Limitations to Online Statement Downloads from Vanguard

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snowbank
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Limitations to Online Statement Downloads from Vanguard

Post by snowbank »

I try to maintain a set of electronic copies of statements and confirmations from Vanguard but I have found the current download implementation time-consuming and error prone. The main complaints are that I can only download one at a time and that each download has a generic and non-useful name like 'statement.pdf.' My browser handily appends a numeric differentiator to each subsequent download so I get statement(1).pdf, statement(2).pdf but that doesn't help much with the problem. Because the names are not usefully different I can't tell if I downloaded all the statements or if I downloaded the same statement multiple times.

I called Vanguard this morning to express my frustration which is compounded because I download these documents for my wife's and mother's account as well. I requested the ability to download multiple documents at once and to provide them with usefully different names like acct204336_statement_20111231.pdf. Confirmations are a little tougher nut because they can pertain to account option changes, beneficiary verification, daily monetary, or new account and occasionally two are received on the same date but that doesn't seem impossible to handle in a systematic name either.

The representative I spoke with said it wasn't possible to do what I wanted currently because of a 'system limitation' but they noted my suggestion. None of this seems beyond the reach of a savvy web programmer. Is anyone else experiencing this same frustration and have you found an easy solution? Thanks
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NAVigator
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Re: Limitations to Online Statement Downloads from Vanguard

Post by NAVigator »

It is not beyond the capability of anyone who uses a computer to rename the file that was downloaded to whatever is meaningful to them. Vanguard will also mail out the paper versions. Mine arrived yesterday. They match the online versions, of course.

Jerry
"I was born with nothing and I have most of it left."
Grasshopper
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Re: Limitations to Online Statement Downloads from Vanguard

Post by Grasshopper »

I download statements from Vanguard as a household statement. It combines our brokerage 4 IRS's and joint account, so I only have one pdf file. I file the download as Vanguard December 2011 or Vanguard 2011 EOY pretty simple.
dbr
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Re: Limitations to Online Statement Downloads from Vanguard

Post by dbr »

NAVigator wrote:It is not beyond the capability of anyone who uses a computer to rename the file that was downloaded to whatever is meaningful to them. Vanguard will also mail out the paper versions. Mine arrived yesterday. They match the online versions, of course.

Jerry

Good grief. I almost always save such files under a name of my choosing that helps me organize the documents as desired.*

However, I also agree that a data source that just labels every download with exactly the same name no matter what is a pretty lame site.

*A subtlety is that if there is an online document list at the site that labels documents in a meaningful way and that title is propagated into the download, it is helpful because that preserves correspondence between the site and one's personal data. In such cases I might append to rather than replace the file name.
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Allocationist
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Re: Limitations to Online Statement Downloads from Vanguard

Post by Allocationist »

I download statements from Vanguard, Fidelity and Schwab.

Vanguard is, by far, the least user-friendly and most cumbersome.

My experience with I.T. departments is that their first response to a request to fix a problem is often: "It can't be done" even if it already is done by other companies.
Sidney
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Re: Limitations to Online Statement Downloads from Vanguard

Post by Sidney »

This really isn't that hard to fix on your own. If you are using Firefox. Go to Tools>Options>General and click the box labeled "Always Ask Me Where to Save Files." When you click on the statement in VG, a window will open up and allow you to save the file to whatever Windows folder you want and, at the time, name the file whatever you want. I assume other browsers have similar settings.

Another thing you can do to simplify things is have VG link your spouses accounts and your accounts in a Household Statement so you only have to download (and rename) one file.

Hopefully you are not logging into your wife's online account or your mother's online account without a signed agency agreement as that could present problems with respect to Vanguard's security guidelines.
I always wanted to be a procrastinator.
mptfan
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Re: Limitations to Online Statement Downloads from Vanguard

Post by mptfan »

Sidney wrote: Hopefully you are not logging into your wife's online account or your mother's online account without a signed agency agreement as that could present problems with respect to Vanguard's security guidelines.
Do the security guidelines say that there has to be a signed agency agreement?
Sidney
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Re: Limitations to Online Statement Downloads from Vanguard

Post by Sidney »

mptfan wrote:
Sidney wrote: Hopefully you are not logging into your wife's online account or your mother's online account without a signed agency agreement as that could present problems with respect to Vanguard's security guidelines.
Do the security guidelines say that there has to be a signed agency agreement?
https://personal.vanguard.com/us/help/S ... ontent.jsp

I doesn't specifically state that you have to have an agency agreement but it does reference not giving out your account access info to others.
I always wanted to be a procrastinator.
mptfan
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Re: Limitations to Online Statement Downloads from Vanguard

Post by mptfan »

Sidney wrote: I doesn't specifically state that you have to have an agency agreement but it does reference not giving out your account access info to others.
If you are not supposed to give your account info to others, what difference would it make if you have a signed agency agreement? You are still violating their security guidelines either way, right?
Sidney
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Re: Limitations to Online Statement Downloads from Vanguard

Post by Sidney »

I think from a legal standpoint, if you sign an agency agreement you are authorizing someone to "be you." It is a nuance but if I were VG and someone was casually giving out their logon info with no paper trail, I'd take the position that they were careless and any unauthorized access was potentially due to their carelessness.

My wife keeps here account info secure in an encrypted password keeper that I know how to open. However, I never go into her account. All our accounts are linked to each other's logon -- we can see the info online but we cannot trade in the other's individual accounts.
I always wanted to be a procrastinator.
mptfan
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Re: Limitations to Online Statement Downloads from Vanguard

Post by mptfan »

Sidney wrote:I think from a legal standpoint, if you sign an agency agreement you are authorizing someone to "be you." It is a nuance but if I were VG and someone was casually giving out their logon info with no paper trail, I'd take the position that they were careless and any unauthorized access was potentially due to their carelessness.
The security guidelines do not make a distinction between giving someone your logon information "casually" or otherwise. I understand your position, but it is not supported by the guidelines that you cited.
Sidney
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Re: Limitations to Online Statement Downloads from Vanguard

Post by Sidney »

Here is what the agency agreement states:
Subject to Vanguard policies and procedures, I grant the agent the authority to perform the following
transactions by mail, by phone, and online on my specific Vanguard accounts identified in Section 6:
Now, what I don't know is if the agency agreement enables you to trade on the grantor's account from your online VG "account."

We have hijacked this thread long enough. My original point was, it is a bad idea to give out your account info but probably less bad to do it with an agency agreement in place.

When people worked for me, I gave them a short list of quick ways to get fired without due process. One of them was allowing someone to log into the business systems on their logon ID or vice versa.
I always wanted to be a procrastinator.
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randomwalk
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Re: Limitations to Online Statement Downloads from Vanguard

Post by randomwalk »

I agree. Most of my non-Vanguard accounts are with USAA and the filenames for all USAA online statements are formatted as YYYYMMDD_accounttype_accountnumber.pdf

Very useful, especially with multiple accounts (checking, savings, credit cards, etc).
Muchtolearn
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Re: Limitations to Online Statement Downloads from Vanguard

Post by Muchtolearn »

Everybody has their own preferred method for renaming statements to file them. Whatever they would come up with, somebody would want something else. However, my statements are available online forever from what I can tell. Why download them?
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Kevin M
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Re: Limitations to Online Statement Downloads from Vanguard

Post by Kevin M »

Sidney wrote: Now, what I don't know is if the agency agreement enables you to trade on the grantor's account from your online VG "account."
Yes, you can manage the accounts for which you have agent authorization online with your login. I know, because I do it.
If I make a calculation error, #Cruncher probably will let me know.
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Kevin M
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Re: Limitations to Online Statement Downloads from Vanguard

Post by Kevin M »

Grasshopper wrote:I download statements from Vanguard as a household statement. It combines our brokerage 4 IRS's and joint account, so I only have one pdf file.
Where do you see this statement, or how do you set it up? I only see individual statements for each of my accounts. (I assume you mean IRAs, not IRS's)
If I make a calculation error, #Cruncher probably will let me know.
Grasshopper
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Re: Limitations to Online Statement Downloads from Vanguard

Post by Grasshopper »

Kevin M wrote:
Grasshopper wrote:I download statements from Vanguard as a household statement. It combines our brokerage 4 IRS's and joint account, so I only have one pdf file.
Where do you see this statement, or how do you set it up? I only see individual statements for each of my accounts. (I assume you mean IRAs, not IRS's)


Sorry Kevin, this was done so long ago, I haven't a clue. I have been online with Vanguard back when you could only get in through an AOL account only. I must have started my adult beverages early today. Like was stated before I can see Ms G's accounts in my logon, but can't make changes, trades, whatever. :sharebeer
Sidney
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Re: Limitations to Online Statement Downloads from Vanguard

Post by Sidney »

Contact your rep at VG and he/she can set up the Household statement.
I always wanted to be a procrastinator.
Default User BR
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Re: Limitations to Online Statement Downloads from Vanguard

Post by Default User BR »

dbr wrote:However, I also agree that a data source that just labels every download with exactly the same name no matter what is a pretty lame site.
TD Ameritrade and Wellstrade have the same problem. I have an aggregating spreadsheet that will process the downloaded ones, so I need a consistent name of some version. So it's a matter of either:

1. Rename the previous version to something unique (datestamp or whatever), and work on the latest with the default filename.
2. Copy a unique filename document to one with a standard name.

I don't know which is more trouble, although I actually do sort of a combination. I copy the freshly downloaded file to another folder, overwriting the one there, then rename it in download folder. As I only update the master sheet every month or so, it's not that big of a deal. That way I can fade back to a previous download easily if they made a change in the account file that is affecting my aggregator.


Brian
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snowbank
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Re: Limitations to Online Statement Downloads from Vanguard

Post by snowbank »

Thanks for the suggestions. Neither renaming files nor using Save As and specifying a filename present technical difficulties. Downloading a lot of files one at a time and manually giving each one a useful name one at a time is the frustration I described. I agree that the adjective 'lame' to describe a same filename download implementation is appropriate.

The argument that Vanguard couldn't produce a download file name that would satisfy everyone misses the point. I wasn't asking for a download filename that is exactly what I want, I was merely asking for a download implementation that gave the delivered files a USEFUL name, something to give me a descriptive handle that I could work with. From there I could use a file renamer utility or a shell script with regular expressions to get whatever name I want. Of course if the Vanguard systematic name was a good one then I would have no need for any renaming and maintaining the Vanguard filename would be prudent as dbr suggested.

The suggestion for Household Statements was a good one that would reduce the number of downloads but I would still prefer to keep the information for each account separate.

I adopted the following workaround for the Vanguard download using Chrome. Using Options in Chrome, I set the Download Location to be where I want the statements or confirmation to go and consequently minimizing the directory navigation when the file is saved. I also have Chrome set to open Adobe PDF files when they are downloaded thereby exposing the date of the document and what it is exactly. I use Save As PDF from Adobe Reader and when it prompts for a File Name I select an existing systematically named file then modify it appropriately (often just the date portion of the name). Then I have to remember to change the Download Location in Chrome back to a temporary directory after downloading the Vanguard statements..
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Epsilon Delta
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Re: Limitations to Online Statement Downloads from Vanguard

Post by Epsilon Delta »

No one has mentioned the possibility of using a command line tool such as wget* to download files from the web. This can be embedded in a shell script or batch file so you can rename or otherwise manipulate any downloaded files as desired. This approach relies on vanguard having predictable names for the files on its end.

I not done this for Vanguard statements so I can't give a step-by-step guide, you have to be willing to experiment.

This approach is not for everybody, but some of us find it less frustrating to continually tinker with our tools than to perform the same d*** clicks over and over.

* wget is a linux tool, but there are windows equivalents.
http://linux.about.com/od/commands/l/blcmdl1_wget.htm
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Kevin M
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Re: Limitations to Online Statement Downloads from Vanguard

Post by Kevin M »

Epsilon Delta wrote:No one has mentioned the possibility of using a command line tool such as wget* to download files from the web.
Thanks for mentioning this. It's been a few years since I've done any scripting or coding; might be fun to get back into it (and help slow the deterioration of my aging brain :wink: )
If I make a calculation error, #Cruncher probably will let me know.
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blacktupelo
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Re: Limitations to Online Statement Downloads from Vanguard

Post by blacktupelo »

I use the built-in feature of Mac OS X where I can open a PDF I'm currently viewing in Safari, the browser, in Preview the OS X PDF viewing application then print it to a PDF file, entering the name I want and selecting what directory I want it saved to. If a website causes a download of a PDF into my download directory I open the file directly with Preview and then name and save it elsewhere.
Larry
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