Vanguard Website

Discuss all general (i.e. non-personal) investing questions and issues, investing news, and theory.
jimmyg
Posts: 98
Joined: Sat Jan 19, 2019 8:23 am

Re: Vanguard Website

Post by jimmyg »

I always use a Private window in Firefox to access Vanguard via the "Vanguard personal investor home page" link LadyGeek posted above, log in at least once per day along with 2FA, and only experienced one login problem months ago. I don't recall exactly what the problem was (it might have been a mostly blank page but with a header at the top?), but the next login was fine again.

However, NoScript always pops up a NoScript XSS Warning for a "potential Cross-Site Scripting attack" when I visit the "Vanguard personal investor home page", so I have to "x" out (close) the pop-up every time.
clip651
Posts: 1582
Joined: Thu Oct 02, 2014 11:02 am

Re: Vanguard Website

Post by clip651 »

Regarding the missing account on statements, were there any transactions in your Roth during those months? When I have previously downloaded statements for my accounts, I vaguely remember some months of statements are "missing" from the download list. It seemed to me at the time that the missing months for certain accounts matched up with months where there were no transactions in the accounts. For instance, if my account contains only stock mutual funds (this is the case in my Roth), and I don't do any transactions myself, there are only transactions in dividend months, and not in other months. This ends up being the situation in my brokerage Roth IRA, where I only have transactions in the four months where there are dividends at the end of each quarter. (I'm not contributing or withdrawing from that account currently, and don't often need to rebalance.)

I usually see a separate statement for each account, not a combined one with multiple accounts, though, so I'm not sure if my recollection of my experience is relevant to your situation.

cj
User avatar
LadyGeek
Site Admin
Posts: 95466
Joined: Sat Dec 20, 2008 4:34 pm
Location: Philadelphia
Contact:

Re: Vanguard Website

Post by LadyGeek »

That's an excellent point. My last transaction for the Roth IRA brokerage account was in February, 2021.

The last working statement is dated 9/30/2021:

Page 2 - Statement overview containing both the traditional IRA and Roth IRA accounts
Page 3 - Traditional IRA account overview
Page 4 - Traditional IRA balance and holdings
Page 5 - Traditional IRA account activity
Page 7 - Roth IRA account overview
Page 8 - Roth IRA balance and holdings
Page 8 - Roth IRA account activity (On same page as balance and holdings. No transactions, but it shows a summary.)
Page 10 - Disclaimers (end of statement)

For the subsequent statements dated 10/31/2021 and 11/30/2021, the Roth IRA info is missing:

Page 2 - Statement overview containing both the traditional IRA and Roth IRA accounts
Page 3 - Traditional IRA account overview
Page 4 - Traditional IRA balance and holdings
Page 5 - Traditional IRA account activity
Page 6 - Disclaimers (end of statement)

All of the statements have a return address of:*
PO Box 3009 Monroe, WI 53566-8309

The tracking numbers, located in the right-side margin (small print, vertical orientation) appear to be similar. This is an error at the source.

Nothing should preclude sending out a statement with critical information missing. If it's listed in the statement overview page, there's no reason to drop the account details. Consider that someone who depends on paper statements is missing this information.

* PO Box 3010 is used for email. Re: Vanguard in ??? Monroe, Wisconsin, pop. 11,000, Swiss cheese capital of the world?)
Wiki To some, the glass is half full. To others, the glass is half empty. To an engineer, it's twice the size it needs to be.
User avatar
zaplunken
Posts: 1368
Joined: Tue Jul 01, 2008 9:07 am

Re: Vanguard Website

Post by zaplunken »

I think I misunderstood Lady Geek. The prior poster mentioned something that is true, when there is no activity for an account there is no statement for the month and that's true for my Roth as I only have equity MF in it so there's a statement only when dividends or cap gains occur. I thought LG meant one of her accounts (IRA or Roth) was missing from the on screen display that shows all your accounts and what they hold regardless of whether the account had any activity.
User avatar
Tubes
Posts: 1881
Joined: Wed Apr 22, 2020 6:33 am

Re: Vanguard Website

Post by Tubes »

LadyGeek wrote: Sat Dec 04, 2021 3:33 pm
The missing financial account in my statement is not due to the browser.
Indeed. This is a very serious problem.
User avatar
LadyGeek
Site Admin
Posts: 95466
Joined: Sat Dec 20, 2008 4:34 pm
Location: Philadelphia
Contact:

Re: Vanguard Website

Post by LadyGeek »

Are there any Linux users with Firefox? I just posted this: Subject: Vanguard login security code
LadyGeek wrote: Sun Dec 05, 2021 7:25 am For those using Firefox and can't login, try clicking on the link at the bottom of the page and see if you get the account menus. Details are in my post: Re: Vanguard Website

This is for a Windows 10 desktop. I decided to try this again in Linux. In Firefox, I repeated this error.
We're experiencing technical difficulties

We apologize for the temporary inconvenience. You can reach out to our client services team for more help.
I then get an unexpected call with a caller ID of "800 Service" from (800) 665-4386. Normally, I would wait for the caller to hang up and then report the call as spam to Nomorobo. Instead, I heard a message "Hello, this is Vanguard. To receiver your one-time security code, please press 1."

In Linux, clicking on the AdChoices link produced a login prompt. Logging in resulted in the "technical difficulties" screen and a subsequent phone call from the "800 Service". With no way to enter the code, I could not login to my account.

In Linux with Chrome, I was presented with the security code entry field. The "800 Service" called and I was able to login to my account.

At the very least, Vanguard should put their name on the caller ID. Otherwise, I was waiting for someone to sell me an extended car warranty. :twisted:

As noted in Re: Vanguard Website, this was the last straw (also note their statements are missing information). I'm moving my account to Fidelity in 2022.
Wiki To some, the glass is half full. To others, the glass is half empty. To an engineer, it's twice the size it needs to be.
cas
Posts: 2245
Joined: Wed Apr 26, 2017 8:41 am

Re: Vanguard Website

Post by cas »

LadyGeek wrote: Sun Dec 05, 2021 6:55 am That's an excellent point. My last transaction for the Roth IRA brokerage account was in February, 2021.

The last working statement is dated 9/30/2021:
That "9/30/2021" may be a key point, since it was a quarterly statement.

What does it say on the very first page of the non-quarter-end statements? (Cover page where your address is)

Mine says
This statement shows only transactions that occurred on your brokerage
account during the past month. A comprehensive statement, which
includes detail pages for each fund, will continue to be mailed
following the close of each quarter.
I spot-checked back in my saved statements for a few years (back to 2017), and (upon cursory inspection) things seem to have worked the same way for at least that far back:
- the same "This statement shows..." on non-quarter-end statements
- main overview page shows all accounts, but no detail pages are show for brokerage acct with no activity
- no detail pages are shown for mutual fund only accounts

Quarterly statements have a full accounting of everything.

Or are you seeing something different than the above?
codybanks
Posts: 2
Joined: Thu Dec 21, 2017 8:48 am
Location: TX

Re: Vanguard Website

Post by codybanks »

Can any one tell how to perform exchange of funds using VG mobile app as I could not find this option in the new app.
Overall i do not like the new mobile app.

TIA
User avatar
CRC_Volunteer
Posts: 568
Joined: Fri Sep 10, 2021 10:57 am
Location: Southeast USA

Re: Vanguard Website

Post by CRC_Volunteer »

Logging into Vanguard via Firefox works for me. However, using Firefox and logging into my Fidelity account also returned me the 628 error. Closing the browser and reopening, when I went back into Fidelity, I was already logged in.

This appears to be a Firefox issue affecting Vanguard, as well as Fidelity. I am running Windows 10 21H2, using Firefox 94.0.2.
"Let me explain. No, there is too much. Let me sum up." (Inigo Montoya) | | 65/30/05 | 53% VTSAX | 12% VTIAX | 30% VAIPX | 5% CASH
User avatar
anon_investor
Posts: 15111
Joined: Mon Jun 03, 2019 1:43 pm

Re: Vanguard Website

Post by anon_investor »

codybanks wrote: Sun Dec 05, 2021 11:07 am Can any one tell how to perform exchange of funds using VG mobile app as I could not find this option in the new app.
Overall i do not like the new mobile app.

TIA
The new app does not have the ability to do that. There is a long list of things the new app cannot do. The new app is objectively terrible.
RetiredAL
Posts: 3512
Joined: Tue Jun 06, 2017 12:09 am
Location: SF Bay Area

Re: Vanguard Website

Post by RetiredAL »

LadyGeek wrote: Sun Dec 05, 2021 6:55 am That's an excellent point. My last transaction for the Roth IRA brokerage account was in February, 2021.

The last working statement is dated 9/30/2021:

Page 2 - Statement overview containing both the traditional IRA and Roth IRA accounts
Page 3 - Traditional IRA account overview
Page 4 - Traditional IRA balance and holdings
Page 5 - Traditional IRA account activity
Page 7 - Roth IRA account overview
Page 8 - Roth IRA balance and holdings
Page 8 - Roth IRA account activity (On same page as balance and holdings. No transactions, but it shows a summary.)
Page 10 - Disclaimers (end of statement)

A thought. Was this Roth originally your late husband's, or has it always been yours? If is was his, that may partially explain, but that still does not excuse them for not doing the whole job correctly.
clip651
Posts: 1582
Joined: Thu Oct 02, 2014 11:02 am

Re: Vanguard Website

Post by clip651 »

LadyGeek wrote: Sun Dec 05, 2021 6:55 am That's an excellent point. My last transaction for the Roth IRA brokerage account was in February, 2021.

The last working statement is dated 9/30/2021:

Page 2 - Statement overview containing both the traditional IRA and Roth IRA accounts
Page 3 - Traditional IRA account overview
Page 4 - Traditional IRA balance and holdings
Page 5 - Traditional IRA account activity
Page 7 - Roth IRA account overview
Page 8 - Roth IRA balance and holdings
Page 8 - Roth IRA account activity (On same page as balance and holdings. No transactions, but it shows a summary.)
Page 10 - Disclaimers (end of statement)

For the subsequent statements dated 10/31/2021 and 11/30/2021, the Roth IRA info is missing:

Page 2 - Statement overview containing both the traditional IRA and Roth IRA accounts
Page 3 - Traditional IRA account overview
Page 4 - Traditional IRA balance and holdings
Page 5 - Traditional IRA account activity
Page 6 - Disclaimers (end of statement)

All of the statements have a return address of:*
PO Box 3009 Monroe, WI 53566-8309

The tracking numbers, located in the right-side margin (small print, vertical orientation) appear to be similar. This is an error at the source.

Nothing should preclude sending out a statement with critical information missing. If it's listed in the statement overview page, there's no reason to drop the account details. Consider that someone who depends on paper statements is missing this information.

* PO Box 3010 is used for email. Re: Vanguard in ??? Monroe, Wisconsin, pop. 11,000, Swiss cheese capital of the world?)
So there was activity in the Roth in September (dividend). There was no activity in the Roth in October or November. I suspect this is why the statements look so different.

I used to get paper statements, now I download them. Either way, for the months where my Roth had no activity, there would be no statement.

With my accounts I get separate statements for each account - brokerage (taxable), brokerage IRA, and Roth (mutual fund platform, not Roth). I don't get a statement overview containing two or more accounts. My parents accounts are similar - one statement per account per month, but no statements for months where there is no activity in a given account.

If you want to stay with VG, and force the Roth to report on each statement, I think holding a small amount of something with a monthly divided (bond fund, etc) would do the trick. I realize you may not want to do that. But it could be a simple solution to make the system report things the way you would like as often as you would like for your paper statements.

Since you're presumably filing your paper statements somewhere, you could also include a note in that folder to anyone else that might need the information, noting that they need to look at quarterly statements to be sure all account info is listed, or something to that effect.

And I suspect the reason they do this is to save money - less paper used for accounts with no new activity in a given month. Your account probably holds a few mutual funds. Someone else's account might have dozens of holdings (individual stocks, complicated portfolio transferred over from an advisor, etc), which could be lots and lots of paper that VG saves over the course of a year by not printing the months with no new activity.

cj
User avatar
LadyGeek
Site Admin
Posts: 95466
Joined: Sat Dec 20, 2008 4:34 pm
Location: Philadelphia
Contact:

Re: Vanguard Website

Post by LadyGeek »

OK, I checked my statements. First, this is a Roth IRA brokerage. The inherited IRA from my late husband was transferred into this account in 2020, so it's not an issue for 2021.

The last transaction was in February, 2021. My February statement has the Roth account activity.

3/31/21 - Page 1 is titled "March 31, 2021, quarter-to-date statement", there is no statement like the one shown below (blank).
Pages 7 - 8 - Roth IRA account overview, balance and holdings, account activity (none for March)

9/30/21 - Page 1 has no statement like the one described below (blank). However, the page title has: "September 30, 2021, quarter-to-date statement"
Page 2 - Statement overview containing both the traditional IRA and Roth IRA accounts
Page 3 - Traditional IRA account overview
Page 4 - Traditional IRA balance and holdings
Page 5 - Traditional IRA account activity
Page 7 - Roth IRA account overview
Page 8 - Roth IRA balance and holdings
Page 8 - Roth IRA account activity (On same page as balance and holdings. No transactions, but it shows a summary.)
Page 10 - Disclaimers (end of statement)

10/31/21 - Page 1 is titled "October 31, 2021, monthly transaction statement"
This statement shows only transactions that occurred on your brokerage account during the past month. A comprehensive statement, which includes detail pages for each fund, will continue to be mailed following the close of each quarter.
Page 2 - Statement overview containing both the traditional IRA and Roth IRA accounts
Page 3 - Traditional IRA account overview
Page 4 - Traditional IRA balance and holdings
Page 5 - Traditional IRA account activity
Page 6 - Disclaimers (end of statement)

11/30/21 - Page 1 is titled "November 30, 2021, monthly transaction statement"
This statement shows only transactions that occurred on your brokerage account during the past month. A comprehensive statement, which includes detail pages for each fund, will continue to be mailed following the close of each quarter.
Page 2 - Statement overview containing both the traditional IRA and Roth IRA accounts
Page 3 - Traditional IRA account overview
Page 4 - Traditional IRA balance and holdings
Page 5 - Traditional IRA account activity
Page 6 - Disclaimers (end of statement)

If I have no account transactions in one specific month, Vanguard simply drops all mention of that account. How do I know my balance and holdings at the end of that month? My balance is on the Page 1 overview, but I have no idea on the holdings. That's online or I can use stale data from the previous quarterly statement. Vanguard is correct in titling these statements as "transactions", but if you want a complete snapshot of what you have, it's only available online.

FWIW, I don't use paper statements, but I do occasionally save the PDF files. The year-end statements are helpful for tax filing purposes.
Wiki To some, the glass is half full. To others, the glass is half empty. To an engineer, it's twice the size it needs to be.
clip651
Posts: 1582
Joined: Thu Oct 02, 2014 11:02 am

Re: Vanguard Website

Post by clip651 »

LadyGeek wrote: Sun Dec 05, 2021 1:01 pm

If I have no account transactions in one specific month, Vanguard simply drops all mention of that account. How do I know my balance and holdings at the end of that month? My balance is on the Page 1 overview, but I have no idea on the holdings. That's online or I can use stale data from the previous quarterly statement. Vanguard is correct in titling these statements as "transactions", but if you want a complete snapshot of what you have, it's only available online.

FWIW, I don't use paper statements, but I do occasionally save the PDF files. The year-end statements are helpful for tax filing purposes.
If you don't use paper statements, you're going online to see your accounts regardless when you go to get the PDFs from VG. You can get a complete snapshot online anytime you like (well, except for site maintenance issues, etc).

I think the idea for statements is that if there was no activity, the holdings (number of shares) haven't changed at all from the previous quarterly statement (or whichever statement has the most recent transaction). No activity means nothing was bought or sold, no dividend, etc, so the holdings and number of shares for each is the same. Naturally the value of the holdings fluctuate daily with stock, mutual fund, or ETF price fluctuations, but the holdings are the same as before. An end of the month (or quarter), the statement shows the value on that day. But by the next trading day, the values are already stale, anyway. It's just the holdings that stay the same until the next transaction or activity in the account, not the account balance, of course.

FWIW I understand your consternation. My bank sends me a statement of my savings account each month, even when the balance and interest rate are both so low that there is no interest that month, and there are no other transactions, so the balance is exactly the same as the previous month. But VG has chosen a different way of doing things. Once I became aware that I shouldn't expect a statement when there was no activity, it didn't bother me.

cj
RetiredAL
Posts: 3512
Joined: Tue Jun 06, 2017 12:09 am
Location: SF Bay Area

Re: Vanguard Website

Post by RetiredAL »

LadyGeek wrote: Sun Dec 05, 2021 1:01 pm
If I have no account transactions in one specific month, Vanguard simply drops all mention of that account. How do I know my balance and holdings at the end of that month? My balance is on the Page 1 overview, but I have no idea on the holdings. That's online or I can use stale data from the previous quarterly statement. Vanguard is correct in titling these statements as "transactions", but if you want a complete snapshot of what you have, it's only available online.

FWIW, I don't use paper statements, but I do occasionally save the PDF files. The year-end statements are helpful for tax filing purposes.
I whole heartily agree with you.

I have found several store cards DW uses don't send statement when there in no purchase, even though a payment had been made and received during that period. I personally would like that statement that shows the payment and balance due it zero. Without it, I worry a bill has been received or has been misplaced. So I discourage her from using those cards and then she feels she might be missing out on some potential coupon because she used a regular CC vs the store card.

My suggestion, put enough $ into a monthly paying dividend fund/ETF to generate a couple of cents of income each month.

Edit to add: I looked at DW's Fidelity Roth statement, which has no monthly income, and she is receiving a paper statement from them even with no income/transaction activity.
User avatar
LadyGeek
Site Admin
Posts: 95466
Joined: Sat Dec 20, 2008 4:34 pm
Location: Philadelphia
Contact:

Re: Vanguard Website

Post by LadyGeek »

For completeness, here's a screenshot of the broken website that I'm complaining about. Click on the image to view full size.

This is Windows 10 desktop using Firefox version 94.0.2 in a private browsing window. The only way I knew I was logged in was by accidentally clicking on the AdChoices link in the bottom-right corner of the page. (That didn't work in Linux.)

Image
Wiki To some, the glass is half full. To others, the glass is half empty. To an engineer, it's twice the size it needs to be.
User avatar
colodane
Posts: 152
Joined: Tue Oct 23, 2018 11:32 pm

Re: Vanguard Website

Post by colodane »

I've been using Vanguard via Safari on an iMac for many years. Haven't seen any recent signs of difficulty. I take my RMD annually and it was scheduled for 3 December. It went through smoothly from and to the appropriate Vanguard accounts without any issues. Confirmation was ready on 4 Dec (Saturday).
Silence Dogood
Posts: 1660
Joined: Tue Feb 01, 2011 8:22 pm

Re: Vanguard Website

Post by Silence Dogood »

Vanguard still limits usernames to 12 characters. :oops:

Is it a big deal? Not particularly.

But I can't think of any other site, financial or otherwise, with such a limitation. It's just one of those "minding the shop" things that I think Vanguard should get better at.
User avatar
LadyGeek
Site Admin
Posts: 95466
Joined: Sat Dec 20, 2008 4:34 pm
Location: Philadelphia
Contact:

Re: Vanguard Website

Post by LadyGeek »

LadyGeek wrote: Sat Dec 04, 2021 2:09 pm ...I also have POA for my Mom's account. I'll see about moving her account as well, but I want to be careful about doing this under a POA. Her RMD was scheduled for the middle of December. Last year, they were unable to do an ACH withdrawal and sent her a physical check instead. That was a problem, as she is unable to handle financial transactions. I took care of the deposit for her.

I just moved the RMD a week earlier - at least that part of the Vanguard site works - and will see if the ACH transfer executes. If they do a physical check again, I will definitely move her account (with mine) to Fidelity.
I'm having second thoughts on moving my Mom's account to Fidelity. Someone was kind enough to send me a Private Message about using Fidelity for RMDs under a POA (thanks!). You have to call them. The member also stated that Schwab does allow automatic online transfers. (I'll confirm the info for myself.)

In any case, the RMD executes today. Under the current balance, a highlighted "In Progress" indication is shown. Clicking on the indication results in a pop-up "and the balance shown doesn't include your transactions that are in progress." Not exactly the best use of grammar here. It's also poor website design to break the info like that.

"Activity" --> "Order status" shows the RMD in progress.

The website UI is showing signs of "old" versus "new" website mixing.

I'm more concerned that "Performance" --> "Personal Performance" is calculating performance for all of the accounts - myself and my Mom's account. That's implied, because neither the chart nor the table indicate which accounts those charts represent. I customize my view and the numbers don't change. This is broken. I have no way to calculate my own Personal Rate of Return at Vanguard.

Apparently the view customization only works for balances on the "old" website (based on color scheme).

"Performance" --> "Prices and Returns" goes back to the "Holdings" tab.
Wiki To some, the glass is half full. To others, the glass is half empty. To an engineer, it's twice the size it needs to be.
greetje
Posts: 283
Joined: Sun Jan 27, 2008 6:58 am

Re: Vanguard Website

Post by greetje »

I use LastPass password manager and thought the problem was with that.
Have problems logging into Vanguard and PenFed often. To the point that I had to change my passwords and type it in manually.
Then after 3 tries it says wrong password and i am locked out even though the Password was correct. Have spend hours on phone with both Vanguard and Pen Fed. Problem remains.
Now I need to go to Vanguard.com Personel investing and manually type in user name and password every time. Will not accept copy and paste or
the automatic entry from my LastPass account.
minesweep
Posts: 1667
Joined: Fri Mar 02, 2007 8:17 pm
Location: 27,000 light years from the Galactic Center of the Milky Way Galaxy (the suburbs)

Re: [Vanguard may remove secure messages, members transitioning out of Vanguard]

Post by minesweep »

jeffyscott wrote: Tue Nov 16, 2021 7:26 am
nisiprius wrote: Tue Nov 16, 2021 6:47 am Has anyone else wondered if there is a new art director choosing the banner images for the Vanguard home page?

I know it's supposed to be a "Personal Advisory Service," but is it supposed to be that personal?

Image
He's just whispering: "You should buy the Advice Select funds".
I hope she isn’t being railroaded into making a rash decision. :happy
Time is your friend; impulse is your enemy - John Bogle | Learn every day, but especially from the experiences of others, it's cheaper! - John Bogle
User avatar
LadyGeek
Site Admin
Posts: 95466
Joined: Sat Dec 20, 2008 4:34 pm
Location: Philadelphia
Contact:

Re: Vanguard Website

Post by LadyGeek »

greetje wrote: Thu Dec 09, 2021 12:21 pm I use LastPass password manager and thought the problem was with that.
Have problems logging into Vanguard and PenFed often. To the point that I had to change my passwords and type it in manually.
Then after 3 tries it says wrong password and i am locked out even though the Password was correct. Have spend hours on phone with both Vanguard and Pen Fed. Problem remains.
Now I need to go to Vanguard.com Personel investing and manually type in user name and password every time. Will not accept copy and paste or
the automatic entry from my LastPass account.
Copy-n-paste the username and password into a plain text editor, such as notepad. It should match what you expect. Disable the LastPass browser extension. Then copy-n-paste the username / password from notepad into the browser. It should work.

If more than one website is impacted, then it's a browser problem and likely an incompatibility between LastPass and another add-on (extension).

Disable your extensions or try a different browser. If the the problem persists, start a thread in the consumer issues forum and ask for help.
Wiki To some, the glass is half full. To others, the glass is half empty. To an engineer, it's twice the size it needs to be.
GP813
Posts: 1231
Joined: Wed Dec 11, 2019 9:11 am

Re: Vanguard Website

Post by GP813 »

They asked me to fill out a survey about the website. 1 star all around. The website(s) are terrible.
greetje
Posts: 283
Joined: Sun Jan 27, 2008 6:58 am

Re: Vanguard Website

Post by greetje »

LadyGeek I followed all your instructions and logged in from the notepad with no problems. I then enabled the
Lastpass extention again and has no problem logging in . But to be on the safe side I will save your instructions for future if it goes
goofy again. Thank You
User avatar
anon_investor
Posts: 15111
Joined: Mon Jun 03, 2019 1:43 pm

Re: Vanguard Website

Post by anon_investor »

GP813 wrote: Thu Dec 09, 2021 1:42 pm They asked me to fill out a survey about the website. 1 star all around. The website(s) are terrible.
The Vanguard Website is 5 stars compared to their mobile app. I wish you could give a mobile app negative stars...
GP813
Posts: 1231
Joined: Wed Dec 11, 2019 9:11 am

Re: Vanguard Website

Post by GP813 »

anon_investor wrote: Thu Dec 09, 2021 2:12 pm
GP813 wrote: Thu Dec 09, 2021 1:42 pm They asked me to fill out a survey about the website. 1 star all around. The website(s) are terrible.
The Vanguard Website is 5 stars compared to their mobile app. I wish you could give a mobile app negative stars...
I only use the website. The Vanguard website is a mess that constantly kicks me between the old website which has more features but looks like 1997 and the new one which looks more modern but has less features.
User avatar
anon_investor
Posts: 15111
Joined: Mon Jun 03, 2019 1:43 pm

Re: Vanguard Website

Post by anon_investor »

GP813 wrote: Thu Dec 09, 2021 2:33 pm
anon_investor wrote: Thu Dec 09, 2021 2:12 pm
GP813 wrote: Thu Dec 09, 2021 1:42 pm They asked me to fill out a survey about the website. 1 star all around. The website(s) are terrible.
The Vanguard Website is 5 stars compared to their mobile app. I wish you could give a mobile app negative stars...
I only use the website. The Vanguard website is a mess that constantly kicks me between the old website which has more features but looks like 1997 and the new one which looks more modern but has less features.
The mobile app looks more modern but is missing many key features. I miss the old mobile app that looked dated but had all the necessary features.
User avatar
LadyGeek
Site Admin
Posts: 95466
Joined: Sat Dec 20, 2008 4:34 pm
Location: Philadelphia
Contact:

Re: Vanguard Website

Post by LadyGeek »

As noted in Re: Consolidate the investments with one Broker, I'm converting my mutual funds to ETFs. Converting to ETFs now will avoid transaction fees when I move my stuff to Fidelity.

All of my funds are in tax-deferred accounts (traditional and Roth IRA), so it's a simple matter to liquidate the fund and purchase the ETF equivalent. In reality, it's not so simple. I now see why Vanguard's website is not suitable as a trading platform.

Yesterday, I only had mutual funds in my accounts. My choices were buy, sell, or exchange funds. Clicking on "exchange" brought me to the expected buy / sell screen. However, when I clicked on "Where's the money going?" side, I was only allowed to exchange into a mutual fund.

Vanguard's website is a mix of the old and new designs. It seems that Vanguard's new site design is focused on ETFs while leaving their mutual funds on the old site. My Accounts --> Buy and Sell shows mutual funds as a completely separate topic from ETFs - which are promoted as a brokerage product. This is broken, as I have traditional and Roth IRA brokerage accounts.

Finally, I decided to call them. Without going into details (to keep this discussion on-track), if I had known that "exchange" should instead be done by liquidating (selling all shares) into the settlement fund (Federal Money Market), I could have saved a long and detailed phone call. The rep did a few of the transactions for me. Once the transactions settle, I can purchase the ETFs myself.

I now see ETFs in my account. The ETF funds show "Buy | Sell" and the links go to the new website layout. Typing in a mutual fund ticker brings a pop-up dialog box "Trying to trade a Vanguard mutual fund?" which then goes to the old mutual fund buy / sell / exchange site.

Mutual funds have "Buy | Sell | Exchange" links which go to the old website (mutual fund exchanges only).

This must be why Vanguard is saying that converting from mutual funds to ETFs is a one-way deal. It's too much of a change to fix their databases.

FWIW, I had no problem with customer support. Tip: To get to the right person, say "stock trade" when the bot asks what you're calling about. You need the trading reps. The first rep I spoke with said that my request was an "advanced trade" and needed escalation. I accidentally got cut-off after I was finished speaking with a second rep. Getting to the trade rep was the right person when I called back.
Wiki To some, the glass is half full. To others, the glass is half empty. To an engineer, it's twice the size it needs to be.
sycamore
Posts: 6309
Joined: Tue May 08, 2018 12:06 pm

Re: Vanguard Website

Post by sycamore »

LadyGeek wrote: Sat Dec 18, 2021 10:11 am As noted in Re: Consolidate the investments with one Broker, I'm converting my mutual funds to ETFs. Converting to ETFs now will avoid transaction fees when I move my stuff to Fidelity.

All of my funds are in tax-deferred accounts (traditional and Roth IRA), so it's a simple matter to liquidate the fund and purchase the ETF equivalent. In reality, it's not so simple. I now see why Vanguard's website is not suitable as a trading platform.

Yesterday, I only had mutual funds in my accounts. My choices were buy, sell, or exchange funds. Clicking on "exchange" brought me to the expected buy / sell screen. However, when I clicked on "Where's the money going?" side, I was only allowed to exchange into a mutual fund.

Vanguard's website is a mix of the old and new designs. It seems that Vanguard's new site design is focused on ETFs while leaving their mutual funds on the old site. My Accounts --> Buy and Sell shows mutual funds as a completely separate topic from ETFs - which are promoted as a brokerage product. This is broken, as I have traditional and Roth IRA brokerage accounts.

Finally, I decided to call them. Without going into details (to keep this discussion on-track), if I had known that "exchange" should instead be done by liquidating (selling all shares) into the settlement fund (Federal Money Market), I could have saved a long and detailed phone call. The rep did a few of the transactions for me. Once the transactions settle, I can purchase the ETFs myself.

I now see ETFs in my account. The ETF funds show "Buy | Sell" and the links go to the new website layout. Typing in a mutual fund ticker brings a pop-up dialog box "Trying to trade a Vanguard mutual fund?" which then goes to the old mutual fund buy / sell / exchange site.

Mutual funds have "Buy | Sell | Exchange" links which go to the old website (mutual fund exchanges only).

This must be why Vanguard is saying that converting from mutual funds to ETFs is a one-way deal. It's too much of a change to fix their databases.

FWIW, I had no problem with customer support. Tip: To get to the right person, say "stock trade" when the bot asks what you're calling about. You need the trading reps. The first rep I spoke with said that my request was an "advanced trade" and needed escalation. I accidentally got cut-off after I was finished speaking with a second rep. Getting to the trade rep was the right person when I called back.
Just a guess, but I think Vanguard reserves the "exchange" function for mutual funds only because it can cleanly conduct the "sell then buy" operation in dollar amounts using the closing net asset values.

By contrast trying to perform an do-it-in-one-step "exchange" of a mutual fund to an ETF is messy because it raises questions of:
(1) what price you should get for the ETF? One could argue closing or opening price or whatever; maybe there are industry or govt regulations on this aspect?

(2) even if you resolve the price question, Vanguard doesn't support buying fractional shares of ETFs, so a dollar-for-dollar exchange isn't guaranteed to work without leaving "penny turds" around. Vanguard does support fractional shares for dividend reinvestment but they're only now conducting a beta/pilot test of dollar ETF purchases (using fractional shares).


Re: the share class conversion process being one-way, presumably there's no regulation against two-way conversion (just use closing NAVs for the conversion ratio). I don't know that it's a problem with changing their databases. Seems they believe the lower-cost future is with ETFs not mutual funds, so it makes sense they want to discourage use of mutual funds.
Almost there
Posts: 1128
Joined: Thu Jan 03, 2008 6:06 pm
Location: Arizona USA

Re: Vanguard Website

Post by Almost there »

Using Edge, I haven't had any problems with my online Vanguard account.
Since I prefer not ever using google, I would also not use chrome.

Also, Lady Geek, I want to thank you for all you have done here for us Bogleheads. It has always been appreciated by me.

About 10-12 years ago, I moved all my funds from Fidelity to Vanguard. At that time, people who helped me at Fidelity, gave me incorrect info and were always difficult to deal with. I even went to their store and the info received wasn't any better. I would drop firefox before moving my funds again. The move was a big headache.

Almost there
User avatar
LadyGeek
Site Admin
Posts: 95466
Joined: Sat Dec 20, 2008 4:34 pm
Location: Philadelphia
Contact:

Re: Vanguard Website

Post by LadyGeek »

^^^ You're welcome. I appreciate the compliment.

I do understand there can be problems anywhere and I'm sure I'll run into a few at Fidelity.

My criticism of the Vanguard website is that the public-facing side is broken. Lots of resources and dollars are spent to update their databases, applications, and network interfaces. Not to mention Quality Assurance, security, and compliance (legal).

If the engineers could take the site completely offline for a few months, all the problems can be fixed. The downside is that Vanguard would be out of business the next day. So, do what you can to stay in business and update as you go along. It is a very difficult problem to manage.
sycamore wrote: Sat Dec 18, 2021 11:28 am Just a guess, but I think Vanguard reserves the "exchange" function for mutual funds only because it can cleanly conduct the "sell then buy" operation in dollar amounts using the closing net asset values.

By contrast trying to perform an do-it-in-one-step "exchange" of a mutual fund to an ETF is messy because it raises questions of:
(1) what price you should get for the ETF? One could argue closing or opening price or whatever; maybe there are industry or govt regulations on this aspect?

(2) even if you resolve the price question, Vanguard doesn't support buying fractional shares of ETFs, so a dollar-for-dollar exchange isn't guaranteed to work without leaving "penny turds" around. Vanguard does support fractional shares for dividend reinvestment but they're only now conducting a beta/pilot test of dollar ETF purchases (using fractional shares).


Re: the share class conversion process being one-way, presumably there's no regulation against two-way conversion (just use closing NAVs for the conversion ratio). I don't know that it's a problem with changing their databases. Seems they believe the lower-cost future is with ETFs not mutual funds, so it makes sense they want to discourage use of mutual funds.
You're probably right. I was wondering if Vanguard could handle fractional ETF shares. If not, I'll decide what to do with the residual money market amount later. I went through a fractional share purchase at Fidelity. My adventure is here: Fidelity Total Market in taxable - FZROX (ZERO) vs. FSKAX (Total Market) SmackDown (start on Page 2)
Wiki To some, the glass is half full. To others, the glass is half empty. To an engineer, it's twice the size it needs to be.
User avatar
anon_investor
Posts: 15111
Joined: Mon Jun 03, 2019 1:43 pm

Re: Vanguard Website

Post by anon_investor »

LadyGeek wrote: Sat Dec 18, 2021 1:19 pm ^^^ You're welcome. I appreciate the compliment.

I do understand there can be problems anywhere and I'm sure I'll run into a few at Fidelity.

My criticism of the Vanguard website is that the public-facing side is broken. Lots of resources and dollars are spent to update their databases, applications, and network interfaces. Not to mention Quality Assurance, security, and compliance (legal).

If the engineers could take the site completely offline for a few months, all the problems can be fixed. The downside is that Vanguard would be out of business the next day. So, do what you can to stay in business and update as you go along. It is a very difficult problem to manage.
sycamore wrote: Sat Dec 18, 2021 11:28 am Just a guess, but I think Vanguard reserves the "exchange" function for mutual funds only because it can cleanly conduct the "sell then buy" operation in dollar amounts using the closing net asset values.

By contrast trying to perform an do-it-in-one-step "exchange" of a mutual fund to an ETF is messy because it raises questions of:
(1) what price you should get for the ETF? One could argue closing or opening price or whatever; maybe there are industry or govt regulations on this aspect?

(2) even if you resolve the price question, Vanguard doesn't support buying fractional shares of ETFs, so a dollar-for-dollar exchange isn't guaranteed to work without leaving "penny turds" around. Vanguard does support fractional shares for dividend reinvestment but they're only now conducting a beta/pilot test of dollar ETF purchases (using fractional shares).


Re: the share class conversion process being one-way, presumably there's no regulation against two-way conversion (just use closing NAVs for the conversion ratio). I don't know that it's a problem with changing their databases. Seems they believe the lower-cost future is with ETFs not mutual funds, so it makes sense they want to discourage use of mutual funds.
You're probably right. I was wondering if Vanguard could handle fractional ETF shares. If not, I'll decide what to do with the residual money market amount later. I went through a fractional share purchase at Fidelity. My adventure is here: Fidelity Total Market in taxable - FZROX (ZERO) vs. FSKAX (Total Market) SmackDown (start on Page 2)
Supposedly some BHs have posted about being selected to make fractional ETF purchases at Vanguard, but it is not widespread so it must be a pilot program, like when Vanguard allowed some folks to do MF to ETF conversions online.

I still have my Vanguard accounts but I have started to use a taxable brokerage account at Fidelity for all my new purchases of VTI every pay check. Before I was buying VTSAX at Vanguard. The neutering of the Vanguard mobile app was the last straw. Using the Fidelity app I can view tax lots for TLH and I can make fractional ETF purchases (purchase by dollar amount) which gives me a similar experience to buying a mutual fund.
User avatar
Tubes
Posts: 1881
Joined: Wed Apr 22, 2020 6:33 am

Re: Vanguard Website

Post by Tubes »

LadyGeek wrote: Sat Dec 18, 2021 1:19 pm ^^^ You're welcome. I appreciate the compliment.

I do understand there can be problems anywhere and I'm sure I'll run into a few at Fidelity.

My criticism of the Vanguard website is that the public-facing side is broken. Lots of resources and dollars are spent to update their databases, applications, and network interfaces. Not to mention Quality Assurance, security, and compliance (legal).

If the engineers could take the site completely offline for a few months, all the problems can be fixed. The downside is that Vanguard would be out of business the next day. So, do what you can to stay in business and update as you go along. It is a very difficult problem to manage.
LadyGeek you sound like you come from Geek experience. :happy I think most of us who had jobs in IT/Computers/TechHardware have seen this story before and know just how incredibly difficult it is. The "Upgrade or New Release Problem" was just one of many irritations at work that drove me to retirement.

I do want to share that perhaps this behind the scenes work VG is doing isn't all bad if I can use an anecdote to compare two situations.

On another site, someone shared they got recently got a double transaction on Fidelity when it presented some red-rotating-circle timeout/error. People are hammering Fidelity and VG sites with end of year transactions, so volume is high. Since his request timed out, he submitted it again, and it gave the same error. He then got an email/text from Fido saying he was buying short/on margin so that got him to call and found it it was a double transaction. So despite the error, it went through. They did quickly fix it for him at least.

At the same time, I was doing a transaction on VG and got a weird error that just said "You can't submit that now. Please call." I ignored the request to call (see other threads about that, ha ha) and tried again and it went through. No problems, no double transactions. So, score one for Vanguard on having guardrails in place when things look bad on a loaded server.

That said, I've come to a peace that I'll continue to split my holdings about 50/50 at VG and Fido. The 50/50 happened mostly by accident due to my 401k from Megacorps being there. I do like the fact that Fido has assigned me a person and has an office 1 mile away. Should I die, my wife can just go there in person and deal with the mess I've created. :wink:
User avatar
LadyGeek
Site Admin
Posts: 95466
Joined: Sat Dec 20, 2008 4:34 pm
Location: Philadelphia
Contact:

Re: Vanguard Website

Post by LadyGeek »

Yes, I have geek experience. :happy

I forgot to mention that I'm getting the Vanguard equivalent of the rotating circle (their 4-block logo) when viewing Activity --> Transaction history. Yesterday, I gave up on it. This morning, I decided to let it wait. About 20 S later, the transactions finally showed up.

The most likely culprits are timeout errors due to problems in their applications / database and the software is falling through to keep things moving (vs. a fatal error). Compatibility between the old and new designs is indeed a major headache.
Wiki To some, the glass is half full. To others, the glass is half empty. To an engineer, it's twice the size it needs to be.
User avatar
anon_investor
Posts: 15111
Joined: Mon Jun 03, 2019 1:43 pm

Re: Vanguard Website

Post by anon_investor »

LadyGeek wrote: Sun Dec 19, 2021 7:14 am Yes, I have geek experience. :happy

I forgot to mention that I'm getting the Vanguard equivalent of the rotating circle (their 4-block logo) when viewing Activity --> Transaction history. Yesterday, I gave up on it. This morning, I decided to let it wait. About 20 S later, the transactions finally showed up.

The most likely culprits are timeout errors due to problems in their applications / database and the software is falling through to keep things moving (vs. a fatal error). Compatibility between the old and new designs is indeed a major headache.
I would love to hear your pro assessment of the Fidelity website.
User avatar
LadyGeek
Site Admin
Posts: 95466
Joined: Sat Dec 20, 2008 4:34 pm
Location: Philadelphia
Contact:

Re: Vanguard Website

Post by LadyGeek »

I've given a brief review earlier: Re: Fidelity Total Market in taxable - FZROX (ZERO) vs. FSKAX (Total Market) SmackDown

The fundamental difference is that Fidelity understands the User experience. Vanguard's website seems forced and is not intuitive to use.

Also, Fidelity's website works well as a trading platform - what a brokerage does. Vanguard's website is for viewing your investments with an occasional trade. Vanguard changed to a brokerage and the website fell behind.

Based on the many years of listening to Jack Bogle speak at the Bogleheads Conferences, I got a strong impression that he was against the use of computers for client interactions. It is very rare for the head of the company to take a personal interest in its customers and Jack Bogle was insistent on responding to everyone with a hand-written note. (Those lucky enough to have one of his notes are very fortunate.)

As they say, the CEO leads the company's vision. Also, hindsight is 20/20. If Jack Bogle resisted internal changes to move towards the internet, then that would explain why the website is in its current state. After Jack left, I would conjecture Vanguard's leadership went into catch-up mode. Unfortunately, Vanguard had already slipped behind the competition. That ship has sailed, so to speak.

Industry moves towards ETFs didn't help. Lower costs increased competition and forced fund providers to adapt. Vanguard had always been focused on mutual funds as a long-term investment and the website reflects this state. IOW, you want to see your investments and occasionally trade.

Moving to ETFs required a different approach and that's where Vanguard is playing catch-up mode. Migrating a decade old website design (and the incredibly complex supporting architecture) into one that can work head-to-head with today's competition is a near impossible task. They need revenue and my guess is they're pushing PAS (Personal Advisor Services) as a business decision to stay competitive. Sales and marketing for PAS has a large website presence.

Fidelity also has a sales and marketing presence on its website, but it pales in comparison to Vanguard and is a lot more subtle.

(The above is just my opinion and could be wrong.)
Wiki To some, the glass is half full. To others, the glass is half empty. To an engineer, it's twice the size it needs to be.
bondsr4me
Posts: 2427
Joined: Fri Oct 18, 2013 7:08 am

Re: Vanguard Website

Post by bondsr4me »

LG's above post pretty well sums things up.
User avatar
HanSolo
Posts: 2283
Joined: Thu Jul 19, 2012 3:18 am

Re: Vanguard Website

Post by HanSolo »

More Vanguard website annoyances...

Right now (late Monday night / early Tuesday morning) I'm seeing a far lower asset total than I should, due to dividend payments not being posted in my online account. I guess that money will show up in my account within the day or so, but it seems wrong to show an asset total where the dividend is already deducted from the share price while not having been added to the account. FYI, I'm using ordinary mutual funds (not ETFs) on the "upgraded" platform.

The other thing is the new format for the list of Vanguard mutual funds. From the dropdown at the top of the page, one can select "What we offer" followed by "Mutual funds", as usual, and the new mutual funds listing page is, you guessed it... lots of white space, huge fonts, very little information on the screen at one time, a big red "buy" button for each and every fund, and all objects having rounded corners so you don't cut yourself. The only thing missing is a rubber room.

The only good thing is that they still have a link to what they now call "the old experience"... which I guess is putting us on notice that the old, more useful presentation will be thrown away at some point. Here's a direct link to that, to save you from having to jump through the new hoops:

https://investor.vanguard.com/mutual-funds/list

I used to work in the software industry. We did a better job than what these folks are doing. It appears they either aren't intelligent enough to understand what users need, or they just don't care. In my opinion, the fact that people like that are getting paid a salary is a crime. But there we are.

Welcome to the future.
Strategic Macro Senior (top 1%, 2019 Bogleheads Contest)
User avatar
zaplunken
Posts: 1368
Joined: Tue Jul 01, 2008 9:07 am

Re: Vanguard Website

Post by zaplunken »

Isn't the date they declare then pay the dividend a day or 2 apart?

I use this to list the mutual funds by name https://investor.vanguard.com/mutual-fu ... nd-returns

I use this to list the mutual funds by asset class https://investor.vanguard.com/mutual-fu ... nd-returns
User avatar
HanSolo
Posts: 2283
Joined: Thu Jul 19, 2012 3:18 am

Re: Vanguard Website

Post by HanSolo »

zaplunken wrote: Tue Dec 21, 2021 7:05 am Isn't the date they declare then pay the dividend a day or 2 apart?
From my observation, it appears as though the payment of the dividend is done on the evening of the "Reinvest date" (processed around the same time as mutual fund transactions that were placed that day), with the results appearing in your account by the beginning of the next trading day (the "Payable date"). It appears that dividends payments are a two-step process, one being the reduction of the share price, the other being the dividend payment showing up in the account, and they are not simultaneous. Apparently, I checked my balances during a window of a few minutes (or hours) in between these two steps last night. By the beginning of the trading day today (the "Payable date" for the funds in question), everything appears to have been completed.

So I guess the discrepancy I observed happens only if you check your balances during a certain point late at night on the evening of the Reinvest date. That's fine if one is expecting that, but if one doesn't know about how that's handled, it can be a bit spooky to log in and notice that money is missing.
Strategic Macro Senior (top 1%, 2019 Bogleheads Contest)
User avatar
pokebowl
Posts: 583
Joined: Sat Dec 17, 2016 6:22 pm
Location: Alaska

Re: Vanguard Website

Post by pokebowl »

LadyGeek wrote: Sat Dec 18, 2021 10:11 am

Vanguard's website is a mix of the old and new designs. It seems that Vanguard's new site design is focused on ETFs while leaving their mutual funds on the old site. My Accounts --> Buy and Sell shows mutual funds as a completely separate topic from ETFs - which are promoted as a brokerage product. This is broken, as I have traditional and Roth IRA brokerage accounts.

Also take note their old design is more accurate than their new design (their own words). If you see any transaction history or cost basis missing on the new balance and holdings pages, per Vanguard CS the correct response is to select "balance and holdings" from the drop down menu. This drops you into the old design which apparently is under a different system that better captures data. Their whole platform is a mess and also why I moved to Fidelity too.
User avatar
ResearchMed
Posts: 16766
Joined: Fri Dec 26, 2008 10:25 pm

Re: Vanguard Website

Post by ResearchMed »

HanSolo wrote: Tue Dec 21, 2021 3:41 am ...I guess that money will show up in my account within the day or so, but it seems wrong to show an asset total where the dividend is already deducted from the share price while not having been added to the account. FYI, I'm using ordinary mutual funds (not ETFs)...
This isn't specific to Vanguard.

We have the same issue at TIAA, in our 403b plan's display at least.

Yes, it's really annoying. We slice and dice, so there are more than, say, 3 or 4 holdings. And when distributions start coming in, I just don't worry about exact totals just then, for this reason.

RM
This signature is a placebo. You are in the control group.
User avatar
LadyGeek
Site Admin
Posts: 95466
Joined: Sat Dec 20, 2008 4:34 pm
Location: Philadelphia
Contact:

Re: Vanguard Website

Post by LadyGeek »

LadyGeek wrote: Sat Dec 18, 2021 10:11 am As noted in Re: Consolidate the investments with one Broker, I'm converting my mutual funds to ETFs. Converting to ETFs now will avoid transaction fees when I move my stuff to Fidelity.

...Finally, I decided to call them. Without going into details (to keep this discussion on-track), if I had known that "exchange" should instead be done by liquidating (selling all shares) into the settlement fund (Federal Money Market), I could have saved a long and detailed phone call. The rep did a few of the transactions for me. Once the transactions settle, I can purchase the ETFs myself...
I just converted one of my traditional IRA funds to ETFs using the new website My accounts --> Buy & Sell --> Trade Vanguard ETFs. (Two mutual funds executed as I ordered by phone. My remaining mutual fund will convert tomorrow.)

The trading page only allows you to enter a share amount and gives an error if you enter dollars - unless you notice the "Calculate dollars to shares" link under the input box. Clicking on the link gives you a helpful share amount based on the real-time price. Whole shares only. I place the order and get a status. So far, so good.

My Roth IRA target date fund was liquidated into the settlement fund yesterday. I then selected my Roth IRA account and proceeded to purchase a 4-fund portfolio as ETFs. I purchase the first fund, BND. OK, I then purchase the second fund, VTI. Hang on, where's my VTI trade confirmation? :shock:

Above the Order status box is a "Refresh" button. Clicking on Refresh showed both trades. That's poor web design. I then completed my purchase of the remaining funds (VXUS, BNDX). I used this end-of-year opportunity to rebalance my Roth IRA, so I'm good to go.

I'll rebalance my traditional IRA after the dust settles in a few days. I'm guessing I'll either have to (1) repeat the sell / buy for each fund or (2) call Vanguard and see if the trade rep can rebalance this for me. (I seem to remember they can.)

I have small residual $ in my settlement accounts (traditional and Roth IRA) due to the inability to work in fractional shares. I understand that I can still have residual dollars even with fractional share trading, but it would be less cash to sit on the sidelines.

As noted earlier, the old website shows more data. I can see my trades in the Order status. The settlement funds will show the trade activity if you click on the Total credits and debits link in the available balance windows.

The new site is more of a challenge. When you first enter the trading page, select the "Open Orders" menu and get an error message "Please select an account to view open orders." How? :annoyed There's no way to select an account from this menu. The same is true for Holdings. I found it - Select the account from the "Trade ETFs or Stocks" menu. That's poor design. There's also a "Refresh" button under the account title.

==============
There's an inconsistency in the old and new sites for displaying the amount of decimal places in the share price. Both the new website and the trade confirmation email I received display the share price to 2 decimal places. It's 3 decimal places on the old website. Considering the large $$$ used in these trades, I don't see why they truncated it to 2 places.

BTW - Tracking all of this in Quicken was a challenge. Conversions done by the reps were done online as share adjustments. I had to manually align Quicken, then add a transaction to move my cash balance to the Vanguard Federal Money Market fund. The downloaded transactions put this into my cash balance. In any case, Quicken matches Vanguard.
Wiki To some, the glass is half full. To others, the glass is half empty. To an engineer, it's twice the size it needs to be.
User avatar
CRC_Volunteer
Posts: 568
Joined: Fri Sep 10, 2021 10:57 am
Location: Southeast USA

Re: Vanguard Website

Post by CRC_Volunteer »

Fidelity currently has a global outage. By reading the comments, they too have issues with their front-end systems:

https://downdetector.com/status/fidelity/
"Let me explain. No, there is too much. Let me sum up." (Inigo Montoya) | | 65/30/05 | 53% VTSAX | 12% VTIAX | 30% VAIPX | 5% CASH
User avatar
Tubes
Posts: 1881
Joined: Wed Apr 22, 2020 6:33 am

Re: Vanguard Website

Post by Tubes »

CRC_Volunteer wrote: Wed Dec 22, 2021 9:05 am Fidelity currently has a global outage. By reading the comments, they too have issues with their front-end systems:

https://downdetector.com/status/fidelity/
Something's going on. I couldn't log into Vanguard's site from about 7:10AM to 7:30AM this morning. So perhaps the problem is more general? Cloud services? Internet? Who knows.
User avatar
Stinky
Posts: 14088
Joined: Mon Jun 12, 2017 11:38 am
Location: Sweet Home Alabama

Re: Vanguard Website

Post by Stinky »

Tubes wrote: Wed Dec 22, 2021 9:07 am
CRC_Volunteer wrote: Wed Dec 22, 2021 9:05 am Fidelity currently has a global outage. By reading the comments, they too have issues with their front-end systems:

https://downdetector.com/status/fidelity/
Something's going on. I couldn't log into Vanguard's site from about 7:10AM to 7:30AM this morning. So perhaps the problem is more general? Cloud services? Internet? Who knows.
My bank website had the same issues, at the same time this morning.

Fully restored now.
Retired life insurance company financial executive who sincerely believes that ”It’s a GREAT day to be alive!”
User avatar
LadyGeek
Site Admin
Posts: 95466
Joined: Sat Dec 20, 2008 4:34 pm
Location: Philadelphia
Contact:

Re: Vanguard Website

Post by LadyGeek »

I'm logged into Vanguard's site now.

My Quicken discrepancies are likely due to my entering transactions prior to the posted settlement date. I downloaded new transactions this morning and checked against the website. I'll wait a few days and realign Quicken to Vanguard (again).

I then attempted to download the Quicken files from Vanguard and got an error "Your financial institution has downloaded data for an account that does not exist in your Quicken data file.[OL-362-A]". It was working earlier. It could be my Quicken file (which I just restored from a backup), hard to say. I'll try again in a few days. I'm also getting this error when initiated inside Quicken.

Vanguard's download page has errors in the current balance. :shock: My Accounts --> Download (button) --> Download account information

Both my traditional and Roth IRA are showing a difference due to activity in the settlement account. I moved $$$ yesterday into / out of the settlement fund (Vanguard Federal Money Market). The current balances are reflecting available money market funds from yesterday, so my Roth current balance is double what it should be. My traditional IRA is higher by the amount prior to my trade. The numbers don't match exactly, but it's close enough to see why the balances are different.

The current balances under "Balances and holdings" do not reflect the settlement fund.

It's easy to tell the old website from the new website because they didn't fix the old website margins to align with the new website's header and footer width. That's why you see the brown page margins when viewed with a high resolution desktop monitor.
Wiki To some, the glass is half full. To others, the glass is half empty. To an engineer, it's twice the size it needs to be.
User avatar
ResearchMed
Posts: 16766
Joined: Fri Dec 26, 2008 10:25 pm

Re: Vanguard Website

Post by ResearchMed »

Huh...

Neither of us could get our Outlook email to work at just about that time.

Now? No problems whatsoever.

Interesting.

Any chance this is related to that"new, improved" internet threat that's recently been discussed?
[Sorry; I forget what it's called.]

RM
This signature is a placebo. You are in the control group.
PersonalFinanceJam
Posts: 685
Joined: Tue Aug 24, 2021 8:32 am

Re: Vanguard Website

Post by PersonalFinanceJam »

Stinky wrote: Wed Dec 22, 2021 9:38 am
Tubes wrote: Wed Dec 22, 2021 9:07 am
CRC_Volunteer wrote: Wed Dec 22, 2021 9:05 am Fidelity currently has a global outage. By reading the comments, they too have issues with their front-end systems:

https://downdetector.com/status/fidelity/
Something's going on. I couldn't log into Vanguard's site from about 7:10AM to 7:30AM this morning. So perhaps the problem is more general? Cloud services? Internet? Who knows.
My bank website had the same issues, at the same time this morning.

Fully restored now.
More than likely these ripples were because AWS was having a few hiccups this morning.
https://status.aws.amazon.com/

The cloud can be a very volatile place!
User avatar
LadyGeek
Site Admin
Posts: 95466
Joined: Sat Dec 20, 2008 4:34 pm
Location: Philadelphia
Contact:

Re: Vanguard Website

Post by LadyGeek »

ResearchMed wrote: Wed Dec 22, 2021 9:43 am Any chance this is related to that"new, improved" internet threat that's recently been discussed?
[Sorry; I forget what it's called.]

RM
No, it's not related (it's called "log4J"). I think PersonalFinanceJam has a good explanation.
Wiki To some, the glass is half full. To others, the glass is half empty. To an engineer, it's twice the size it needs to be.
Post Reply