Fidelity vs. Vangard?
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Fidelity vs. Vangard?
Seems like everyone here likes vangard? Does it have much lower fees than fidelity? Other pros and cons?
Re: Fidelity vs. Vangard?
Here we go again
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Re: Fidelity vs. Vangard?
Fidelity has held an edge in service for a long time.
Now it is very competitive with Vanguard on price,
and often beats it.
Now it is very competitive with Vanguard on price,
and often beats it.
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Re: Fidelity vs. Vangard?
Link to old thread?radiowave wrote:Here we go again
Re: Fidelity vs. Vangard?
MYTH!malabargold wrote:Fidelity has held an edge in service for a long time.
That said, there are already a gazillion threads on this. Mods need to merge them.
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Re: Fidelity vs. Vangard?
*3!4!/5! wrote:MYTH!malabargold wrote:Fidelity has held an edge in service for a long time.
That said, there are already a gazillion threads on this. Mods need to merge them.
I have had accounts with both for decades.
We only have 2 left at Vanguard.
The difference in service, availability and knowledge
level of personnel is blatant.
Fact.
Last edited by malabargold on Wed Mar 15, 2017 9:58 pm, edited 1 time in total.
- TimeRunner
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Re: Fidelity vs. Vangard?
Many have an opinion on this. Here's one Google search that turns up many threads:
https://www.google.com/search?sitesearc ... s+fidelity
https://www.google.com/search?sitesearc ... s+fidelity
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Re: Fidelity vs. Vangard?
Fidelity has SOME inexpensive funds and many expensive ones.malabargold wrote:Fidelity has held an edge in service for a long time.
Now it is very competitive with Vanguard on price,
and often beats it.
Vanguard has ALL inexpensive funds.
Fidelity is in business to make a profit. Vanguard operates at cost.
Fidelity is owned by the Johnson family. Vanguard is owned by its funds.
Re: Fidelity vs. Vangard?
I just decided between the two and chose Vanguard.
Perceived benefits of Fidelity:
- Better website.
- Better customer service, available whenever you need it.
- Slightly lower expense ratios for common index funds.
- Brick-and-mortar branch within about 25 minutes from home.
Perceived benefits of Vanguard:
- The company was built to look out for investors, easy to want to support and benefit from that business model.
- When comparing common like funds from Fidelity and Vanguard...Vanguard regularly had higher returns--barely. Not a big deal, but guess they may do a better job of capturing the most out of an index.
- Small-cap value fund was open at Vanguard, closed at Fidelity. Much smaller expense ratio with Vanguard, too. Guessing Fidelity likely does a better job of capturing this asset class, but a) it was closed, and b) I would never pay a 1.22% ER.
Ultimately, it was my interest tilting small value that made me choose Vanguard. No regrets.
Perceived benefits of Fidelity:
- Better website.
- Better customer service, available whenever you need it.
- Slightly lower expense ratios for common index funds.
- Brick-and-mortar branch within about 25 minutes from home.
Perceived benefits of Vanguard:
- The company was built to look out for investors, easy to want to support and benefit from that business model.
- When comparing common like funds from Fidelity and Vanguard...Vanguard regularly had higher returns--barely. Not a big deal, but guess they may do a better job of capturing the most out of an index.
- Small-cap value fund was open at Vanguard, closed at Fidelity. Much smaller expense ratio with Vanguard, too. Guessing Fidelity likely does a better job of capturing this asset class, but a) it was closed, and b) I would never pay a 1.22% ER.
Ultimately, it was my interest tilting small value that made me choose Vanguard. No regrets.
Re: Fidelity vs. Vangard?
Yes, when it comes to service, Fidelity appears to be in a league of its own. The difference between the best and the second worst is miniscule compared to the difference between the second worst and Fidelity. Fidelity is absolutely horrendous when it comes to service. They are inferior to Vanguard in every other regard too.malabargold wrote:I have had accounts with both for decades.*3!4!/5! wrote:MYTH!malabargold wrote:Fidelity has held an edge in service for a long time.
That said, there are already a gazillion threads on this. Mods need to merge them.
We only have 2 left at Vanguard.
The difference in service, availability and knowledge
level of personnel is blatant.
Fact.
Re: Fidelity vs. Vangard?
My accounts are at Fidelity for (IMHO) its vastly superior technology. My 401k assets (managed by Fidelity) are invested in Vanguard funds. My Fidelity taxable accounts are filled with Vanguard (and Blackrock) ETFs... Am I a Fidelity customer or a Vanguard customer? The answer is both.
Re: Fidelity vs. Vangard?
Don't you have to pay maintenance fees to Fidelity for holding Vanguard funds?NYC_Guy wrote:My accounts are at Fidelity for (IMHO) its vastly superior technology. My 401k assets (managed by Fidelity) are invested in Vanguard funds. My Fidelity taxable accounts are filled with Vanguard (and Blackrock) ETFs... Am I a Fidelity customer or a Vanguard customer? The answer is both.
Re: Fidelity vs. Vangard?
Nohappyyoda wrote:Don't you have to pay maintenance fees to Fidelity for holding Vanguard funds?NYC_Guy wrote:My accounts are at Fidelity for (IMHO) its vastly superior technology. My 401k assets (managed by Fidelity) are invested in Vanguard funds. My Fidelity taxable accounts are filled with Vanguard (and Blackrock) ETFs... Am I a Fidelity customer or a Vanguard customer? The answer is both.
Re: Fidelity vs. Vangard?
My money is at Fidelity because Vanguard won't take it.
That's what I do: I drink, and I know things. --Tyrion Lannister
Re: Fidelity vs. Vangard?
The investment options are pretty similar (several of Fidelity's are nominally very slightly cheaper in terms of the headline expense ratio figure), though Vanguard has an edge in a few categories (e.g. junk bonds, certain muni bond funds), especially if you prefer regular mutual funds to ETFs and even more if you furthermore are investing in a taxable account. Vanguard is the only one now with ETF share classes of mutual funds, which benefits the mutual fund shareholders from reduced (frequently eliminated) capital gains distributions. Fidelity has some more expensive funds, but you don't have to use them so who cares?
Vanguard's sweep account is the best, in terms of offering a better rate than others on their money market/cash sweep, but I don't recommend using it intentionally to any significant degree anyway. Fidelity has a modest edge in terms of offering certain iShares ETFs commission free for certain other niche categories where there's no Vanguard fund. With respect to bond offerings, I think both have a pretty good range of secondary market offerings, including brokered CDs, which others are much worse at.
Anyway, if you're just looking at broad-market exposures in an IRA, they're practically the same here.
Vanguard's online infrastructure and website, especially their broken portfolio analysis tool, are worse than most of the competition. They also don't have any local offices if for whatever reason that means anything to you.
There are some reports of mistakes on tax forms, cost basis issues, poor customer support, etc. everywhere, though reports and Vanguard's own admission do show some recent issues. They've had a lot of inflows and have been on a hiring binge for a while. It's hard to interpret anecdotes and stories to aggregate them into useful statistics, though.
Vanguard's sweep account is the best, in terms of offering a better rate than others on their money market/cash sweep, but I don't recommend using it intentionally to any significant degree anyway. Fidelity has a modest edge in terms of offering certain iShares ETFs commission free for certain other niche categories where there's no Vanguard fund. With respect to bond offerings, I think both have a pretty good range of secondary market offerings, including brokered CDs, which others are much worse at.
Anyway, if you're just looking at broad-market exposures in an IRA, they're practically the same here.
Vanguard's online infrastructure and website, especially their broken portfolio analysis tool, are worse than most of the competition. They also don't have any local offices if for whatever reason that means anything to you.
There are some reports of mistakes on tax forms, cost basis issues, poor customer support, etc. everywhere, though reports and Vanguard's own admission do show some recent issues. They've had a lot of inflows and have been on a hiring binge for a while. It's hard to interpret anecdotes and stories to aggregate them into useful statistics, though.
Re: Fidelity vs. Vangard?
Tax protected account? It's probably a wash, with fidelity being a little more customer friendly and with lower cost ETFs.
Taxable account. No contest in my experience. Vanguard is simply incompetent and unfit to run a brokerage for taxable accounts. The sheer number of complaints about SpecID orders executing as FIFO disqualify Vanguard. I have personally experienced other blunders from Vanguard but don't see them as disqualifying as errors can happen when large numbers of transactions are involved. However, if a brokerage cannot guarantee that a monetary transaction will be executed exactly as ordered/ as it appears on the screen, there is something seriously wrong, all excuses notwithstanding.
Taxable account. No contest in my experience. Vanguard is simply incompetent and unfit to run a brokerage for taxable accounts. The sheer number of complaints about SpecID orders executing as FIFO disqualify Vanguard. I have personally experienced other blunders from Vanguard but don't see them as disqualifying as errors can happen when large numbers of transactions are involved. However, if a brokerage cannot guarantee that a monetary transaction will be executed exactly as ordered/ as it appears on the screen, there is something seriously wrong, all excuses notwithstanding.
"The four most dangerous words in investing are: 'this time it's different.'" - Sir John Templeton
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Re: Fidelity vs. Vangard?
If you'd like to buy Vanguard products while avoiding the telephone waits and poor customer service and bankers hours, look at TDAmeritrade's ETF offerings. I just listed equities, bonds and international and they're all dominated by Vanguard no-transaction-fee products. I'm there with VTI and if I want information from a person at 11pm, there's someone there to answer the phone or my email chat. You can also get a bonus from opening an account.
Schwab is another great place for ETFs if you don't need the Vanguard brand. I've tracked SCHB vs VTI and see virtually no difference in performance. Today, when I order VTI in my brand new, shiny TDAmeritrade account, I will hold both VTI and SCHB.
I have accounts at Vanguard, Fidelity, Schwab and TDAmeritrade.
Schwab is another great place for ETFs if you don't need the Vanguard brand. I've tracked SCHB vs VTI and see virtually no difference in performance. Today, when I order VTI in my brand new, shiny TDAmeritrade account, I will hold both VTI and SCHB.
I have accounts at Vanguard, Fidelity, Schwab and TDAmeritrade.
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Re: Fidelity vs. Vangard?
I am like my username.malabargold wrote:*3!4!/5! wrote:MYTH!malabargold wrote:Fidelity has held an edge in service for a long time.
That said, there are already a gazillion threads on this. Mods need to merge them.
I have had accounts with both for decades.
We only have 2 left at Vanguard.
The difference in service, availability and knowledge
level of personnel is blatant.
Fact.
Fact: I've only had one mistake made on my accounts, and it was made by Fidelity. No errors by Vanguard.
Fact: it wasn't that expensive a mistake (<$1000), but I had given explicit instructions and Fidelity did not follow them or warn me before the fact.
Opinion: They're both okay. I prefer Vanguard.
I get the FI part but not the RE part of FIRE.
Re: Fidelity vs. Vangard?
I've had accounts at both Fidelity and Vanguard. Now I only have an account at Vanguard.
Gordon
Re: Fidelity vs. Vangard?
As you can see, different people have different experiences. I have account with both and I will continue to have accounts with both. My experience is that Fidelity has better customer service. In addition, Fidelity has more local offices and 24 hours telephone support. No. I do not contact them on a regular basis but it is like insurance, you know it is helpful when you need it.
Re: Fidelity vs. Vangard?
I had a question to Fidelity about funding a Roth IRA from taxable the other day, went online to the secure chat room and had an answer in less than 5 minutes. (and the answer is you cannot fund a Fidelity Roth IRA directly with mutual funds in a taxable account). Last fall I sent a secure email to Vanguard and took almost 2 weeks to get an answer.
Throwing a bit of a curve ball to the discussion, there is little talk of TIAA. There are many educators in the US and many if not most have TIAA, so are there any benefits of TIAA compared to Fidelity/Vanguard? I noted TIAA recently bought EverBank so that could provide some interesting options, e.g. high yield savings & CDs within a TIAA account? Hope I'm not hijacking the thread.
Throwing a bit of a curve ball to the discussion, there is little talk of TIAA. There are many educators in the US and many if not most have TIAA, so are there any benefits of TIAA compared to Fidelity/Vanguard? I noted TIAA recently bought EverBank so that could provide some interesting options, e.g. high yield savings & CDs within a TIAA account? Hope I'm not hijacking the thread.
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Re: Fidelity vs. Vangard?
People seem to have varying experiences. I use Fidelity for my Roth IRA and taxable accounts and I've never experienced anything less than superior customer service. Many people here seem to prefer Vanguard but my family has used Fidelity for years so it was something I was familiar with, and when I began investing it was more important that I start than whether I chose Vanguard over Fidelity.
Money is only a tool. It will take you wherever you wish, but it will not replace you as the driver.
- ruralavalon
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Re: Fidelity vs. Vangard?
Endless discussion over tiny differences. I love Vanguard, and will stay there.radiowave wrote:Here we go again
"Everything should be as simple as it is, but not simpler." - Albert Einstein |
Wiki article link: Bogleheads® investment philosophy
Re: Fidelity vs. Vangard?
Such a popular topic. I want to +1 lack_ey's post here because it captures a couple of things I find most important about the differences.lack_ey wrote:The investment options are pretty similar (several of Fidelity's are nominally very slightly cheaper in terms of the headline expense ratio figure), though Vanguard has an edge in a few categories (e.g. junk bonds, certain muni bond funds), especially if you prefer regular mutual funds to ETFs and even more if you furthermore are investing in a taxable account. Vanguard is the only one now with ETF share classes of mutual funds, which benefits the mutual fund shareholders from reduced (frequently eliminated) capital gains distributions. Fidelity has some more expensive funds, but you don't have to use them so who cares?
Vanguard's sweep account is the best, in terms of offering a better rate than others on their money market/cash sweep, but I don't recommend using it intentionally to any significant degree anyway. Fidelity has a modest edge in terms of offering certain iShares ETFs commission free for certain other niche categories where there's no Vanguard fund. With respect to bond offerings, I think both have a pretty good range of secondary market offerings, including brokered CDs, which others are much worse at.
Anyway, if you're just looking at broad-market exposures in an IRA, they're practically the same here.
Vanguard's online infrastructure and website, especially their broken portfolio analysis tool, are worse than most of the competition. They also don't have any local offices if for whatever reason that means anything to you.
There are some reports of mistakes on tax forms, cost basis issues, poor customer support, etc. everywhere, though reports and Vanguard's own admission do show some recent issues. They've had a lot of inflows and have been on a hiring binge for a while. It's hard to interpret anecdotes and stories to aggregate them into useful statistics, though.
1) If you are making regular investments into mutual funds, I think vanguard is maybe the better choice -- a wider selection (more asset classes) of good index funds are available there (though Fidelity keeps getting a little better).
2) Fidelity sweep fund is awful. You get bank-like returns here -- say .15 or worse. Last time I looked, Vanguard Prime MM was paying .78. So if, as I do, you like to keep a few thousand in real cash for flexibility in your taxable account that is annoying.
Otherwise, I find Fidelity better in many ways.
1) Their website is (to me) 10 times better. Maybe 100 times better .... I always hated having to do anything on the vanguard website.
2) Fidelity's lot tracking is great and has been for years. I cared, I was doing tax-lot harvesting. And donations to Fidelity's excellent DAF.
3) Cheap to buy anybody's ETFs ($0 cost for many ishares ETFs). If you are largely or completely using ETFs, then vanguard's better mutual fund selection is irrelevant -- just buy the corresponding ETF at Fidelity.
4) I do find Fidelity's customer service excellent; though only had one problem with vanguard's service. That is one more than I've had with Fidelity (and a lot more transactions at Fidelity).
- TomatoTomahto
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Re: Fidelity vs. Vangard?
. . . and that's what makes horse races. I don't care for Fidelity's web site, but have no trouble with Vanguard's. My wife likes ice cream; I prefer sorbet.TN_Boy wrote:Their website is (to me) 10 times better. Maybe 100 times better .... I always hated having to do anything on the vanguard website.
I get the FI part but not the RE part of FIRE.
- ruralavalon
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Re: Fidelity vs. Vangard?
When I started using index funds I looked at both websites, decided that I liked Vanguard's website better, and that was one reason I decided to go with Vanguard. I still don't understand why some prefer Fidelity's website.TomatoTomahto wrote:. . . and that's what makes horse races. I don't care for Fidelity's web site, but have no trouble with Vanguard's. My wife likes ice cream; I prefer sorbet.TN_Boy wrote:Their website is (to me) 10 times better. Maybe 100 times better .... I always hated having to do anything on the vanguard website.
"Everything should be as simple as it is, but not simpler." - Albert Einstein |
Wiki article link: Bogleheads® investment philosophy
Re: Fidelity vs. Vangard?
Swap Fidelity for Vanguard and Vanguard for Fidelity in the above quote, and I 100% agree.ruralavalon wrote:When I started using index funds I looked at both websites, decided that I liked Vanguard's website better, and that was one reason I decided to go with Vanguard. I still don't understand why some prefer Fidelity's website.
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Re: Fidelity vs. Vangard?
At one time I had a number of different companies. Someone urged me to simplify. I have appreciated Vanguard but I did like Fidelity's 2 percent cash back Visa so I kept some of my business there. Now the Visa has dropped back a bit, I am not sure of the details, but the .045% ER on Fidelity's Total Market Index fund rocks and the performance has rocked also.
Mostly I do Vanguard, but Fidelity helps me also.
Mostly I do Vanguard, but Fidelity helps me also.
John Bogle: "It's amazing how difficult it is for a man to understand something if he's paid a small fortune not to understand it."
Re: Fidelity vs. Vangard?
btw Vanguard Prime Money Market is no longer the sweep account after the implementation of the money market reforms. Now it's Vanguard Federal Money Market (VMFXX, SEC yield = 0.51%). That's better than Fidelity's Government Money Market sweep (SPAXX, SEC yield = 0.21%). They also offer an FDIC-insured cash sweep, but I suspect that yield is even worse.TN_Boy wrote:2) Fidelity sweep fund is awful. You get bank-like returns here -- say .15 or worse. Last time I looked, Vanguard Prime MM was paying .78. So if, as I do, you like to keep a few thousand in real cash for flexibility in your taxable account that is annoying.
Figures may be slightly old, as you know how SEC yield goes. But for reference, even 1-month T-bills is 0.68% now. It was higher a few days ago.
Re: Fidelity vs. Vangard?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gM7Hlg75Mloradiowave wrote:Here we go again
https://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Fidelity
https://www.google.com/search?sitesearc ... y+vanguard
FWIW, I vote Vanguard.
Re: Fidelity vs. Vangard?
I liked Fidelity's old website. Ever since they switched a year or two ago, I could not stand it. It's what has caused me to switch to Schwab full time.ruralavalon wrote:When I started using index funds I looked at both websites, decided that I liked Vanguard's website better, and that was one reason I decided to go with Vanguard. I still don't understand why some prefer Fidelity's website.TomatoTomahto wrote:. . . and that's what makes horse races. I don't care for Fidelity's web site, but have no trouble with Vanguard's. My wife likes ice cream; I prefer sorbet.TN_Boy wrote:Their website is (to me) 10 times better. Maybe 100 times better .... I always hated having to do anything on the vanguard website.
I liked Vanguard a lot in terms of no fee mutual fund offerings and ease of auto-investing, but I wanted a slightly better interface for research. I did not like Vanguard's research tools. Schwab is a perfect balance of Fidelity and Vanguard for me. Plus, my 401k is there so I've combined log ins as well.
Re: Fidelity vs. Vangard?
Both Fidelity and Vanguard are undergoing a transition to more tablet and mobile friendly sites. I'm not sure what you mean by the old Fidelity site two years ago, but just recently, I've noticed some very differently looking pages (style wise) in certain areas. The abrupt change in look/feel is disconcerting.jh-1391 wrote:I liked Fidelity's old website. Ever since they switched a year or two ago, I could not stand it. It's what has caused me to switch to Schwab full time.
I liked Vanguard a lot in terms of no fee mutual fund offerings and ease of auto-investing, but I wanted a slightly better interface for research. I did not like Vanguard's research tools. Schwab is a perfect balance of Fidelity and Vanguard for me. Plus, my 401k is there so I've combined log ins as well.
In any case, regarding the web site, the Fidelity website is necessarily more complicated because they have more products and services. I found their kitchen sink approach very confusing, but I'm sure trying to hide some of the complexity would also have been confusing. Vanguard with fewer products has a simpler site, and that's a positive for me. Well, until they can't do something I need, and that's why I also have Fidelity for some things.
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Re: Fidelity vs. Vangard?
Moved my IRAs from VG to Fido because they have an office within a half hour drive, which can do notary signatures, medallion guarantee signatures, and in-person service should that need arise. They also have a better website and mobile app. I simply did an asset-in-kind transfer of VG ETFs, no buying or selling necessary except a few $ in the settlement account. So, largely invested in VG, hosted by Fidelity.
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Re: Fidelity vs. Vangard?
The Fidelity site transitioned to the more tablet-looking site for me about a year or so ago. It's not that it's complicated, it's that, in my opinion, it's overly confusing and not very well organized. It just doesn't appeal to me. Vanguard's and Schwab's UIs do.inbox788 wrote: Both Fidelity and Vanguard are undergoing a transition to more tablet and mobile friendly sites. I'm not sure what you mean by the old Fidelity site two years ago, but just recently, I've noticed some very differently looking pages (style wise) in certain areas. The abrupt change in look/feel is disconcerting.
In any case, regarding the web site, the Fidelity website is necessarily more complicated because they have more products and services. I found their kitchen sink approach very confusing, but I'm sure trying to hide some of the complexity would also have been confusing. Vanguard with fewer products has a simpler site, and that's a positive for me. Well, until they can't do something I need, and that's why I also have Fidelity for some things.
- ruralavalon
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Re: Fidelity vs. Vangard?
I preferred Vanguard because it has the largest selection of low expense ratio index funds. Even their actively managed funds have low expense ratios.jh-1391 wrote:I liked Fidelity's old website. Ever since they switched a year or two ago, I could not stand it. It's what has caused me to switch to Schwab full time.ruralavalon wrote:When I started using index funds I looked at both websites, decided that I liked Vanguard's website better, and that was one reason I decided to go with Vanguard. I still don't understand why some prefer Fidelity's website.TomatoTomahto wrote:. . . and that's what makes horse races. I don't care for Fidelity's web site, but have no trouble with Vanguard's. My wife likes ice cream; I prefer sorbet.TN_Boy wrote:Their website is (to me) 10 times better. Maybe 100 times better .... I always hated having to do anything on the vanguard website.
I liked Vanguard a lot in terms of no fee mutual fund offerings and ease of auto-investing, but I wanted a slightly better interface for research. I did not like Vanguard's research tools. Schwab is a perfect balance of Fidelity and Vanguard for me. Plus, my 401k is there so I've combined log ins as well.
I liked Vanguard's website because in their list of funds they listed by asset type (e.g. intermediate-term bonds, or large-cap stocks, or small-cap stocks, or sector funds etc.), and it was very easy to compare funds, the "compare funds" function is easy to find and use. That's still the case.
In Fidelity's list of funds on their website it was hard to locate different fund choices of the same asset type, hard to compare them, and hard to find their index funds. It's now easier to find Fidelity's index funds, but still hard to find their Fidelity Freedom Index Funds. I still don't know where to find a "compare funds" function on the Fidelity website.
"Everything should be as simple as it is, but not simpler." - Albert Einstein |
Wiki article link: Bogleheads® investment philosophy
Re: Fidelity vs. Vangard?
I would just like to state I prefer the Fidelity for the following reasons not mentioned:
- Fidelity rewards credit card (2% cash back)
- Fidelity checking account features - for the occasional check-writing, ATM withdrawal I need
I know the question regarded investing but it's nice to have the above 2 accounts along with my investments in one place. Vanguard may have similar features, but I am not familiar.
- Fidelity rewards credit card (2% cash back)
- Fidelity checking account features - for the occasional check-writing, ATM withdrawal I need
I know the question regarded investing but it's nice to have the above 2 accounts along with my investments in one place. Vanguard may have similar features, but I am not familiar.
- TomatoTomahto
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Re: Fidelity vs. Vangard?
I also have a Fidelity reward credit card. Since they moved from Amex (which worked fine) to Visa (Elan Financial), it's become a PITA to download to Quicken. I switched most of my charges to Citi 2% CC; works well and no hassle.ragnathor wrote:I would just like to state I prefer the Fidelity for the following reasons not mentioned:
- Fidelity rewards credit card (2% cash back)
- Fidelity checking account features - for the occasional check-writing, ATM withdrawal I need
I know the question regarded investing but it's nice to have the above 2 accounts along with my investments in one place. Vanguard may have similar features, but I am not familiar.
I get the FI part but not the RE part of FIRE.
Re: Fidelity vs. Vangard?
I don't think these kinds of reasons count as a positive, because it's actually sub-optimal trying to get to many things "under one (financial) roof". It's much better to "mix and match" the best things each financial institution offers.ragnathor wrote:I would just like to state I prefer the Fidelity for the following reasons not mentioned:
- Fidelity rewards credit card (2% cash back)
- Fidelity checking account features - for the occasional check-writing, ATM withdrawal I need
I know the question regarded investing but it's nice to have the above 2 accounts along with my investments in one place. Vanguard may have similar features, but I am not familiar.
Re: Fidelity vs. Vangard?
It's a balance. You don't want to be all under one roof, where many services are poor values, but you also don't want to have 20 different accounts at 20 different companies. A happy medium with less than a half dozen accounts/companies is probably ideal. My bare minimum is probably 2 credit cards, 2 investment accounts, savings, checking, bill payment, DAF, and I may be missing something. In any case, I'm at least double that, but trying to pare down.*3!4!/5! wrote:I don't think these kinds of reasons count as a positive, because it's actually sub-optimal trying to get to many things "under one (financial) roof". It's much better to "mix and match" the best things each financial institution offers.
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Re: Fidelity vs. Vangard?
OP: I've read many threads on this over the last year there's always someone with a negative customer experience at one or the other. And which website is "better" seems to be in they eye of the beholder. Costs have all equalized in the spirit of competition.
BOTTOM LINE: If you are only buy a few core index funds it makes little difference.
Fidelity, Vanguard, or Schwab - all fine (personally, I have an account at each).
BOTTOM LINE: If you are only buy a few core index funds it makes little difference.
Fidelity, Vanguard, or Schwab - all fine (personally, I have an account at each).
Re: Fidelity vs. Vangard?
My desktop computer is "all under one roof", so I don't mind multiple logins (within reason). But when Ally pretends to have a credit card, or Fidelity pretends to have a bank, I don't see the point of this fake "unifying".inbox788 wrote:It's a balance. You don't want to be all under one roof, where many services are poor values, but you also don't want to have 20 different accounts at 20 different companies. A happy medium with less than a half dozen accounts/companies is probably ideal. My bare minimum is probably 2 credit cards, 2 investment accounts, savings, checking, bill payment, DAF, and I may be missing something. In any case, I'm at least double that, but trying to pare down.*3!4!/5! wrote:I don't think these kinds of reasons count as a positive, because it's actually sub-optimal trying to get to many things "under one (financial) roof". It's much better to "mix and match" the best things each financial institution offers.ragnathor wrote:I would just like to state I prefer the Fidelity for the following reasons not mentioned:
- Fidelity rewards credit card (2% cash back)
- Fidelity checking account features - for the occasional check-writing, ATM withdrawal I need
I know the question regarded investing but it's nice to have the above 2 accounts along with my investments in one place. Vanguard may have similar features, but I am not familiar.
Re: Fidelity vs. Vangard?
I have both.
Fido's frontline support at a sub-1mm portfolio level is better. By a lot.
Philosophically, I prefer VG every time. I own the fund, fund owns VG, they don't have the impetus to screw me, etc.
Fidelity operates like a business that is trying to keep people happy, not only give them the lowest cost product. I suppose the risk with Fido is that someday they reverse course, and costs creep up again. Particularly in taxable, you'd be hosed.
I still believe with costs being what they are, one could do a competent Boglehead portfolio at any of Schwab, Fido, or VG these days.
Fido's frontline support at a sub-1mm portfolio level is better. By a lot.
Philosophically, I prefer VG every time. I own the fund, fund owns VG, they don't have the impetus to screw me, etc.
Fidelity operates like a business that is trying to keep people happy, not only give them the lowest cost product. I suppose the risk with Fido is that someday they reverse course, and costs creep up again. Particularly in taxable, you'd be hosed.
I still believe with costs being what they are, one could do a competent Boglehead portfolio at any of Schwab, Fido, or VG these days.
Re: Fidelity vs. Vangard?
I have my portfolio split 66/34 between fidelity and vanguard. I like the fund choice better ay vanguard but I find the ineptitude of the vanguard phone representatives frustrating and do not understand why that can't fix it. To me the ownership structure is a non-issue.
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Re: Fidelity vs. Vangard?
Can that risk not be mitigated with ETFs, those being portable with in-kind transfers?pyld76 wrote:... I suppose the risk with Fido is that someday they reverse course, and costs creep up again. Particularly in taxable, you'd be hosed. ...
Re: Fidelity vs. Vangard?
Sure, but that presupposes you want to use ETFs.spammagnet wrote:Can that risk not be mitigated with ETFs, those being portable with in-kind transfers?pyld76 wrote:... I suppose the risk with Fido is that someday they reverse course, and costs creep up again. Particularly in taxable, you'd be hosed. ...
All things being equal, I personally prefer mutual funds (because I DCA each pay, prefer the low friction of daily pricing and no spread worries for acquisition, etc).
YMMV and such.
Re: Fidelity vs. Vangard?
Fidelity is easier to spell than Vanguard.
Re: Fidelity vs. Vangard?
+1ruralavalon wrote:Endless discussion over tiny differences. I love Vanguard, and will stay there.radiowave wrote:Here we go again
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Re: Fidelity vs. Vangard?
I have both, but prefer Vanguard. Fidelity does a lot of shady things through their private investment arm F-Prime for the family and friends who own the company. While I grant you this behavior doesn't really effect me personally much but I simply don't like it, and thus tend to lean towards supporting Vanguard when and where I can.
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Re: Fidelity vs. Vangard?
I personally use Fidelity, but either is an excellent option. Some people like the Fidelity credit card (2% cash on all purchases that are transferred to your Fidelity account), so that's one perk of Fidelity.RDHlooking4FIRE wrote:Seems like everyone here likes vangard? Does it have much lower fees than fidelity? Other pros and cons?
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Re: Fidelity vs. Vangard?
Some of us have had all four, vanguard, fidelity, schwab and TD....
Vanguard has the worst service and the best range of low cost products...
I'm now down to fidelity and vanguard, Work sometimes make a decision on an account that allows you to simplify to one brokerage.... and other times you may want multiple. I don't have anything negative to say about TD or Schwab, both were very good.
Vanguard has the worst service and the best range of low cost products...
I'm now down to fidelity and vanguard, Work sometimes make a decision on an account that allows you to simplify to one brokerage.... and other times you may want multiple. I don't have anything negative to say about TD or Schwab, both were very good.