: Schwab Information Thread with FAQ, Links, Tips and Q&A

I recently moved my Vanguard funds to Schwab and couldn't be happier. Vanguard customer service involved long holds, a variety of bored agents (actually yawning into the phone), and general incompetence. Schwab has been available, courteous, and efficient. I was expecting a bonus of $500 for shifting, but received $1000, perhaps because I moved both a Roth and a joint brokerage account. I didn't question it.
by reisner
Thu Sep 16, 2021 11:02 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: surprise $7000 rental car damage bill
Replies: 186
Views: 26466

Re: surprise $7000 rental car damage bill

The deceased friend was in insurance, and that's what he trusted. So he had lots of life insurance, but he also took out a life insurance policy every time he rented, which was a number of times a year, just locally. American Express has been the most difficult of the insurers, losing papers, demanding papers that they have or else that don't even exist, charging copying fees in the several hundreds of dollars, and it seems that they are finally paying off.I wonder how typical they are for insurers through Hertz or whatever.
by reisner
Thu Sep 16, 2021 10:07 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: surprise $7000 rental car damage bill
Replies: 186
Views: 26466

Re: surprise $7000 rental car damage bill

This brings up the question of the legitimacy of insurance taken out at time of rental. I friend was recently killed in a single car crash. He always rented when he had to drive moderate distances--meticulous about the wear and tear on his classic cars. American Express has taken over eight months to issue a life insurance check to his widow, demanding copy after copy of reports she has already sent them, and then charged her for office paperwork. Perhaps there is a general problem with these expensive little policies many take out when they rent.
by reisner
Sat Sep 11, 2021 10:58 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: The psychology of frugality when you no longer need to be frugal
Replies: 152
Views: 28801

Re: The psychology of frugality when you no longer need to be frugal

No, eBay is not a hobby. I hate owning a lot of stuff. eBay gives me the opportunity to try out stuff and then de-access it, to use the museum curator's term for this, if it isn't right for me. I have a seven- foot closet with lots of room in it, a dresser, and a suitcase in the garage for a few winter things when it isn't winter. If I buy something, I like to get rid of something. Most of my currently worn clothes are from eBay, a few left over from the days of buying from Sierra Trading Post. My wife and I have also made use of giving to Craigslist's and Next Door's free category. If the folks who snag these items sell them at a swap meet, they are doing the same sort of God's work as crows and vultures. May they prosper. A few times on e...
by reisner
Thu Sep 09, 2021 8:13 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: The psychology of frugality when you no longer need to be frugal
Replies: 152
Views: 28801

Re: The psychology of frugality when you no longer need to be frugal

Sounds like you are living lightly on the face of the earth. Nothing wrong with that. I too buy most of my clothes on eBay, but I buy barely used or new quality stuff that lasts forever and winds up being cheaper than fast fashion. Some things you might learn to spend on, like home repair--that's just spreading the wealth around. You can be a frugal minimalist but still a materialist. Enjoy a few good things rather than smothering yourself with crap; that's the mindset of Graham Hill:
https://www.ted.com/speakers/graham_hill
by reisner
Thu Aug 19, 2021 11:20 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Personal insurance (home/auto/umbrella)
Replies: 19
Views: 1947

Re: Personal insurance (home/auto/umbrella)

Costco would be the cheapest for us, but we have to stay with AARP Hartford because of a recent claim for a plumbing leak. They have raised the premiums on our home, auto, and umbrella. I could go with Costco for auto and umbrella and save a thousand dollars a year, but then our Hartford home policy would go up by $1300 once the bundle discount is removed. Crazy expensive!
by reisner
Tue Aug 17, 2021 10:57 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Cutco like steak knives for a fraction of the price?
Replies: 17
Views: 3326

Re: Cutco like steak knives for a fraction of the price?

So many knife sets are a near waste of money. The best bet for steak knives is to go to a hunting/fishing knife style called the trout and bird. The best buy is CRKT's Mossback Trout and Bird designed by Tom Krein. If they have any left you can get them for 20-25$ each from Blade HQ. Carbon steel and not the best, but neither is anything from the major kitchen knife brands. These at least are eminently sharpenable, and powder coated to resist corrosion. Great ergonomic handles. The CRKT Mossback Drop Point Hunter is also great in the kitchen, and an even better handful. Avoid knife sets, a sucker set for the inexperienced. Kitchen knife, paring, bread--that's all you need. Bark River makes some of the best, but they are rarely available, al...
by reisner
Fri Aug 06, 2021 9:55 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Wish I could quit Vanguard for poor customer service
Replies: 187
Views: 23490

Re: Wish I could quit Vanguard for poor customer service

After the effort of hanging on the ridiculously long hold again and again, with an annoying ditty in my ear, no call-back option, and no holding-time estimate, I should go to the further trouble of finding out where to send a complaint, write it, and hope for the best? I'd be a fool.
by reisner
Thu Aug 05, 2021 4:57 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Wish I could quit Vanguard for poor customer service
Replies: 187
Views: 23490

Re: Wish I could quit Vanguard for poor customer service

It would be great enough if Schwab were simply efficient where VG is not, but they are doing so much more than being efficient. I chose them over Fidelity because Fidelity is sooo big, I found Schwab's website easier to deal with, my brother-in-law is with Fidelity and finds them OK but not reaching out to him with help as S. has, they gave me $500 to make the move, and I have my own personal advisor and his team at no cost. To get the bonus you need to be recommended by an existing client to his or her own advisor. Let me know, KNomad, if you need such a rec.
by reisner
Thu Aug 05, 2021 3:09 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Wish I could quit Vanguard for poor customer service
Replies: 187
Views: 23490

Re: Wish I could quit Vanguard for poor customer service

OP here. Well, I moved my VG funds to Schwab a couple of weeks ago and could not be happier. Schwab calls me and emails to make sure everything is going all right and to tutor me in the website. I took the final papers into their office in San Luis Obispo and an actual person promptly looked over every page to make sure all was OK. My rep at Schwab emailed me the form for a charitable contribution of fund shares. The failure of VG to put this through despite about ten phone calls (and as many times on long hold with their damnable ditty playing) was what led to this move. My last contact with VG was to cancel that request lest it interfere with the transfer, but it turned out they had already canceled it on me (for lack of any response from...
by reisner
Tue Jul 06, 2021 6:46 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Retirees: How you doin’?
Replies: 77
Views: 12189

Re: Retirees: How you doin’?

Retired in mid-2005. Portfolio has doubled, despite some withdrawals. The house I now own--no mortgage--is worth more than twice what I paid for a different house in 2005. No complaints.
by reisner
Sat Jun 19, 2021 10:09 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Medical alert device
Replies: 14
Views: 1442

Re: Medical alert device

Thanks for staying on this. She has a seizure disorder that is extremely well controlled. But occasionally she encounters a cluster of provocations. Last time was altitude, which we now know can be a precipitient, 7500 feet in that case. This time, six years later, it was hot dry weather and a slash of sunlight through the trees that could have set off a seizure just as she reached the car. She got in, but the windows were up. If she had passed out she could have been in trouble. But she was able to keep the door open, but not to use the phone for half an hour, nor to start the car and work the automatic windows. In the past I have had a similar exposure to migraines, but even the distant possibility of a seizure is much more serious than t...
by reisner
Sat Jun 19, 2021 8:20 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Medical alert device
Replies: 14
Views: 1442

Re: Medical alert device

The situation arises perhaps every two years. She needs a lift, not an ER.

Such a device might be applicable to many needs.
by reisner
Sat Jun 19, 2021 7:55 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Medical alert device
Replies: 14
Views: 1442

Medical alert device

Does anyone know of a device that would do the following:

If my wife is out of the house and feeling unwell enough that she needs me to pick her up, she could grab a device hanging around her neck and press a button. A text would then automatically be sent to me from her phone. This would be better than just calling me, because she might be too muddled to use the phone.

All of the devices I have been able to find either send a message to an emergency response agency, or send out a business alert to multiple recipients, or automatically alert someone that the wearer is having a seizure.

There ought to be something like what I'm looking for out there.
by reisner
Fri Jun 18, 2021 8:18 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Advice for a recent widow
Replies: 49
Views: 5455

Re: Advice for a recent widow

Thanks, sweetie!
by reisner
Wed Jun 16, 2021 8:45 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Advice for a recent widow
Replies: 49
Views: 5455

Re: Advice for a recent widow

Very good point about blended funds. I've glanced at the retirement funds suggested, and it looks like the VG Wellington Fund outperforms them.
Rob
by reisner
Tue Jun 15, 2021 10:27 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Advice for a recent widow
Replies: 49
Views: 5455

Re: Advice for a recent widow

Dodecahedron,

I am the OP here, and every word of your post was spot on advice, which I will share with my friend. I think the only rush here is to understand the terms of the very expensive mortgage and also understand how reliable the developer of her planned assisted living is and to create a Plan B, C, D. I was myself perhaps in a rush to invest her funds because she, like many widows, was in a super rush. It was with some difficulty that I persuaded her not to buy a ruinous annuity, and I felt pressed to come up with a better alternative PDQ.

Rob
by reisner
Tue Jun 15, 2021 7:31 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Advice for a recent widow
Replies: 49
Views: 5455

Re: Advice for a recent widow

Obviously I need to look into her mortgage and into the retirement facility under construction. Personally, I would move twice. I doubt she'll go for that much added transition at this point.

Her husband died in January of 2021.

I am down on Vanguard after twenty years with them. Customer service over a charitable donation of stock has been abysmal: seven and a half months, countless phone calls (on hold), emails, lack of communication on VG messages, and it's still not done. At Schwab it would have taken two days. There's someone you cal talk to, offices you can go into.
by reisner
Tue Jun 15, 2021 3:48 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Advice for a recent widow
Replies: 49
Views: 5455

Re: Advice for a recent widow

She could handle two funds instead of one.
by reisner
Tue Jun 15, 2021 3:37 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Advice for a recent widow
Replies: 49
Views: 5455

Re: Advice for a recent widow

At current prices she should pull 1.5 million out of the house and not have to pay taxes. I doubt she would want to pay off the house now and reduce her nest egg to under 500,000. Yes, there could be delays in the opening of the facility, but San Luis Obispo has gone crazy with building. Yes, she is now receiving her husband's higher SS, which he had been collecting as well as working full time as an insurance agent with a long list of private clients. That income stream disappeared. The high mortgage was due to wild cost overrun on a remodel of an historic home and private legal matters that could not be ignored. One further question. Several respondents have recommended some fine retirement funds. Why use them instead of a traditional ass...
by reisner
Tue Jun 15, 2021 2:02 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Advice for a recent widow
Replies: 49
Views: 5455

Re: Advice for a recent widow

The husband died in January of this year. The rental on the property is grandfathered in, but a new buyer might not want to keep it--given the sort of buyers we are getting here on the California Central Coast. She'll be well able to afford the new assisted living facility, which will be the only one in the area that accepts pets and would allow her granddaughter to live with her.

We will most definitely be getting an appraisal promptly.
by reisner
Tue Jun 15, 2021 1:51 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Advice for a recent widow
Replies: 49
Views: 5455

Re: Advice for a recent widow

The mortgage is high because of several family tragedies. The one suitable assisted living facility in the area will not open for a few years, delayed by COVID. If she sold now, she would have to move twice in a short period, rather a lot to face after losing a husband and an adult son just over a year apart. Plus she has a lot of both husband's and son's possessions to dispose of, as well as the contents of an historic home lived in for over thirty years. A lot on her plate.
by reisner
Tue Jun 15, 2021 1:32 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Advice for a recent widow
Replies: 49
Views: 5455

Re: Advice for a recent widow

Thanks for the links.

Rob
OP
by reisner
Tue Jun 15, 2021 12:52 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Advice for a recent widow
Replies: 49
Views: 5455

Re: Advice for a recent widow

TXJeff,
Since California is a community property state, she gets a step-up in cost basis on the value of the house on the day her husband died. I have no idea how that is calculated. Given California's crazy real estate, it's conceivable the house will go up more than 250K in four years, but I doubt it will happen this year.
by reisner
Tue Jun 15, 2021 10:57 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Advice for a recent widow
Replies: 49
Views: 5455

Advice for a recent widow

I am informally advising a friend, 73, whose husband was killed in a car crash five months ago. I would like your reactions to her situation and my advice. Income--$3550 a month from SS and a rental house on her property Insurance payouts for the death of her husband--1.2 million. Perhaps $50,000 in savings. No investments. House--worth 2.4 million, with a $750,000 mortgage, $4500 a month. The goal is to get her through the next four years, by which time, the assisted-living facility she has her eye on will be completed. We are about to move our own investments from Vanguard to Schwab. My advice to her is to follow us to Schwab; put her money in a money market and a short term bond fund; and then do a version of cost averaging. Namely, to m...
by reisner
Mon Jun 07, 2021 10:25 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Did you make any lifestyle changes after hitting 500k NW?
Replies: 61
Views: 7365

Re: Did you make any lifestyle changes after hitting 500k NW?

It feels like I must have spent a good part of my youth watching my mother nervously draw up a budget every night on the back of an envelope. (My father was an alcoholic and also made a few bad business decisions, the consequences of which burdened us for years.) Since starting working, I have always been comfortable and made great financial progress. But at age 75, with a pension and with the market and real estate up, I realize how much I must have been worrying about money most of my adult life. Recently I realize I must have reached a psychological milestone. I don't fret a bit about money anymore. Granted, I just refused to pay $10 for a bag of gluten=free tortillas at Whole Foods. But Anything that might go wrong with the house or car...
by reisner
Sun May 02, 2021 10:55 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Wish I could quit Vanguard for poor customer service
Replies: 187
Views: 23490

Re: Wish I could quit Vanguard for poor customer service

OP here. Thanks for all your replies that have taught me a great deal. I'm moving slowly on a possible transfer--a lot going on in my life. I just want to emphasize that my bad experience with VG customer service was not a single instance but a series, stretching from November to May. (The transfer of shares to the Audubon Society has not yet shown up in my holdings.) It involved filling out the same form two or three times; approximately ten phone calls to VG, each requiring a considerable hold time, with that damned tune playing and no indication of what the waiting time would be and no call-back option; three phone calls to the Audubon's broker, who picked up immediately; numerous emails to him and to the Audubon's donation officer; a sn...
by reisner
Wed Apr 28, 2021 8:25 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: 2021 JD Power study: Vanguard ranks highest in customer satisfaction
Replies: 58
Views: 4904

Re: 2021 JD Power study: Vanguard ranks highest in customer satisfaction

Despite my terrible customer service experience (recent post: five months to do a charitable donation of shares), I am reluctant to leave what I know and what has done so well for my investments the last dozen years. The Schwab website made little sense to me. The Fidelity one was better. Has anyone compared the ten-year performance of all three in a total US stock fund? I tried but couldn't figure it out. Nisiprius, I'm talking about you.
by reisner
Tue Apr 27, 2021 11:01 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Wish I could quit Vanguard for poor customer service
Replies: 187
Views: 23490

Re: Wish I could quit Vanguard for poor customer service

Closing out my taxable account would trigger a taxable event going back to 2009. Am I wrong?
by reisner
Tue Apr 27, 2021 10:21 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Wish I could quit Vanguard for poor customer service
Replies: 187
Views: 23490

Wish I could quit Vanguard for poor customer service

I feel I must now dis-recommend Vanguard because of poor customer service. Starting in November of 2020 I initiated a gift of approximately 50 shares (VG no longer allows an exact dollar amount gift but only numbers of shares) from our Total Stock Market fund in an alas taxable brokerage account to a major charity. As of today, April 27, 2021, I am for the umpteenth time assured by the latest VG agent I talked to after an interminable time on hold (no call-back option, no updates as to hold time, same disgusting music) that I have answered their last little question, which by the way I had already answered at least twice before. I have been told a form requires one signature, then two, then one. I have encountered agents who were personable...
by reisner
Tue Apr 27, 2021 9:34 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: What Retirement Number Would You be Comfortable With?
Replies: 23
Views: 5170

Re: What Retirement Number Would You be Comfortable With?

Comfortable:

Same or higher net income (pension, SS, Vanguard dividends), mortgage paid off, medical included in pension. Whatever that comes to, I'm comfortable with.
by reisner
Fri Apr 02, 2021 6:31 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Best nonstick pans?
Replies: 122
Views: 14294

Re: Best nonstick pans?

Matfer Bourgeat carbon steel pans.
by reisner
Wed Feb 24, 2021 4:57 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: A boat for old knees
Replies: 46
Views: 4743

Re: A boat for old knees

But I won't be doing whitewater.
by reisner
Tue Feb 23, 2021 10:05 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: A boat for old knees
Replies: 46
Views: 4743

Re: A boat for old knees

A Hilton, tilted horizontal, and churned to some cliche of a destination, thronged with obesity in plaid, is not what I am looking for.
by reisner
Tue Feb 23, 2021 9:29 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: A boat for old knees
Replies: 46
Views: 4743

Re: A boat for old knees

Could you make some suggestions? Thanks.
by reisner
Tue Feb 23, 2021 5:15 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: A boat for old knees
Replies: 46
Views: 4743

Re: A boat for old knees

The Hullivator and some other lift assists seem better for kayaks. My canoe is so wide in the beam that it stretches across almost the entire roof rack on our Subaru Forester. A trailer is simply not appealing. The Alpcka Orys fits in a day pack, holds 800 lbs, and has upright seating. But I have to find one to try out entrances and exits.
by reisner
Mon Feb 22, 2021 8:26 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: A boat for old knees
Replies: 46
Views: 4743

Re: A boat for old knees

I am sifting through all these excellent suggestions. I am still interested in a packraft. Anyone have any experience, especially with the Alpacka Oryx, a canoe like version?
by reisner
Sat Feb 20, 2021 2:56 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: A boat for old knees
Replies: 46
Views: 4743

A boat for old knees

I am 75 and had my second knee replacement a year and a half ago. 120 degrees of flexibility does not allow me to get in and out of a hard shell kayak. Even my Advanced Elements inflatable kayak with a huge cockpit was a challenge. I set it up on the lawn and just managed to get into it but had to roll over onto the grass to get out. Perhaps the joints and strength will improve with time but I'm not counting on it. I thought the right canoe might work; with the higher seat I wouldn't have to lower or raise myself as far. So I bought a beautiful used Navarro Legacy, very beamy. But my wife and I had a heck of a time getting its 13' and 57 lbs down off the roof of the Subaru when I brought it home. To get it securely up onto the roof of the s...
by reisner
Thu Feb 18, 2021 7:45 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: best wristwatch for the price
Replies: 196
Views: 23112

Re: best wristwatch for the price

Casio was good enough for Longmire. Mine cost $31 and is not as comely as my dead Seiko but has a better clasp and much longer battery life.
by reisner
Thu Jan 14, 2021 10:28 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: What can we do about VG service
Replies: 11
Views: 1544

Re: What can we do about VG service

And I should say that I am retired and no longer in the accumulation phase. And most of my VG investments are in taxable and date from 2009, so I would take a big tax hit if I moved the money elsewhere, especially since I live in California.
by reisner
Thu Jan 14, 2021 10:26 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: What can we do about VG service
Replies: 11
Views: 1544

Re: What can we do about VG service

I'm not sure about my tier of service. I have 1.15 million in my VG accounts. I should be taken seriously.
by reisner
Thu Jan 14, 2021 10:15 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: What can we do about VG service
Replies: 11
Views: 1544

What can we do about VG service

I have been trying since November to make a charitable donation in the form of about 5K of stock from my Total Stock Market Fund in taxable. I have spent hours on the phone with many agents who seemed to know what they were doing or else didn't. Yesterday I was supposed to receive a call back to explain, after the agent's research, why my latest docu-sign attempt seemed to go through but didn't. No call ever came. What is going on with our beloved company? I have lost most of my faith in them.