Vanguard survey: what should they do differently?

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asset_chaos
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Vanguard survey: what should they do differently?

Post by asset_chaos »

Vanguard asked me to take a survey today. One of the open ended questions was

What is the one thing you wish Vanguard would do differently?

Living abroad, my answer was integrating and lowering costs of Vanguard ex-US investing, though probably not easy due to cross-border legal restrictions. But I thought opening up their question to the general Boglehead community could be informative---and a bit more current than previous threads that posed essentially the same question. So, what is the one thing you wish Vanguard would do differently?
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airshow
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Re: Vanguard survey: what should they do differently?

Post by airshow »

tongue-in-cheek, I wish there was a law that an offering of a least a few mainstream Vanguard funds would have to be included in any company-sponsored 401k plan. :beer
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Svensk Anga
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Re: Vanguard survey: what should they do differently?

Post by Svensk Anga »

I wish they were more active as a 403(b), 457 provider. Most who have access to this kind of account have to make a choice for the least-bad option. VG is apparently not as motivated to jump through all the administrative hoops needed to become an approved provider as those making the big commissions. I think this is a major gap in VG's lineup of services to the small investor.
letsgobobby
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Re: Vanguard survey: what should they do differently?

Post by letsgobobby »

clean up old, empty, inactive accounts in my home page view. It seems small but it seems I have 25 or 30 various accounts, at least 6-10 of them have a $0 balance, and I want to see only the active ones. In fact there is a way to do that with Vanguard's preferences, but I still know they're 'there.' I want them gone!
littlebird
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Re: Vanguard survey: what should they do differently?

Post by littlebird »

I wish their phone-answering recording would not say: "As a commitment to quality service, your call may be monitored". Many things have changed over the two decades or more that I have been with Vanguard, but this klutzy, ungrammatical sentence endures.
Carl53
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Re: Vanguard survey: what should they do differently?

Post by Carl53 »

letsgobobby wrote:clean up old, empty, inactive accounts in my home page view. It seems small but it seems I have 25 or 30 various accounts, at least 6-10 of them have a $0 balance, and I want to see only the active ones. In fact there is a way to do that with Vanguard's preferences, but I still know they're 'there.' I want them gone!
I have had old empty accounts removed by leaving them inactive for too long. Also, I've closed them myself but I think I had their help. You can choose to hide them. If they are not shown or deleted then your ten year and other performance histories will be messed up.
sport
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Re: Vanguard survey: what should they do differently?

Post by sport »

I would like Vanguard to withhold income taxes for my state. Vanguard will withhold for the states that require it, but not for others. Vanguard's policy makes RMDs more complicated than they need to be.
Lax67
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Re: Vanguard survey: what should they do differently?

Post by Lax67 »

I would like them to offer admiral shares of the LifeStrategy and Target Retirement funds.
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JamesSFO
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Re: Vanguard survey: what should they do differently?

Post by JamesSFO »

Lax67 wrote:I would like them to offer admiral shares of the LifeStrategy and Target Retirement funds.
+1

I would love to see this, but I do think they do view it as a form of "price of admission" to them doing the management.
columbia
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Re: Vanguard survey: what should they do differently?

Post by columbia »

LifeStrategy and/or Target Date funds with municipal bonds.
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corner559
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Re: Vanguard survey: what should they do differently?

Post by corner559 »

They need Admiral shares for their Target Date funds.

Also, I would like to see them display the day's losses/gains. It's something that's VERY easy to implement. Using Morningstar to have to view this piece of information is tiresome. I don't understand why they don't show this.
Lax67
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Re: Vanguard survey: what should they do differently?

Post by Lax67 »

I found this on Vanguard's Institutional site, it's an article written by Bill McNabb titled Five Themes Critical to Investors' Success 1/22/15
https://institutional.vanguard.com/VGAp ... FiveThemes

2. Investment providers must continue to lower the cost and complexity of investing.

We have a responsibility to make investing easier and less costly for investors. In Vanguard’s nearly four decades of serving investors, we’ve learned that investors are largely goal-oriented and want clear paths to achieving those goals. They would benefit from funds and services that are simpler and more goal-oriented. Target-date funds and managed payout funds are good examples of funds that meet these objectives, but more can be accomplished in this area.

Many investors also need advice (in varying degrees and varying forms) to help them get (and stay) on track and guide them through complex issues. The cost for investments and advice must continue to fall, and it will continue to fall. That’s a good thing for all investors.
Perhaps they have lower ER for Target Retirement Funds on the "to do" list, or maybe I'm reading into it too much.
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Chan_va
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Re: Vanguard survey: what should they do differently?

Post by Chan_va »

1. Take a more active stance on corporate governance - Vanguard is a huge shareholder in many companies, need to use that clout better
2. Disclose exec pay
3. Invest more in IT
4. A rewards program where I earn points for buying vanguard funds and can redeem for kitschy stuff like a multi purpose Vanguard branded tea cozy/hat
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Traveller
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Re: Vanguard survey: what should they do differently?

Post by Traveller »

Total rewrite of their website.
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Re: Vanguard survey: what should they do differently?

Post by KlangFool »

Secondary beneficiary on the joint A/C... Come on, Vanguard... If Fidelity can do this, you can figure this out too.

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Re: Vanguard survey: what should they do differently?

Post by sport »

corner559 wrote:Also, I would like to see them display the day's losses/gains. It's something that's VERY easy to implement. Using Morningstar to have to view this piece of information is tiresome. I don't understand why they don't show this.
You can create a "watch list" on the Vanguard site. It will show the daily results for each fund you select.
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noyopacific
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Re: Vanguard survey: what should they do differently?

Post by noyopacific »

Chan_va wrote:1. Take a more active stance on corporate governance - Vanguard is a huge shareholder in many companies, need to use that clout better
2. Disclose exec pay
3. Invest more in IT
4. A rewards program where I earn points for buying vanguard funds and can redeem for kitschy stuff like a multi purpose Vanguard branded tea cozy/hat
#1 +1
#2 +1 (This would be my #1.)
#3 +/- ?
#4 :-)
#5 I think that Vanguards Board of Directors is too heavily insulated from shareholders and too heavily influenced by management. (I think it would be better if the Directors were nominated by Bogleheads rather than being recruited by management.) :idea:
#6 Reduce the advertising budget. Am I the only one who seems to see another Vanguard ad on every other web page?

Re:
Total rewrite of their website.
Not all changes are improvements. I know my way around the web site and I'm comfortable with it. Too often I see where web sites are changed and the only result that I notice is that I can't find what I want anymore.
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fourwedge
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Re: Vanguard survey: what should they do differently?

Post by fourwedge »

I would like to see a foreign small value fund so I could replace my DFA fund... DISVX.

Offer Admiral shares for all their funds.

Why is there a difference between regular accounts and brokerage accounts. Why do we need a "brokerage" account to buy ETF's.
Max out your tax sheltered retirement accounts with inexpensive, well diversified, index funds and you will beat 90% of all investors.
LeeMKE
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Re: Vanguard survey: what should they do differently?

Post by LeeMKE »

Open an account at Fidelity. Spend a few years making it that easy to open an account at Vanguard.

I gave up. They spooked me too badly.
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Allocationist
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Re: Vanguard survey: what should they do differently?

Post by Allocationist »

I would like Vanguard to stop making repeated unwanted and unauthorized distributions from my wife's IRA even after the problem was brought to their attention.

I would like them to not issue IRA distribution documents after unwanted and unauthorized distributions were made even after the problem was brought to their attention.

I would like them to provide accurate amounts for "funds available to trade" instead of inaccurate amounts in brokerage accounts. Providing inaccurate amounts can cause trading problems.
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Re: Vanguard survey: what should they do differently?

Post by dolphinsaremammals »

Two factor for people with no texting capability. If dinky little credit unions can call me on the phone, Vanguard can manage to do so.
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Re: Vanguard survey: what should they do differently?

Post by dolphinsaremammals »

Chan_va wrote: 4. A rewards program where I earn points for buying vanguard funds and can redeem for kitschy stuff like a multi purpose Vanguard branded tea cozy/hat
Doesn't their store still exist? I forget its url.

Update: here you go: http://vanguardgear.com/

I wish they had their blankies in that store.
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Re: Vanguard survey: what should they do differently?

Post by xenial »

dolphinsaremammals wrote:Two factor for people with no texting capability. If dinky little credit unions can call me on the phone, Vanguard can manage to do so.
A cell phone is not needed to receive Vanguard's security codes. Just sign up for a free Google Voice phone number. You can receive the texts there or have them forwarded to gmail. I've been doing this without any problem whatsoever.
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Re: Vanguard survey: what should they do differently?

Post by core4portfolio »

Just add a automatic rebalance tool
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stlutz
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Re: Vanguard survey: what should they do differently?

Post by stlutz »

clean up old, empty, inactive accounts in my home page view. It seems small but it seems I have 25 or 30 various accounts, at least 6-10 of them have a $0 balance, and I want to see only the active ones. In fact there is a way to do that with Vanguard's preferences, but I still know they're 'there.' I want them gone!
Isn't this needed in the event you want to get at the purchase/sale records for those funds without having to call and get special help?

I agree with the others about taking a more active corporate governance stance. For most of the things we invest in, the financial industry's profits have been pretty much eliminated, regardless of where you invest. The next step in being "investor friendly" is taking the money from corporate execs and putting it in my pocket instead.

I don't get all of the hate about their website. You can get much better information about their funds than you can, say, Fidelity's at their site. I never have any problem figuring out what my holdings are worth, making purchases/sales etc.

If they want to spend money, I'd like to see them do it with customer service. At some point, everyone is going to have a problem. They are rare at Vanguard, but when you do, it's more of a project to get the problem resolved than it is elsewhere.
HIinvestor
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Re: Vanguard survey: what should they do differently?

Post by HIinvestor »

They should have a REAL, VALID Durable Power of Attorney (DPOA) that is valid in all 50 states that you can sign and have others sign when you open your account with them. Their NOT having this is a major disincentive for us to have assets with them. Don't want a document (or several) that are kinda sorta LIKE DPOA, want a GENUINE DPOA.
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msi
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Re: Vanguard survey: what should they do differently?

Post by msi »

dolphinsaremammals wrote:
Chan_va wrote: 4. A rewards program where I earn points for buying vanguard funds and can redeem for kitschy stuff like a multi purpose Vanguard branded tea cozy/hat
Doesn't their store still exist? I forget its url.

Update: here you go: http://vanguardgear.com/

I wish they had their blankies in that store.
http://www.vanguardgear.com/shop/lifest ... icker.html :|
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corner559
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Re: Vanguard survey: what should they do differently?

Post by corner559 »

jsl11 wrote:
corner559 wrote:Also, I would like to see them display the day's losses/gains. It's something that's VERY easy to implement. Using Morningstar to have to view this piece of information is tiresome. I don't understand why they don't show this.
You can create a "watch list" on the Vanguard site. It will show the daily results for each fund you select.
This is just a watch list that tells how the fund did. I want to see how much money my actual holdings lost or gained in a day. The watch list is completely useless to me. It would be to know, for example, that on a good day my portfolio in total made x amount of dollars. And for those who say that this would encourage people to trade on a whim as they watch the ups and downs (as one acquaintance said to me in response to this), I say that VG should not treat us like children.

Again, it's simple to implement and unbelievable to me that this is not available on their site.
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Re: Vanguard survey: what should they do differently?

Post by dolphinsaremammals »

msi wrote:
dolphinsaremammals wrote:
Chan_va wrote: 4. A rewards program where I earn points for buying vanguard funds and can redeem for kitschy stuff like a multi purpose Vanguard branded tea cozy/hat
Doesn't their store still exist? I forget its url.

Update: here you go: http://vanguardgear.com/

I wish they had their blankies in that store.
http://www.vanguardgear.com/shop/lifest ... icker.html :|
That gets me to a bumper sticker, not a blanket, Thanks anyway,
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Re: Vanguard survey: what should they do differently?

Post by dolphinsaremammals »

Ken Schwartz wrote:
dolphinsaremammals wrote:Two factor for people with no texting capability. If dinky little credit unions can call me on the phone, Vanguard can manage to do so.
A cell phone is not needed to receive Vanguard's security codes. Just sign up for a free Google Voice phone number. You can receive the texts there or have them forwarded to gmail. I've been doing this without any problem whatsoever.
Why should I jump through convoluted hoops, learn a new system, deal with bogus phone calls and spam to a gmail account instead of just, like, you know, pick up the phone.
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msi
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Re: Vanguard survey: what should they do differently?

Post by msi »

dolphinsaremammals wrote:
msi wrote:
dolphinsaremammals wrote:
Chan_va wrote: 4. A rewards program where I earn points for buying vanguard funds and can redeem for kitschy stuff like a multi purpose Vanguard branded tea cozy/hat
Doesn't their store still exist? I forget its url.

Update: here you go: http://vanguardgear.com/

I wish they had their blankies in that store.
http://www.vanguardgear.com/shop/lifest ... icker.html :|
That gets me to a bumper sticker, not a blanket, Thanks anyway,
Yeah I wasn't actually responding to the blanket thing, just pointing out the silly bumper sticker for sale in case people missed it.
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Re: Vanguard survey: what should they do differently?

Post by IowaFarmBoy »

I would like Vanguard to lower limits on their donor advised fund for the initial contribution and grant recommendations. Vanguard's minimum to open is $25k. Fidelity is $5k. Subsequent donations to Vanguard have a minimum of $5k, Fidelity has no minimum for subsequent contributions. Vanguard grant minimum is $500. Fidelity grant minimum is $50. Both charge .6% on the first $500k or so of assets although Fidelity has a minimum annual fee of $100. I don't think Vanguard has a minimum annual fee.

Our donor advised fund and taxable account are at Fidelity rather than Vanguard. The limits at Vanguard are just too high for us.
lazyday
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Re: Vanguard survey: what should they do differently?

Post by lazyday »

- Give us choices to improve account security, even if it requires some hassle.

Already done, thank you!

- Improve processes so fewer mistakes are made
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Re: Vanguard survey: what should they do differently?

Post by BigJohn »

dolphinsaremammals wrote:Two factor for people with no texting capability. If dinky little credit unions can call me on the phone, Vanguard can manage to do so.
Sounds expensive to have people sitting around 24x7x365 to make personal phone calls to verify. Would add costs for all investors to benefit a very few and is not consistent with their low cost model.
"The greatest enemy of a good plan is the dream of a perfect plan" - Carl Von Clausewitz
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Re: Vanguard survey: what should they do differently?

Post by dolphinsaremammals »

BigJohn wrote:
dolphinsaremammals wrote:Two factor for people with no texting capability. If dinky little credit unions can call me on the phone, Vanguard can manage to do so.
Sounds expensive to have people sitting around 24x7x365 to make personal phone calls to verify. Would add costs for all investors to benefit a very few and is not consistent with their low cost model.
Humans do not do this. An automated system does this :oops:
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Re: Vanguard survey: what should they do differently?

Post by Texas Radio »

I had every intention of moving all of my accounts to Vanguard. I'm glad I didn't. Two of the three accounts I did move/establish have been complete clustermesses.

It took two weeks for them to set up my brokerage account. They entered my bank information wrong on my brokerage account even though I attached a voided check so weeks later I still can't ACH funds. Despite overnighting the written form to correct it's still not done.

Half of the people I've called have never even heard of a SIMPLE IRA. They only know 401(k) or Traditional or Roth IRA's. That's a tough spot to be in when addressing issues since they can't even get me to the right department. Once I was even transferred out of Vanguard to some credit union they were partnered with!?!

No Voyager status for a month despite bringing this up in every phone call and sending messages (which are never responded to.)

On a positive note, my daughter's 529 plan moved and operates without a hitch. A second positive, I'm a huge fan of John Bogle and Vanguard's funds and low expenses.

Let they buyer beware.
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1210sda
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Re: Vanguard survey: what should they do differently?

Post by 1210sda »

columbia wrote:LifeStrategy and/or Target Date funds with municipal bonds.
Agree plus admiral status.

1210
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Re: Vanguard survey: what should they do differently?

Post by BigJohn »

dolphinsaremammals wrote:Humans do not do this. An automated system does this
Ooops, thanks... and it's me who needs the :oops:
"The greatest enemy of a good plan is the dream of a perfect plan" - Carl Von Clausewitz
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Re: Vanguard survey: what should they do differently?

Post by Wildebeest »

Chan_va wrote:1. Take a more active stance on corporate governance - Vanguard is a huge shareholder in many companies, need to use that clout better
2. Disclose exec pay
3. Invest more in IT
4. A rewards program where I earn points for buying vanguard funds and can redeem for kitschy stuff like a multi purpose Vanguard branded tea cozy/hat
I agree with Chan_ va's list and would modify 4. to a rewards program where you get additional lower ER for less trading/having more in index funds etc and would call it the Bogle Select ( new category over Admiral)

5. Index funds for International Value and International Small Value.
6. Stop haunting me with Vanguard Ads on the Internet. Stop wasting money advertizing to Vanguard customers and put it into IT.
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Re: Vanguard survey: what should they do differently?

Post by nisiprius »

1) What letsgobobby said. Make zero-balance accounts go away. Or have one master checkbox that hides them completely, everywhere, in all tools--on screen, in downloaded data, everywhere.

2) Clean up the line-item descriptions of individual TIPS issues so they are all in a 100% consistent format, all exactly the same--don't list some as

"U S TREASURY NOTE INFLATION INDEX NOTE CPN 1.12500 % MTD 2021-01-15 DTD 2011-01-15" and others as
"U S TREASURY INFLATION INDEX NOTE CPN 0.62500 % MTD 2021-07-15 DTD 2011-07-15"

3) Figure out a more compact way to list TIPS on a printed statement so that you can fit more than three of them on an 8-1/2 by 11" page. While you're at it, please don't waste a full 3 out of every 8-1/2" of vertical space on repetitive headers and footers. And you could find a more legible typeface, too.

4) Dear Vanguard: nobody is going to agree on this one but personally I think you are overdoing the touchy-feely babies-and-hikers stuff. I love my grandchildren dearly but to me my Vanguard account is where I put my money, not an expression of my life aspirations.
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Re: Vanguard survey: what should they do differently?

Post by richard »

More tax managed funds.

Instead, they're moving in the opposite direction, removing the tax-management from tax-managed international. Worse, they did it without consulting holders.
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Re: Vanguard survey: what should they do differently?

Post by friar1610 »

I wish they would do financial plans/reengineer their Portfolio Advisory Service (PAS) to include all of one's assets, not just those held at Vanguard. Many of us have CDs, I-Bonds, etc. that we consider part of our overall financial picture. Why can't Vanguard include these when they develop a plan or take charge of advising you on your portfolio?
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Re: Vanguard survey: what should they do differently?

Post by jefmafnl »

Add an international small-cap value index fund
(previously mentioned by another poster).

J
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Re: Vanguard survey: what should they do differently?

Post by Toons »

Hmmm,,,,I just can't think of anything at the moment,,,actually they offer me more than I need in the way of services. :happy
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Re: Vanguard survey: what should they do differently?

Post by fetch5482 »

I am pretty happy with Vanguard overall, so most of my requests are rather nitpicks, not deal breakers.. but here they are:

. +1 for LifeStrategy Admiral Shares
. International SV fund.. They only have a small-cap fund and a separate value fund, but no SV fund for tilters
. Free robo advisor service, or at least a service that would ping you when it is time to rebalance
. Change their frequent trading policy to match other brokerage firms such as Fidelity, where a round-trip within 30 days would trigger it. As it stands, if I TLH out of a fund, I cannot get back to that fund for 60 days!
. Google Authenticator support for 2FA
. Work with Mint.com to support accounts with 2FA to sync properly
. Improve VBTLX fund (recent article from Bogle pointing to the fund flaws)
(AGE minus 23%) Bonds | 5% REITs | Balance 80% US (75/25 TSM/SCV) + 20% International (80/20 Developed/Emerging)
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FelixTheCat
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Re: Vanguard survey: what should they do differently?

Post by FelixTheCat »

+1 on website. I want people to brag about Vanguard's website like they do for Fidelity.
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JamesSFO
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Re: Vanguard survey: what should they do differently?

Post by JamesSFO »

walletless wrote: . Change their frequent trading policy to match other brokerage firms such as Fidelity, where a round-trip within 30 days would trigger it. As it stands, if I TLH out of a fund, I cannot get back to that fund for 60 days!

Ironically, I find Fidelity's penalties harsher, first any shares of Spartan Intl for example sold within 90 days incur a 1% redemption charge. Second, with Vanguard just send them a letter in the mail to trade. If you time your letter you could be back in right around the 30 day mark.
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fetch5482
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Re: Vanguard survey: what should they do differently?

Post by fetch5482 »

JamesSFO wrote:
walletless wrote: . Change their frequent trading policy to match other brokerage firms such as Fidelity, where a round-trip within 30 days would trigger it. As it stands, if I TLH out of a fund, I cannot get back to that fund for 60 days!

Ironically, I find Fidelity's penalties harsher, first any shares of Spartan Intl for example sold within 90 days incur a 1% redemption charge. Second, with Vanguard just send them a letter in the mail to trade. If you time your letter you could be back in right around the 30 day mark.
The short term redemption fee is a fund fee, unrelated to the frequent trading policy. I dislike certain Fidelity funds for the same reason, but it is what it is.. My 401K is with Fidelity, and I don't have much option but to use Fidelity funds there, unfortunately. In any case, there is no point doing TLH in 401K, so the short-term trading fees really don't bother me there.

Their frequent trading policy though is much more friendlier (IMO) than Vanguard. Like I said, none of my complaints with VG are deal breakers, just nitpick. I would prefer low-cost, low-fee funds any day over usability, beautiful site, and minor annoyances :-)
Last edited by fetch5482 on Wed Feb 04, 2015 1:06 pm, edited 1 time in total.
(AGE minus 23%) Bonds | 5% REITs | Balance 80% US (75/25 TSM/SCV) + 20% International (80/20 Developed/Emerging)
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John151
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Re: Vanguard survey: what should they do differently?

Post by John151 »

I'd like Vanguard to drop its partnership with TurboTax and form a partnership with a different tax software company, such as H&R Block or TaxAct. TurboTax charges more than its competitors charge, and its pricing policies are confusing and at times deceptive.
harryw
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Re: Vanguard survey: what should they do differently?

Post by harryw »

John151 wrote:I'd like Vanguard to drop its partnership with TurboTax and form a partnership with a different tax software company, such as H&R Block or TaxAct. TurboTax charges more than its competitors charge, and its pricing policies are confusing and at times deceptive.
This. Vanguard's and Intuit's corporate philosophies don't seem well aligned.
nisiprius wrote: 4) Dear Vanguard: nobody is going to agree on this one but personally I think you are overdoing the touchy-feely babies-and-hikers stuff. I love my grandchildren dearly but to me my Vanguard account is where I put my money, not an expression of my life aspirations.
And this.
Although the happy people on the Vanguard website don't bother me nearly as much as the ones popping up in tax programs. Those I want to punch in the throat.

Also, whereever you display value changes, be it daily, monthly, yearly or whatever, please show them in percent, or at least offer the option.
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